The Big Landlord

IMPORTANT Translator's Note:

Hello, everyone. This is my first translation project ever. I have absolutely zilch experience in translating C-novels, so please keep your expectations low. I applied liberal use of the creative license to make the grammar flow better in English, so while I might be missing a word or two here and there from the original text, the general contents are still the same and should not affect the understanding of this story.

Also, this is just something I picked up on the spur of the moment for fun. I cannot promise that I will persist until the end of the novel, and I don't have a set updating schedule, but I will do my best to translate as many chapters as possible for you to enjoy.

Another reason that I might not translate the novel in full is because on the original site, I noticed the later chapters are all marked VIP, thus I am unable to access them freely. I'm guessing I'll have to create an account or something to read those chapters, but I haven't looked too deeply into it yet. If anyone knows how to access the VIP chapters please give me detailed instructions. I MTL, so trying to navigate a Chinese site is hard. ORZ []

Also, please excuse me if I mess up the tenses often, because Chinese doesn't differentiate between past and present tense, although I'm trying to keep everything consistently in the past tense. Just correct me if you notice a mistake I missed.

Chapter 15

"Annoying!"

With a wave of his hand, An Chang De sent the tea set on the table crashing to the ground. He was so angry that he became short of breath, his face flushed red, and his chest swelled violently. Just thinking of how An Zi Ran resolved the crisis, he beat the table in frustration.

Bang bang. The loud sound shocked both the wife and the concubine. When they entered, shards of porcelain and spilt tea could be seen all over the floor.

Wu Zhi liked this tea set. Immediately she scolded, "An Chang De, you're dead. No matter how angry you are you can't take it out on the tea set. Do you know how expensive this tea set is?"

An Chang De immediately simmered down. He grew awkward. Due to his moment of anger he forgot that this tea set was his wife's favorite. Normally, they were unwilling to even use this tea set. If it wasn't to show off to visiting guests so that they would not be looked down upon (for being cheap), she would not be willing to bring out this tea set.

[T/N: Is Chinese text always this repetitive? Enough about the tea set. It's expensive. I get it. This repetition is hard on a first time translator, you know? And this repetition of facts continues throughout… T^T]

Wu Zhi saw that he was contrite, so she sighed once, took a seat and said, "Speak, what happened to make you so angry?"

She knew her husband would not get angry for no reason. Something big must have happened. Her tea set cannot be sacrifice in vain.

"Of course it's because of that damn child of Chang Fu's," An Chang De cursed. He looked over and saw Wu Zhi giving him a meaningful look. Then he noticed Zhang Wan Qin was standing just outside the room. She was someone who's quiet and knew her place, so other people often ignored her. What was said next could not be known to others, so he said, "Wan Qin, go see if Ming Rui completed the task for today. If not, go supervise him."

Zhang Wan Qin was quiet, but she wasn't stupid. Hearing him say that, she knew that whatever he wanted to say he didn't want her to know. She didn't say much, only obediently replying, "Yes, husband."

Then she left.

Wu Zhi watched her leave and gave a cold laugh. Even though she didn't like Zhang Wan Qin there's not much she could do, because An Chang De liked her (Zhang Wan Qin) very much. In addition to having a soft character, she satisfied his vanity. Also, the second son, An Ming Rui, at the age of fifteen, was already a scholar. He failed the imperial exams, but he was only nineteen years old, he still had plenty of opportunities.

In contrast, her son, An Yao Zong, was a helpless fool. He was like the previous An Zi Ran, only knowing how to eat, drink, and play, with no interest in studying. Wu Zhi has always been angry. But hitting or scolding was useless and she was reluctant to fight her son. Hitting him would only make her feel miserable. If it wasn't like this (because of her son), that mother and son pair (Zhang Wan Qin and An Ming Rui) would not be able to linger in front of her. But just wait. She wasn't going to let that pair climb over her head.

"What did An Zi Ran do to make you this angry?"

As a woman, it was not appropriate for Wu Zhi to show her face in public, so she did not know that An Chang De went to see the county magistrate.

An Chang De immediately told her the ins and outs of what happened. Originally, he wanted to wait until his plan succeeded before telling her, so as to make her happy, but he did not expect to fail. An Zhi Ran, that pest, he was actually willing to part with those loans. It was absolutely unexpected.

Wu Zhi stood up with a look of disbelief. "What did you say? That brat nephew really gave up such a large sum of money? Not only that, he lowered the tenants' rent from seventy percent to forty percent? Is this news for real?"

Even she did not believe that An Zi Ran would be so generous. The first thing that came to mind was that An Chang De was deceived.

"How could this news be false? Everyone is talking about this matter. They also said that An Zi Ran was a living Buddha, completely forgetting how Chang Fu was exploiting them when he lived!" Just speaking of this made An Chang De angry. The An family's reputation has become good, now it would be even harder for him to take over.

"When did that bastard become so smart? How could he be willing?"

Wu Zhi began to feel anxious. If she let An Zi Ran give away the family assets like that, even if they obtain the An family* it would just be an empty shell. What would be the point then? A bunch of shambles… they may lose money instead.

"Not good, not good. We must think of a way to obtain the An family* as soon as possible so that I can rest assured."

[*T/N: They speak of wanting to obtain 安家 an jia, which translates directly as "An family." I'm assuming this encompasses the family estate and monetary assets, but it's too long of a phrase so I'm just sticking to "An family."]

"My wife, do you have any ideas?" An Chang De knew that they could only count on Wu Zhi's maternal family now. The county magistrate promised to help him last time, but if An Zi Ran used his father's contacts, then the county magistrate might not help him if he did not have someone more influential to back him.

"Just you wait. I won't let that bastard have it good." Wu Zhi said with a calculative expression.

An Chang De felt relieved. With the help of his wife's family, that An Zi Ran is sure to get it now.