Chapter 152: Discussion

Disclaimer: 

1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests. 

2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author. 

3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.

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Liu Shu then said, “Manager Wei has already pushed everything to the Village Head to handle. The Village Head would definitely not want to compensate you for your flowers. What Xu’er just mentioned might be what he would do to make things difficult for you, so as to prevent you from asking him for compensation.”

Shao Huai was stunned. He asked, “Then what should I do? It’s fine if he doesn’t compensate me, but….”

Liu Shu nodded, “You shouldn’t be too quick to agree…. You should first see if he’s even thought of this point. If he has, then if he doesn’t want to compensate you, you should make it clear –  If he forfeits all rights to demand rent from you for the past few years, he doesn’t have to compensate you.” He paused for a moment and said, “As for the plot of land at the hill, you should quickly think of a plan. Since you have completely offended the Village Head, it would be best not to ask him for anything… Otherwise, he would use it to threaten you.”

Shao Huai and his sisters thought that what they said was reasonable, it was just that Shao Huai was out of ideas. It was precisely because they didn’t have any land that the siblings found themselves in dire straits. It was only after they started to cultivate unclaimed land and grow flowers that they managed to survive. If they couldn’t even do that now, then they really had no way out.

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Shao Huai quickly nodded, but he continued to thank them repeatedly. Shao Gui was listening at the side. She would head into the kitchen from time to time, and had finally finished preparing the meal. Together with Shao Rong, she brought it out to serve them. 

Originally, Liu Shu and Liu Xu’er hadn’t planned to stay, but Shao Huai kept insisting. Liu Shu thought that since he had told them not to be so courteous, he should return the favour and accept the offered meal. It wasn’t a big deal anyway, so he pulled Liu Xu’er to sit down and really joined them in their meal. 

The meal was very simple – it was similar to what their family had while they were in the village. There was stir fried wild vegetables and eggs. They could tell that the family had taken out all the best food they had to serve. 

While they were eating, Shao Huai finally plucked up his courage to ask, “Liu Shu, what business does your family do? We always thought…. That you only had the store next to Niu ge. But today, Pangwa was saying something about a workshop?”

Liu Shu smiled and explained, “It’s just a small workshop. It makes the things that we sell in our stores.”

The three siblings understood. Shao Huai sighed and said, “I’m older than you, but when I look at you, I am far inferior….”

Liu Shu smiled and said, “I’m not the one that’s capable, the capable one is my sister. The workshop, stores – all of this was planned by Xu’er. My whole family just does what she says.”

Shao Huai and his sisters stared at Liu Xu’er, shocked. Liu Xu’er said, “Who said that it was all planned by me? Our entire family worked together to come up with plans. Everyone worked together to achieve what we have today. I only came up with the initial plan. After that, it was our entire family that worked together. I wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything by myself.” 

Liu Shu nodded, “That’s true.” He looked at Shao Huai and said, “Don’t worry. So long as the three of you are in one accord, you can definitely overcome everything. So long as there is a plan, your days will slowly get better.”

Shao Huai was encouraged by his words. He nodded heavily and said, “That’s right! I need to let my sisters live a good life!”

Liu Xu’er smiled. She thought – actually, the important thing is that you should just look for good men that your sisters can marry! If they marry well, your sisters would have good lives. You are already 20, your damei is 17, and your xiaomei is 15. Everyone’s marriage has already been delayed! In another year, your damei would be having difficulty finding a match….

As she thought about this, she recalled that her mother was the best person to ask about this. She needed to go back and let her know – get her mother to look around for potential matches. 

Just as she was thinking this, someone called from outside. “Shao Huai! Are you in?” It was the hotheaded youth’s voice. 

Shao Huai agreed. He put down the bun in his hand and went to the door to greet the guest. Liu Xu’er hurriedly asked Shao Huai, “That youth isn’t fat, why do you call him Pangwa¹ 胖娃/ Pangwa – 胖/Pang means fat while 娃/ wa can be translated as child ?”

Shao Rong was stunned for a moment before quickly catching herself. She answered, “When he was little, it seemed that he was rather fat….” As she said that, she glanced over at Shao Gui.

Liu Xu’er saw that Shao Gui’s face was rather red. She turned and headed into the kitchen! In a flash, Liu Xu’er understood! No wonder Yang Xiaobang was the first to come to their aid. He was the first to jump on the cart and call his peers to join in. And when he saw that Shao Huai was getting beaten up, he was the angriest. So this was why! At the time, she just thought he was hot headed, but now she understood that he wasn’t hot headed, he had reason….

Just as she was thinking, Yang Xiaobang came in. He hadn’t expected that Liu Shu and his sister hadn’t left, so he stood there awkwardly. Red faced, he stood at the side. 

Shao Huai greeted him, “Have you eaten? Come and have a bite.”

Yang Xiaobang immediately waved his hands, “No need, no need. Go ahead and eat. I’ve already eaten.”

Liu Shu said, “Have you really?”

“I’ve really eaten Young… Young Boss. You go ahead!” Because Liu Shu told him not to call him Young Master, he changed his address to Young Boss. Liu Shu was helpless, but he knew that it was a lost cause, getting Yang Xiaobang to call him Liu Shu. 

So they continued eating, while Yang Xiaobang got a stool and sat at the side. 

Since they had already finished their discussion, and they had mostly completed their meal, they quickly finished up and began to tidy up. Liu Shu and Liu Xu’er said their goodbyes, while the three siblings insisted on seeing them off. 

Liu Shu drove the cart home. When they got back, Shi Cheng was already there, waiting. He had been busy these past few days and hadn’t had time to come by. Today, he had finally managed to scratch out some time to visit, but Liu Xu’er had disappeared. They said she had gone to buy flowers. Shi Cheng had been rather regretful – he should have gone with her to have a look. 

Then he saw Liu Xu’er and Liu Shu come in, looking rather the worse for wear. It wasn’t that they were messy, it was just that they looked rather beaten down mentally. Liu Shu had even changed his clothes and there was a strange smell coming from him. 

Shi Cheng quickly asked, “The two of you… did something happen?”

Liu Shu shook his head, “Let’s not start….. I want to first go and wash up. I will let Xu’er update you first.” Then he went to his courtyard to have a bath. His entire body stank of mud. 

Shi Cheng quickly followed Liu Xu’er back to her room. Anxiously, he asked, “What happened? Why do the two of you look so sorry?”

Liu Xu’er sighed. She first went into her room to pour herself a cup of tea and gathered her thoughts. Then she started her explanation. As she spoke, she shook her head. “At the time, I was terrified…. I didn’t even know if dage had gotten beaten or not….” Then she started to get angry again, “If they had dared to hit my dage, I wouldn’t have let this matter rest!”

She turned and looked at Shi Cheng, “Do you know Juxianlou’s Manager Wei? What’s his background?”

Shi Cheng was frowning as he heard. He said, “This won’t do. Go and tell your parents that you still need more servants. You need more male and female servants. Now that your family’s business is doing well – you even have your own workshop, you will all be dealing with a lot of money. It’s not safe for your brother to carry around that much money by himself! You need to plan for contingencies early! It would be too late by the time something happens…. Like what happened today – you should have brought some servants with you. At least, you wouldn’t have been in such danger.”

When he finished saying his piece, he finally responded to Xu’er’s question. “His background? He’s just a manager. In even simpler terms, he’s just a senior shop assistant! He doesn’t have any support behind him, only Juxianlou….. Whenever he sees me, he’s usually very polite! Who would’ve known that he’s so tyrannical when he’s in the village. He’s really not a good person!”

Liu Xu’er nodded. What Shi Cheng had said earlier did indeed make sense. It really was time to buy more servants. Business was only going to get bigger, and there would be more and more troubles they would have to deal with. If the family had servants, at least they would have more people on hand to help!

But it wasn’t a pressing matter. Liu Xu’er would just keep it in mind for now. She turned and said to Shi Cheng, “That Village Head is the worst! As well as his son! He’s 25, and before his wife died, he was already thinking of Shao Rong! And when they didn’t agree, they used these kinds of methods to bully them. They’re shameless!”

Shi Cheng nodded, “They really are shameless…. But it’s useless to scold them. Shao Huai is still a fellow villager, so he’s subject to that Village Head! Unless, the Village Head changes…. But even if they do, it’s no guarantee that his life would improve. Officials tend to look out for one another. Who knows if the new Village Head would be on good terms with the current. So, it’s not that easy to resolve.”

Liu Shu had showered and changed his clothes before coming over. He had just overheard the last sentence, so he nodded and said, “Shi Cheng is right! Right now, the Shao family’s biggest difficulty is their lack of land. Although he cultivated that field of flowers, he still needs to go to the Village Head to register it. If the Village Head agrees, he will have to pay for it and then  the both of them will go together to register the ownership under his name. The Village Head is crucial to this purpose, so currently, he’s in a stranglehold. There’s nothing else he can do!”

When he finished, he looked over at Liu Xu’er drinking tea and said, “Xu’er pour me a cup as well… I’m thirsty.”

Liu Xu’er quickly poured him a cup. Liu Shu gulped it down, had another and downed that. It was only then that he finally felt better. “I was just too thirsty…. Shi Cheng, do you have any suggestions?”

Shi Cheng thought for a moment and said, “What kind of suggestion can I have? There’s only one answer. The Shao family needs to leave that village!”