stingy landlady

Chapter 97 Another Storm (1)

Pan Qiang has returned. Xi Le took the cow to the pasture to graze the horses and cattle. This little boy is clever and bold. After a few days, he became familiar with the animals and dared to ride a horse slowly.

Dazhu and Panqiang went to the seedling nursery to shovel the seedlings into baskets, then used a carrying pole to carry the baskets of autumn seedlings to the field, throwing them one by one into the field for the farmhands to transplant.

That evening, the old man drank some wine in silence. He went back to his room and scolded the old woman:

"How could you have such a pig's head! What can anyone say about you! You're completely clueless!"

The old lady was stunned by the scolding:

"What have I done this time? I stay indoors all day, never stepping out of the house. How have I offended you again?"

The old lady thought about it and realized that she really hadn't had anything to do during this time!

"You're getting more and more capable as you get older! You drank some cat pee and got all horny, and now you're coming back to scold me? You're disgusted with me?"

The old lady suddenly remembered something.

"You've taken a fancy to some young widow, haven't you? Coming back to look down on me? Want me to make room for her? Dream on! Whose young widow is she? I'll tear her to shreds!"

The old man shouted:

"You're getting more and more ridiculous! What kind of young widow are you talking about? I'm scolding you for being unable to distinguish right from wrong and for not knowing what's good for you! And you're turning around and biting me instead."

"But what have I done? You're getting more and more critical as you get older. I didn't see you complaining when you were young! You're so clueless, you don't know right from wrong!"

The old man steadied himself:

"What good has it done you to offend Dazhu's family? Their lives are thriving now! And you? What have you gained?"

The old lady cried.

"You're just looking for an excuse to insult me! What did I do to offend him? He's my son, I could hit him even if I didn't want to insult him, how could I have offended him!"

The old man said earnestly:

"Dazhu isn't a child anymore, you can't just hit him or scold him whenever you want! He's the head of the family now! Use your brain before you do anything! Don't act impulsively and recklessly! That second son's wife is just a shallow-minded person!"

I'm so angry!

The old lady was puzzled:

"What kind of trouble has Zhao caused now! I'll deal with her tomorrow!"

The old man sighed:

"Why do you have to be envious of others when you can live a good life? Do you know that Dazhu sold cucumbers today? He made over a hundred catties and more than a tael of silver!"

This is just the first batch! From now on, there will be plenty, not little! Look at you! You have perfectly good ways to make money, but you insist on taking that crooked path!

"But nobody told us to plant cucumbers earlier! And it's not that I refused to plant them!"

The old lady couldn't understand it. And what did it have to do with her?

The old man wanted nothing more than to crack open the old woman's head and take a look.

"If you and Zhao hadn't insisted on bullying Li and trying to see her cabinet, wouldn't your eldest son have told you to plant cucumbers earlier? He would have even helped you sell them! Where else could you find such a good deal!"

Just because you bullied her and looked down on her, she's not including you this time! She won't even tell you how to make money, so you can bully and look down on others!

The old lady immediately stopped crying.

"Their cucumbers are so profitable? Ten coins a pound? Those cucumbers are really heavy, just a few weigh more than a pound! Dazhu has really struck gold this time!"

"Hmph! That's Dazhu's skill! You guys are just envious!"

The old lady rolled her eyes and was about to get out of bed.

The old man grabbed her arm. "Where are you going?"

"Why are you pulling me! I'm going to see Dazhu! Just because of that woman Li who can't bear a son, he doesn't even want his own mother anymore!"

For those few girls, you'd even abandon your own brothers, wouldn't you?

The old man got even angrier when he heard that:

"You're such a blockhead, you don't get it at all! Haven't you noticed Dazhu's family? You have to be nice to them! If you stand up to them, they'll fight you!"

"This won't work, that won't work! So what do I need to do?"

The old man thought for a moment before saying:

"That's it for this season! I told Dazhu that if there's any good money-making opportunity in the future, he should think of us. He should at least give this old man some face. And you shouldn't look down on those girls! Dazhu said that if we can make money to build houses and buy land, it'll all depend on them!"

The old lady was unwilling, but she eventually gave in.

"Hmph! A few girls! What great things can they possibly achieve! Alright, alright, I'll ignore them from now on! As long as I don't get close to them, they'll be fine!"

The old man turned around and went to sleep! The old woman didn't care about anything, eating and sleeping as usual, she was very carefree!

Guizhi didn't pick too many cucumbers, only about ten catties, which she divided among the two young masters, Zheng and Liu. Young Master Zheng said:

"Guizhi! Your family has the most fresh vegetables! Bring some more tomorrow! This is too little, not even one per person! Don't you know we have a large family?"

Gui Zhi smiled bitterly:

"Young Master Zheng! I secretly brought these for you to try! Everyone else has already reserved them! They'll take as many as they can get! But since you and Young Master Liu are so familiar with each other, I secretly picked some for you!"

Young Master Liu praised:

"Guizhi is so generous! It's the same whether you pick it once or twice! We won't ask you for it every day! Just pick some for us every day or two, every two or three days! We'll take whatever you pick, however much or how little you pick!"

"Oh no! I've gotten myself into big trouble again! Hehe!"

"No trouble at all! No trouble at all! It doesn't matter who I sell the cassia branches to, right?"

Young Master Liu asked:

"Guizhi! Have you moved into your new house yet? When are you moving in? Don't forget to let us know when you do. We've been wanting to go and see it for a while now, we've been looking forward to visiting your auspicious burial site!"

Guizhi had no choice but to say:

"Young Master Liu! I'll tell my fifth uncle about Young Master Zheng, and he can pass the message on, okay?"

"Okay, okay! Just don't forget about us then!"

In the afternoon, the three sisters, Gui Xiang, Gui Hong, and Gui Zhi, went to pick cucumbers. They picked a lot this time, and they will send them to Xiang Man Lou tomorrow!

Li and Guiling were at home. Yesterday afternoon, Guihong brought silk flowers and silver ornaments.

Li had heard from elders that silver bracelets were good for children's health, so she put one on Guiling's wrist. Guiling was always within her sight anyway.

He occasionally goes out to play, but that usually only stays in the yard!

Guiling went to town today, and Li specially put a pink silk flower on her head. It made Guiling look even more innocent and adorable!

While Li was preparing dinner, Guiling ran into the yard without her noticing!

Seeing Guiling wearing a hair ornament, Zhao called out to her. Guiling tried to run back, but Zhao grabbed her, saying, "Why are you running? Don't you know how to greet your second aunt?"

Guiling whispered, "Second Aunt!"

"Yes! That's right! Come on, Auntie's sister Taozhi has lots of good food and fun things to do, I'll take you to see!"

As Zhao spoke, she led Guiling back. Guiling couldn't break free, so she had no choice but to follow her to Erzhu's house.