Chapter 439: Chapter 228 Lian Manman Has a New Idea_1
Second watch, asking for pink.
**...***
The three children hesitated for a moment, exchanged a look, and then pushed open the gate and walked in.
Lady Zhou stood in the yard, one hand on her back, the other pointing at Lady Zhao, scolding her.
"...Just because you can earn a bit of money, you think you can sprout wings? Do you see anyone else in your eyes? Whose clothes are these, if not Old Three’s? Do you think I’m blind or what?"
Hearing Lady Zhou scold like that, Lian Manman noticed for the first time the clothesline in the yard, with two men’s coats hung out to dry. They looked freshly washed and were still dripping water.
"Mom, I told you. This is, is what Yeye’s dad brought back. He said it belongs to a carpenter they worked with," Lady Zhao explained with a red face, standing next to the clothes.
"Granny, it’s true. My dad brought these clothes back yesterday after work and asked my mom to wash and mend them. My mom just found the time to wash them," Lian Yeye stood next to Lady Zhao, also helping to explain.
"I didn’t ask you, you little girl, what do you know? Go stand aside," Lady Zhou snapped, momentarily startled, and then scolded Lian Yeye.
Lian Yeye flushed and looked at Lady Zhao, then pouted her mouth and said no more.
Lian Manman then understood; it turned out that Lady Zhao was washing clothes for someone else, and Lady Zhou took issue with it when she saw.
"You’re washing clothes of an unrelated man that Old Three brought back for what? Doesn’t the man have his own hands?" Lady Zhou continued to interrogate Lady Zhao, her tone not softening in the least.
"Yeye’s dad said that the carpenter was good to him, willing to teach him... If the clothes can’t be cleaned well, he brought them back for me to help wash," Lady Zhao explained honestly.
"Old Three’s quite kind-hearted," Zhao Xiue leaned on the doorway of the East Wing Room, interjecting with a laugh, "So many men up on the mountain can’t wash their clothes properly. Auntie, can you even manage to help all of them?"
A granny scolding her daughter-in-law is one thing, but Zhao Xiue, as a new bride, really shouldn’t have butted in. Moreover, her words and the posture she spoke with left a particularly unpleasant feeling to ponder over.
"It’s just this carpenter who gets along with Yeye’s dad. We have to ask him for favors," Lady Zhao’s face turned even redder as she stammered out another explanation.
"Erlang’s wife, you don’t have anything to do?" Lady Zhou turned her head, staring at Zhao Xiue, "Don’t sing from three different hymn sheets here, go back to your room and tidy up. You primp and preen when you come out, but the inside of your room is a mess like a pigsty."
Different from when Zhao Xiue first entered the door, Lady Zhou was no longer polite to Zhao Xiue after the previous events.
Zhao Xiue had drawn fire upon herself, scolded by Lady Zhou, but this time she dared not talk back, only resentfully glancing at Lady He who stood with her at the doorway.
"Mom, granny told us to clean up the room... It was a pigsty when I came, and still, it’s my fault. If it weren’t for me cleaning every day, it would be worse than a pigsty," Zhao Xiue muttered under her breath.
"She told you to go, she didn’t call me," Lady He was enjoying the spectacle and was not inclined to go back and work.
"Old Two’s wife, you stop standing there daydreaming. Go tidy up with Erlang’s wife; the room is filthy, aren’t you ashamed?" Lady Zhou commanded.
Daydreaming, just as in Thirty Mile Camp’s local dialect, roughly means standing or sitting idly, doing nothing, simply daydreaming.
Ever since Lian Manman came here, she had learned quite a bit of local slang from Lady Zhou and others. These expressions are rarely found in writing but are vivid and full of strong daily life atmosphere and unique artistic charm.
Lady He, though reluctant, didn’t dare to disobey Lady Zhou and had to sulkily twist her body and head back to the room.
"If your granny tells you to work, just do it yourself. Why drag me into this? Now look what you’ve done!" Lady He complained to Zhao Xiue.
Zhao Xiue’s mood brightened considerably since she had brought Lady He into hot water as a result of Lady Zhou’s scolding.
After sending away Lady He and Zhao Xiue, Lady Zhou turned back around and continued to scold Lady Zhao.
"...Washing clothes doesn’t cost water or soap, right? You think all of that is for free, and now that you’ve brought home some money, you think you’re above the law. All three of you need to eat and wear clothes; your appetite grows by the day. Those few pennies you earn are not even enough for your wastefulness," Lady Zhou chided.
It was just a trivial matter, and even if Lady Zhou did not know the origin of the clothes, she should understand Lady Zhao’s character. The relentless scolding was just a way to knock Lady Zhao down a peg.
Having lived in the Lian Family these days, Lian Manman believed she understood Lady Zhou’s behavioral patterns quite well.
Lady Zhao must have understood Lady Zhou’s meaning too, preventing Lian Yeye from arguing with Lady Zhou.
"Mom, I understand. It won’t happen again," Lady Zhao said, head lowered, to Lady Zhou.
"Hmph, don’t just tell me what I want to hear. Each one of you, as soon as your backsides are up, I know exactly what kind of shit you’re about to take," Lady Zhou said, sweeping her gaze around. Lian Manman and the others quickly lowered their heads, showing submissiveness.
"Move the clothes down a bit, don’t block the way," Lady Zhou issued one final order. Watching Lady Zhao obediently move the clothes, she slowly turned and walked back into the house.
Seeing Lady Zhou enter the Upper Room, the children dared to stick out their tongues, then headed towards the West Wing Room.
"Mom, why didn’t you let me talk just now?" Inside the room, Lian Yeye spoke to Lady Zhao, "How are we wasteful? You and dad bring home not a small sum of money each month. There are only the three of us; dad has lunch on the mountain, you eat at my Auntie’s place twice, and then there’s me. We earn the most and spend the least. Granny still scolds us like that; we should reason with her."
Lian Manman massaged her forehead, feeling that Lady Zhou understood all of this, which is why she always took every opportunity to scold Lady Zhao and her family.
"Talking won’t change anything, let your grandma vent, and once she’s happy, that’ll be the end of it," Lady Zhao said, seeking peace, "If you start arguing with your grandma, it’ll never end. I’m not afraid of anything else, just that she won’t let me go work at your Fourth Aunt’s anymore."
"Even though the money I earn doesn’t end up in my hands, working in the shop every day gives me at least a little peace of mind," Lady Zhao added after a brief pause.
"That’s true, and at my Fourth Aunt’s place, we can at least have our fill of food," Lian Yeye said, looking down.
Lian Manman then invited Lady Zhao and Lian Yeye to sit in their room.
Upon entering the room, Lian Shouxin, Lady Zhang, and Lian Zhizhi were all there.
"Sister-in-law, Yeye, come and sit on the kang bed," Lady Zhang called out, "Don’t take the words your grandma says to heart. Everyone here, including our neighbors, knows what’s going on."
Lian Manman pulled Lian Yeye onto the kang bed and sat next to Lady Zhang.
"Mom, why didn’t you go out today to speak up for my Third Aunt?" Lian Manman asked with a smile.
"You child, you’re teasing your mom now," Lady Zhang scolded Lian Manman with a loving look, "Do you think your mom is that foolish? It’s clear as day, your grandma is just looking for trouble. If I had spoken up, taking the side of Yeye and her mom, your grandma who planned to scold once would end up scolding three times more. We wouldn’t have peace for the whole morning."
Everyone in the room laughed, knowing that what Lady Zhang said was the truth.
"Is your Third Uncle doing well up in the mountains?" Lady Zhang casually inquired with Lady Zhao.
"...He’s doing well, there’s a Master Li who is really kind and willing to teach him. The clothing is Master Li’s," Lady Zhao said.
"Those who come here to work are from quite far away. Men can only do heavy labor; with their rough and clumsy hands, few know how to wash clothes. Even if they try to wash, they can’t clean them properly, let alone mend them; they might even ruin the clothes," Lady Zhang empathetically said.
"It’s comfortable to stay at home, but difficult to be away even for a day," Lian Shouxin added, nodding.
"Oh!" Lian Manman clapped her hands upon hearing this.
Everyone in the room turned to look at her.
"What’s the matter, Manman? You startled everyone," Lady Zhang asked.
"Mom, I thought of a way to make money," Lian Manman grabbed Lady Zhang’s hand excitedly, "On the mountain, there must be many people like Master Li. Let’s open a laundry shop, where we take their clothes to wash, including mending."
"I heard that in the city, people make a living just by washing and mending clothes for others," Lian Manman hurriedly added when nobody responded.
In fact, the silence wasn’t due to opposition to Lian Manman’s idea, but because they were still absorbing it.
"How about it, how about it?" Lian Manman, feeling that she had come up with a great idea, eagerly wanted everyone’s approval, "We don’t need to open another shop; if someone has clothes to wash, let them bring it to our snack shop. If our family is too busy, we take care of collecting the clothes and distribute the laundering to people in the village."
"Sister Manman has a good idea," Lian Yeye was the first to agree.
"You know, this could really work," Lady Zhang said after thinking it over.
"I think it’s feasible," Lian Shouxin said, "This doesn’t require any capital. If people bring clothes, we wash them. If not, we don’t lose money."
Lian Shouxin was a steady character and lacked the entrepreneurial risk-taking spirit of a businessperson, always thinking of not losing money first. Lady Zhang liked this trait in Lian Shouxin; feeling that living with such a man meant that even without wealth, life would be stable.
"Let’s get right on it," Lian Manman said, "Brother, let’s write some posters, one for our shop’s entrance and a few to put up on the mountain."
"Alright," Wu Lang complied and went to get paper and ink. In the past few months, Wu Lang had made great strides in his studies and felt confident enough to write such posters.
"With these posters, we can promote this tomorrow at the snack shop to the men who come to eat, and get my Third Uncle to spread the word in the mountains. Then, business will come to us on its own," Lian Manman muttered to herself.
"Manman, how should we set the prices?" Wu Lang, with pen in hand, asked Lian Manman.
"Ah, the prices, they definitely can’t be high," Lian Manman said.
After discussing it together, they decided that washing and mending a piece of clothing would cost only One Wen Money.
"What if it’s just washing without mending, is it still the same price?" Lian Zhizhi asked.
*****......***
Making money isn’t easy; Manman and her family could only start with small earnings.
Thank you everyone for the pink votes given to "Little Landlord."
Here’s the second update, continuing to request pink votes. In these last three days of the month, the pink votes are in your hands. Ruoyan will dive into writing, striving for a third update. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to cast your recommendation and monthly votes on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
