Lian Manman used Five Wen Money to buy twenty ordinary malt candy pieces and fifteen pine nut sesa candies, all of which she gave to Xiao Qi.
Xiao Qi carefully packed away the candy, "I’ll just eat the regular candy, and save the pine nut candy for when Sister Huahua needs to eat it with her dicine," he said.
Lian Manman then asked Wu Lang and Lian Zhizhi if there was anything they wanted to buy.
Wu Lang, pushing the handcart, shook his head. He was older and didn’t eat candy; as for other things... he didn’t want to buy anything.
Lian Zhizhi stopped outside a shop selling rouge, face powder, and hair ornants, hesitating.
"Sister, whatever you want to buy, let’s buy it," Lian Manman said, thinking Lian Zhizhi wanted a hair ornant.
"Manman, how about we also buy a piece of fragrant pancreas soap?" Lian Zhizhi consulted with Lian Manman, "Just like the kind used by Auntie He and Sister Huahua... It doesn’t need to be that expensive, a cheaper one will do."
The Lian Family hadn’t divided their household; all expenses were allocated by Lady Zhou. In the past few days, Lian Manman had noticed that in the mornings, they washed their faces with rice water, and sotis when Lady Zhang’s hands got dirty, she would rub them with ashes scraped from the stove, washing them off with clean water. However, in the Upper Room, Lian Xiuxiu and Lian Huahua had small soaps the size of a child’s palm kept in soap dishes, and even Lady He had one. Only they and Lady Zhao did not have any.
"Alright, let’s buy a piece," said Lian Manman, and she entered the shop with Lian Zhizhi.
"What would you two young ladies like to buy?" The shop assistant hurried over to greet them, "This fragrant pancreas soap is sourced from the south, it washes very clean and slls lovely, for only Twenty Wen Money."
After looking around for a while, Lian Manman and Lian Zhizhi ultimately chose a piece of jasmine-scented pancreas soap and also bought a bar of soap for washing clothes; spending Twenty-five Wen Money on the fragrant pancreas soap and Fifteen Wen Money on the washing soap. The shop assistant even threw in a little bamboo case for the fragrant pancreas soap.
"Ladies, we have top-quality Suzhou and Hangzhou fragrant powder; only Forty Wen Money for one box," the shop assistant tempted them with the fragrant powder.
Lian Zhizhi felt they were spending too much money and hurriedly pulled Lian Manman out of the shop. Lian Manman didn’t say anything; they were both still young, it was too early for them to use makeup.
Wu Lang and Xiao Qi were also pleased with the purchase of the fragrant pancreas soap and the washing soap.
"This soap is good too; it cleans clothes well and has a nice scent," Lian Zhizhi remarked.
After doing the math, they had spent a total of Eighty-two Wen Money, leaving them with just Eleven Wen Money from the sum of Ninety-three Wen Money. Lian Manman thought about buying sothing else, but Lian Zhizhi, Wu Lang, and Xiao Qi felt it was already too much and didn’t want to buy anything else. Lian Manman thought about it and decided to let it be; they could buy more things the next ti they ca out.
On the way back, Lian Zhizhi and Wu Lang pushed the cart, allowing Xiao Qi and Lian Manman to sit on it. The four buns they had bought, along with the fragrant pancreas soap and other items, were placed in a basket. Lian Zhizhi also picked so tender grass by the roadside and piled it on top for Lian Manman to hold.
The children chatted and laughed, even happier than when they had co.
Sitting on the cart, Lian Manman laughed along, but her mind was preoccupied with her own thoughts.
She had made up her mind; there was no way she would hand over the money she had worked so hard to earn to Lady Zhou. But they had bought quite a few things, and it would be hard to keep it from Lady Zhang once they got back. She had to find a way to convince Lady Zhang and Lian Shouxin to take their side.
Moreover, it was frustrating not to be able to spend the money she had earned from hard labor openly and freely. If the family divided, it wouldn’t be like this. Indeed, it was about ti for the Lian Family to consider dividing. Not to ntion the clear disparity between the wealth of different branches of the Lian Family, but even based on the number of people, it would be better for them to live separately.
While Lian Manman was considering the idea of the family division, she had yet to think of how to go about it. Little did she know, in the not too distant future, the Lian Family would indeed divide, and it would happen in a tragically intense manner.
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