Chapter 551: Chapter 283: Trouble_2
"Dad, we’ll head back first," Lian Shouxin said.
"Go on, head back," Old Master Lian waved his hand.
Lian Shouxin loaded everything onto the cart, with Wu Lang driving as usual. Lian Manman and Xiao Qi, the two youngsters, sat on the cart while Lady Zhang, Lian Shouxin, and Lian Zhizhi walked alongside it.
They went straight back to the shop where there were extra steamed buns prepared from the morning and a pot of pork bone soup left over. After heating up the soup by stoking the fire underneath the pot, Lady Zhang quickly stir-fried some bean sprouts on another stove. Lian Manman, meanwhile, cut the dried tofu they had bought from the tofu shop along the way into cubes, chopped the green onions into segments, and placed a bowl of thick soy paste on the table. The whole family sat down to eat.
After half a day’s labour, everyone was hungry, and the food was soon devoured completely.
Lady Zhang cleaned up the table and dishes. The family tidied up without taking a midday nap and set off again with the ox-cart to the fields.
Old Master Lian and the rest of the family were still hard at work. Lian Manman thought that they must have eaten as well.
"Old Fourth, have you all eaten?" Lian Shouyi stopped his work and leaned on his iron hoe as he asked Lian Shouxin.
"Yes, Second Brother, have you had your meal?" Lian Shouxin replied.
"We haven’t eaten yet," Lian Shouyi called out loudly.
"Ah," Lian Shouxin was surprised, "how come you haven’t eaten?"
"Old Fourth, when you went back just now, did you see if Mother and the others had finished cooking?" Lian Shouli asked.
"Third Brother, we ate over at the shop, we didn’t go home," Lian Shouxin answered.
"Dad, should we have someone go back and check if something happened at home?" Lian Shouren cautiously asked Old Master Lian.
"Check what? What could have happened? It’s just cooking and delivering a meal. I refuse to believe we can’t get it done without going back ourselves. Keep working, everyone, get back to work," Old Master Lian said with a stern face.
The entire family fell silent, merely bowing their heads to continue their labor.
Farming is a physical job; without a full stomach, where would one get the energy? Old Master Lian was clearly in a mood.
"Isn’t that Auntie Gu? Auntie Gu and her group are bringing the meal," Lian Manman had almost finished planting another half row when she heard Lian Yeye’s voice calling out.
Lian Manman looked up and saw Lady Gu, Lady Chiang, Lian Duo, and Lian Yaya slowly making their way along the path leading to the fields, baskets in hand, swaying from side to side.
Despite the relatively short distance, they took ages to reach the end of the field.
All four were covered in sweat, with mud on the tips of their shoes, and Lian Duo and Lian Yaya also had mud stains on their clothes.
"Why have you only arrived now?" Old Master Lian put down his work and walked over, asking sternly.
Usually, no matter the situation, Old Master Lian rarely directly spoke to the womenfolk and grandchildren of the household—let alone reprimand them. The fact that he was speaking this way to Lady Gu and Lady Chiang could only mean he was very angry.
Lian Duo and Lian Yaya hid behind the others, silent. Lady Gu and Lady Chiang, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, glanced at each other and seemed lost for words, as if they were hiding something.
This only made Old Master Lian even angrier.
"Old Uncle, are these your daughters-in-law?" Just then, a middle-aged man carrying an iron hoe walked by from the end of the field, calling out to Old Master Lian, "They must not be used to working in the fields, right? I ran into them earlier; they took a wrong turn and headed towards the big field on the east side. I thought they looked unfamiliar and was wondering which household they were from. I only found out after asking that they were from your family."
Lady Gu and Lady Chiang’s faces showed embarrassment.
"Old Fifth, thank you very much for this. What’s the matter, have you finished planting on the east end?" There were outsiders passing by, so Old Master Lian had to suppress his anger and greeted them with a smile.
"Just finished," the farmer known as Old Fifth laughed, "Old Uncle, you’re a lucky man. Look at all these grandchildren around you."
"What luck or no luck," Old Master Lian grumbled.
After the man left, Old Master Lian sat down with the family to start eating. The Lian Family’s midday meal was simple but substantial: sorghum rice, fatty pork stewed with dried tofu, and pickled vegetables. There was no soup, so everyone had to make do with water to wash it all down.
"Why is there so little rice?" After everyone had filled their bowls, Old Master Lian saw that one rice container was already empty, and the other barely had a thin layer left. He asked discontentedly.
During planting time, it was essential to eat well. This had always been a rule in the Lian Family, and Old Master Lian remembered reminding Lady Zhou about it before they left that morning.
"Dad, there’s more vegetables today, so eat more vegetables," Lady Gu said with a forced smile, signaling Lian Shouren with a stealthy glance.
"That’s right, Dad, eat the vegetables," Lian Shouren urged, knowing there must be some reason behind this.
"Ow!" Lian Yeye suddenly cried out, spitting out the half-chewed food from his mouth. "Why, why is there sand in the rice? My teeth—Mom, check if my tooth is chipped," he complained.
Old Master Lian turned his attention to Lian Yeye.
"It’s nothing." Lady Zhao, wanting to keep the peace as she was averse to making trouble, took Lian Yeye’s bowl and handed him her own. "Yeye, you eat from this bowl," she said.
"If there’s sand, then there’s sand. It doesn’t make any difference who eats it," Lian Yeye muttered under his breath, poking around in Lady Zhao’s bowl with his chopsticks. His expression changed immediately, "Mom, there’s sand in your bowl, too, and even dirt."
"Give it here, let me see," Old Master Lian demanded immediately.
Lian Yeye handed over his bowl and Old Master Lian stirred the rice with his chopsticks, spotting the bits of sand and dirt mixed in.
"Explain to me, what’s going on here?" Old Master Lian flung the bowl to the ground with a snap and stared at Lady Gu and Lady Chiang, demanding an answer.
×××......××
(Second update, asking for pink votes. [To be continued... If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for it, to cast your monthly vote, and your support is my biggest motivation.])
