Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 752 - 385 Book_1
Lady Chiang heard Lian Manman asking her and hurriedly lifted her head.
"These are the discarded papers written by your brother Jizu," Lady Chiang answered with a smile. "I don’t know why, but it’s hard to start the fire with the firewood today, so I used these instead, and they worked really well."
"Sister-in-law, don’t be in such a hurry to start the fire. Can you let me have a look first?" Lian Manman quickly walked over and reached out her hand to Lady Chiang.
Lady Chiang hesitated for a moment before handing over the roll of paper she was holding to Lian Manman.Lian Manman quickly took it and flipped through it in her hands, feeling very unsettled. This wasn’t any ordinary discarded writing paper. It was clearly a well-bound book, and on its cover were the bold, stylized characters of "Master Zhu’s Family Instructions."
The conditions of Lian Manman’s family had improved a lot from before, and they were slowly acquiring more books. Whether it was Wu Lang and Xiao Qi, who were studying, or Lady Zhang, who had just started recognizing a few characters following Xiao Qi’s lead, the family cherished books exceedingly.
Not long before, all four of Lian Manman’s siblings had shared one book for their studies. Afterwards, for Wu Lang to read more, he even had to borrow books from Wang Youheng.
Yet here, at Lady Chiang’s place, a perfectly good book was being used as kindling for the fire. From what Lady Chiang had said earlier, it appeared this wasn’t the first time she had done this.
"Manman, is there something..." Lady Chiang was a clever woman, extremely adept at reading the room. Seeing the change in Lian Manman’s expression, she quickly became more cautious with her words. "Isn’t this the discarded writing paper from your brother Jizu? I can’t read at all; could it be that I’ve made a mistake?"
As they were speaking, Lian Jizu lifted the curtain and peeked out, with two books in his hand. Seeing Lian Manman there, he didn’t pay much attention and continued to throw the books he held into Lady Chiang’s hands.
"...they’re useless, just right for burning."
"Brother Jizu, you’re burning books," Lian Manman, sharp-eyed, had already recognized the two well-bound book volumes that Lian Jizu had thrown down.
Lian Jizu hadn’t taken it seriously, but now that he had been confronted by Lian Manman, he felt somewhat uncomfortable.
Lady Chiang’s face immediately showed signs of embarrassment.
Lian Manman immediately understood. The things Lian Jizu had told Lady Chiang to burn definitely included his discarded writing paper, but there were books among them as well. Lady Chiang couldn’t read, but she knew this much. However, because she was illiterate, she couldn’t tell which roll was writing paper and which was a book.
"These are... books we don’t need," Lian Jizu tried to explain.
If they were books that weren’t needed, why were they bought in the first place?
Lian Manman thought to herself but did not voice the question.
"Brother Jizu, if you no longer need these books, it would be a shame to burn them. Can you give them to me instead? I have some reed paper in my room; it’s even better for starting fires," Lian Manman said with a smile.
"They’re useless books, what do you want them for?" Lian Jizu retorted. It seemed that he also understood in his heart that burning books was not right, especially when his two younger cousins were attending private schools and were in great need of books to read.
"These books are not needed for the civil examinations and are a waste of time even for Wu Lang and Xiao Qi to read," Lian Jizu added by way of explanation.
"Even if they’re not needed for the civil exams, they surely can do no harm. Otherwise, why did you buy them in the first place, Brother Jizu?" Lian Manman said. "Give them to me. Even if my brother and Xiao Qi don’t read them, using them for my mother to practice embroidery patterns is not too bad."
Lady Chiang quickly picked up the two books that Lian Jizu had thrown on the ground, dusted them off with a flutter, and handed them to Lian Manman with a smile.
"Here you go, Manman," said Lady Chiang with a smile. "I can’t read, so looking at these, all I see is darkness."
Lian Manman didn’t stand on ceremony and grabbed all three books in her hands.
"Brother Jizu, sister-in-law, do you have any more books you don’t need? Give them all to me. Even if I don’t read them, just having them displayed would be... nice," Lian Manman said.
Lian Jizu was indifferent, but Lady Chiang felt somewhat guilty. Even if the books weren’t needed for the civil examinations, just like Lian Manman had said, if they weren’t needed, why purchase them in the first place? To burn such good books for kindling—if Lian Manman took the matter seriously and confronted her, she would have to just listen. And if Lian Manman made a fuss, and it reached the ears of Old Master Lian in the opposite room, both Lian Jizu and she would not escape a scolding, and Lian Shouren would also be implicated.
Since Lian Jizu didn’t want the books anymore, it was better to give them to Lian Manman as a favor than to burn them as firewood.
The truth was, Lady Chiang was willing to associate with the Lian Manman family. Although they were tenant farmers, their manners did not show any coarseness. Their speech and behavior were always gentle and polite, preserving a margin of respect for others. Even the most spirited and scheming Manman, as long as you didn’t provoke her, was extremely pleasant to interact with, being direct but maintaining face for others.
