Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 797 - 406: Generous Gift_2

Lian Manman approached Lian Huahua with a smile, but just as Lian Huahua was about to insert the hairpin into her hair, Lian Manman suddenly dodged to the side as if she had remembered something.

Lian Huahua’s hand came up empty.

"Sister Huahua, there’s no rush to wear the hairpin, let’s talk over there later, and then you can help me put it on slowly," Lian Manman said, seemingly intimately.

Lian Huahua smiled, and had no choice but to put the hairpin back into the cosmetic case.

"Alright, it has been quite some days since we sisters had a good chat together. I’ve been thinking about all of you every day in the county town," Lian Huahua also said smilingly with affection.

Aunt Sun and Xiao Hong watched with smiles on their faces.

The women’s banquet was divided into two tables; one table was set up in the east room and the other in the west room.

In the east room, seated were the older women guests, including Lady Zhang’s mother Lady Li, Lady Wang who was her sister-in-law, Lady Wang, the mother of Wu Jiaxing, Lian Lanlan, Scholar Wang’s wife, the Magistrate’s wife, plus the wives of two officials from Jinyang County.

In the west room were the younger women guests of lower status, including the Magistrate’s legitimate daughter, only ten years old this year, who came for the fun with her parents, as well as the Eldest Lady Huai, Lady Chiang, Lian Huahua, Yin Suo, the young daughter of Lian Lanlan, Wu Jiayu, Zhang Caiyun, and then the sisters Lian Manman and Lian Zhizhi.

Most of the women guests were relatives from Lian Manman’s family. There were very few others, as only the Magistrate of Jinyang County and two subordinate officials had brought their families to the stele-unveiling ceremony.

Lian Manman’s family’s inner court had an Upper Room with five chambers, two in the east room, which belonged to Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang. Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang liked large spaces, so these two rooms were not divided, resembling the layout of the main east room in the Lian Family Old Mansion.

The west room contained two chambers for the sisters Lian Zhizhi and Lian Manman. In the middle of the house was a wooden partition that ran up to the height of the bed and the windowsill and was made of green bricks on the outside with wooden panels. Above the windowsill, the partition was of carved wooden frames with colored glaze, the same type used for the windows of the Upper Room, providing excellent light transmission. So, even though the partition was there, it did not affect the interior lighting at all.

The lower part, at an equal height with the bed, was a solid wood panel partition, above which was also a carved wooden frame, not with colored glaze, but with thick satin. There was a door in the middle of the partition.

The two rooms separated by this partition, with the outer room as the living room and the inner room as the sisters’ bedroom, had full-length curtains for partitions. With the curtains drawn and the door closed, these two outer rooms were completely independent of each other.

The banquet table in the west room was set up on the bed in the outer room.

Zhang Caiyun, Wu Jiayu, and Lady Chiang had visited before, but the rest were entering for the first time and inevitably were curious.

The Magistrate’s daughter, although young, already bore the reserved manner of a grown girl. Upon entering the room, she did not look around. Eldest Lady Huai took a few glances and then stopped scrutinizing further.

Only Lian Huahua and Yin Suo looked most carefully.

Upon entering, behind the door against the east wall were two horizontally-placed cabinets. On top of the cabinets were two hat boxes, and on top of those boxes was a small sitting mirror. This was a typical arrangement in a wealthy tenant farmer’s home.

Facing the entrance was the partition; next to it under the bed and against the wooden partition were two chairs with complete armrests and footrests. Between the two chairs was a tea table with a teapot and tea bowls. Against the north wall was a large desk, with two stacks of books, pens, ink, paper, inkstones, and a glass vase with various colored fresh flowers.

The sunny day made the room bright and comfortable because of the glass windows. The blue brick floor was spotless.

A look of envy appeared on Yin Suo’s face, and Lian Huahua’s gaze wandered around the room as if she were searching for some flaw, but, unfortunately, she found none.

As Lian Huahua entered the room, she sat down on a chair beside the bed on the west side.

In just a year’s time, Lian Manman’s family lived such a comfortable life. The spacious courtyard, clean and comfortable environment, independent bedrooms and living rooms— even before she was married, when she lived in town, she never had such good conditions and comforts.

At that time, she was the young miss of the Scholar Master’s house, supported by a whole family behind her.

But how did Lian Manman’s family become prosperous? When they split their households, they were clearly squeezing several people into less than two rooms; they wore patched-up old clothes, ate crude food that was hard to swallow, and altogether, they couldn’t scrape together even a few copper coins.

Lian Huahua had studied the question of how Lian Manman’s family had made their fortune very seriously with Lady Gu.

"Who knows what kind of luck they stumbled upon? The whole family worked tirelessly, trading, farming, they did everything, traded everything. It was a blessing they separated from us; otherwise, they would have dragged us down with them. For plain commoners like them, the bit of money they earned, as distant relatives, was just morsels in somebody else’s bowl," Lady Gu had said once.

However, en route to assume her post, while staying briefly in the county city, Lady Gu’s narrative changed slightly.

Lady Gu asked her if she knew how the Lian Shouxin family had made connections with the Shen Family.

"By all accounts, they should be completely unrelated. Could it be because of you, or because of your family’s old lady?"

Lady Gu suggested she should take the chance and probe the old lady about it.

As it happened, the old lady called for her, and hinted around the same question in her conversation.

She naturally couldn’t confirm the reason behind it. However, she kept her wits about her and deliberately spoke ambiguously about the possibility of the Lian family and the Shen family being old relatives.

Lian Manman’s family suddenly received an imperial favor, with an imperial bestowed archway built in front of their door, an incident that far exceeded her expectations.

"Manman, you truly have good fortune," said Lian Huahua with a smile, as a shadow flickered briefly through her eyes.

******

Delivering the second instalment, asking for pink hearts.

Book Recommendation

Title: The Beauty’s Legal Schemes

Born into a military household, ancestors engaged in lowly trades, living in a slum... how tragic is that?

But what I, this young lady, excel in is washing utensils!

Watch a modern female lawyer reincarnated as an ancient female litigator; although poor and powerless and thus discriminated against, she’s full of schemes, eloquent speech, and sharp wit, capable of building a fortune.

Internally she refines the dregs of a stepmother and relatives, externally she battles ruffians, bullies, and ministers with her tongue.

My goal is: to stand in court, to manage prisons, to fight phoenixes, and to squash cockroaches.

A woman pulls down the curtain and whispers, "My lord, how would you like for me to serve you?"

And you there, stop talking nonsense; chatting with me comes with a fee of silver!

Author: Liu An Hua Ming, Book Number: 2530562 (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast recommendation votes, monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)