Chapter Nineteen
"Brother, you're back from doing laundry? Why are the dirty clothes I put in the laundry basket still lying there?"
Mu Qing looked rather unwell, and made up her mind to go to Zhou Wu's place to complain about Mu Jin.
"Oh dear, look at my memory. I was busy doing laundry this morning, afraid of being late to make lunch, and I forgot about your clothes."
Mu Jin looked annoyed, stretched Zhou Lin's patched clothes, and replied, thinking to herself that she still had to make two new outfits for her husband this year.
Mu Qing snorted, "Big brother, are you trying to fool everyone else?!"
Mu Jin smiled and said, "Second brother, what are you saying? How can you think of me like that? These words are really hurtful."
Mu Qing turned around and said, "Big brother is so sharp-tongued. I'll have to talk to Mother and ask her to get justice."
With a calm expression, Mu Jin smoothed out the wrinkles in her clothes, picked up the wooden basin, and poured the water out to the side.
Not long after, Zhou Wushi came excitedly to confront him.
"Jin-ge'er, your second brother is pregnant. As the eldest brother, how can you not help him wash the clothes? It'll kill you! You're so lazy. I don't know how your father and the others raised you!"
Mu Jin made up her mind last night. Before, she had mostly used soft tactics to achieve her goals in order to save money.
But since they don't know when they'll be able to separate, they might as well tear off this peaceful facade and make a huge fuss.
He stopped pretending and said, "Mother, everyone in the village knows how hard I work. But my second brother, everyone knows he's pregnant with her child, but people who don't know him would think he's carrying royalty, a golden nugget. How come he can't even wash his clothes? There are plenty of pregnant women and men in the village working in the fields. If he really can't wash them, does that mean he's broken an arm or a leg? It's embarrassing for me, his older brother, to have to wash his own clothes."
"What a disgrace! How can you talk like an elder brother! Everyone says that the eldest sister-in-law is like a mother, so it's only right that she helps her brothers wash their clothes! How is the eldest grandson of the Zhou family not precious?! Go and wash my clothes! From now on, you'll have to wash mine and your father's clothes too, you've spoiled yourself!"
Zhou Wu was so angry that she couldn't care less about anything else; all she wanted to do was to discipline Mu Jin.
Mu Jin scoffed, "Mother, I really can't go. I was tidying up the chests and cabinets today, and I made two sets of spring clothes, but I can't find them. They're made of cotton, so they're quite precious. I'll have to go look for them."
Zhou Wushi paused for a moment, as if she had been choked, and said, "Your son is so forgetful, who knows where he might have been lost."
“Mother is right. I’m afraid I left it at my parents’ home when I got married. I’ll go look for it. Look at A-Lin’s clothes, they’re so torn there’s nowhere to mend them. If I can’t find them, I’ll have to ask Mother to spend money to buy a piece of cloth.”
Zhou Wu glared at him, "Which farmer's family doesn't have patched-up houses? You're just making a fuss!"
Perhaps feeling guilty, Zhou Wushi did not stop Mujin from going out.
If word got out that she secretly stole her son-in-law's dowry, the villagers would be scornful of her.
Mu Qing wanted to say something more, but seeing that Zhou Wu's expression wasn't good, she stopped talking, stamped her foot, and went back into the house.
Mu Jin handed the book list written by Zhou Qiang to Mu Zhou and instructed him, "These are the books the teacher in town asked us to buy. See which ones you are missing and ask your father to buy them for you."
Mu Zhou took the book and examined it carefully. "Thank you, brother. There are two books I haven't read yet. I'll buy them after the fifteenth of the month when the shops in town open."
Mu Jin smiled; with his brother's success, he felt proud.
Zhou Ling found Mu Jin much more agreeable after Mu Jin got married.
Seeing that Mu Jin had brought the book list to Mu Zhou, he knew that Mu Zhou was a brother to him.
He handed him a handful of melon seeds, and as he cracked them open, he smiled and said, "Jin-ge'er, you're so thoughtful. The play you performed yesterday was also very good."
Mu Jin smiled. Her stepfather, having come from such a family, was cunning and shrewd.
"Uncle, I need to trouble you with something."
As Mu Jin spoke, she whispered something in Zhou Ling's ear, saying this and that.
Zhou Ling glanced at him and sighed, "I'd be overjoyed if your little brother were half as smart as you. I'll help you out for the sake of this book list."
Mu Bai, standing to the side, pouted, "Little Daddy, you're talking about me again, hmph."
Zhou Ling poked his head, "Who told you to be so stupid? You can't even let people talk about you?"
Mu Jin chuckled, chatted for a while, and then went to Mu Heng's house to find Zhou Lin.
With nothing to do today, Zhou Lin took advantage of his free time, ate breakfast, and went to Mu Heng's house to prepare to have the bed made as soon as possible.
When Mu Jin arrived, Zhou Lin had just brought the wood down from the mountains. It was walnut wood, and the beds made from it would be both beautiful and practical.
"Jin-ge'er is here. I was just talking about you."
Mu Jin smiled and joked, "Uncle Mu, what are you saying about me? Why are you talking about me behind my back?"
Uncle Mu chuckled: "You little rascal, even if your husband were to speak ill of you, he would only say good things about you."
Mu Heng took out his wood-planing tools and said, "Would you like a hidden compartment or something for this bed? It would be convenient to hide things. I just asked Lin, and he said he was looking for you and wanted to know your opinion."
Mu Jin smiled and said, "If you can do it, that would be wonderful. Thank you for your hard work, Uncle Heng."
Mu Heng waved his hand, "Most of the work is done by your husband, so I'll just teach him. It's no big deal."
Mu Heng had long wanted to take Zhou Lin as his apprentice. He only had one son, who was now working as an accountant in town and didn't like carpentry.
But Zhou Lin was busy from morning till night and had no time, so he declined.
Since Zhou Lin came to say he wanted to make a bed today, Mu Heng felt that an opportunity had come. He tried to entice him with various offers, saying that if he learned to make one himself, he would only charge one hundred coins.
Even a hero can be brought down by a single penny. Zhou Lin was truly broke, so he had to provide the wood himself to make the bed, which would cost at least one tael of silver for a good one.
If he doesn't agree to save so much money at once, he really doesn't know what's good for him.
However, Zhou Lin also promised that he would not pass on the skills he had learned, nor would he steal the timber business from others in the village by working as a carpenter.
The wooden frame didn't matter; his goal wasn't just to get Zhou Lin to make a bed.
Mu Jin and Uncle Mu chatted on the side, watching Zhou Lin busy in the yard, while Mu Yunqian helped him hold the wood.
Uncle Mu sighed, "Your brother Yunqian didn't want to learn carpentry, and your Uncle Heng was furious at the time. But after he got to know Lin, he wasn't angry anymore. He kept saying that Lin had a talent for carpentry and wanted to take him on as an apprentice. But Lin was busy. As soon as spring came, he went straight to the fields and refused your Uncle Heng. He even said that he would let Ming learn. I've never seen such a foolish man. Later, because I gave him some advice, he probably didn't tell your mother-in-law and the others about it."
Uncle Mu disliked the Zhou family elders for their favoritism, and Mu Heng disliked Zhou Ming as well. Apart from his glib tongue, Zhou Ming was a cunning and sly man, and the matter was eventually dropped.
Uncle Mu smiled, seemingly lost in thought. "But your Uncle Heng always wanted to bring that kid Lin home. If Yunmo hadn't been only eight years old, he would have wanted to take him as his son-in-law back then."
Mu Jin chuckled, unaware that her husband was also a popular man.
Uncle Mu glanced at him and said, "Jin-ge, don't misunderstand. It was just a joke. You're a good person. It's Lin's good fortune to marry you. I can tell he listens to you. Take some time to persuade him. Although being a carpenter won't make you rich, compared to other families in the village, having a skill to earn money will make life better."
Mu Jin nodded. "Uncle Mu? I know. It's his good fortune to be able to learn carpentry from Uncle Heng. I'll give him some advice later."
Uncle Mu patted Mu Jin's hand and said, "Good, good, your Uncle Heng knows. He's so happy."
Mu Jin made up her mind that once the family split up, she would definitely have Zhou Lin learn the carpentry skills.
He was worried that he might not get many acres of land after the family division, and that he would have to struggle financially. But unexpectedly, a glimmer of hope appeared, and there was such a good thing waiting for him.
Mu Jin's eyes darted around, and she sighed, "Alas, Uncle Mu, I have to go back. Before I got married, Brother Nianjun gave me a bolt of cotton cloth. I made a set of clothes for A Lin and me, and even embroidered our names on them. Today I searched through all the chests and cabinets, but I couldn't find those two sets of clothes. I thought I had left them at my parents' house, so I asked around. Little did I know that I had angered my father. I have to go back and look for them again."
Uncle Mu thought for a moment, then asked indirectly, "Did you ask your mother-in-law? Has she seen her?"
He and Zhou Wushi came from the same village and their families lived close by, but he and she never got along well when they were children.
Zhou Wushi's reputation has improved a lot lately, but he doesn't believe it at all.
"It's easier to change mountains and rivers than to change one's nature," he thought, and he didn't believe that Zhou Wushi would suddenly become better.
It's not like she's incapable of stealing her husband's dowry. When she was little, she stole her own candy and thought she didn't know.
Mu Jin shook her head. "My mother-in-law said she had never seen it. Perhaps I accidentally lost it somewhere. I'll go back and look for it again."
Uncle Mu sighed, wanting to say something but then shut up.
He could easily open and close his mouth, but if he wronged Zhou Wu this time, that would be bad.
"Then go back and look for it carefully."
Mu Jin nodded, told Zhou Lin, and went home.
When he was away, Zhou Wushi scolded him countless times, from top to bottom, inside and outside the household.
Upon seeing him return, Yin Yang said, "Oh, so you know how to come back? The sun is already high in the sky. You might as well let your parents starve to death."
Mu Jin's eyes were red from crying outside the door, and she looked extremely aggrieved.
Without replying, he went straight into the kitchen to cook.
Zhou Wu wanted to scold her again, but Zhou Qiang, always chivalrous, immediately said, "Mother, stop talking, I'm reading."
"Oh dear, my child, it's all my fault. I won't say anything more. Is there enough tea in your cup? I'll pour you another cup."
As Zhou Wushi spoke, she took out the nearly empty cup and went into the kitchen.
"Eldest sister, hurry up and cook. Your fourth brother gets hungry easily when he's studying. If you ruin his studies, I won't forgive you."
After saying that, he took the water and went out.
As the sun reached its zenith, the snow melted even faster.
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