Chapter 631 Gift (Thanks to the tip from book friend "Al Pacino")
Manbao gave away all the gifts he bought one by one. Even the youngest two, Wutou and Liutou, received gifts, which were a pair of particularly beautiful tiger-head shoes and some small toys.
The entire Zhou family was as happy as if it were New Year’s Day.
Xiao Qianshi and Zhou Xi soon returned with Datou and Daya. Manbao immediately threw himself into Xiao Qianshi's arms and said, "Sister-in-law, I missed you so much."
Zhou Xi beside her couldn't help but nod her head and thought, "You only miss your sister-in-law, not your elder sister?"
"I think about it, I think about it, big sister, are you taking the medicine I asked my fourth brother to bring you?"
Zhou Xi blushed slightly, nodded, and asked softly, "Does the medicine really work?"
"Of course, it's a secret recipe of the palace."
Regardless of whether it works or not, the patient has to believe that it works.
Zhou Xi's eyes lit up. Although his fourth brother had also said this, it seemed more credible when Manbao said it.
The gift Manbao gave to Xiao Qian was similar to the gifts given to his sisters-in-law, so the Zhou family was in harmony and joy today.
Even the jealous old Zhou felt relieved after seeing that his sons had one pair of shoes less than him.
After all, he is much better than his sons, right?
Old Zhou said, "The chosen date is June 12th. I thought it would be great if you could come back on the 10th, but who knew you would come back on the 6th."
Manbao said, "Bai Shan is taking the high school entrance exam in the second year of junior high school. After the exam, we are going to come back. The total vacation is only ten days."
Old Zhou asked, "He has to go to school so he follows the schedule. Since you're not going to some government school, can't you ask Mr. Zhuang for a few more days off?"
Zhou Silang said, "Dad, besides Mr. Zhuang's place, there's also the medicine shop. Manbao is really amazing now. I've asked the shopkeeper, Old Zheng, and with Manbao's intelligence and talent, he's sure to be a very good doctor in the future."
Zhou Silang moved towards his father and said, "Dad, think about it, he's a very good doctor. When Manbao returns to the county town, he can open a medicine shop..."
Old Zhou was suddenly inspired and said immediately, "Okay, Manbao, you have to study hard. In fact, I think it's enough to learn calligraphy similar to Mr. Zhuang. The most important thing is to learn a craft."
"Dad, Mr. Zhuang knows much more than Mr. Ji," Manbao said, "but don't worry, I will learn everything and won't delay anything."
She asked about Zhou Xi's marriage, "Why are you still working in the shop when your elder sister is getting married?"
Old Zhou frowned, "She can't sit still. Even if we talk to her, she won't listen. What can we do?"
This was Zhou Xi's second marriage, and she herself was not happy about it, so Old Zhou and Qian did not restrict her too much. Anyway, they did not plan to invite too many people.
Apart from some relatives, only some clansmen and good neighbors in the village would come to have a meal.
Old Zhou and Qian also took out some of their private savings to prepare a dowry for her, which was almost comparable to the dowry she had when she got married for the first time.
People outside were very envious, but Lao Zhou's family did not take it to heart, because considering their current financial situation, this little dowry was nothing.
So no one has any objections.
Parents give a dowry, and brothers and sisters add to it, so there is a lot.
For example, Zhou Dalang gave her one tael of silver, and Zhou Erlang also gave her money to make a cabinet for her. Zhou Sanlang went up the mountain to cut trees and paid a carpenter to make two boxes...
Even Zhou Lijun knew that he had to send a quilt cover to his eldest aunt, not to mention Daya and Datou. If they piled together, there would be a lot of things.
Manbao gave medicine and a fertility assistance manual, which was a booklet she wrote based on what Teacher Mo said.
Afraid that Zhou Xi didn't recognize some of the words, Manbao read them to her one by one and explained them to her.
Looking at the young Manbao, Zhou Xi's face flushed. How old is her little sister?
Manbao finished teaching his elder sister without changing his expression, then stuffed the booklet into her arms and said, "Elder sister, this is my gift to you."
Zhou Xi coughed lightly and said, "Manbao, please write down the prescription for the palace secret recipe for me. From now on, you don't have to buy medicine for me from Yizhou City. I can buy it myself in the county town."
Manbao said, "Sister, you can stop taking the medicine now. It will be enough after you finish the medicine I prescribed for you. You can't take the medicine when you are officially expecting a child."
She thought for a moment and said, "But if you want the prescription, I'll write it down for you later. Keep it safe. Maybe it'll become a family heirloom in the future."
The time spent studying in the pharmacy made Manbao realize how precious some secret recipes are. Some doctors may be able to make a living with just a prescription.
So now she is particularly interested in secret recipes, especially palace secret recipes and ancient secret recipes.
Zhou Xi muttered, "I don't want such a family heirloom. I would rather my descendants never use it in their lifetime."
Manbao heard this and nodded in agreement, "That's right, but if every wish could come true, there would be no doctors in the world. So we still have to make the necessary preparations."
Zhou Xi: ...
Manbao had memorized the prescription by heart, after all, she had dispensed the medicine herself the last two times.
Manbao memorized the prescription, dried the ink, and handed it to Zhou Xi, saying, "Big sister, you must keep it well."
Zhou Xi put it together with the booklet and nodded, "I know."
She knew what was good. Although she didn't hope to use this thing again in the future, it was indeed rare.
Manbao sat cross-legged on her bed, propping up his chin and looking at her curiously, "Sister, didn't you say you didn't want to get married? Why did you agree to marry Guan Xin?"
Zhou Xi was silent for a moment and then said, "Because he doesn't look down on me?"
"Hmm?" Manbao tilted his head and asked, "Who looked down on you?"
Zhou Xi smiled. Since there were only two sisters in the room, she relaxed a little. There were some things she couldn't tell her parents, let alone her sisters-in-law and brothers and sisters. But Manbao was the best listener.
She whispered, "Except for the people in our family, who outside doesn't look down on me?"
Manbao frowned and said nothing.
"At first, people outside didn't know it was Liu Dalang who was infertile, so they thought it was me who was infertile. The people who came to my parents to talk about marriage were all widowers with children," Zhou Xi said. "That's nothing. I'm a divorced woman, so I'm almost the same as a widow. But what kind of people are those..."
"Later, my parents said that my illness was cured, and the story of Liu Dalang spread, so my grievances were cleared. But when it comes to marriage, I still have to be a widower, or a disabled man, or for some unfortunate reason, unable to find a wife."
"But no matter who it is, when they come to me, whether it's a matchmaker or someone on a blind date, they don't even look at me as a person. Even if they behave well at first, after coming twice, they can't hide the contempt and suspicion in their eyes."
Zhou Xi said, "I know. Regardless of whether I can have children or not, if I get divorced, they will think it's mostly my fault. So why should I get married?"
In fact, she wanted to get married at the beginning, thinking that it didn't matter who she married, as she couldn't stay at her parents' and brothers' homes all her life.
But her family was living so well, she was disheartened at first and didn't want to get married. But she gradually came to her senses, and her family made room for her and opened up a piece of wasteland...
Then she discovered that even if she didn't get married, even if she lived with her parents and brothers, her life was not bad, and at one point she didn't even feel like a guest.
So she thought, if that’s the case, why should she get married?
Good night
(End of this chapter)
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