Chapter 539: Chapter 277: Sudden Difficulties_3
This is also considered a humanized arrangement. It’s not only the private schools in Qingyang Town that have this tradition, but those in other towns and villages as well. They promote the inheritance of farming and scholarship, with farming taking precedence over studying.
The private school’s holidays include the advanced class where Lian Jizu was enrolled. As the eldest grandson of the Lian Family, Lian Jizu should now be discussing the important matters of spring farming with Lian Shouren and Old Master Lian.
Lian Shouxin knew how Old Master Lian felt about Lian Jizu, so he brought up Lian Jizu, hoping to cheer Old Master Lian up a bit. But halfway through his speech, Lian Shouxin remembered that Lian Jizu was not used to farming, nor did he enjoy it. Recalling the various incidents that had happened before the family split, it was very likely that Lian Jizu was looking for an excuse to avoid the spring farming work.
Having realized this, Lian Shouxin deeply regretted his words, as they did not bring any cheer to Old Master Lian but, instead, added to his worries. He hurriedly signaled Lady Zhang and the several children with his eyes, hoping they could steer the conversation in another direction.
Lady Zhang actually wanted to help, but she was not eloquent and was accustomed to staying silent when the men discussed matters, so she couldn’t come up with anything to say.
As for Lian Manman, Wu Lang, and Xiao Qi, the three children acted as if they had not seen Lian Shouxin’s signal and simultaneously turned their heads. Then, three fuzzy little heads huddled over the deed in Lian Manman’s hands, pretending to study it intently.
Lian Shouxin felt embarrassed and could only cough dryly a couple of times.
"Jizu is about to have his exams, unlike Wu Lang and Xiao Qi, missing a day or two of studying doesn’t matter much to him," Lian Shouren took over the conversation seriously, "He mentioned this yesterday. Jizu’s teacher thinks highly of him and insists that he cannot slack off this year. While others are on holiday, Jizu cannot be lazy. His teacher lent him the room at the private school so he could use these few days to study diligently."
"Ah," Lian Shouxin let out a sound.
Everyone else in the room, including Old Master Lian, remained silent.
"Father, we plan to start sowing the fields tomorrow. It’s perfect timing as Wu Lang and Xiao Qi are both on holiday and at home," Lian Shouxin brought up the purpose of his visit to Old Master Lian.
"Which field do you plan to start with first?" Old Master Lian asked.
"We’ll start with the six acres to the south, all to be planted with peanuts," Lian Shouxin replied.
"That’s right. Peanuts are delicate and it’s great timing right after the rain; sowing now is just right," Old Master Lian nodded and said, "I was also planning to start with the southern fields and plant peanuts. We’ll plant them tomorrow. I told your second brother and the others to take the morning off when they went to work today, to ask the foreman for a few days off - we need to plant the fields at home... Once the fields are planted, they can go back to work, and take time off again when it’s too busy in the fields."
Originally, Old Master Lian had only planned for Lian Shouyi and the others to work in the mountains for a while before the spring farming; afterwards, they were not supposed to go back. The change in plans now was naturally due to the incident of secretly brewing grape wine, which completely drained the Lian Family’s finances.
For the entire family, only by working doubly hard would they be able to make ends meet.
"Old Fourth, you’ll need to speak up for us with Old Huang," Old Master Lian said to Lian Shouxin, "We don’t want your second and third brothers to lose their jobs over this."
"Okay, I’ll talk to Old Huang," Lian Shouxin thought it over and then agreed.
"Old Fourth, you’ve really made something of yourself now. You’ve opened a shop, sent Wu Lang and Xiao Qi to private school, and I’ve heard you even hired a teacher from the mountains to tutor Manman at home? Manman can even recognize land lease deeds now. It’s not that I, as your eldest brother, want to meddle in your business, but everyone should stick to their own position. It’s fine for Wu Lang and Xiao Qi to study; that’s good, and I think highly of it. But Manman..."
Lian Shouren said so and glanced at Lian Manman again.
Lian Manman had heard Lian Shouren mention her and lifted her head from the deed, staring unblinkingly at Lian Shouren with her dark eyes.
Lian Shouren lowered his eyelids.
"It’s the same old phrase, everyone should stick to their own position. Manman is a girl; can she participate in the imperial examinations and bring glory to the Old Lian Family or something? If word gets out, and people say that your nephews can’t even afford schooling, while Jizu is working hard at the private school, but you’re throwing money at a girl, what are they going to say about you behind your back!"
"Eldest uncle, then you tell me, what exactly are people saying about us behind our backs?" Lian Manman suppressed her anger and stared at Lian Shouren as she questioned him.
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Delivering the second update, a substantial Chapter, in search of pink support. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
