Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 68 - 39 Trouble_2

Chapter 68: Chapter 39 Trouble_2
Lian Duoduo was sent by Lian Huahua to keep watch, her heart full of irritation.
"I saw you guys, planning to eavesdrop, are you?"
"Lian Duoduo, it’s broad daylight, and we’re in our own home; there’s no need to ’eavesdrop.’ It’s probably you who has something to hide," Lian Manman said.
"Manman, Lian Manman, come in, I have something to tell you." At that moment, Yingzi’s voice came from inside the room.
"Manman, you mind your own business; this has nothing to do with you," Lian Huahua called out loudly, followed by a lowered voice, "Yingzi, didn’t we agree to talk things over."
Why did Yingzi always have to involve her? Could there be something about her that she herself didn’t know? With that thought, Lian Manman headed towards the Upper Room.
"What are you doing?" Lian Duoduo blocked the doorway.
"Duoduo, where did you learn such manners, blocking people at the door?" Lian Manman scolded Lian Duoduo.
"My sister doesn’t want you to go," Lian Duoduo said.
Xiao Qi came by, tugged on Lian Duoduo’s braid. Lian Duoduo immediately got annoyed and turned to hit Xiao Qi, who then ran off.
Lian Manman walked into the hall unobstructed, pushed at the door to the west room, but it didn’t open.
"Yingzi, Sister Huahua," Lian Manman knocked on the door.
There was a rustling from inside, then the door opened. Yingzi stood in the doorway, smiling at Lian Manman, while Lian Huahua stood behind her with an ashen face, obviously unable to stop Yingzi from opening the door.
"Manman, I have something to show you," Yingzi stretched out her hand.
"Oh, is that not your gold bracelet? How did it get a notch?" Lian Manman asked, puzzled.
"I took this bracelet to the Silver Building in town today to have it melted down and made into something else. The craftsman there saw it and said it wasn’t made of gold, only covered with a thin layer of gold on the outside, and the inside was copper," Yingzi said all in one breath, "I didn’t believe it and had him cut a notch, and indeed, it was copper inside."
Lian Manman looked from an exasperated Yingzi to Lian Huahua whose complexion was still ashen.
"Does this have something to do with me, or is it related to Sister Huahua?" Lian Manman asked.
Yingzi pursed her lips, "Manman, come here, let me tell you."
"Yingzi," Lian Huahua’s voice was very shrill as she pulled Yingzi aside and whispered, "If you really make a fuss, you won’t benefit either... Okay, I understand what you mean. I know how tough you are."
Yingzi just scoffed twice.
"Manman, you can go now, it’s nothing," Yingzi gestured for Lian Manman to leave.
"Go on, Manman, I told you it’s none of your business," Lian Huahua came over and pushed Lian Manman out.
Lian Manman, feeling displeased, walked out of the room after a moment’s thought. She had barely taken two steps when she heard the door latch with a clack, being bolted from the inside. Lian Manman quietly stepped back, leaned against the door crack, and listened intently.
It sounded like Lian Huahua and Yingzi had walked to the other end of the room, speaking in such a hushed tone that Lian Manman couldn’t make out their words, only hearing Lian Huahua express her anger with a "don’t overdo it." Then after a while, there was the sound of opening trunks coming from inside the room.
"Huahua, if you deceive me again this time, we’re far from finished," Yingzi’s voice was getting closer to the doorway.
Lian Manman quickly left the Upper Room.
In the courtyard, Xiao Qi was laughing merrily, playing a game of tag with Lian Duoduo, who was panting from exhaustion. The mischievous Xiao Qi made a face at Lian Duoduo.
"Xiao Qi," Lian Manman called out.
Xiao Qi responded and immediately ran over to Lian Manman.
Lian Huahua came out of the house with Yingzi, just as they ran into Lian Xiuxiu, who had come back from the backyard with a basket full of eggplants.
"What are you here for, Yingzi?" Lian Xiuxiu asked, frowning.
"I came to see Lian Huahua," Yingzi replied with a smile as she walked on.
"Huahua, why are you getting on well with Yingzi again?" Lian Xiuxiu asked Lian Huahua with some displeasure.
"It’s nothing," said Lian Huahua, repressing a flash of anger in her eyes and smiling at Lian Xiuxiu, "Auntie, come up to my room for a rest."
...
Old Master Lian returned from the fields with his sons, ing that people had already started harvesting their crops. Old Master Lian declared that they would begin harvesting their crops the next day.
The annual autumn harvest had begun.
Early that day, before dawn, the daughters-in-law of the Lian Family got up to start cooking. For the harvest, breakfast was a mix of noodles and millet rice, and they even stewed four pieces of tofu.
After breakfast, just as it was getting light, Old Master Lian led the family, carrying their tools, down to the fields. Lian Shouren, with the excuse of a prior injury, Lian Huahua, and Lian Duoduo also did not go to the fields; Lian Yaya was wrapping her feet. Old Lady Lian and Lian Xiuxiu stayed home to cook and did not go to the fields either. All others, regardless of gender or age, had to go to the fields to work.
The Lian Family now owned thirty acres of land; today they would start with harvesting sorghum and millet from the fields on the north side.
Old Master Lian, Lian Shouyi, Lian Shouli, Lian Shouxin, Lian Family Dalang, and Erlang lined up at the edge of the field, each with a scythe in hand, claiming a ridge of land. As Old Master Lian swung his scythe, the rest of them crouched down and began cutting the sorghum. When cutting sorghum, you do it at an angle from about half a foot off the ground upwards.
The cut sorghum stalks, along with the heavy sorghum heads, were piled up in heaps.
Separating the sorghum heads from the stalks was the women’s job. They too held scythes, sitting beside the piles of stalks, cutting off the sorghum heads and neatly stacking them. Sanlang, Si Lang, and Wu Lang, not yet strong enough themselves, also joined Lady Zhang, Lady He, and Lady Zhao in this task. Once they finished stacking, they selected sorghum stalks of medium thickness to use as twine, binding the stalks and heads separately and tightly.
Lian Zhizhi, Lian Manman, Lian Yeye, Liulang, and Xiao Qi, being younger, worked together two or three at a time to gather the bundles of sorghum heads and stalks, making it easier to load them onto carts later and transport them home.
As the sun rose, Lian Manman’s back was quickly soaked with sweat.
Thinking back, from sowing in spring to reaping in autumn, the sweat of the farmers was soaked into every step.
"When hoeing weeds in the midday heat, sweat drips into the earth beneath," Lian Manman thought of that simple and widely known poem.
"Who’d guess that each seed in your meal represents hard toil and sweat," Wu Lang and Xiao Qi continued.
"Oh, you know this too?" Lian Manman exclaimed in surprise. Apart from those in the main house, the other children of the Lian Family had not been educated.
"Grandpa taught us, all children of the Lian Family can recite this poem," Wu Lang wiped off his sweat, "Manman, don’t tell me you’ve even forgotten this."
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Deeply rustic, profoundly earthy.
Three watches into the night, I send this forth, seeking subscriptions, and pink hearts. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote, recommend, and subscribe. Your support is my greatest motivation.)