Chapter 544: Chapter 280 Whose Land to Cultivate_1
"Why has the arguing started again?" Lady Zhang sighed, "Can’t we have a single day without bickering? Is that too much to ask for?"
Thinking about it, the life at the Lian Family had been relatively peaceful in the past. Every day, although one could often hear Lady Zhou scolding, it was just Lady Zhou’s voice, and those who were scolded were always meek and compliant, not to mention talking back. No matter how hot-tempered Lady Zhou was, one can’t sustain a solo act for long.
However, now with Zhao Xiue here, things had changed.
The Lian Family now heard three kinds of noises almost every day: Lady Zhou’s scolding, Zhao Xiue’s scolding, and of course, the most raucous was when Lady Zhou clashed with Zhao Xiue.
"I feel so uneasy just hearing these voices. If it were me, I couldn’t live a single day like this," Lady Zhang said as she fished out a few rolls of cotton thread from the needle and thread basket, fixed one end of the thread, and started twisting three strands together to make them stronger. The thread used for stitching shoe soles needed to be more durable than ordinary cotton thread. This was the kind of thread commonly made by the wives of tenant farmers.
"Living in this household is like needles clashing with wheat stalks, a never-ending daily argument. In the past, I always went along with your grandmother, not for anything else, but just to have some peace. While twisting the cotton thread, Lady Zhang kept muttering complaints.
Lian Manman stood up from where she had been soaking the peanut seeds and walked over to the shelf, wiping her hands dry with a cloth. The daily quarreling between Zhao Xiue and Lady Zhou was not a good way to live, but Lady Zhang’s previous method of appeasing Lady Zhou without principle wasn’t necessarily right either.
"Eh," Lady Zhang said mid-conversation, suddenly remembering something. She asked in surprise, "Xiao Qi, what did you just say? Did Sister-in-law Xiu E also have a quarrel with your grandfather?"
In the past, when arguments broke out at home, it was either Zhao Xiue picking on Lady Zhou or Lady Zhou picking on Zhao Xiue, and Old Master Lian rarely got involved. In fact, many farmstead families were like this, with the women in the household arguing over trivial matters while the men stayed out of it. After things blew over, the household would return to normal. Therefore, Lady Zhang found it strange that today Zhao Xiue had clashed not just with Lady Zhou, but also with Old Master Lian.
"Mmm, it seems it’s about the arrangements for farming," Xiao Qi nodded in response.
The arrangements for farming were made by Old Master Lian, so it was no surprise that Zhao Xiue had a clash with him.
The sound of arguing from the Upper Room grew louder.
"I’ll go have a look," Lian Manman said as she stepped out of the West Wing Room.
Walking into the outer room of the Upper Room, Lian Manman saw Lady Zhao and Lian Yeye standing side by side. Lady Chiang was holding Niuniu at the doorway of the west room, which was half-open, revealing that inside, Lady Gu and Lian Duoduo were both sitting on the edge of the heated brick bed. These women were not entering the east room, but it was clear that they were all very interested in the quarrel happening inside.
"What’s happening, why is today’s quarrel so fierce?" Lian Manman walked over and stood next to Lian Yeye to ask.
Standing next to Lian Yeye, Lian Manman noticed that Lady Zhao’s complexion was pale and she was trembling slightly. Lian Manman couldn’t help but sigh. Indeed, the same grain yields a hundred different people. Lady Zhao was inherently timid. Even with daily quarrels at home, she could never grow accustomed. Every time, she would become frightfully pale with fear.
"Sister-in-law Xiue says that Grandfather is biased," Lian Yeye looked over at Lady Chiang briefly before turning back, lowering her voice to tell Lian Manman, "Sister-in-law Xiue complains that her room has to contribute more labor for farming, whereas Big Uncle’s family does less work."
So that was the issue. Lian Manman thought about it; Old Master Lian had already discussed this year’s farming arrangements with Lian Shouxin. The farming had always been planned this way by the Lian Family and nobody had complained before; everyone had taken it for granted.
But now, Zhao Xiue had joined the family.
"...Erlang and the other men in our family work themselves to the bone in the mountains to earn money for the household, but we don’t get more food or clothes than anyone else. It’s us who earn the money, but we have no say in spending it. Big Uncle’s family of six eats just as much—what work do they do all day to earn money for the household? They don’t earn a penny, yet their expenses are not small. Let’s not talk about anything else, just that one who goes to school, every day money flows out like water..." Zhao Xiue’s sharp voice came from inside the room.
Unable to resist, Lian Manman tiptoed to the east room’s door and slightly lifted the curtain to peek inside. A cloud of smoke hit her face, nearly causing Lian Manman to cough out loud.
