Rebirth Counterattack with Space
Chapter 108 - 107: Snobbish

Chapter 108: Chapter 107: Snobbish

"So it’s my auntie. Yes, we got here yesterday. We had these things shipped by train and just picked them up this morning. Would you like to come in and sit down, auntie?"

When Lu Aiguo heard it was the landlord, he quickly put on a smiling face and politely gestured for her to come inside.

"Don’t call me ’auntie,’ we don’t use that term in the city. My surname is Tao; everyone calls me Sister Tao." The woman waved her hand dismissively, looking at them with disdain.

"You’re from the countryside, aren’t you? The city is not like the countryside. You must pay more attention to keeping things clean and tidy, and not make a mess. Also, you shouldn’t bring people home to stay overnight, and it’s best to minimize visitors. Another thing, don’t leave the lights on too late in the evening, as electricity is expensive. Of course, you shouldn’t talk loudly or make noises that could disturb the neighbors next door. If you can’t follow these rules, I can’t keep you here..."

"Ah, Sister Tao’s here. Let me introduce you, this is my sister, my brother-in-law, his brother, and my little niece. They’re the ones who’ll be living here; please do take care of them."

Xia Na and Xia Yuan, who were making dumplings inside the house, came out when they heard the voices and smiled at the woman who claimed to be the landlord.

"They’re renting here, so it’s only right that I look after them."

Sister Tao switched to a friendly smile for Xia Na, "I heard you and your husband talking last night and guessed that it must be your sister’s family who had arrived. It was late, so I didn’t come over to greet you, but now that I heard some noise at the door, I thought I’d come over and meet everyone."

"Yuanyuan, Sister Tao is a very warmhearted person. If you’re not familiar with something around here, feel free to ask her," Xia Na said to Xia Yuan with a smile, giving Sister Tao a subtle compliment.

Pleased by Xia Na’s praise, Sister Tao responded, "If you ever need anything, just give a shout. There’s usually someone at home. I’ve already gone over the things you should pay attention to while living here with the two gentlemen. I’ll get going now, but if you need anything, just come and call me."

"We’ve just arrived, and who knows, we might indeed bother Sister Tao in the future," Xia Yuan said with a smile, quickly speaking up as the other prepared to leave, "Sister Tao, wait a moment."

She then turned back inside and soon came out with a small basket containing approximately a pound or two of yams. She passed the basket to Sister Tao, "These are wild yams grown in our mountains; I thought I’d bring some for you to try out."

"Oh, how can I accept this? It’s not easy for you to bring things all this way, and now you’re being so courteous."

Sister Tao’s smile became a lot more genuine as she took the basket. She examined the yams, which looked rather ugly in her hands with their irregular shapes and drab, dirt-covered skin with short roots, "We don’t see these much around here. How do you eat this?"

"Just peel the skin off, and you can cook it using ordinary methods. Whether stir-fried, steamed, used in meat stews, soups, or even porridge, it’s all very good. If it seems like a hassle, you can even eat it raw dipped in sugar. These yams are recorded in the Compendium of Materia Medica for their cooling and detoxifying properties."

Xia Yuan explained with a smile, "But once you peel them, they get sticky—it’s not a problem, though. You just have to cook them immediately, or else they’ll darken and look unappealing, similar to eggplants."

"Thank you so much. I’ll have my grandson return the basket to you later," said the landlord, Sister Tao, nodding her head, promptly leaving with the yams.

"No problem, Sister Tao, take care. There’s no rush to return the basket; send it back whenever you have time," Xia Yuan called after her with a smile.

Only after the people had walked off did Lu Yun quietly "tattle" to her mom and aunt.

"You didn’t see how fierce that landlord’s wife was just now, did you? She even asked us if we were from the countryside. She gave us a whole list of rules, like keep it clean, don’t make a mess, no bringing people back to stay overnight, and not to leave the lights on too late at night because electricity is expensive..."

Lu Yun imitated her so vividly that everyone burst into laughter.

"You little smarty-pants."

Xia Na first giggled and pinched Lu Yun’s cheek, then her expression turned helpless, "I haven’t been here often enough to really understand this person, but she does seem a little snobbish."

Lu Aiguo and Shitou, who had been working away from home for years, had seen all kinds of people, so how could a few trivial words from Landlady Tao sting them? He smiled indifferently, and Shitou, too, had a look of calm on his face. Clearly, neither of them took those words to heart.

Xia Na instantly felt that Lu Aiguo and Shitou were not at all irritable, which increased her regard for them a bit.

"It’s a pity we’re in such a rush, and Gu Tianming and I have to work, so the places we’ve heard about are limited. Actually, this place isn’t really suitable—mainly because it’s too far from the school for the kids. You’ll just have to stay here temporarily, and Gu Tianming and I will ask around a bit more to see if there’s anywhere else that’s suitable?"

"We’re already so grateful to my sister and brother-in-law, how else could we have found a place to stay upon arriving in Haicheng?" Lu Aiguo said with a grateful smile.

"There’s no trouble at all, you don’t need to be so polite with us," Xia Na waved her hand.

Xia Yuan had already discussed this with her just now; she was worried that if she moved to another place without saying anything, it might leave her sister and brother-in-law feeling uneasy, so she decided to speak up first.

Even between sisters, sometimes it’s important not to overlook each other’s feelings when it comes to the details.

Xia Na herself had felt that the living arrangement was too far from the school and not very suitable. After hearing her sister’s words, she didn’t think twice before agreeing to help look for a better place.

Now, having seen Lu Yun’s imitation performance, she felt even more that the landlord of this house wasn’t very nice, and a feeling of guilt welled up inside her, which was why she spoke to Lu Aiguo like that.

She saw that Lu Aiguo’s grateful expression seemed genuine and felt relieved, then she couldn’t help but comment on the heap of belongings tied down with thick ropes on the handcart they had pushed back, "You’ve brought so much stuff? You really had the foresight to even ship the handcart over?"

"Hehe, we found a lot of good things back in the mountains, all of these have been processed, ready to be sold," Lu Aiguo laughed, but actually, the things they shipped weren’t that many; these were just for show.

"Great, we can help take them inside as well. If we knew you had shipped so many things, we should have asked Gu Tianming to take half the day off to help you move in," Xia Na regretted.

"You don’t need to help, Shitou and I are used to this kind of work, we’ll be able to move everything in shortly." Seeing his aunt gearing up to roll up her sleeves and get to work, Lu Aiguo was taken aback and quickly jumped in to stop her.