Chapter 338 - 297: Making Money
Chapter 338: Chapter 297: Making Money
Aside from a single phone call from the Wu Family, Xiao Man was unaware of the day-to-day happenings in Beijing. She dutifully called the Tang Mansion in Beijing and Tang Qingshan in Liaozhou every week, also phoning the Gu Mansion from time to time. Her elders always spoke in a loving tone, telling her not to study too hard and to take care of herself. Their words of concern were endless, so how could they bear to waste time on other matters?
Hao Hao was very busy, so the siblings had an arrangement for their calls—Hao Hao was usually the one to phone Xiao Man.
When Xiao Man learned that Grandma Tang was holding down the fort at Dad Tang’s place, forcing him to make good on his promise to her and go on dates every few days, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud. On the other end of the line, Tang Qingshan grumbled, "Kiddo, your grandma is driving me crazy, and you’re laughing!"
Xiao Man comforted him. "Grandma has your best interests at heart, and I trust her judgment. If you really can’t decide, just listen to her. Whichever one she picks for you, just go with it. You can’t go wrong!"
Tang Qingshan flatly refused. "Absolutely not! I’m not capable like your grandpa. If I marry a formidable woman, what will I do with the rest of my life?"
"Oh, so you’ve been secretly resenting Grandma and looking down on Grandpa all this time!"
"Don’t be ridiculous! Your grandma is my mother. She can be however she wants, and I’ll always adore her. But someone else? No way! As for your grandpa... well, I have the utmost respect for him!"
"Heh! So if you don’t want a formidable wife, does that mean you want a gentle one? Actually, picking someone who’s smart, sensible, and socially savvy wouldn’t be a bad idea. Our family could use someone like that."
"Other than your second uncle, who’s a bit clueless, who in our family isn’t smart? Wu Xiaowen was plenty shrewd and worldly, wasn’t she? And what good did that do? You and Hao Hao suffered plenty because of her! Ugh! If I really can’t escape this, I might as well give in to your grandma and just pick someone a bit simple and dull. At least having someone like that for a mother wouldn’t put any pressure on you."
Xiao Man: "..."
’What if he has a moment of madness and actually picks someone completely clueless? But then again,’ she thought, ’Grandma’s vetting the candidates, so that shouldn’t happen.’
"Dad, Grandma told me there are a lot of benefits to getting married. Why are you so against the idea?"
"Isn’t it better for me to be free and unattached? I’m not used to the idea of suddenly having someone else around. An extra person just means countless new hassles in life, understand?"
"Are you saying that I, Grandpa and Grandma, and Hao Hao are part of those ’countless hassles’ too?"
"How can you even compare? You’re my family, my flesh and blood! You’re not hassles!"
"But if you get married, your wife becomes your family too, you know!"
"..." Tang Qingshan fell silent for a moment, then sighed deeply. "Daughter, does this mean we have a generation gap between us, too?"
Xiao Man rolled her eyes, biting her lip to hide a smile.
With the college entrance exams only three months away, Xiao Man wasn’t nervous. She just needed to follow Teacher Fan’s rhythm. Hao Hao had also sent her some study materials and practice tests, saying that if she finished them and got them all right, she would be more than ready for the exams.
The people around her, however, were incredibly tense. Grandpa and Grandma forbade Xiao Man from coming home too often, instead having Lin Liuping or Zheng Shaolian deliver fresh vegetables and homegrown chicken and eggs every Sunday. Guan Ailan and Mo Linghui took over all the cooking duties and even offered to wash Xiao Man’s clothes and bedsheets. Thankfully, Xiao Man had a habit of washing her clothes right after her daily shower, so she didn’t let them treat her like she was completely helpless.
All this, however, gave Xiao Man more free time. Studying requires a balance between work and rest, after all. Zheng Shaolian had brought Xiao Man’s bicycle to Ping County Town, so for her daily relaxation, she started riding it all over the place. She was already familiar with every major street and back alley in town, so she began following the roads out into the countryside. Ping County Town was an ancient city with a rich history, and the nearby market towns were also famous historical sites. They boasted old landlord manors, a Zhuangyuan’s former residence, and plenty of local delicacies. Since she had been studying in Ping County for two years, she felt she ought to explore the surrounding area completely.
Unexpectedly, however, Xiao Man’s explorations became an addiction. For the next two or three months, she went "to the countryside" every Sunday. This made Guan Ailan and Mo Linghui extremely anxious. They worried she was just having fun instead of studying and that it would affect her exam performance. Wouldn’t all their efforts have been for nothing? ’If she’s not going to study on Sundays anyway,’ they thought, ’she might as well have gone back to her village to help out with chores like before.’
But when Xiao Man showed them the "trophies" she had acquired from her Sunday wanderings, the two girls were left dumbfounded. ’She’s completely lost her mind! A neat, pretty young lady like her, learning to be a junk collector? Going from village to village, collecting scraps of copper and iron? What on earth is she thinking?’