Chapter 96 20,000 Nutrient Solution Plus New Shoes

After receiving his master's instructions, Qingjiu paid his respects and then specifically mentioned that another letter had arrived from Bianjing. He solemnly assured the old lady that he would keep an eye on his master.

Grandma Lu didn't believe her. Looking into Qingjiu's bright eyes, she looked at her like she was a stupid gourd. "Qingjiu, I may be old, but my mind is still clear. You, did your elders tell you to say that?"

"No...no, really no!" Qingjiu shook her head repeatedly.

"Alright, I know. Someone like you can't even lie properly. It's a good thing Zhao'er isn't an official in Bianjing, otherwise with you around, anyone could get a few words out of him!" Old Madam Lu went to look at her grandson again. "You, you... fine, if you don't want me to stay, then I'll go back."

"Grandmother, I..."

"Alright, no need to explain further. But remember, I'll come back when spring arrives and the flowers bloom. You're the child I raised, and I can only feel at ease when I see you have your own happy family."

When her daughter-in-law was on her deathbed, she held her hand tightly and asked her to take good care of her grandson. Her daughter-in-law said that her grandson was not good with words and would not know how to please his father, so the only person he could rely on in the future was her. Such a strong-willed person insisted on kowtowing to her in the last moments of her life. Old Mrs. Lu would never forget the pleading look on Lu Zhao's mother's face when she looked at her.

Pulling her thoughts back from the past, Grandma Lu continued, "But Qingjiu is clumsy, so I'll leave Cuizhi and Songmu to you. They're both people who've been by my side. Cuizhi is honest and capable, and Songmu is clever. I can only feel at ease with them by your side."

Only by having someone of her own in Lin'an can she know her grandson's current situation. Otherwise, if her grandson only reports good news and not bad news, how can she help him when she is far away in Bianjing?

Lu Zhao knew that the old lady meant to keep the person here. If he didn't agree, the old lady would probably get really angry, so he had no choice but to agree. It just so happened that the new house needed someone to take care of it, so he would ask Songmu to go and keep an eye on it.

Qingjiu protested again, asking where he had been clumsy.

When the old lady came to Lin'an this time, Qingjiu didn't like her as much anymore. Several times, he said that she wasn't smart!

He's clearly smart and quick-witted!

The matter has been settled, and the date for Old Madam Lu's return has been set. Lu Zhao will be accompanying Old Madam Lu from now on.

At this time, Wang Sanzhu and Ju'er were kneeling in the courtyard of the Wang family. In the past half month, Wang Sanzhu had become extremely thin.

Widow Wang held a bamboo stick in her hand, having already slapped her son several times. "I disagree! Even if our family is just a small, humble household, we can't let people of the lowest social class into our home!"

“Mother, then kill me! I will marry no one but Ju’er in this life!” Wang Sanzhu said.

"You brat, talking back to your old mother for a woman?" Widow Wang said angrily, raising her hand again, but Wang Dazhu stepped in to block it, and she threw down the bamboo stick. "Fine, fine, you've all grown up and become so capable, you don't listen to me anymore!"

She sat down and began to wipe away her tears. "After your father passed away, I raised you all by myself. Did I starve you? Or did I sell you? Now that you've grown up, you all want to oppose me. You have no conscience! Why is my life so bitter?"

Widow Wang burst into tears.

"mother!"

Wang Dazhu called out, "Don't cry!" Then he looked at his younger brother and asked, "Third brother, are you really that stubborn?"

"Yes," Wang Sanzhu said through gritted teeth.

"Have you ever thought about what the neighbors will say if you really marry Ju'er?"

Wang Dazhu frowned. "The neighbors in the alley all know each other inside and out. Aren't you afraid of what people will say? What about your future children? Will people not know that their mother worked at the Drunken Red Brothel? Who will want them when it comes to marriage proposals?"

“I…” Wang Sanzhu hadn’t thought that far ahead.

Wang Dazhu, however, thought much more deeply. Their family's acceptance of Ju'er would not only affect his third brother and his wife, but also his children, and would corrupt the entire Wang family's family values.

He took a deep breath. "Third son, it wasn't easy for your mother to raise us. Don't argue with her. We're all doing this for your own good. Let's forgive each other, okay?"

Wang Sanzhu lowered his head, while Ju'er's face turned as white as paper.

After a long while, Ju'er spoke first, "I...I will leave, Brother Sanzhu, thank you."

"You can't leave!" Upon hearing Ju'er's words, Wang Sanzhu immediately said, "If you go back to your parents' home, your stepmother will definitely sell you again. Don't be afraid, I have now redeemed you from your servitude, and I will protect you for the rest of my life!"

As he spoke, he kowtowed in the direction of his mother, "Mother, please consider me unfilial. But do you know, in this world, only Ju'er is truly good to me, and I don't want to let her down!"

Wang Sanzhu was the middle child in the family. His mother valued the eldest brother the most and loved the youngest brother even more, so she didn't pay much attention to him.

With so many brothers in the family, and given their poverty, he grew up wearing his older brothers' hand-me-downs. Even though the family raised chickens, he rarely got to eat eggs. He was the least noticeable member of the family.

Later, he worked as a porter at the dock, doing physically demanding work. Several times he was so hungry that he had no strength left. When Ju'er saw this, she shared half of her cornbread with him.

The cornbread was dry and astringent, very difficult to swallow, but at that time he felt that cornbread was the most delicious thing in the world.

Ju'er's mother was frail, and her father favored sons over daughters, so Ju'er had no choice but to go out and find ways to earn money.

There are many men at the dock, and it's inevitable that some will make frivolous advances. In the past, Ju'er could only hide from them, but after Wang Sanzhu came along, things got much better.

Both were children who were not valued by their families. They met each other and thought they had a chance to be happy, but fate played a cruel trick on them. Ju'er's mother did not live to see Wang Sanzhu propose marriage.

From childhood to adulthood, Wang Sanzhu never cried or begged his mother for anything. Even now, he didn't want to complain about his mother's favoritism. He just wanted to protect the people he wanted to protect.

"Mother, I beg you." Wang Sanzhu's forehead was pressed against the ground. His forehead was already red and swollen. The skin was broken, and the blood on the blue bricks was not obvious yet, but a bloodstain was left on Wang Sanzhu's forehead. Widow Wang's heart ached when she saw it.

"You...you're really going to drive me crazy!" Widow Wang got up and went back into the house. "I don't care about you anymore, do whatever you want!"

Wang Sanzhu looked at the tightly closed door, unsure of what else to say.

Wang Dazhu came over and sighed, "Why aren't you getting up? Do you have to make yourself look so disheveled and break your mother's heart?"

He pulled his younger brother up, saying, "I can't control you anymore, but you know how terrifying rumors can be. If you really want to live with Ju'er, you can't stay here. Otherwise, everyone will know your background, and you'll be drowned in gossip."

“But brother, we…” Wang Sanzhu wanted to say that they had nowhere to go, but his brother interrupted him.

Wang Dazhu said, "Why are you looking at me like that? I'm not going to kick you out of the house!"

It's said that the eldest brother is like a father, and at this moment, Wang Dazhu deeply understood the difficulties of being the eldest brother. "If you insist on marrying Ju'er, I can't break your legs or force you to separate. But I have to say it again: you may not be afraid of gossip, but your child may not be able to bear it. Tomorrow, take Ju'er to find your second brother. Although he has become a son-in-law, his in-laws treat him well. Let him help you settle down in the village. In the new place, no one will know you, and with relatives around, we can keep track of your whereabouts."

Wang Erzhu gave birth to a son in August of this year. The Xu family was overjoyed and invited the Wang family to stay for a few days.

After having a son, Wang Erzhu gained influence in the Xu family, and it wouldn't be a problem to ask him to help settle his brother.

As the eldest brother, Wang Dazhu had his own selfish motives, but this arrangement was indeed the best one.

When they arrived at the Xu family home, there was no need to explain Ju'er's affair at the Drunken Red Pavilion; simply stating that they would not have any contact with her family would suffice. The couple could support themselves by farming in the village or continuing to do manual labor.

"It's settled then." Wang Dazhu asked his younger brother to take Ju'er to get something to eat. It was obvious that they hadn't been eating well for the past few days.

He went to his mother again, "Mother, did you hear everything?"

"I heard you," Widow Wang snorted.

"This arrangement is the best," Wang Dazhu said. "With my second brother's help, my third brother should have no problem having enough to eat in the future."

As for how good life will be, that's uncertain, but it's my third brother's own choice, so he shouldn't regret it.

Widow Wang gritted her teeth and said, "He said Ju'er cares about him the most? I'm his mother, how could I not care about him?"

"That brat has grown up, but his skills haven't improved; all he's gotten is his pride. Tell me, isn't what he said chilling?"

Wang Dazhu stood there without saying anything, letting his mother vent her frustrations.

"Do you think it's easy for me to support you brothers?"

Widow Wang cursed several times until she was tired of cursing, then threw down a money pouch while still cursing, "Give it to him tomorrow, don't say it was from me, say it was from you. I won't give it to him, let him deal with it himself!"

Wang Dazhu picked up the money bag, estimating it contained five taels of silver. "Alright, son understands."

The next morning, when Wang Dazhu gave the money to his younger brother, he told him to take Ju'er to kowtow. "The money was given by Mother, and she's angry right now. But what mother doesn't love her child?"

"In a few years, when you've settled down, remember to come back and visit your mother, understand?"

"Brother, I..." Before Wang Sanzhu could finish speaking, tears welled up in his eyes.

"Alright, kowtow quickly and leave early, so you don't run into the neighbors." Wang Dazhu still cared about his reputation.

It was just getting light, and no one had gone out yet. If we left now, no one would see us.

Wang Sanzhu kowtowed, and before leaving, he went to the Lu family to kowtow to Lu Zhao, saying, "Lord Lu, I will remember your great kindness. I will definitely raise the money to repay you as soon as possible."

Before Lu Zhao could react, he kowtowed three times in a row.

After watching Wang Sanzhu leave, Qingji asked, "Sir, judging from Wang Sanzhu's appearance, it seems like he's about to leave?"

"It's probably because Ju'er's identity isn't suitable for living here. I guess the Wang family has arranged another place for them. As long as they can support themselves, that's a good thing." Lu Zhao turned and went into the kitchen. After washing up, he had breakfast with his grandmother. He would spend two more days with his grandmother today and tomorrow before she set off to return to Bianjing.

Old Madam Lu left in a high-profile manner. Before she left, Granny Kong delivered rapeseed oil to every household, saying it was to thank everyone for taking care of Lu Zhao.

For the people living in the alley, oil and grain are the most practical things.

However, Qiao Mianmian and the others only learned that Old Madam Lu had passed away when they returned home in the evening. Zhang pointed to the oil pot on the table and said, "That old lady from the Lu family was very polite. She specially sent someone to deliver it. A mother worries about her son even when he is far away. As a grandmother, she was even more worried about her grandson. But I couldn't accept the oil for nothing, so I picked out the best tangerines that my third son had sent and sent them over."

"Didn't Old Madam Lu arrange a marriage for Lord Lu a while ago? Is it settled?" Madam Lin was quite curious about this.

Zhang shook her head. "How would I know?"

She spent a lot of time at home and visited the Lu family a few times. Grandma Lu seemed kind and gentle, but sitting face-to-face with her was always a little awkward, unlike her more natural interactions with other neighbors. Without getting to know each other, they couldn't really talk about these things.

Madam Lin looked at her two sons and said, "When you meet Lord Lu, ask him if his marriage is settled. If so, we can help him."

Qiao Jiaxing said, "Mother, we know without asking that it didn't work out. If it had, the Lu family would definitely have sent gifts and made a betrothal, but Grandmother is home every day and we haven't seen the Lu family set off any firecrackers. It seems that they don't have a suitable match, so we can only give up for now."

Upon hearing this, Lin felt it made sense.

Qiao Mianmian also felt that Lu Zhao hadn't settled down yet, otherwise Qingjiu's mouth would have already told everyone in the alley.

But what she wanted to know even more was that she hadn't seen Wang Sanzhu recently.

Madam Lin said, "Chunsheng's mother said that when she got up to open the door a couple of days ago, she saw Sanzhu taking Ju'er away. She doesn't know where they went, but they must have gone somewhere else to make a living."

As she spoke, she couldn't help but sigh, "Speaking of which, Ju'er is also pitiful. If it weren't for the people from Zuihonglou coming to their door, Wang Sanzhu would have redeemed her directly, and no one would have known that Ju'er came from Zuihonglou. She could still have stayed and lived her life. The Wang family must have been worried that people would gossip, so they made them leave."

Zhang chimed in, "The people in the alley are alright, but it's hard to say about the others. It's good that they're leaving; they can go somewhere no one knows them and life will go on as usual."

She beckoned to her granddaughter, "Take off your shoes. Grandma made some new insoles. Do you think they fit?"

Qiao Mianmian tried it on and it fit perfectly. "Grandma, you know my size best."

“I noticed you’ve grown a bit taller, so I made it a little bigger. As long as it fits well.” Zhang also made one for her two granddaughters-in-law and had them take it home one by one. Finally, she gave one to Lin, saying, “You should try it too.”

Looking at the insoles, Lin felt a little embarrassed. "Mother, I have one too?"

“Yes, you have one too,” Zhang said with a smile. “I don’t have much else to do at home, so I do it for us women first, and then for the men.”

She was always busy. After distributing the insoles, she wanted to go back to rest. "Mianmian, help me back. My legs are getting numb from sitting for so long."

"Okay!" Qiao Mianmian immediately ran over.

The others exchanged glances, knowing that Grandmother's legs weren't numb, but rather that she had something else for Qiao Mianmian.

However, no one was jealous of their grandmother's favoritism. They exchanged smiles and went to rest.

After Qiao Mianmian helped her grandmother into the house, she saw her grandmother hand her a pair of embroidered shoes. She smiled and hugged her grandmother, "I knew you would call me in because you had something good for me. Oh, they fit perfectly! You are so skillful!"

"Shh, keep your voice down."

Mrs. Zhang patted her granddaughter, "My eyesight is failing me, how could I possibly be so skillful? If I had the energy, I would definitely make a pair for everyone. But I can't sit for long now, it took me several days just to make this new pair for you!"

"You're so kind, I love you the most. I'll wear it out tomorrow!" Qiao Mianmian hugged her grandmother tightly, and when she saw her grandfather come in, she hugged her grandmother even more tightly.

Qiao Youfu clicked his tongue, "Alright, how old are you now? Why are you still so clingy to your grandmother? Go back and rest, your grandmother is tired too."

"Okay, you guys should get some rest too." Qiao Mianmian left happily.

Qiao Youfu said with a smile, "You too, tomorrow Mianmian will wear new shoes when she goes out, how could anyone not know that you gave them to her?"

"If they know, they know. Who dares to say anything?" Zhang didn't care much. "I'm already this old. Do you think they still expect me to make a pair for everyone? Besides, Jiawang and Jiaxing have their daughters-in-law to make them. I don't need to worry about it."

She only wanted to make new shoes for her granddaughter. Half a month ago, she noticed that the soles of her granddaughter's shoes were worn thin, so she started making new shoes.

"Fine, fine, you're just being biased." Qiao Youfu was sleepy. "But shouldn't you make me a pair? My shoes are getting old too."

He lifted his foot to show Zhang, "Look, it probably won't be long before my big toe pops out."

Zhang looked down and said, "Where is it old? Once your thumb really comes out, we can patch it up with a piece of cloth, and it can last until next year."

She blew out the candle, lay down, and began to snore softly, pretending to be fast asleep to avoid the old man's nagging.