When we arrived at Xiaozao Village, it was already completely dark.
Several people got off the car and took the things out. Xu Lanyin gave the driver two silver coins.
The driver couldn't enter the city now, so he had to stay in the west wing for one night. He drove the car to the backyard and was invited by Zhao Wu to go to the west wing.
Qin was anxiously waiting for them at home, and she was delighted to see them return safely.
Seeing the pile of things being moved into the house, some of which were particularly exquisite, he was surprised and asked, "Why did you buy so many things?"
Xu Lanting said, "Mother, many of these things were sent by Lord Min and Brother Hu."
Would Lord Min also give something to his family? Qin was puzzled.
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "I'll tell you in detail later."
The Fujian government sent a set of colorful porcelain tea sets, eight pens and eight ink sticks, a pen holder and an inkstone, and two stacks of fine rice paper.
The Hu family gave two rolls of silk, five pounds of sugar, and five pounds of tea.
Qin quickly killed a chicken, made a pot of chicken noodle soup, and fried a few dishes, then asked Xu Lanzhou to take them to the west wing. Zhao Wu accompanied the coachman for a drink.
While the Xu family ate, Xu Lanyin briefly recounted Xu Lanting's medical practice, his embroidery business, and his experience hypnotizing people from Fujian. She also told Qin not to share this with anyone else. She also briefly recounted the incident of witnessing a murder and being pulled in as a witness, but omitted the hypnotic arrest, fearing it would frighten Qin. She also specifically mentioned the name of Qin Che, the Tongzhi of Ningzhou, describing him as refined, particularly affable, and speaking with a Jiangnan accent.
Qin Shi had been interested in all the previous things, but she was completely oblivious to Qin Che's name, and didn't seem to be in any way offended by it. Xu Lanyin was deeply disappointed; it seemed she had been overthinking things.
She handed the silver note of five hundred taels of silver to Qin, which made Qin smile.
After dinner, Xu Lanzhou took a few pieces of silk, two pinewood walking sticks, a beaded headband, a fur hat with ear flaps, and other gifts to the main room. Before leaving, he asked, "Did you tell Grandpa and Grandma how much the embroidery sold for?"
Xu Lanyin said, "Tell the truth."
If you can't even afford this little bit of money, how will you be able to buy a house in the county or provincial capital in the future?
Although she was answering Xu Lanzhou's words, she was actually speaking to Qin.
Qin hesitated and said, "When your father made more money, he would give them money as a filial gift. Should we give them some as well? Otherwise, your grandfather will be unhappy, and your aunt will gossip about it..."
Xu Lanyin said, "We have shown filial respect, and the gifts we gave are worth more than five taels of silver. We must not develop the habit we had when my father was alive. As soon as the second branch earns money, it must give it to grandparents and the first branch. Dad gave them so much silver back then. When our family was in trouble, what did they give us to tide us over? Brother Dashi secretly took one tael of silver. This amount of money may not seem like much, but it is probably almost all of his private money. I still remember this kindness. Grandparents should be respected, especially my grandmother. When we have more money in the future, we can increase the amount of filial respect every month and during the New Year, but we can't give it to them as soon as we earn money... Besides, the embroidery was embroidered by my mother, and it is also my mother's dowry. There is no reason for a father-in-law to be concerned about the dowry of a widowed daughter-in-law, and there is even less reason for the eldest sister-in-law from the husband's family to be concerned about it."
Xu Lanzhou thought this was reasonable, but seeing such an elder sister, he still felt a little uneasy and quickly took his things and left.
Qin also said that Xu Daya gave birth to a five-pound son the day before. Since she was a widow and it was not convenient for her to visit, she went to the main house and gave Gu a hundred coins, a chicken, and twenty eggs, and asked her to pass them on to Xu Daya.
Xu Lanyin didn't have much affection for Xu Daya, so she just said "Oh".
In the Xu family's main house, the old couple's eyes lit up when they saw so many good things. Old Master Xu held up the fur hat and said with a smile, "This hat is better and thicker than the one worn by the old patriarch. Good boy, I love you for a reason."
Old Mrs. Xu first played with the pinewood cane, then took the beaded headband and smiled, "Oh, this headband is so sparkling, even better than the ones worn by landlords' wives. You're just an old country woman, it's a pity for you to wear such a fine thing. Zhou, remember, don't buy you such fine things in the future, save the money for your studies."
Xu Lanzhou smiled and said, "This headband was specially picked for you by my sister. She said that you will be rich and prosperous when you wear it."
Old Man Xu also laughed and said, "Silly old woman, your second son's family has so much land and shops, aren't you a landlord now?" He then asked Xu Lanzhou, "I saw your mother's embroidery, it's very good. The eldest daughter-in-law said it was double-sided Suzhou embroidery and worth a lot of money. How much silver did you sell it for?"
Xu Lanzhou said, "The embroidery sold for a good price, five hundred taels of silver."
Gu's eyes widened and she exclaimed in surprise, "Oh my God, it sold for so much money." She had been very happy before that the second house had given her so many things, but now she felt that it was too little.
Old man Xu was also unhappy, and he put the fur hat he had been playing with on the table.
Seeing that they were unhappy, Xu Lanzhou quickly said, "My sister said that my family's life has improved, and she will increase the amount of money she gives to grandpa and grandma in the future."
Old Man Xu was too embarrassed to ask why he had to wait until later, why not give it now? Instead, he seized on Xu Lanzhou's words and scolded him, "Why is she always your sister? That girl will get married sooner or later and belong to someone else's family. You are the eldest son of the Xu family's second branch and the head of the family. Why do you listen to a little girl? You are such a good-for-nothing. I have taught you so many things in vain..."
Old Mrs. Xu quickly stopped him, saying, "What are you talking about, old X-dengzi? Yin and Zhou brought us so many good things from the provincial capital. They are both filial children. Yin is smart now. She is the eldest sister. If what she says is right, there is nothing wrong with Zhou listening to her."
Old Man Xu then said to Xu Lanzhou, "You must keep a close eye on that money and hold on to it. Don't spend it recklessly. You must plan accordingly. If another prodigal son appears in your family, or if we encounter a famine, we won't be unable to survive like your family did a few years ago..."
Blah blah, he taught Xu Lanzhou a lot of things about how to manage his money and not let it be squandered by women or given to others.
Although Xu Lanzhou was also afraid that Xu Lanyin would squander the family's wealth again, he didn't like to hear others say bad things about her. He explained, "My sister won't squander the family's wealth again. Most of our family's money is earned by her..."
The old man was so angry that he wanted to hit someone, but the old lady stopped him. The old lady said, "Zhou, you've worked hard on the way, go home and rest."
Xu Lanzhou was not stupid enough to stand there and get beaten, so he ran away quickly.
As soon as Xu Lanzhou left, Old Lady Xu scolded him, "You old bastard, if Zhou told those things to the second son's wife and Yin, they would hate you to death."
Old man Xu said stubbornly, "No matter how much he hates me, I will help the second son keep his family business."
Old Mrs. Xu tutted her tongue twice and said sarcastically, "I just realized how much you helped the second son's family. When the second son's family was in the most difficult time, Qin and Lan Ting were about to die of illness, and Lan Zhou dropped out of school, why didn't you take out money to help the orphans and widows in that family? When the second son was alive, he gave you a lot of money as a filial gift."
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