"Oh?" Old Master Lian was sowhat surprised to hear what Lian Manman had said and looked at Lian Shouxin, "What did Zhao Wencai want from you?"
"He talked about Erlang’s wife..." Lian Shouxin answered.
"Father, Sister-in-law Xiu E’s father spoke ill of our family a great deal to my father, and it angered both my mother and . Seeing how honest and accommodating my father is, he even insisted that my father agree with him, as if he wouldn’t consent without my father adding a few words of his own," Lian Manman said, noticeably upset.
Old Master Lian didn’t say anything and his expression didn’t change either. After all, with his age and experience, he was mostly composed. Nevertheless, Lian Manman was certain that Old Master Lian wouldn’t be pleased to hear such words.
"Manman, why are you bringing this up?" Lian Shouxin didn’t want Lian Manman to talk about these things. He truly was a genuine person and thought that doing so, which seed like gossiping, would only estrange Zhao Wencai and Old Master Lian further.
But Lian Manman thought otherwise. She had not fabricated anything about Zhao Wencai and it was he who had sched against them first. To be concerned about decency in dealing with Zhao Wencai was, to her, preposterous.
"Father, there are no outsiders here, what’s there to be afraid of in front of Grandfather?" Lian Manman said. She didn’t continue to detail the slanders Zhao Wencai had spoken of the Lian family, "He also told my father that he wanted Sister-in-law Xiu E to co back to our house. My father said that would be a good thing, but he also made demands, saying he wanted my father to guarantee He Laoliu’s debt notes."
"Is that so?" Old Master Lian asked Lian Shouxin.
"Yes, that’s what Zhao Wencai said," Lian Shouxin confird, "But I didn’t agree to it."
"Oh..." Old Master Lian drew his gaze back and took a couple of puffs from his dry pipe.
"Father, let be frank with you. I don’t dare get involved with He Laoliu; I can’t guarantee for him, nor can I save him," Lian Shouxin said earnestly.
"Liulang’s uncle is too shaless. The other day when people ca looking for him, they even tied him up, and he didn’t seem scared in the least. He simply refused to pay and even pressured Grandfather to co up with the money," Lian Manman recalled.
It wasn’t necessary for her to ntion this, as Old Master Lian and Lian Shouxin had been present at the ti and rembered it vividly.
"Old Fourth, you did the right thing not to agree," Old Master Lian exhaled a puff of smoke, and his anger flared up when he thought of the matter. If not for He Laoliu, how would Lian Shouyi have dared to steal Lian Shouxin’s wine brewing technique, leading to such a disaster? If it wasn’t for He Laoliu’s shalessness and debt, the Lian family would have been spared the trouble by selling the house in town, and there would’ve been no need to touch Zhao Xiue’s dowry.
In an unguarded mont, he had been troubled by the Zhao family’s commotion, and years of good reputation were destroyed, not to ntion being cursed by a young daughter-in-law all the way up to his ancestors.
"We can’t be taken for fools by the He family any longer," Old Master Lian forcefully knocked his pipe against the edge of the platform bed.
"Exactly," Lian Manman nodded vigorously.
"Old Fourth, what did Zhao Wencai say after that?" Old Master Lian regained his composure and asked Lian Shouxin.
"I refused his request; I think he was not very pleased. He stopped talking about bringing Erlang’s wife back, saying he would go ho to discuss it further," Lian Shouxin said, "When he ca over, he even brought two bags of sliced rice cakes. It wasn’t a festive season or anything, and I didn’t want his gifts, so when he left, I had him take them back."
"You did the right thing; we are not those without status or worth," Old Master Lian seed quite pleased with Lian Shouxin’s actions, "...the Old Zhao family, they’re people who won’t get up early unless there’s profit to be made. This marriage alliance, it was made too hastily. Ah..."
"Grandfather, there’s sothing else. Before the New Year, Brother Erlang ca to our house and told my father and mother to patronize Sister-in-law Xiu E’s family business. If we needed to buy anything, we should go to the Old Zhao family’s Fuda Grocery Store. We went there to buy our New Year’s goods, including sugar. My father wanted to buy one jin, but he insisted on selling us two jin and even said one jin was free. A jin of sugar is no small sum; how could my father take advantage of him? We paid them all the money. When we got ho, my mother, knowing how precious sugar is, decided to keep one jin for house use and the other jin for gifting... My mother is ticulous about gifts; she wanted to add a little extra to that one jin, so she weighed it, and it turned out he had given us nearly one liang less."
"That happened too!" Lady Zhou, who was working nearby, looked up and asked.
"Yes," Lian Shouxin nodded, "It happened before the New Year, when Erlang had just gotten married. I didn’t want it to be ntioned; it wouldn’t look good, and it would be awkward for Erlang and his wife... If it had been any other store that was short, we definitely would have gone back to confront them."
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