Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 684 - 351 Bottom Line_2

As dusk approached, the family returned to the old house. Lian Shouxin carried a food box and went to the Upper Room, Lady Zhang took several children back to the West Wing Room and began to light the fire for cooking. They had enough vegetables for their meal; all they needed to do was cook a pot of rice.

"Your grandfather wants to have a good talk with your father; I always feel like your grandfather has something he wants to tell your father," Lady Zhang said while stoking the fire.

"It’s the usual stuff, nothing rare," Lian Manman, sitting on a small stool next to her, chopped vegetables for the chickens with a clang and clatter, and casually responded to Lady Zhang’s comment.

Lady Zhang glanced at Lian Manman, feeling somewhat puzzled in her heart.

"Manman, every time your dad goes to the Upper Room, you hurry to follow, why didn’t you go this time?" Lady Zhang asked Lian Manman.

"It’s the same whether I follow or not," Lian Manman answered, while she poured the chopped vegetables into a bucket, mixed them with bran, then briskly carried the bucket out to call the chickens into the coop to feed them.

Standing at the entrance of the chicken coop, Lian Manman could hear the voices coming from the outer room of the Upper Room.

Lady Zhou was leading several daughters-in-law in preparing the dinner.

"Mom, this dish can’t be fried, it needs to be steamed in a steamer basket, otherwise the flavor will change. I heard that the restaurants pay a lot of attention to cooking this dish; only pine wood can be used for the fire," Zhao Xiue said, among the Lian Family, she was the most knowledgeable about refined and intricate cuisine.

Lian Shouxin had brought a few dishes to the Upper Room, and now Lady Zhou was reheating the food before serving it.

After feeding the chickens, Lian Manman didn’t continue listening and returned to the West Wing Room. Lady Zhang had already finished cooking the rice, and several dishes were steaming on the curtain steamer, ready to be served together with the rice.

Lian Zhizhi prepared the table in the room, set out the bowls and chopsticks, and brought the rice and dishes inside. The women then sat around the kang table and started eating.

The family was enjoying their meal when they heard the curtain door rustle. Lian Manman looked up and saw Lian Shouxin returning from outside.

"How did you finish so quickly?" Lady Zhang was surprised. The Upper Room started dining sooner than they did, but since Old Master Lian wanted to speak with Lian Shouxin, she expected that the meal would last quite late into the evening.

"Hmm, I finished eating and then came back," Lian Shouxin said as he took off his shoes and climbed onto the kang.

Lian Manman also felt that according to the usual pace of dining, Lian Shouxin had finished his meal too quickly, and judging by his facial expression, it seemed to be not very pleasant.

"Dad, do you want to eat some more?" Lian Manman asked.

"Ah," Lian Shouxin hesitated for a moment before moving to sit at the table, "then I’ll eat a little more."

Lian Zhizhi, sitting on the edge of the kang, quickly got down, took another set of bowls and chopsticks, filled a full bowl of rice for Lian Shouxin, and handed it over. Lian Shouxin received the bowl of rice, shoveled a large bite into his mouth, and began to pick up vegetables to eat.

"Husband, did you not eat at the Upper Room or what?" Lady Zhang glanced at Lian Shouxin and asked.

"...didn’t eat enough, just had a few bites," Lian Shouxin began after eating half a bowl of rice.

"What’s wrong, Dad?" Wu Lang asked.

Lian Shouxin kept his head down and continued to eat without answering.

"What’s the matter? Just talk about it. There are no outsiders here, and the children are all sensible now," Lady Zhang said as she put a chopstick of vegetables into Lian Shouxin’s bowl.

"It’s nothing," Lian Shouxin mumbled with his head down, "it’s just that Old Master Lian said to me, he means, he wants us to speak to Master Shen Liu on behalf of his uncle to find him an official position, a substantive one at that."

"What?" Lady Zhang was surprised, "Isn’t that what the Song Family had promised to his uncle? Asking for an official position, and a substantive one at that, that’s a huge favor. What’s our relationship with Master Shen Liu, we’ve always been the ones receiving his care. Without his attention to us, we could hardly have a word with him. How could we ask for an official position for someone? How should we even approach him about it?"

Lady Zhang was surprised, but Lian Manman wasn’t at all. After the loan-sharking incident at the beginning of the year, Old Master Lian seemed to have given up on his expectations for Lian Shouren. But a few days ago, the Song Family had donated a Jiansheng title to Lian Shouren, rekindling the old man’s hopes for him.

After all, it was something he had yearned for all these years, and now there seemed to be hope again. Who wouldn’t look forward to that?

Lian Manman felt that Lian Shouren wasn’t good, but to Old Master Lian, as a father, Lian Shouren in his eyes was definitely not the same person as in Lian Manman’s eyes. The blood ties and familial love between parents and their children, even if one’s heart had once grown cold or had once been bitterly disappointed, how many could stand firm to the end? A slight warmth could make one’s heart and blood warm and seething once more.

And Old Master Lian’s desire for Lian Shouren to become an official was for the sake of the Lian Family, and also out of pity for Lian Shouren. He believed that only through holding office could Lian Shouren live well. Having seen Lian Shouren living in the village for more than half a year, Old Master Lian had become even more convinced of this.

Sometimes, parental favoritism isn’t merely due to a preference for one child over another, but is also driven by the instinct of survival and genetic continuation.

However, in the Lian Family, Old Master Lian’s favorite had always been Lian Shouren.

"Dad, what did you say?" Lian Manman asked.

"What else could I say? Your grandfather asked me to do anything else, I wouldn’t mind, but on this matter, I could not agree," Lian Shouxin said, "I don’t have that kind of ability. Besides, it’s not appropriate at all."

Lian Shouxin put down his rice bowl, his face unusually serious.

"We as people, should stick to our principles. Master Shen Liu has always been helping us out. If it weren’t for him buying our grape wine, if it weren’t for him providing us with these corn seeds, our family wouldn’t be where we are today. We must be grateful. Speaking of repayment, what could we offer him? We have nothing to offer, yet we’re asking him to do us such a huge favor. We say he treats us differently, so is this how we repay him?"

"This is simply impossible. If I were to do that, what kind of person would I be?" After finishing his words, Lian Shouxin picked up his bowl once more and lowered his head to eat.

Lian Manman pursed her lips and smiled. It was just as she had expected; whether it was in Lian Shouxin’s nature or whether Old Master Lian and Lady Zhou had raised him well, Lian Shouxin was a man of integrity and gratitude. He simply didn’t know that in this world, there were such things as "scheming."

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Posting one update now; there will be another in the evening. Pink hearts, please. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)