Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 754 - 386 Farewell_1
The second watch of the night, asking for pink.
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(There was a draft from the previous Chapter that should have been deleted. It has been removed, so everyone can go back and take a look.)
Having said her part, Lian Manman twisted her body and walked out of the Upper Room.
"Fool." Lian Duo whispered behind Lian Manman’s back.
Lian Manman just chuckled to herself. Everyone has different standards for judging the value of things. Who is the fool will be proven with time. But in this matter, the booklets that Lian Jizu and Lian Duo considered junk are definitely worth far more than those scraps of paper. And to her, these books were precious.
Returning to the West Wing Room, Lian Manman and the others started looking through the books they had collected, one by one.
The condition of these books varied, and their contents were diverse, ranging from the abstruse "The Book of Changes" and "Classic of Mountains and Seas" to the enlightening works for children like "Hundred Family Surnames" and "Thousand Character Classic," along with privately printed manuscripts, collections of poems, and even a few sets of examination papers printed in recent years. The collection was all-encompassing.
"Why did Jizu brother buy all these old books?" Wu Lang mumbled to himself. Just as Lian Jizu had said, most of these books were of various unconventional studies and had nothing to do with the imperial examinations.
"It wasn’t just Jizu brother who bought them, there’s also Uncle, right?" said Lian Manman. For instance, it was very likely that those poetry collections were bought to feign sophistication.
"Brother, which of these books are useful to you? Can you use any of these examination papers?" Lian Manman asked again.
"Hmm, this can serve as a reference," Wu Lang replied.
As they were talking, Lian Shouxin walked in from outside.
"Where did these come from?" Lian Shouxin asked as he saw a kang bed full of books.
Lian Manman told him what had just happened.
"... Anyway, Brother Jizu doesn’t want them anymore, burning them is such a waste of resources, it’s better that I take them. I even sent them some scrap paper just now, consider it an exchange," she said.
"That rattan chest you mentioned..." Lian Shouxin uttered a sound of realization, then sat down on the edge of the kang and casually flipped through the books. "I’ve seen that chest before, it belongs to your grandfather. It wasn’t bought by your grandfather either. I vaguely remember your grandfather mentioning once that it was your great grandfather’s book chest. Quite a few of the books inside were also left by your great grandfather."
Lian Manman blinked. So, the rattan chest was a family heirloom. Could it be that her ancestors were truly scholars?
"That chest was filled with books. It seems that’s all your great grandfather left behind. When we were little, Grandfather wouldn’t let anyone touch it... Later, it was all given to your eldest uncle," Lian Shouxin continued.
"So these books, could they not all be purchased by my eldest uncle and Jizu brother? Could they also have been passed down?" Lian Manman asked.
Over these past days, after careful observation by Lian Manman, she had noticed that neither Lian Shouren nor Lian Jizu were truly fond of reading or pursuing knowledge. It would be strange to say that all these books were purchased by them. However, if they were accumulated and passed down by a true scholar amongst their ancestors, that would make much more sense.
"There must be some that were handed down," said Wu Lang, holding a book whose pages had gone yellow with age.
"Take good care of them, don’t waste them even if you don’t read them," Lian Shouxin said.
"Father, don’t worry," Lian Manman nodded. Even if most of the books had nothing to do with the imperial examinations and were useless to Wu Lang and Xiao Qi, she could read them when she had nothing else to do.
...
Lian Shouren had received an official position, and many had come to congratulate him in the past few days, including Zhao Xiue’s family and He Laoliu. When Zhao Wencai’s family came, Old Master Lian showed a muted polite countenance and was not enthusiastic. When He Laoliu arrived, without exchanging many words, he was promptly chased out.
The people in the Upper Room were all eager to leave, and their luggage was packed quickly. Finally, the day of departure arrived. As soon as the day broke, the Upper Room finished breakfast, and the several carts hired from the town had arrived at the gate. Everyone hurriedly loaded their luggage onto the carts in a flurry before seating themselves.
The moment to leave had finally come.
Lian Manman’s family, Lian Yeye’s family, the neighbors on either side, and almost all of those from the village with whom they had frequent interactions came to see them off.
Because they were leaving to accompany someone to an official post, looking forward to enjoy the comforts ahead, those sitting in the carriages harbored no sentimentality of parting, and a few were even urging the driver to go faster.
Only two people were reluctant to leave.
Old Master Lian refused to get in the carriage, and after being urged repeatedly by everyone, he finally got on but kept looking back.
Lady Zhou was leaving her home for the first time to live somewhere else permanently, and she too was reluctant to go. Not only did she not want to leave behind every blade of grass and tree of the Lian Family, but she was also filled with trepidation about the unfamiliar environment she faced, which showed in the distress on her face.
