Chapter 342: Chapter 178: Advance by Retreat_1
Lian Shouyi had barely said a word when he was met with a rebuff, causing his face to look somewhat sheepish as he grinned and went to sit to one side. Lady He, with Si Lang and Liulang, followed him over.
"Dad, what did you want to talk to us about?" Lady He asked as she sat down.
"Old Fourth’s family has opened a breakfast shop. Who among you wants to work there?" Old Master Lian asked.
Lian Shouyi and Lady He quickly exchanged a glance.
Old Fourth had opened a breakfast shop, and Lian Shouyi hadn’t taken it seriously at first. No one at Thirty Mile Camp had ever opened a breakfast shop before, and he figured that the shop wouldn’t amount to much, just sparing effort barely worth a look. But Lady He had gone to see it today, and although everything was priced at one wen, there were quite a few customers. The money added up, amounting to a significant sum. Old Fourth’s family was even cautious around Lady He, not offering her even a bun or a bowl of soup.
Lady He told him that the buns from Old Fourth’s family had white flour in them, the bone broth was fragrant, and they even had better meat buns.
This made him think.
As soon as they had walked in, Old Master Lian had shown them a cold face, which made Lian Shouyi uncertain. However, since Old Master Lian had spoken up, he saw it as a good opportunity not to be missed. After all, they were Old Master Lian’s descendants, and he had no reason not to care for them.
If Old Fourth’s family was doing well, it was only right that they should help them out. Old Master Lian would surely agree with this.
With that thought, Lian Shouyi gave a slight nod to Lady He.
"We’ll all go," Lady He eagerly replied immediately, "We’re idle at home anyway. Xiao Qi is so young, and he’s working in the shop, so Si Lang and Liulang can certainly work too."
Lady He had her own agenda. If their whole family went, she wouldn’t argue about the wages; having two meals at the shop was enough for her. Lady Zhang was too good at making food. Just looking at her steamed buns, meat buns, and the oily bone broth made her mouth water.
"That small shop can’t use so many people! There isn’t enough pay for everyone!" Lian Manman whispered.
"What’s all this talk about pay!" Lady He grinned, "Just let us have two meals in the shop, and we needn’t make anything extra. Just the shop’s buns, meat buns, and bone broth is fine as long as it’s enough to fill us up. We’re easy to please, haha. Manman, I see there’s still a lot of meat on those bones you don’t like to gnaw, I’ll take care of that for you."
Lian Manman held her forehead, marveling at how Lady He had cultivated such a thick skin.
"Don’t just talk about eating the moment you open your mouth," Lian Shouyi scolded Lady He, "Would Old Fourth really let us work for nothing, without paying wages?"
"Right, Old Fourth?" After chiding Lady He, Lian Shouyi turned his face, looking at Lian Shouxin with a big grin.
Lian Shouxin’s expression was not good.
"You still want to go to Old Fourth’s place to gnaw on bones, why don’t you boil my old bones and gnaw on them!" Old Master Lian said, trembling with anger.
"Dad, we were just kidding with Old Fourth," Lian Shouyi, quick to read the room, immediately responded, "We can’t all go. I’m a grown man and eat too much, I won’t go. Just let the wife take the two kids. Let Old Fourth choose, any kid will do."
He spoke as if he was being so magnanimous.
"You all need to calm down," Old Master Lian said with not a hint of a smile, "This isn’t just any work, it’s a breakfast shop. Your wife can’t even keep the meals at home tidy, what use is she there, just causing trouble for Old Fourth? You also want to have two meals there; Old Fourth’s shop can’t withstand the lot of you eating!"
Old Master Lian didn’t spare their feelings, voicing exactly what Lian Shouyi and Lady He were thinking.
"You see someone earning a bit of money, but you don’t see all the hardship they endure. Be honest with yourselves, can you endure that kind of hardship?" Old Master Lian added, with a tone that was somewhat earnest and well-meaning.
Lian Shouyi and Lady He stopped talking.
Lian Manman quietly nodded to herself. Anticipating that Lian Shouyi and Lady He would set their sights on the breakfast shop, they had already agreed to consult Old Master Lian first, using a retreat as an advance. Old Master Lian, being reasonable, would certainly quash the delusions harbored by Lian Shouyi and Lady He.
This way, Lian Shouyi and Lady He would have nothing to complain about.
Lady Zhou and Lian Xiuxiu sat on the kang, silent throughout. The breakfast shop work was dirty and tiring, and Lady Zhou would never allow Lian Xiuxiu to do it, not to mention that the shop was next to the main road, quite far from the Lian Family’s home.
