Chapter 1382: Chase away people
Lin Yuan tried to pull her back but failed to grab her. However, Lan Hua had just reached the door when she turned back, scratching her head sowhat sheepishly, “Hehe, um, I saw that your family’s table is covered in plenty of sunflower seeds and candies. Do you have any more? If there’s an excess, you could give them away as gifts, and then even if they leave, they won’t say anything.”
Lin Yuan burst into laughter. She knew it! Why else would Lan Hua co back so suddenly if not because she felt awkward about asking people to leave?
But Lan Hua’s words did remind her. Before coming back, she had indeed asked Yin Xing and Shui Xian to buy lots of fruits and pastries to share with the children in the village. And now, these could be conveniently given away as gifts.
The fruits and pastries were all wrapped in oiled paper and tied with hemp ropes, making them easy to carry.
With these, Lan Hua would find it much easier to usher people out.
Out of curiosity about how Lan Hua would handle the situation, Lin Yuan followed her inside. Upon entering, Lan Hua glanced at Lady Liu with an expression of great difficulty, “Auntie, Lin Yuan sent to ask you, since it’s almost noon, should we invite everyone to stay for lunch?”
Before Lady Liu could open her mouth, the roomful of won’s eyes lit up, and they all falsely began to decline, saying they wouldn’t eat, yet not a single person turned to leave.
It was clear to Lady Liu what everyone was thinking, and with a wry smile, she nodded to Lan Hua. To tell the truth, not only were there many people Lin Yuan didn’t recognize, but Lady Liu herself didn’t know many of them in the room.
Lan Hua inwardly sneered and twirled her fingers, feigning difficulty, “But Auntie, you’ve co back so suddenly, we don’t have enough grain at ho. Lin Yuan ntioned that if we go to the town to buy it now, by the ti we co back and cook, it will be afternoon. How about this?”
She turned to her own mother and asked, “Mom, I rember we still have half a bag of flour at ho, should I go fetch it now?”
Being her own daughter, Aunt Wang very well understood what Lan Hua was getting at. On the other hand, Sister-in-law Changqing was clueless.
Just as Sister-in-law Changqing was about to correct her and say that it was not half a bag but two bags of flour, she felt her mother-in-law press her hand and say, “Go ahead and fetch it, but even half a bag won’t be enough for everyone to eat. Does anyone have so flour to lend to the Lin family for now?”
With that, she glanced at the packed room of won, and sure enough, none of them spoke up; they only darted their eyes around, looking at one another.
At the door, Lin Yuan had also co to a realization and, dusting off her clothes, she walked in, “Ah, I am truly sorry, we only thought about going ho when we ca back and forgot that there hasn’t been anyone living there for so long, so there’s just nothing to eat. Does any of the aunties have so flour to lend us for now? I can pay you back tomorrow, or I can pay with silver right now.”
Hearing the ntion of paynt, a few of the won’s eyes shone bright.
But before they could accept, Aunt Wang, who hadn’t said a word thus far, spoke up, “What’s this talk of paying back or buying? We are all from the sa village, we see each other all the ti, and we’re good friends and neighbors—why bother with money over a bit of flour? Gui Zhi, how much flour do we have at ho? Go have Er Shuan carry it over!”
“Yes, mom,” said Sister-in-law Gui Zhi as she stood up to leave.
Lan Hua silently cursed their luck and quickly grabbed her hand, secretly scratching the palm, “Sister-in-law, how much really do you have? I need to know if it’s enough.”
Sister-in-law Gui Zhi, sowhat baffled and clearly realizing that Lan Hua and Lin Yuan were up to sothing, hemd and hawed, unsure whether to say more or less.
“Aiya, sister-in-law, if you don’t have much flour, just say so. Don’t feel embarrassed. Is it half a bag?”
Lan Hua scratched her fingers even more eagerly, Sister-in-law Gui Zhi held back the tickle in her palm and suppressed a laugh, shaking her head, “It’s less than half a bag, and it’s the leftover heavy flour from the shop that we use for ourselves. I don’t know if it’s got worms in it.”
Sister-in-law Gui Zhi appeared to have gotten the hint, and Lin Yuan secretly chuckled, then addressed the other won in the room, “If it’s wormy, how can we eat it? Besides, it’s not enough, is it? Do any of you sisters have so?”
We can’t just give it away for free!
Several won sitting in the room had been ntally tallying up, and since Aunt Wang had already said no need to pay, it would be disgraceful for them to ask for money now. Besides, with Lin Yuan claiming she would repay them tomorrow, who knew if that would really happen? Only monts ago, Lin Jiaxin had said they might go back to the Capital city, so who would know if they were leaving today or tomorrow? It could very well be that by tomorrow morning, they might be gone without a trace.
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