Chapter Thirty-Two
Old Zhou's face darkened. "Si-ge'er, we've only just separated from the family, and you're already becoming more and more outrageous! The betrothal gifts are all sent to the bride's family. When did a young man of marriageable age start handling them himself?!"
"That's right, Si-ge'er, you're really audacious! You're even eyeing the betrothal gifts!"
Zhou Wu glared at him, her eyes filled with hostility.
Mu Jin twitched her fingers slightly and tugged at Zhou Lin's sleeve.
“Ah Lin, there’s not much work to do in the fields these days. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Uncle Heng’s place. I should go now.”
Knowing that Zhou Wushi disliked Mu Jin, Zhou Lin lowered his head and said softly, "Will you come with me? I met Shi Ma on the road the other day, and she was still talking about you."
Mu Jin glanced at Zhou Si and gently shook her head.
"You go ahead first, I'll be back in a bit."
Zhou Lin thought for a moment and said, "It's not too late to go in the afternoon."
He was determined not to go out, and Mu Jin couldn't do anything about it.
Zhou Lin made up his mind that if his mother got angry and started a fight, he would stand in front of Mu Jin to protect her.
Mu Jin sighed and said to Zhou Wu Shi and the others, "Father and Mother, now that we've accepted the betrothal gifts from our in-laws, it's time to prepare a dowry for Si'er. I wonder how much you plan to give Si'er as a dowry?"
Zhou Wu was stunned. If Zhou Si got married without a dowry, it would really make her a laughing stock.
On second thought, I'll just prepare two chests and cabinets. Who but my family would know what's inside?
"You don't need to worry about that. His father and I have our own plans."
Mu Jin smiled and said, "In that case, I'll trouble you, Father and Mother, to make the preparations. There's a lot of work to do at home, so Ah Lin, Si'er, and I won't stay any longer."
The Zhou family's fields have all been plowed. For the first time in all these years, Zhou Ming has felt so tired from working in the fields.
Zhou Lin finished chopping all the wood in the house yesterday, and thinking about it, there's not much work left to do.
Since Mu Jin said she wanted to leave, Zhou Wu Shi did not stop her.
After Mu Jin and the other two left, Zhou Wu said angrily, "Look at him, as if no one would want to keep him around."
Mu Qing didn't like his older brother either. She glanced at the betrothal gifts on the ground and smiled.
"Mom, let's steam some white flour buns today. Anyway, the meat won't last until Fourth Brother comes back, so let's braise it while it's still fresh at noon."
Zhou Wu swallowed hard, "You're so hungry."
Mu Qing patted her slightly protruding belly. "It's because your grandson is craving it."
Zhou Laosan put his hands behind his back and said, "Let's cook and eat, and save the wild geese for when our youngest son comes back."
After saying that, he strolled out to the edge of the field to chat with his old buddies.
Zhou Lin went out and went to Mu Heng's place. Zhou Si and Mu Jin took advantage of the good weather to go home and take apart the quilt that had been used for the whole winter, spread out the cotton inside and put it in the yard to dry.
After eating brown rice and dark flour for a long time, Wen Liangzhao's face turned somewhat dark.
"Jin-ge'er, when are you going to town to buy some fine rice and flour to eat, and also buy a pot, bowls, plates and dishes and so on.
Mu Jin and Zhou Si, who were wringing out the washed sheets, laughed when they heard this and asked, "Is it because you can't get used to the food?"
Wen Liangzhao nodded slowly, somewhat embarrassed. "Yes, it is a little bit, mainly because it's a bit irritating to the throat."
Even before he was sold, his family lived a fairly good life. After he was sold, in order to receive a big customer, Yue Niangzi naturally took good care of him.
As a result, Wen Liangzhao could say that he had never eaten such coarse food before.
"I'll go to town in a couple of days when things calm down. It'll be time to buy the seeds for the fields too."
After thinking for a moment, he said to Zhou Si, "Si'er, how many handkerchiefs have you embroidered? Would you like to take them with you?"
Zhou Si used all his strength to twist the bed sheet into a pretzel shape.
Hearing this, he shook his head. "Brother, I've been too busy these days and haven't embroidered many yet. I'll take them with me when I get back to town."
Wen Liangzhao helped pour the water from the basin into the vegetable garden, followed by a flock of bright yellow chicks and ducklings wagging their tails.
"Brother, what are we planting in our fields this year? Cotton? Or wheat?"
Mu Jin and Zhou Si straightened the wrung-out bed sheet and said, "Plant two mu of spring wheat, two mu of cotton, and one mu of rapeseed."
"They want to plant rapeseed too?!"
Mu Jin hung the bed sheet on the clothesline and smiled when she heard this, saying, "The rapeseed is planted and can be used to make oil. We can keep some for our own consumption and exchange the rest for some money."
"I've only ever seen other people plant rapeseed before. It's so beautiful when the rapeseed flowers bloom."
After hanging up the last sheet, Mu Jin looked up and saw that it was still early.
"I'm going out to see if there are any wild vegetables left to dig up."
Zhou Si originally wanted to go with them, but Wen Liangzhao called him over. Some weeds had sprouted in the vegetable garden, and he was afraid of picking the wrong ones, so he asked Wen Liangzhao to go over and help identify them.
Winter had just passed, and after eating radishes and cabbages all winter, wild vegetables were finally sprouting. Villagers would come to dig them up whenever they had free time, and they were in high demand.
After wandering around, Mu Jin only managed to dig up a few shepherd's purse plants. Seeing that it was getting late, she didn't linger at the foot of the mountain.
As I approached my house with my bamboo basket, I saw a man sneaking around, peeking into the yard through the crack in the door.
Mu Jin's face darkened. "What are you doing?!"
The man was startled and turned around, grinning sheepishly, "Big...Big Brother, you're back."
It turned out to be Mu Liang, who had been betrothed to Zhou Si.
Mu Jin said with a stern face, "Don't even think about it. I can't accept you calling me 'big brother'. What are you doing lurking around my door? If you act like this, I might just mistake you for a thief and arrest you."
Mu Liang hurriedly waved his hands, "Brother... Brother Lin, no, no, no, I just wanted to see Si'er, to see how he is doing?"
Mu Jin scoffed. He didn't believe he was unaware of the grand pomp and circumstance the Mu family had made at the Zhou family's engagement ceremony.
She smiled and said, "So that's how it is. My Si'er has been living a very happy life since she left that scoundrel. Today she got engaged to the second son of the Mu Hunter family. Do you know him, Brother Lingyun? He's good-looking and capable. When they get married, remember to come and have a drink at their wedding."
Mu Liang blushed with embarrassment but remained standing at the door without moving.
"That Mu Lingyun is a cripple, how can he be worthy of Si'er?"
Mu Jin chuckled, "It's true that he has some physical disabilities, but he has a good heart and is a good person, so you don't need to worry about him."
"Brother Lin, could you please call Si'er out? I have something to say to him."
Mu Jin waved her hand, "No matter how heartless you are, you are still my Si'er's ex-fiancé. It's not good for others to see you like this, so please stop bothering us. Brother Ling Yun's fists are not forgiving, and I'm only doing this for your own good."
"Oh, by the way, I haven't congratulated you yet on becoming a father. For the sake of your unborn child, you should be careful with your words and actions."
He knocked twice on the door, opened it, and shut Mu Liang, who was about to come in, out.
Zhou Si and Wen Liangzhao had heard the commotion long ago, but they were too lazy to pay attention to him, so they didn't go out.
Seeing Mulan come in, she pouted and said, "What's with the look on his face?! He looks like he really likes me, but that doesn't stop him from rolling around in the woods with other people."
Before Mu Jin came in, Zhou Si told Wen Liangzhao who the person outside was and what had happened before.
To Zhou Si's surprise, he found that the matter no longer stirred any emotion in him; he spoke calmly, and his heart was also at peace.
Wen Liangzhao said coolly, "I understand. Which man who comes to Yue Man Lou to have fun doesn't have a family? Saying that the heart and body are separate? Bah! Let him try having his husband or wife cheat on him. He'd probably be so anxious that he'd jump three feet high."
Mu Jin chuckled, thinking that Wen Liangzhao's description was quite apt.
There was a family in the village before. The man's parents had passed away. He had been away on business for more than a year. When he returned, he brought back a frail-looking young man and wanted to marry him as his concubine.
Little did he know, his husband was not idle at home either. When he returned, his husband was holding a baby boy who was only three days old.
The man was so anxious that he jumped up and down, grabbed a machete, and searched everywhere for the adulterer.
This matter escalated, and the husband was originally to be drowned according to the rules. However, the village chief, thinking of the newborn boy, drove him out of the village, thus sparing his life.
"Hmph, anyway, no man is any good," Wen Liangzhao concluded.
Mu Jin and Zhou Si didn't know how to respond to this. They both felt that their men were pretty good.
He coughed lightly. "You can't be so absolute."
Wen Liangzhao realized he had spoken out of turn, so he gently covered his mouth and quickly said, "Of course, there are good ones too, like Brother Lin."
Mu Jin smiled and shook her head, then went back to the kitchen to prepare lunch.
Two days later, Mu Jin asked Mu Sheng to buy twenty catties of fine rice and twenty catties of fine flour from the town.
Because there was a porcelain kiln in Gujia Village where the bowls and plates were cheaper than in town, Mujin went there and bought a few.
The pheasant that Mu Lingyun gave us was slaughtered today, and we stewed a pot of hazel mushroom and chicken stew. The aroma of the meat filled the whole yard.
Zhou Si and Wen Liangzhao, who were weeding in the yard, swallowed hard. They hadn't eaten such delicious meat in a long time, and the aroma made them feel dizzy.
When Zhou Lin returned, he saw a basket of white flour buns and a pot of chicken in the kitchen, and he was tempted as well.
She smiled and said, "Is it New Year's already? It smells so good. Ah Jin, bring some over and send some to your parents. They rarely eat these big white steamed buns."
Mu Jin's smile faded slightly, and she said, "Don't try to use this to curry favor. Who is this pheasant for, Brother Lingyun? And this flour isn't something we can afford; Liang Zhao paid for it. If our parents find out, what will they think?"
Zhou Lin was a little embarrassed. "It's my fault. I didn't think about it enough. I always felt that I was eating well at home and I would feel guilty if I didn't send some to my parents."
Mu Jin smiled and said, "The betrothal gifts include so much meat, fine rice, and fine flour. My parents will need to eat this for a while, so we don't need to send the meat over."
Zhou Si chimed in, "That's right, brother. Our parents are doing just fine. We've never seen them bring us meat or noodles. Don't worry about it."
Zhou Lin thought about it carefully and realized that his parents must have plenty of food, so they didn't mention sending meat over.
Wen Liangzhao looked at this and that, took a bite of a white steamed bun, and sighed inwardly, finally having a comfortable meal.
“Jin-ge’er, Brother Lin, please give me shelter. Don’t you think I’m a burden? I’ll take care of all the meals at home from now on. Don’t worry, I have money.”
Although he never entertained customers, many people came to see his fake face and listen to his songs, so he could be considered a rich guy.
He didn't want to go back to eating coarse rice and black flour, and stared intently at Mu Jin and the others.
Mu Jin shook her head and said, "This fine rice and flour are expensive. There's only so much of it, and it costs four hundred and fifty coins. No matter how much money we have, we can't just sit around and eat it all up. We're already very fortunate to be able to eat white flour steamed buns that we've never had before, thanks to you."
Zhou Si took a bite of the soft white steamed bun and chimed in, "That's right, we can't spend money so recklessly, or we'll just squander it all."
Wen Liangzhao puffed out her cheeks. "If you don't eat with me, I won't eat either."
Mu Jin felt rather helpless. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Then let's mix it with coarse flour. It will last for a long time, save money, and taste good too."
Wen Liangzhao thought for a moment before nodding.
Mu Jin breathed a sigh of relief and casually picked up a piece of chicken for Zhou Lin, thinking to herself that she would just add less coarse flour to Wen Liangzhao's portion in the future.
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