“I can’t tell what’s wrong. That Madam Heng seems to talk very little.” Zhong Daya’s mind had long since returned to normal, and her headaches no longer flared up frequently. She only felt uncomfortable in her head occasionally when the weather changed.
Chen Yueru seemed lost in thought. She rarely spoke, but she was quite talkative when drinking in the private room, and her accent was unfamiliar, especially that sentence that sounded like it had suddenly popped up from an unknown dialect.
There's nothing to talk about with my aunt; she's completely focused on the restaurant business right now, spending her days calculating the accounts and figuring out how much profit she'll get each month.
Houses in the prefectural city are expensive. Li Congzhi is not young anymore. Li Quan and Zhong Daya are working hard to save money to buy a house for their son. They can't keep living in their brother-in-law's house forever. Besides, both of their daughters are married and have children. The house they live in now is already very cramped.
If my son gets married again, we really won't be able to live here anymore. We need our own house to feel at ease and have more hope for the future.
"Ruru, why are you here so early to help out today?" Zhou Dafu led his younger brothers in from outside.
Fu Ge and his friends have been in the city for two days, but they only come to help out at the restaurant around noon. In a few days, Fu Ge will go to Anyang Prefecture on Tuesday and Thursday to look for stars.
Zhou Dafu and Zhou Sanfu were going to attend classes at the prefectural school. Sanfu was already a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations) and had ranked first in the examinations, so he was qualified to enter the prefectural school.
Dafu got into the prefectural school through connections. In the past, Dafu would never have wanted to get in through connections, but now he has been worn down and has lost his temper. Most people rack their brains and still can't get into the prefectural school. If he still insists on it, then he is ungrateful.
When Zhou Wufu arrives, he will return to Yegou Village and spend his days collecting medicinal herbs in the mountains, devoting himself entirely to making medicine.
"My five brothers, you're here! Haven't eaten yet? I'll go to the kitchen and bring you some food." Chen Yueru turned and went to the kitchen.
"Auntie," the Fu brothers called out in unison.
Zhong Daya was lost in thought when she heard the call. She responded and invited them to eat in the backyard. Brother Fu and his friends lived in a house in the prefectural city. Only the five of them lived in that house. In the morning, they would just cook some porridge at the house and then come to the restaurant for lunch.
“You five are all so grown up now, nineteen this year, right? My son Congzhi is not young either. Recently, your cousin-in-law and I looked at a house, a two-courtyard house, which costs more than six hundred taels of silver. It's a bit expensive, but we can't not buy it. Congzhi is getting married at the end of the year. Where will we live if we don't buy a house?”
Zhong Daya rambled on and on, and once she started, it was hard to stop. She could talk about anything and everything. "We spent six hundred taels, and we still have some savings. We still have enough money to marry off our son. But this whole ordeal has emptied our savings of the past few years. I'm really upset about it."
“Money is always going to be spent eventually. It’s better than others having to borrow money to get a daughter-in-law. Besides, Congzhi has someone he likes. It’s not good to keep dragging the girl along.” Zhou Erfu thought about how yesterday when he and his five brothers went to the bookstore in the east of the city with Li Congzhi to buy books, the bookstore owner’s daughter and Congzhi were exchanging glances and acting very affectionate.
After Li Congzhi came to the prefectural city from the town, he stopped working at the restaurant and went to study at a private school. This was the idea of Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua. They felt that it would be better for him to study more. At that time, Li Congzhi was not very old, so he could study for a couple more years before coming back to help at the restaurant.
If he were good at studying, wouldn't it be better for him to take the imperial examination?
However, Li Congzhi only studied for three more years before stopping. He preferred working as an accountant in a restaurant. He didn't consider himself suited for the imperial examinations, but having studied for a few more years, he naturally exuded a scholarly air. Moreover, his handsome and refined appearance made him quite popular with young women.
Although he hadn't been to school for the past two years, he still frequently visited bookstores, and over time, he became acquainted with the bookstore owner's daughter.
The bookstore wasn't run by the shopkeeper; the shopkeeper had an owner. He just helped manage it and received a monthly salary. The shopkeeper's daughter often brought her father meals and occasionally helped look after the shop.
After getting to know Li Congzhi, she not only came to the bookstore when delivering meals, but also occasionally bumped into Li Congzhi at the entrance of the restaurant. In short, the two quickly took a liking to each other and even exchanged tokens of affection in private.
The bookstore owner had long suspected that his daughter was having an affair with the son of the owner of Meizhoulou. However, Meizhoulou was doing very well and was quite famous. The Li family was also doing well. Li Congzhi was handsome and well-educated, so he was a good match for his daughter. Therefore, the bookstore owner turned a blind eye and let the affair continue.
Last year, when the bookstore owner saw that his daughter was already sixteen and the Li family still hadn't made a move, he gave a few hints when Li Congzhi came to the bookstore to read again.
Li Congzhi was also quick-witted. The day after his future father-in-law gave his hint, he had his parents find a matchmaker and went to propose marriage with generous gifts.
Li Congzhi and the bookstore owner's daughter have been engaged for a year now, and they should bring the bride back by the end of this year.
After finishing lunch, Fu Ge and his friends said they were going to help Zhong Daya look at houses. Ren Yazi said there were two houses to choose from, and asked Li Quan and Zhong Daya to take a look together when they had time.
Zhong Daya said she couldn't tell. For her, as long as she had a house to live in, that was enough. She really couldn't tell whether it was good or bad. Li Quan was also only focused on money and only cared about whether the restaurant could keep up with demand. He had no interest in looking at the house.
"Let Congzhi go with you to see it. Anyway, this house was bought for him, so as long as he likes it, that's fine." Li Quan waved his hand and didn't care anymore.
“I want to go see the house too,” Chen Yueru said.
"Go ahead, go ahead, there are enough people here at the restaurant, it's okay if you don't help." Zhong Daya gave her a reproachful look. This little girl only went back to the county town to see Zhao Guizhi and his wife once before running to the prefectural city. Her real intention is not what it seems.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
