As soon as she entered the main gate, she could hear Lady Zhou’s scolding coming from the Upper Room.
"What in the world now!" Lady Zhang, carrying a bundle of firewood, muttered to herself as she walked up.
"It’s the Master, he ca back and started arguing with Granny. He said she was in charge of several people and couldn’t even make a decent al, leaving the whole family to work in the fields and they might not even have food to eat afterwards. Then, our Granny got angry and called over the eldest brother’s wife to scold her." Lian Yeye told Lian Manman.
"Oh." Lian Manman let out a long ’oh.’ She thought, hadn’t Old Master Lian known at noon that it was because Lady Gu and the others had taken a wrong path, which delayed the al delivery? Why was he still blaming Lady Zhou when he returned ho? Yes, Old Master Lian couldn’t scold his daughters-in-law, but Lady Zhou could. Weren’t all the daughters-in-law under Lady Zhou’s control? When sothing went wrong, it wasn’t wrong to look to Lady Zhou, the leader.
"Don’t stay silent with , acting as if you’re taking a beating. I was afraid the Masters wouldn’t have their als on ti, so I especially made the food early. When I sent you to deliver it, where did you send it off to? Did you detour to your grandmother’s house, and that’s why you delivered it so late? Crying, you still have the face to cry? Who are you crying for, have I mistreated you? Don’t think I don’t know what you’re plotting; I know, you loathe so much it’s clattering in your heart. Aren’t you just sabotaging behind my back, trying to cast a spell on ?"
Lady Zhou was in the Upper Room, pointing at Lady Gu and berating her.
Lady Gu seed to argue back with a few words, but her voice was rather soft, and Lian Manman couldn’t hear her clearly from outside.
"You’re defending yourself for what, I still don’t know how cunning you are. You’re so clever, yet you can’t even accomplish a simple task of delivering a al; aren’t you doing it on purpose? Eldest daughter-in-law, you’re truly cruel. The Masters are working in the fields, and your eldest brother and Jizu are there too. Can you really bear to starve them? Your heart has beco thoroughly vicious. You’re so black-hearted; is there anything you wouldn’t dare do..."
No one dared to step forward to persuade Lady Zhou as she scolded Lady Gu until finally, Old Master Lian returned from the back courtyard and announced it was ti for the al, which stopped Lady Zhou’s scolding.
Unlike the Upper Room where they could eat first after returning from the fields, the Lian Manman family had to make their own als after coming back. Fortunately, the three won in her family were all swift with their hands; they borrowed a large pot from the Lian Yeye Family to steam the rice, and stewed vegetables in their own pot. In a short while, they had prepared the al.
After dinner, Lady Zhang and Lian Shouxin whispered together for a while before she changed into another set of clothes, ready to go visit around. Lian Manman found this situation odd and wanted to follow, but Lady Zhang wouldn’t allow her.
"Mom has so business to attend to and will be back shortly." Lady Zhang was sowhat secretive.
As per usual, after eating, Lian Shouxin went to the Upper Room to check on Old Master Lian and Lady Zhou and to chat with the two elders. Since Lady Zhang didn’t let Lian Manman follow, she went to the Upper Room with Lian Shouxin.
The Upper Room was fully occupied with family mbers. It was already getting dark, and no lights had been lit inside the room; everyone just sat there, seemingly discussing so matter. When Old Master Lian saw Lian Shouxin co in, he invited him to sit on the Kang bed.
Lian Shouxin sat down next to Lian Shouli on the edge of the Kang. Lian Manman saw Lian Yeye and Lady Zhao sitting at the end of the Kang and squeezed over to sit with Lian Yeye.
"...delivering the al, there’d be no issues. Damned if I’d ever send half and lose half, or mix sand into it or sothing." Lady He continued where she had left off.
Lian Manman then inquired with a glance towards Lian Yeye.
"Second Uncle’s wife said that tomorrow she wants to stay at ho to cook and have the eldest uncle’s wife and sister-in-law work in the field," Lian Yeye whispered in Lian Manman’s ear.
Staying at ho to cook was far more comfortable than fieldwork, with no exposure to wind or sun. However, Lady He had never fought for this privilege before.
Lian Manman glanced at Zhao Xiue, who was sitting next to Lady He.
"Auntie, what do you an by that? Wasn’t it just because the children stumbled and spilled the food? It sounds like you’re insinuating we did it on purpose," Lady Gu spoke up.
"Eldest Auntie, please don’t take it to heart. My mom is blunt and doesn’t beat around the bush," Zhao Xiue said with a smile.
"Right, I’m not harboring any ill will," Lady He said.
"We’re all one family. You always speak so sharp-edged; what’s this all about? If we didn’t accommodate you, we would co to quarrel, then outsiders would laugh at us. I’ve been in this family for over a dozen years, and this household wasn’t like this before," Lady Gu said. She regarded herself as the Scholar’s wife and spoke reasonably, disdaining to argue crudely with Lady He and Zhao Xiue.
"Don’t we usually take turns cooking? Why is it now only your family’s turn? If you love cooking so much, why don’t I see you cooking every day?" Lady He retorted.
"This is sothing for the Master and Granny to decide, not us," Lady Chiang said.
Old Master Lian didn’t utter a word, clearly leaving the decision about this household matter to Lady Zhou.
"You’re arguing over such a trivial matter; it’s all work in the end. Do you really think there’s any advantage for you to gain?" Lady Zhou said irritably, "Fine, if you want to take turns, then we’ll take turns."
Lady He seed sowhat triumphant; cooking at ho was definitely less demanding than working in the fields. She had never gotten the chance to do such an easy job during the planting and harvest seasons.
On the other hand, Lady Gu and Lady Chiang stopped talking. Neither of them had ever done a day’s work in the fields; doing fieldwork would be akin to taking their lives. They had thought Lady Zhou might lean a bit towards them because they represented the first room with the eldest son and grandson, and also because Lady Zhou found Lady He’s work sloppy. But Lady Zhou had agreed to the rotation of cooking.
Lady Chiang couldn’t help but sneak a peek at Lady Gu. Apparently, with Old Master Lian returning and scolding Lady Zhou, she had beco convinced that it was Lady Gu’s scheming that led to this, and so, she agreed to the suggestion from the second room to punish them.
Of course, there was another person. It was all started by Zhao Xiue.
Lady Gu and Lady Chiang exchanged glances and both looked towards Zhao Xiue.
**...**
First update for the day, with a second one coming later. It’s the end of the month, so I’m asking for pink support. (To be continued. If you like this work, please co to Qidian (qidian) to cast your recomndation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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