Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 601 - 309: The Numb Clam_2

"Do you still want to buy clams?" The man drove his cart up to them, hopped down, and asked.

"Ah?" Lian Manman was somewhat surprised, but once she saw the pile of clams in the cart, she understood the man’s intention.

"I’ve got a few dozen jin of clams left, and I’m in a hurry to get back home. If you take them all, I can give you a discount," said the man directly.

"We’ve already bought quite a lot, we can’t eat any more," Lady Zhang said.

"Isn’t your shop open here? You’re worried you can’t finish them?" the man said, "There’s only this much left, I reckon it’s about fifty jin or so. If you want them, eighty wen money will do."

"No matter the price, we can’t finish them. It would be a waste to buy them. We don’t sell clams at our shop," Lian Shouxin said.

Lian Manman walked over to the cart and grabbed a handful of clams to look at.

After half a day, the clams were still alive.

"These clams are fresh," the man said, seeing Lian Manman’s actions. "They were caught at midnight, and I brought them straight here to sell."

Lian Manman put down the clams she was holding and started to think.

"Just buy them. That big landlord surnamed Wang in your village bought more than a hundred jin," the man continued to persuade, as if he were talking to himself. If he took the clams back home, they wouldn’t be fresh and inedible. If he sold them to Lian Manman’s family, at least he could make some money. "His steward even told me, after a few days, to bring more clams to their house."

"We can’t compare to them," Lian Manman said, "How about this? If you really want to sell, will fifty wen money do?"

"Ah," the man felt the pinch, "This pile, there’s no less than fifty jin." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"Just fifty wen money, we didn’t even want to buy at first," Lian Manman said.

"Alright, let’s settle on fifty wen money then," the man thought it over and reluctantly agreed. Fifty wen money was still money, better than throwing the clams away.

"Manman, we’ve already bought quite a lot," Lady Zhang pulled Lian Manman over and whispered.

"Mother," Lian Manman blinked at Lady Zhang, "We can dry them and eat... It’s so cheap, let’s buy it."

"Yeah, yeah, Mother, let’s buy it. It’s half the price," Xiao Qi chimed in from the side. He loved these fresh delicacies and would never think there were too many.

"Then let’s buy it," said Lady Zhang helplessly.

They transferred the clams from the cart to their own baskets, weighed them again, and there were indeed fifty-six jin. Lian Manman squinted and counted out fifty wen money from her purse to give to the man.

"Uncle, you mentioned delivering clams to Scholar Wang’s family, when is that?" she asked.

"The day after tomorrow," the man took the money and replied, "They said it’s for his wife’s birthday celebration."

"Uncle, that day when you come by, stop at our shop for a moment, maybe we’ll want to buy some more clams," Lian Manman said.

"That’s fine," the man happily agreed and then drove his cart away.

Because they had bought those dozen jin of clams, Lian Manman’s family had to go back to the shop again, brought clear water, found a few wooden basins and buckets as well, and put all the clams into the clear water.

"Dear, we bought all these ark shells, I’m thinking..." Lian Shouxin looked at Lady Zhang as he spoke.

"I was just thinking the same thing, let’s take half a basket back to let grandma and grandpa taste some fresh ones," Lady Zhang said.

Lian Shouxin chuckled twice. There were some things he didn’t need to mention; Lady Zhang could already think of them, which made him love and respect her even more.

The family took half a basket of ark shells back to the old house. Upon entering the yard, they saw a large wooden basin under the window sill of the Upper Room, filled with ark shells soaking in clear water.

Old Master Lian was sitting not far off, fixing a hoe in his hands.

"Grandpa, did you also buy some ark shells?" Xiao Qi said.

"Ah," Old Master Lian raised his head and smiled, "We did. Did you buy some too?"

"Dad, we bought some as well," Lian Shouxin answered.

Xiao Qi then handed the basket to Old Master Lian, "Grandpa, these are for you."

"Your grandma also bought quite a few; there’s enough for us to eat. I don’t need it, you keep it for yourself," Old Master Lian chuckled.

As the grandfather and grandson were politely declining each other, Lady Zhou came out of the house holding a ladle of bran and rice husks. Xiao Qi then handed the basket to Lady Zhou.

"We bought our own, we don’t need yours. Take it back!" Lady Zhou said with a stern face, not even looking at Xiao Qi, and went off to feed the chickens.

Such an attitude might be unbearable for some, but coming from Lady Zhou, it was already quite good. Tenant farmers’ families rarely spoke gently to their children, mostly barking commands; however, they were usually much softer with their grandchildren.

For Lady Zhou, treating Xiao Qi this way was considered gentle.

Xiao Qi took the basket back to the West Wing Room.

Lian Manman brought a wooden basin and poured the ark shells from the basket into it, then filled it up with clear water.

Before going to sleep, the previously clear water in the basin had turned murky, so they changed it for fresh water before everyone went to bed.

Half-asleep, they could still hear the sound of the ark shells spitting water, and with the beautiful hope of enjoying the delicious food the next day, Lian Manman fell asleep.

For breakfast the next day, Manman’s family’s table had an extra large basin of hot ark shells, just taken out of the pot and still steaming. Ark shells are easy to cook; once the water boils and the tightly closed shells open, the meat is ready.

Lady Zhang prepared a garlic paste, added soy sauce, and mixed a bowl of thick dipping sauce; Lian Manman added a bit of the chili oil she had fried a few days before. The plump ark shell meat, dipped in a little sauce, filled the mouth with fresh and fragrant flavors.

They ate the ark shell meat to their heart’s content, but seeing the shop filled with basins and buckets, Lady Zhang still felt somewhat worried.

"Mom, this ark shell meat, once dried, can be very useful," Lian Manman said to Lady Zhang with a smile.

×××...××

The second watch, begging for pink.

I really miss the days when ark shells, fish, and shrimp were so cheap. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation.)