Chapter Six: Lian's Dinner

  Lian Shouyi and He Shi wanted Lian Hua'er to put her handprint on the IOU, which shocked both Old Master Lian and Lian Shourong.

  "Second brother, what do you mean? Hua'er is a young lady from a good family, how can we let her come and press the handprint. Father is the head of our household." Lian Shouren hastily said.

  "Big brother, anything can happen. What Flower says sounds good, but if we can't pay back the debt when the time comes, we'll have to use our family's house and land. Your nephews still need these to make a living and get married." Lian Shouyi smiled and said, "Besides, this money is for Flower to use, it's only right that she signs the IOU."

  "Big brother, we know you dote on your daughter, but soon she'll be the young mistress of the Sun family. It's not good to let us poor people take on her debts." said Mrs. He.

  Lao Jin caught on to something and asked, "Is this money that the eldest daughter of the Xiucai Young Master's family wants to borrow?"

  "No."

  Gu and Lianhua were outside the door, hearing this sentence they hurriedly walked in.

  If Lian Shouyi continues to speak, the matter of Lian Hua'er smashing the jade pendant will be exposed. When that happens and it spreads to the Sun family, Lian Hua'er won't be able to marry into their family anymore.

  "Second Uncle, what's the matter? We're family, let's discuss it nicely." Gu Shi smiled at Lian Shouyi, "Besides, everything was already settled just now, what else do you have to worry about?"

  Lian Shouyi just smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, empty words are useless. When the time comes, you officials will go be officials, and you young mistresses will go be young mistresses, leaving only this family to bear the debt for you. How unfair would that be? Third brother, fourth brother, don't you think so?"

  That's right, Lian Man'er nodded secretly. For their own sake, Lian Shouren and his wife could make the decision to sell her, what else couldn't they do?

  "Second Uncle, what exactly do you want?" Lian Hua'er gritted her teeth and said.

  "Hua Er, you said you would return the money, so why are you afraid of putting your fingerprint on the IOU?" Lian Shouyi asked.

  "Otherwise, let's discuss this matter again," said Lian Shou.

  "Good." Gu Shi and Lian Hua both nodded hastily, they didn't want to let Lao Jin know about the matter.

  "Hey, Mr. Scholar, you're absolutely right! I've got all the IOUs written out and ready to go, now you want to discuss it? It's not like I'm bragging, but there are people lined up around the block wanting to borrow from me, 500 taels of silver, and the daily interest is no small amount. If Mr. Scholar doesn't want to lend anymore, then he shouldn't be blocking my path to wealth." Old Jin was getting a bit unhappy.

  "This money must have been borrowed by my family, keep it for now." Lian Shouren said hastily.

  "You can only stay for one night, and the interest will be calculated from today." said Old Jin.

  Lian Shouren saw off Old Jin, and the people of Lian's family sat down again.

  "It's all settled, how come you're still putting our parents in your eyes?" Lian Shouren stood up to his older brother's dignity and scolded Lian Shouyi.

  "Brother, we've been brothers for so many years, this matter, just talking about it is not reliable," Lian Shouyi said. He had just discussed with He Shi and felt that it was necessary to borrow money in the name of Lian Hua'er to be safe.

  "Lao Er, how can you be like this!" Lian Shouren turned to Lian Lao for help, "Dad, say something."

  "Third and Fourth, what are your opinions?" asked Lao Yezi.

  Lian Shouxin and Lian Shouli exchanged a glance.

  "We all listen to Father."

  The old man let out a sigh.

  "All these years, for the sake of your elder brother's education, our family has indeed spent a lot of money, making your lives increasingly difficult. My heart doesn't feel good about this either. This time, if your elder brother is selected as an official, our whole family will be able to make ends meet. The younger ones can study and the older ones can marry well, I'll also let your elder brother take care of you more."

  "Father, I understand your thoughts. Eldest brother's official selection is his own ability, I just want to be a farmer and live a simple life." Lian Shou said, "I've helped eldest brother in every way I can, this time Man Er..."

  As for Lian Man Er, Lian Shou Xin couldn't help but lower his head in shame.

  Don't cry, Lian Mian is thinking about what Lian Shou said, and her mood is a bit complicated.

  "My fourth brother and I see eye to eye," Lian Shouyi said.

  "This money will definitely be returned. But Hua'er can't put her handprint on the IOU, it'll spread and people will think..." Gu's wife also started sobbing.

  "Shǒu rén, nǐ zěn me shuō?"

  Translation: "Shouren, what did you say?"

  "It can't be that the flower girl is allowed to press her handprint, Father, you are the head of the family, so it should be you." Lian Shouren said.

  This man, doesn't he have any conscience at all? Lian Man felt like she couldn't hold back from jumping up and scolding him. She turned her head to see Lian Lao Ye's face full of gloom, then turned again to see a cold glint in Lian Hua Er's eyes.

  Lian Hua'er coldly sized up the people in the house. She could see that none of them were willing to take on this debt for her, not even temporarily. Even Old Master Lian had been swayed by their words and was now worried that he would lose this mansion and those dozens of acres of land. In this entire household, no one was considering her feelings, not even her parents, who were only making an effort because Sun Lang had promised to take care of her.

  No matter what the cost, whether it's bankruptcy or another scandal like Lian Man Er's, no one can stop her from marrying into the Sun family.

  Now you look at me with such a face, but when I marry into the Sun family, you will know how powerful I am.

  Lian Hua'er made up her mind, wiped away the corners of her eyes, and then opened her mouth with a sob.

  "I'm willing to write the IOU..." Lian Hua'er said, "But as for the jade pendant, no one can mention it again. If outsiders find out, my marriage will be ruined and this debt won't be repaid, and in the end, our whole family will suffer."

  Lian Man'er had just seen Lian Hua'er's gaze was fierce, but in an instant, she saw that she was actually a weak and reserved figure. In her heart, she secretly warned herself, this girl is cunning.

  Lian Shouren and Gu exchanged a glance, Lian Shouyi and He were both looking at the front with great importance, not willing to give in even a little. If they insisted on letting Old Master Lian draw a picture, Lian Shouyi would really make a scene, then all their previous efforts would be wasted.

  "Hua'er is willing, then so be it." Lian Shouren said.

  Everyone has discussed and decided that tomorrow morning, they will call Lao Jin again to sign the IOU and exchange it for silver.

  "It's getting late, let's have dinner." said Lao Yezi.

  "Mother, all the dishes are ready, what would you like to eat?" Zhang asked Lian's mother, Zhou.

  "What's at home? You still have to ask me about this?" Zhou Shi said irritably.

  Zhang had no choice but to walk out with a humiliated expression.

  Lian Wan'er also came out, the front and back doors of the outer room were wide open, Zhang Shi and Lian Zhier were both wearing aprons, busily scooping rice and wotou from a large iron pot.

  "Man'er, go rest in your room." Zhang saw Lian Man'er coming out and hurriedly said, "Or else, let Xiao Qi take you for a walk outside. Don't go far, we'll be eating soon."

  "Oh." Lian Man'er nodded.

  The main house of Lian's family has five rooms, two on the east and west sides, and one in the middle. The outer room in the middle is the kitchen. There are two large stoves and two small stoves on both sides. In the middle, there is also a partition, and on the north side of the partition, there are dish cabinets, vegetable racks, and some miscellaneous items, which serve as the operating room for the kitchen.

  Going out from the back of this outer house is Lian's backyard. The backyard is very large, all made into vegetable gardens. Now it's the weather at the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, the garden has patch after patch of scallions, cabbage, peppers, cucumbers, eggplants, etc., all growing very well. A gentle breeze blows over, carrying a bit of mud and the fragrance of green leaves.

  Lian Man'er took a few deep breaths. If she couldn't go back, at least there was no air pollution here and the food was green and healthy.

  After taking a look in the backyard, Lianmeng returned to the front yard.

  The front yard and the back yard are roughly the same size, with three rooms on each side of the wing room. From the wing room to the gate, it has also been opened up as a vegetable garden. This house can be considered a very regular farmhouse, when Lian bought it at the beginning, he spent 150 taels of silver.

  Lian Wulang carried a bundle of firewood up to the upper room, and Lian Man'er followed him back.

  "Old Fourth's wife." Zhou Shi was standing in the outer room, directing Zhang Shi to do this and that.

  "Stir-fry the flat bean corner in this basket." said Zhou Shi.

  Just now Zhang went to ask her what dish she was making, but was scolded by her. How could she come out and direct in such a short time?

  "Cut the silk into fine threads, don't over-fry it." Lian Xiuer followed beside Zhou Shi and chimed in, "And don't put scallions, Hua'er doesn't eat those. Add more fragrant oil, Hua'er loves to eat that."

  "Ah." Zhang replied with relish.

  "What are you doing out here, getting all greasy?" Mrs. Zhou scolded her daughter.

  "Mother, I'm going to talk to Hua'er." Lian Xiuer smiled and stepped into the western room in a few strides.

  "Why wash so many potatoes?" Zhou Shi looked at the large basin of potatoes in front of Lian Zhier and scolded, "Take out half of them and let your mother wash them herself. You go pick twenty eggplants, we'll have braised eggplant for dinner tonight."

  Zhang was busy scooping potatoes out of the basin, and Lianzhi also stood up, wiping her hands on her apron before taking a basket to the back garden to pick some eggplants.

  "These potatoes are all shredded, you go wash a few more peppers and stir-fry them." Zhou Shi further instructed.

  "Ah." Zhou replied hastily and put the washed potatoes on the chopping board, cutting them into shreds.

  "Man Er, what are you standing there for? Come and cook." Zhou Shi ordered as soon as she saw Lian Man Er.

  "Huh? Oh..."

  "Man'er is still not well, I'll go cook." Lian Wulang sat down beside the big stove to start cooking.

  "Wolong, you should go and do what you're supposed to do. This isn't your job, let Man'er cook." said Zhou Shi.

  "Milk, I'll get it." Lian Zhier hurried in with a basket of eggplants and said.

  "Mother, Man Er just woke up. We can handle this for now. Let's let her rest a bit longer before she starts working again." Zhang Shi said to Zhou Shi.

  "The children have all spoiled you." Madame Chou gave a sideways glance at Madame Chang, but also didn't make Lianmeng do any more work. She herself went to the back and took out a piece of five-flower pork from the cupboard, personally cutting half of it on the chopping board, then slicing it into pieces, and putting the other half back again.

  Zhao brought Lian Ye'er in and lit up another big stove.

  Two large iron pots on the stoves were already hot, and Zhou Shi poured oil into the pot, then added the sliced meat, stir-frying out a fragrance. Lian Zhier brought over washed and chopped eggplant, which Zhou Shi added to the pot, stirring for a while before Lian Zhier brought over water, which Zhou Shi also added to the pot along with salt, then covered it with a lid.

  "Keep an eye on the fire." Madame Zhou instructed Zhao, straightening up and just catching sight of Zhang pouring oil into the pot. "That oil isn't free, you can't afford to pour it like that!"

  Zhou rushed over and snatched the oil bowl from Zhang's hand, pouring it into the pot himself.

  Zhang brought over the chopped peppers and shredded potatoes, ready to pour them into the pot.

  "Go get the bean sprouts and stir-fry them first," Mrs. Zhou ordered immediately.