At the second watch, she requested pink powder.
***...****
"Ah?" Lian Shouxin opened his mouth, he had anticipated that there wasn’t much left of his wages, but still, he hadn’t expected that he actually owed money. "Did I spend that much, I’m in debt now?"
"Dad, I’m not lying to you. If you don’t believe , let’s calculate everything one by one." Lian Manman didn’t wait for Lian Shouxin to say anything before calling Xiao Qi to bring the abacus.
A kang table was placed on the kang bed, and the family sat around it in a circle. Lian Manman checked through the account book entry by entry with Lian Shouxin, while Xiao Qi rattled the beads of the abacus.
The final result was, of course, the sa as what Lian Manman had just said.
Lian Shouxin touched his head. Lian Manman certainly hadn’t deceived him; behind every entry, there was a circle drawn by him. He had really spent all of next year’s wages without realizing it. Thinking about it carefully wasn’t really surprising, as Xiao Qi always liked to ask him for money to buy things. How could he, as a father, refuse? When Lian Manman said that the house was lacking sothing, she also ca to him for money. The children yearned for a bit of fish and at to satisfy their cravings, but were reluctant to spend money, saying that the expenses for the public funds were too much, and he agreed happily to use his wages instead. And for this Lunar New Year, buying things for Lady Zhang and the four children, part of it also ca from his wages. Right, that hairpin for Lady Zhang, he had paid for it in full.
All of a year’s wages had been spent in advance like this.
Lady Zhang and the children would certainly not agree to him advancing his wages anymore, and it would be even less likely for them to agree to use the public funds to buy Golden Clove for Lian Xiuxiu. Just like Lian Manman said outside the Upper Room earlier, Lian Xiuxiu already had more jewelry and clothes than Lian Manman and Lian Zhizhi combined, so Golden Clove wasn’t a necessity.
He knew he shouldn’t have agreed at that ti, but he couldn’t stand the scolding and reproach from Lady Zhou and still agreed to it.
What to do now?
"Just chill." Lian Manman snapped the account book closed. "Dad, if my grandma asks you for Golden Clove, and my grandpa finds out, he will definitely not agree."
"Right, when Old Master cos back, speak to Old Master. We’ve done enough filial duties, and if it’s too much, we can’t afford it. Xiuxiu is not that young anymore, and it’s unreasonable to keep causing such a fuss." Lady Zhang rarely took such a strong stand.
"My mom is right," Lian Manman chid in imdiately, "Dad, I know you are afraid of grandma scolding you, and you don’t dare reason with her. How about this, from now on, if sothing like this happens, you just agree to her face to avoid her scolding. Afterwards, we’ll follow through with reasonable requests and disregard the unreasonable ones."
"Is that okay?" Lian Shouxin asked with a wry smile.
"Dad, if you could really convince my grandma to be reasonable, then we wouldn’t need to do this," Lian Manman said. This was a workaround, and Lian Manman had seen so slick people who never denied others. But you couldn’t expect them to actually fulfill what they had agreed to; they only cared about appearing good in the mont. Lian Manman didn’t quite agree with this tactic, but perhaps Lian Shouxin could adopt a similar approach when dealing with Lady Zhou.
Lian Shouxin sighed and said no more.
Towards evening, Old Master Lian returned, and with encouragent from the children, Lian Shouxin found an opportunity to quietly tell Old Master the situation.
"Dad, we have earned a bit of money now, but the expenses aren’t small either. Zhizhi and Manman bought their Golden Cloves with the money they saved themselves from working in the shop. For Xiuxiu, let deal with it later, I’ll buy it for her then."
"Buy it for her? What for?" Old Master got angry imdiately, "She has clothes and jewelry already, and the whole family dotes on her. She has no right to compete with Zhizhi and Manman. You leave this to , I’ll go talk to your mother."
"Dad, if you talk to my mom, it’s best to... take it slow. It’s the Lunar New Year; it’s not good to start a quarrel." Lian Shouxin didn’t want Old Master Lian and Lady Zhou to argue.
"Alright, I’ve got it under control," Old Master Lian took several deep breaths and promised Lian Shouxin.
Later, indeed, all was calm, and it was unclear how Old Master Lian had spoken to Lady Zhou.
In a blink of an eye, it was the third day of the Lunar New Year, and the Lian Family was hosting guests, planning to prepare three banquet tables, all handled by family mbers. Lian Shouxin, taking Wu Lang with him, assisted Old Master Lian in entertaining guests, while Lady Zhang with Sister Manman and her sisters helped in preparing the als.
"Why hasn’t Erlang’s wife co yet?" Lady Zhou walked back and forth a few tis and even went to look towards the gate, asking impatiently.
Fairly speaking, the dishes made by Zhao Xiue were not as tasty as those made by Lady Zhang, but Zhao Xiue was generous with ingredients, fancying the styles of restaurant and feast dishes, and on the contrary, Lady Zhang cared more about practical, ho-cooked flavors. Especially when entertaining guests, Zhao Xiue’s dishes seed more pleasing. The Lian Family had guests, and Lady Zhou had planned for Zhao Xiue to cook a few dishes, to give the Lian Family so face.
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