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Lian Manman stopped Lady Zhang.
"Manman, for other matters, Mother has always followed your wishes, but for this matter, you need to follow mine," Lady Zhang insisted with determination.
"Mother, explain the reasoning to us," said Lian Manman.
Sohow, over ti, their family had gradually ford a habit: whenever there was a disagreent, they would resort to reason. Whover had the most logical argunt would prevail.
"Did you not hear just now what your Aunt Zhang and your grandmother were saying outside? If we eat by ourselves, what wouldn’t people say about us... Ever since we split the family, the food has admittedly been better these last few days," said Lady Zhang.
Lian Manman detected several layers of aning in Lady Zhang’s words.
"Mother, I won’t stop you from sending dumplings to the Upper Room, but we need to be clear about whom they’re for," said Lian Manman. "I have nothing to say if they’re for Grandfather and Grandmother, but for the others, there’s no need."
"They’re mainly for your Grandfather and Grandmother. But when so many people are eating together, you can’t just leave everyone else out," Lady Zhang sighed. She wished her children could eat more, but she also worried that those in the Upper Room, with so many mouths and opinions, would say they only cared for themselves after splitting off, deeming them neither virtuous nor filial.
"Well then, that’s not our problem," Lian Manman argued, sensing that Lady Zhang’s sense of responsibility had overwheld her again. "Even if we brought over two stear baskets of dumplings, it still wouldn’t be enough to feed everyone, according to what you’re suggesting."
As a branch that had split off, they were only responsible for showing filial piety towards Old Master Lian and Lady Zhou.
"Who doesn’t know what kind of temper Aunt Zhang has? She’s sharp-tongued. We just let her words go in one ear and out the other, not taking them to heart," Lian Manman continued. "Mother, I know that you feel uneasy because, since we’ve beco independent, we eat better than before, better than the Upper Room, and it troubles your heart, doesn’t it?"
Lady Zhang nodded slightly.
"But eating like this isn’t sothing we do often. If the Upper Room doesn’t have good food, that’s not our fault. Mother, consider this: before we split the family, if we hadn’t given all our money to the eldest uncle’s family, wouldn’t we have been able to afford such als, not just on a daily basis but at least occasionally?"
The truth was undeniable; if it hadn’t been for supporting the eldest branch, the Lian Family could have lived less frugally.
"Manman, you make a good point," said Lady Zhang, nodding in agreent after hearing this. "But just sending them to your Grandfather and Grandmother, your eldest uncle and all those children will be watching..."
"Mother, Aunt Zhang and Sister Huahua wear gold and silver, and we can only watch from the sidelines too, right?" Lian Manman argued. "That was even before we separated."
Lady Zhang and Lian Shouxin had nothing to say to that.
Lian Manman thought a mont, "Father, Mother, how about this? We invite Grandfather and Grandmother to our place for a al."
"Your Grandfather and Grandmother certainly won’t co," said Lian Shouxin.
"But we should extend the courtesy," said Lian Manman. "If we invite them and they don’t co, we can still send over a bowl of dumplings for Grandfather and Grandmother. That way we show our respect to them, and no one can say anything against it."
"Alright, I’ll go and invite them," said Lian Shouxin as he stood up and went to the Upper Room. In a short while, he returned; sure enough, neither Old Master Lian nor Lady Zhou were willing to co over to eat.
"Father said it’s not easy for us to make a batch of dumplings and told us to let the children eat more," Lian Shouxin reported.
Lian Manman had already picked out a large bowl of dumplings, "Then I’ll take these over."
"Pack so more; your Grandfather loves dumplings," Lady Zhang said, adding a few more to the bowl with her own hands until the bowl was piled high like a small mountain, unable to fit anymore.
In her heart, Lian Manman didn’t care about a few dumplings, but she didn’t want to set such a precedent. Now that Lady Zhang and Lian Shouxin had ultimately listened to her, she happily carried the dumplings to the Upper Room.
Inside the Upper Room, everyone was eating. There were still two tables as before, but with six fewer people from Lian Shouxin’s family, it felt much more spacious. The staple on the table was still cakes made from broomcorn millet flour and gruel, with a simple dish of potatoes stewed with eggplant, a bowl of soybean paste, and a handful of green onions. Lian Shouren and Lian Jizu were eating with their heads bowed, their movents extrely reserved, as if they were counting the grains of rice in their bowls.
Lian Manman passed the dumplings to Old Master Lian.
"... We ran out of cooking oil at ho, so we bought so slab oil to render and made dumplings with the self-rendered oil. We invited Grandfather and Grandmother over to eat, but since they didn’t co, father and mother asked to bring a bowl for Grandfather and Grandmother to try," Lian Manman said with a smile.
"Why send just one bowl? Who is that enough for?" Lady He complained from the table at the edge of the bed, her eyes locked onto the bowl of dumplings.
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