10. Demanding the grain.
Translated by Maggie Edited by Simple
Lian Fang Zhou’s uncle Lian Li’s home wasn’t far from theirs. The yard’s door was high and big, a neat house, their life doesn’t seem too bad.
Once Mrs Qiao saw the two of them, she thought of yesterday’s matter of old woman Yang dissolving the marriage. Suddenly, her anger couldn’t help but burst out. Glaring at Lian Fang Zhou, she snapped: “What have you come here for! Get out of here!”
However, Lian Fang Zhou didn’t leave; instead, she entered the main hall and found a stool to sit on. She said: “We came to take back what was originally ours! What did Aunt think we came here for?”
“Presumptuous!” Lian Li’s face darkened, in a teaching tone he said: “Lian Fang Zhou, what kind of attitude is that? Is that how you talk to an elder!”
“Oh, so Uncle remembered you are an elder!” Lian Fang Zhou laughed coldly: “Scheming for our stuff, bullying us parentless siblings. Are those the things that an elder would do! Uncle, Aunt, my parents in heaven are watching!”
“You!” Lian Li was angered by her until his chest hurt and spat out “Pah, stop mentioning your parents when discussing! We owe you nothing! You say we bullied you, do you any evidence? If you have no evidence then don’t speak nonsense! Seeing that you are still young and immature, I won’t hold it against you, so you just need to apologize and quickly leave. Go do what you should be doing!”
He said with a deep stare directed towards Lian Fang Zhou. In a heavy tone he continued saying “You are not the same as before, how did you become like this! It couldn’t be that you were cursed and become evil? Fang Zhou, ah, how could a girl be such a shrew, not having one bit of family discipline. No wonder the Yang family doesn’t want you! If you are like this, in this life you won’t be able to marry off!”
“Uncle, how can you say that about my sister!” Lian Ze was furious, he couldn’t endure it and clenched his fists by his side.
Lian Fang Zhou gently pulled him, indicating that he was a being impatient. Toward Lian Li, she smiled and lightly said: “Why did I become like this? It’s because mother told me a kind horse would be ridden and a kind person would be bullied in my dreams. So I became like this. Me having family discipline or not, this matter does not need uncle to worry about. Since following you I won’t learn anything good. And the Yang family not wanting me seems to be none of your business, right? If I marry off or not, that seems to be even more none of your business. You don’t need to talk about these matters to upset me since I actually don’t care! “
Lian Fang Zhou sneered in her heart, still treating her as though she is still respectable!
But if she was respectable, hearing his words, she was afraid she would already be angered until she’s half dead.
Since this is ancient times, if you spoke poisonous words like breaking off the engagement, or can’t marry off, shrewish and has no family discipline to an unmarried girl, how could she bear it.
Otherwise, seeing how Lian Ze react you’ll know.
Lian Li never thought that Lian Fang Zhou would be this calm, in an indifferent mood, she refuted each and every one of his words. That uncaring attitude doesn’t seem to be an act.
For a moment, he was stunned; he had the feeling of receiving a blow, a perplexed feeling.
Mrs Qiao saw that her husband was shaken, she was filled with resentment and sneered: “having no face and no skin. Doesn’t know shame!”
“That’s right! Doesn’t know shame!” Lian Li echoed in a heavy grave tone.
“What are you saying!” Lian Ze was angered, blue veins were popping up, his face was extremely dark.
“Ah Ze, no need to be angry!” Lian Fang Zhou was completely relaxed, heartily laughing “Definitely kind people saying kind words, if you have not said enough, please continue! It’s best that you even scold my whole eighteen generation of ancestors too! When you are finished scolding, we’ll get down to business!.”
Lian Li was trembling with anger; he couldn’t say a word as he stared at Lian Fang Zhou. He faintly felt like collapsing at any moment.
Scold her eighteen generation of ancestors? Isn’t her eighteen generation of ancestors his eighteen generation of ancestors too? Well, seventeen generations! This girl is definitely tricky!
Lian Li harrumphed and mentally thought “I’m not going to lower myself to her level!” then coldly asked: “What have you actually come for? When you’re done, quickly scram!”
So Lian Fang Zhou said: “During the harvest, Uncle and Aunt helped us collect the grain, us siblings can’t thank you enough. Our parents in heaven definitely can’t thank you enough! Uncle and Aunt have already helped us take care of them long enough, it is enough, we should take them back now!”
“What are you talking about?” Mrs Qiao’s anger reached its peak and started to yell: “IN YOUR DREAMS!”
Lian Fang Zhou didn’t bother with her interruption and continued in the same tone: “Last night, Mother came to me in my dreams, she told me to come and collect it; one thousand catties. The rest are left to show filial piety to Uncle and Aunt! Uncle and Aunt are elders, so you gotta have a bit of an appearance like elders and not be so shameless, right?”
“Stop dressing up as God, play the devil! (means to mystify)” Mrs Qiao has always been the one to take from others, not the other way around.
Don’t mention giving, even hearing Lian Fang Zhou speaking about it made her heartbreak as if losing a piece of her flesh. Making her feel so angry she didn’t feel well.
She sneered: “Lian girl, you really gained some ability; that you even bring up your dead mother to discuss things! Hmph, don’t think that you that bringing out dead people will make us scared of you, in your dreams!”
“Aunt, what you just said is not right;” Lian Fang Zhou lightly said: “What I said was the truth, not one word was trying to fool you. Otherwise, why would I dare to come to your home and say these words?”
“In the past, you might not, but now you have been cursed; what things would you not do!” Mrs Qiao sneered.
Lian Li was skeptical about two points, if not for their dead mother’s words, he felt that Lian Fang Zhou would not dare come to their home to create trouble.
But, he and Mrs Qiao’s thoughts are the same; wanting to take grain from them, don’t say door, not even the windows. (T/N:Meaning no way. You know how like you want to enter someone’s house, but they don’t let you enter. So you can’t come through the door and even the window is blocked)
Lian Li opened his eyes, steadily watching the siblings. Indifferently he said: “I think your mother got it wrong, why would our home have your grain? After we helped you harvest the grain, didn’t we already give it to you? Why did you come to ask for it again? You two siblings, aren’t you being shameless? In your eyes, are we still your elders?”
“That’s right!” Mrs Qiao hearing her husband’s justified words, grew some backbone and acted like being wronged: “There’s a saying that’s really good, different hearts in different breasts. (T/N: ie. It’s hard to tell what’s going on in the minds of other people.) It really is paying kindness with evil! At the time, your Uncle and I, us two day and night, were completely exhausted helping you harvest the grain. Every single grain was given to you. But you come running to shamelessly blackmail us! What is this! We don’t hope for you to show filial piety to us elders, but you also can’t be this heartless with no conscience! The heavens won’t spare you, Buddha won’t spare you!”
“Aunt, these words, do you dare swear it’s true?” Lian Ze hearing Mrs Qiao started turning black to white and was angered until his head was a mess.
“See! see!” Mrs Qiao cried out, “as a nephew, forcing his aunt to swear, is this what is has come to? The grains were fed to the dog’s stomach, not understanding one bit of reason!”
“That’s enough, you speak less, or people will say we are bullying the younger generation!” Lian Li seeing Mrs Qiao talking three, twisting two, in the end saying things with no point; couldn’t help but frown and look down on her. Toward the two siblings he indifferently said: “The grains we have already given to you, now you come and want more, that’s impossible!”
“You did give, but what was given was not all of it. Our 3 rice paddy fields should have harvested about one thousand five hundred catties; I’m afraid what you have given us is not even four hundred catties!” Lian Ze said angrily.
“Haha!” Lian Li lightly sneered, with a bit of disdain, each and every word was questioned back: “Do you have any evidence? Did you weigh them? Are there any witnesses or material evidence? In the end, the grains we had we gave them to you, as for how you managed the grains you got, whether it was eaten or sold, I don’t know!”