Chapter 554 Taking Down the Cheng Family
Grandma Cheng straightened her back after being praised.
When they were in Chengjia Village, she and the old man were the best at farming. The output from their fields was always higher than that of other families. In this regard, she was second to none and no one dared to claim to be first.
The old lady continued, "There's also a small courtyard here. We can tidy it up and raise chickens. Chickens in the capital are too expensive, forty or fifty copper coins a pound. That's robbery! Eggs are expensive too. We can't afford to eat like that every day..."
Situ Man's expression froze.
She didn't know that organic fertilizer was needed when growing vegetables, but she knew that raising chickens would produce feces, and the yard would stink by then.
She grew up in a sheltered environment where incense was burned in the courtyard every three days, and she couldn't stand the strange smell. But the woman in front of her was her husband's grandmother. On their first day of marriage, wouldn't it be inappropriate for her to disobey her grandmother's wishes...?
She looked in Cheng Zhao's direction. Cheng Zhao was being held back by Old Man Cheng, and they were talking about something. When she looked over, Cheng Zhao was also looking over, and their eyes met in mid-air.
She could sense that her husband was worried that she wouldn't be able to handle her grandmother.
The wet nurse beside her had already spoken: "Old Madam, this yard is really too small. We have to grow vegetables and raise chickens, and there's no room for everyone in the yard to move out... Our Madam knows that the son-in-law has just settled in the capital and is not well off, so she has specifically instructed that our young lady will take care of all the food, clothing and other expenses for this yard. Old Madam, you don't have to worry about money."
Old Madam Cheng's face suddenly tightened: "No matter how poor our Cheng family is, we will never let a newly married daughter-in-law pay for these expenses. If this gets out, where will our Cheng family's face be put?"
She paused and said calmly, "Xiao Man, just take care of the food, clothing and daily expenses of the people in your yard."
The wet nurse dared not say anything more. In fact, she was the one who sent people to buy the food early that morning, and the Cheng family had eaten very happily. Why did they change their tune as soon as this was brought up? They had taken advantage of the situation but wouldn't admit it...
“This morning my husband gave me several hundred taels of silver, saying that from now on, I can just ask him for money for the household’s food, clothing and other necessities,” Situ Man said with a smile. “My husband told me that he is doing business and can make a lot of money, so Grandma shouldn’t worry about these things… By the way, Grandma is so good at growing vegetables, can I discuss something with you?”
Grandma Cheng nodded.
"My mother gave me a farm as a dowry. It's in a village a mile from our home. This farm specializes in growing vegetables and selling them to people in the city." Situ Man sighed. "My mother said that the people here don't know how to farm. The vegetables they grow are too poor in quality and can't be sold at a high price in the city, so they lose money every year... I've been thinking about finding some new farmers to grow vegetables, but no matter how much I look, they're all pretty much the same. No one in the capital is good at farming. I wonder... could you ask Grandma to go over and take a look at what the problem is?"
As she spoke, she affectionately took the old lady's arm.
"You've found the right person." Old Mrs. Cheng was full of worry. "I have nothing to do anyway, so I'll go over."
Situ Man continued, "Our courtyard is too small, not enough for Grandma to work around. Grandpa can also farm, right? You two are struggling to manage such a small plot of land. How about this, Grandpa and Grandma will help your granddaughter-in-law manage the estate, and all the extra profits this year will be Grandpa and Grandma's share of the profits. What do you say?"
Grandma Cheng fell into deep thought.
No matter how well this small piece of land is taken care of, the vegetables grown are only enough for the family to eat, which is really not cost-effective.
A farm has at least a hundred acres of land. If it's well-managed, the yield per acre can double, and the extra income goes to the two old people.
After calculating everything, the old lady said, "We're all family. It would be too formal to talk about profit sharing. You're Zhao'er's daughter-in-law. If you're doing well, Zhao'er is doing well. If Zhao'er is doing well, our whole family is doing well."
“Grandma, your granddaughter-in-law has worked so hard. This dividend is a token of our respect. Please don’t refuse it, Grandma.” Situ Man looked at the wet nurse and said, “Take Grandpa and Grandma to the estate. Old Liu is managing the estate, right? From now on, it will be managed by my Grandma. Old Liu must obey Grandma’s orders in everything he does. If he disagrees, just pay his wages and kick him out.”
The wet nurse and the old woman were utterly astonished. Old Liu was from the madam's family; how could they explain driving him away like this to the madam...?
However, when she saw the young lady wink at her, she knew that this was all for Old Madam Cheng's benefit, so she immediately obeyed: "Yes!"
Old Mrs. Cheng's heart was warmed to the extreme. She did not make a mistake in marrying this granddaughter-in-law. She put her, the grandmother, first. So, she had to support her granddaughter-in-law. If the eldest daughter-in-law, the mother-in-law, did anything weird in the future, she would just suppress it.
That was settled. The wet nurse and servants arranged a carriage, and the two elders of the Cheng family boarded the carriage to go to the estate that Situ Man had brought as part of her dowry.
Watching the carriage drive away, Situ Man breathed a sigh of relief. However, she was also very fortunate. Her two older sisters had married into better families, but they had all sorts of small conflicts with their mothers-in-law and sisters-in-law every day, and there was always intrigue and backstabbing. If she had gone to such a family, her little tricks would not have been enough. It was better to live in a small family. There was no need to set rules, and as long as she was willing to spend a little money, she could appease her husband's family.
“Xiaoman, thank you.” Cheng Zhao stood beside her, his voice sincere. “I’m well aware of some of my family’s shortcomings. I’m a member of the Cheng family, I have Cheng family blood in my veins, and this is a responsibility I must bear. But you, you don’t actually have to worry about these things. The fact that you’re willing to care shows that you truly consider them family…”
"After I marry you, we will be a family." Situ Man said embarrassedly, "Husband, your grandparents are actually not difficult to get along with."
“My grandmother understands some important principles, and my grandfather has never interfered in family matters, but my mother has some…” Cheng Zhao paused. He never talked about his elders, but there were some things he had to make clear to his new wife. “My mother has lived in the village for thirty or forty years. This is the first time she has lived in the city. Some of her words are unpleasant to hear, and some of her habits are different from those of city people. Please be more tolerant… But if my mother gives you a hard time or deliberately makes things difficult, just tell me directly, and I won’t let you suffer.”
Situ Man's heart felt as sweet as if it were filled with honey. As long as her husband stood on her side, she would accept it no matter how difficult her in-laws were to get along with. Besides, she didn't think it was that difficult.
She secretly hooked her arm around Cheng Zhao's hand and said sweetly, "Don't worry, my husband. Your family and I will definitely become a real family. Don't worry about these things at home."
Cheng Zhaohui held her hand, coughed, and said, "I'll take you to serve tea to Second Aunt."
The two of them got on a carriage, and Cheng Ding was responsible for driving it. The carriage slowly drove into the capital and finally stopped at the gate of the courtyard where Cheng Wanwan was temporarily staying.
Cheng Wanwan got up early in the morning to translate the letters. There were twenty-three letters in total. The meaning of each letter was similar, but the details were different. After translating them, she wrote down the words of the Dayu Dynasty on paper and marked them. Just after she finished doing this, Granny Qi came in to report that Cheng Zhao and Situ Man had arrived and were sitting in the courtyard drinking tea.
This small courtyard has no front or back yard. When she opened the door, she saw the young couple looking at each other and showing off their love by the stone table in the yard.
At my age, I'm still forced to eat dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing romantic relationships), but this bowl of dog food tastes delicious.
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