Liang Shuyan returned to her room, opened the system, and tallied her money. After deducting the money from the restaurant, she still had more than 800 taels of silver.
"That's enough. This amount of money is more than enough to build a new house. With the family growing, building a house is inevitable."
Outside the window, Madam Liu walked over, clutching her stomach: "Mother, are you planning to build a house?"
Liang Shuyan looked at Liu's belly and said with some concern, "You're due in two months, why are you still walking around? Don't do any housework."
Liu sat up straight and said to her aunt, "Mother, I'm fine. After all, this is my second child. What else can I do? Mother wants to build a house. Erniu and I have saved up some money. We're giving it to you today, hoping it can help a little."
It was truly not easy for Liu to save money. Before she was pregnant, she liked to buy new clothes, jewelry, and face cream. Now, she has saved up so much money.
Liang Shuyan took out her money bag, emptied it out and counted it; it turned out to be 200 taels of silver!
"Alright, Mother has already raised enough money to build the house. Here, take this money. The dormitories for the soldiers at the martial arts school are in terrible condition. Once our new house is built, we'll go and fix them. Also, with the baby's birth, we'll need a full-month celebration or something. There are many places that will cost money."
Liang Shuyan said a lot, but she didn't ask for Liu's money.
Liu knelt on the ground, sobbing, "Mother, my sister-in-law and I are different. My sister-in-law's family did not drag us down, but our family is different. My mother and sister have always lived with us, eating and drinking. This money is what I should give. Mother, please accept it!"
Liang Shuyan pulled her daughter-in-law up from the ground: "You're in this state, how can you kneel down? Get up quickly, I'll take the money, get up quickly!"
Liang Shuyan knew that Liu Shi had been holding this matter in her heart. If she didn't accept Liu Shi's money, she would feel bad. So she decided to accept it and use it later when needed.
Liang Shuyan accepted the silver that Liu brought: "Alright, I'll take this silver. From now on, we're family. You're not allowed to remember what happened before. How did Erniu treat you?"
"Alright, Mother, Erniu has already explained it to me. It was all a misunderstanding. It was my daughter-in-law who misunderstood her!"
In the kitchen, Zhang was cooking, and Ruyan was helping her.
"Sister-in-law, your knife skills are so good. Did you learn them from your parents' home? Ruyan is so envious of your skills."
Zhang said with a smile, "Don't say that. I didn't learn anything when I was at my parents' home. It was all my mother-in-law who taught me. You don't need to be envious. I can teach you when I have time. Anyway, you'll be our daughter-in-law soon."
Ruyan blushed and said, "Sister-in-law, Sanwang said that we should wait until the new house is built before discussing marriage. It's too early to talk about these things now."
The chopped vegetables on the cutting board were placed on a plate, and the dough had already risen. Zhang kneaded the dough with both hands, saying as she kneaded, "It's getting late. Building a house won't take that long. If we have enough money, we can build it quickly, in three to five days at most."
Liang Shuyan strode in and glanced at Zhang Shi: "You're all thinking about moving into the new house?"
When Zhang saw that it was her mother-in-law, she said somewhat embarrassedly, "Mother, we were just talking about Sanwang's wedding, and that's when we started talking about the new house."
"We'll go to town tomorrow to invite the craftsmen back. We can start construction now, and it will be completed after autumn. By then, our restaurant will be open, and there won't be anything else to do at home, so we can let Sanwang and Ruyan get married!"
Ruyan blushed and said, "Auntie, there's no need to be in such a hurry!"
Sanwang came in, carrying a pair of firewood, and said earnestly to Liang Shuyan, "Mother, I don't want to get married yet. I want to follow Mr. Su and learn more. I also want to take the imperial examination for the first degree."
Liang Shuyan originally wanted Sanwang to get married as soon as possible and then take over the restaurant business, but she did not expect that he would want to take the imperial examination.
Ruyan's face was pale, and she dropped what she was doing and ran out.
If Sanwang really passes the preliminary examination, will he still want to continue taking the exam? And if so, will he still take a liking to this young girl?
When Liang Shuyan saw Sanwang, she said indifferently, "Alright, let's put this matter aside for now. I don't know what level you are at. Do you still want to take the imperial examination?"
Liang Shuyan followed Ruyan quickly over: "Ruyan, don't be angry. You know, once your aunt has made a decision, it's a done deal. You don't need to worry too much. Even if Sanwang is capable and becomes a scholar, he's still my son, and it's up to his mother to decide!"
Ruyan lowered her head, rubbed her eyes, and said, "Auntie, I'm just worried that once Sanwang really passes the imperial examination, he... he'll definitely divorce me and marry a beautiful young lady."
"You trust your aunt? With your aunt standing up for you, does Sanwang have some kind of death wish?"
After finally settling Ruyan in, Liang Shuyan went to the kitchen.
Zhang had already prepared the meal, and she smiled as she brought it all out and placed it on the table.
Grandma Jin, Grandma Liu, Jin Daya's family, Dashan and Zhao Heng also came out and sat down at the dinner table one after another.
Liang Shuyan said earnestly, "Before we eat, I want to say that tomorrow morning, Dashan and Zhao Heng went to town and invited some craftsmen back. Also, you two should plan ahead for preparing the materials, and make sure to use the best materials!"
Jin Dashan's eyes widened: "Mom, are we building a new house?"
Liang Shuyan nodded: "That's right, look, there are so many people in the family now, and we don't have enough room. It's not good for the whole family to be crammed together. Sanwang, starting tomorrow, go to the restaurant. You and Ruyan will be in charge of looking after the restaurant and we need to get the business up and running as soon as possible!"
Sanwang seemed somewhat resentful. He glanced at Liang Shuyan as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't utter a single word.
Ruyan said, "Auntie, I'd rather stay home and learn embroidery from my sister! Besides, there must be a lot of things to do while building the house. I can help my sister-in-law."
It's clear that something must have happened between Sanwang and Ruyan, otherwise Ruyan wouldn't have refused to go to the restaurant.
"Okay, staying at home is fine too. We're building a house, and it's just a meal at home, so let Chunyan cook it! Eldest sister, you go to the restaurant too. Once the restaurant has all the dishes, we'll prepare the ingredients and serve the food!"
Old Mrs. Liu readily agreed, "In that case, I'll stay and help with washing dishes, feeding the chickens and ducks, and so on!"
For some reason, the whole family was in a rather somber mood during the meal. Liang Shuyan simply assigned tasks to each person and then ate her meal with her head down.
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