Chapter Fifty
A while ago, following Mu Jin's method, Mu Lingyun retrieved the red cloth that Zhou Si had used to make her wedding dress from the Zhou family.
As the weather gets hotter, Zhou Sicheng's wedding day draws ever closer.
During this period, Zhou Si would go back to her room to make her wedding dress after finishing her work. Her face was rosy, and she looked forward to the days after her marriage.
Wen Zhaoran was skilled in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but she was not good at embroidery.
After studying with Zhou Si for a few nights, I soon gave up, rubbing my sore hands and eyes.
"Brother Si, this is too difficult. I can't learn it. I'd better give up."
Zhou Si, with gentle eyes, embroidered her wedding dress. Upon hearing this, she looked up at the handkerchief in Wen Zhaoran's hand, on which were two things that looked like ducks and chickens, but whose nature she couldn't tell.
"Weren't you supposed to embroider a mandarin duck handkerchief for the wooden boat? Don't rush, take your time, it's almost finished."
Wen Zhaoran glanced at the mandarin ducks in her hand, which she found unbearable to look at, and shook her head with self-awareness.
"Never mind, even if the wooden boat is taken, I feel a little ashamed to use this handkerchief."
Zhou Si chuckled, "He'd be so happy to receive a handkerchief you embroidered yourself, how could he possibly feel ashamed?"
Wen Zhaoran shook her head again, "Forget it, I'll just buy one and give it to him."
Zhou Si was inside trying to persuade Wen Zhaoran, while Mu Jin and Zhou Lin lit a lamp and sat on the bed to calculate how much money they had earned during this period.
“After deducting the expenses of these days, I have saved up two taels of silver.”
Mu Jin smiled and carefully put the two taels of silver into her money bag. She put the extra one hundred and twenty-three copper coins under the mattress so that she could easily take them when she needed to spend them.
"Is the work at the wealthy household finished? Are there any new tasks?"
After hiding the money away, Mu Jin adjusted the wick of the oil lamp and asked a question.
Zhou Lin nodded with a smile in his eyes, "There are more jobs in town than in the village. Today, Steward Zhao introduced me to a long-term job. I'll give it a try tomorrow. If it works out, I can work for more than half a year. My master said I can earn thirty taels of silver."
Yesterday, Mu Jin reminded Zhou Lin that they couldn't let go of Steward Zhao, such a valuable person. He helped introduce them to jobs at the Qian family, so they had to give him a gift to express their gratitude.
This time, Mu Jin didn't go along. Gift-giving should be casual and natural; if he went, it would be too formal.
To avoid upsetting Steward Zhao, who might not accept the gift if he didn't have any work to recommend, he was afraid he wouldn't accept it.
The couple acted like they were pressuring someone, which was annoying.
Upon hearing that Steward Zhao's daughter-in-law had just given birth, Mu Jin bought an old hen in the village and picked the freshest vegetables from her home, then sent them to Steward Zhao.
Mu Jin repeatedly instructed him not to say anything else, but only to mention that he had heard from Steward Qian that Steward Zhao had a grandson. He said that since he was working at the Qian residence, he could bring a small gift to congratulate Steward Zhao.
It was the first time Zhou Lin had ever given a gift on his own, so he was quite nervous and his palms were sweating.
Fortunately, Mu Heng also brought a gift and went to the Zhao residence with him, so he wasn't so at a loss.
The gifts were given, and the work at the Qian residence had just been completed when Steward Zhao sent someone to summon the two of them.
Zhao Fuhu was the richest family in Qingshui Town. His business was large, and he had many children and grandchildren, including several great-grandchildren.
As the family grew, the old house became too small and cramped.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the young master of the Zhao family obtained the approval of the wealthy Zhao family to build a new residence, and he and the second young master of the Zhao family moved to the new residence.
The new residence is not far from the old one, and construction has begun in the past few days.
For the furniture in the new mansion, the two young masters of the Zhao family spent lavishly, buying golden nanmu, huanghuali, and zitan wood from other places—a whole bunch of precious woods—which were just delivered home these past two days.
Wood is precious, so the carpenter making the furniture cannot be careless.
Steward Zhao found a well-known carpenter in town, not expecting Zhou Lin and Mu Heng to be involved.
Although they were hardworking and skilled, the wood that the young master Zhao bought was quite valuable, and they couldn't afford to take responsibility if anything went wrong.
The reason for changing his mind was not because of the old hen that Zhou Lin gave him.
They found about ten carpenters, but only three stayed; they weren't enough manpower.
After thinking it over, Steward Zhao decided that Zhou Lin and Mu Heng were reliable and grateful people, so he mentioned it to Young Master Zhao.
That shop originally belonged to Young Master Zhao, and the furniture made by Zhou Lin and Mu Heng was something he was quite satisfied with.
Upon hearing the suggestion from Steward Zhao, Young Master Zhao immediately nodded. However, just to be on the safe side, he and his second brother would need to test the two of them again tomorrow.
Upon hearing this, Mu Jin sat up abruptly, her excitement barely concealed.
Grabbing Zhou Lin's strong arm, he shook it, "You must be extremely careful tomorrow, and absolutely cannot make a mistake."
Whether to eat meat or pickled vegetables during the Spring Festival depends on Zhou Lin.
Zhou Lin patted his hand, her eyes flashing slightly, "If it succeeds, will there be a reward?"
Mu Jin nodded emphatically, "Tell me what you want, as long as it's something you can afford, I'll buy it for you the day after tomorrow!"
Zhou Lin smiled, but her expression was somewhat unnatural, and if you looked closely, you could see a slight blush.
He stood up and whispered in Hibiscus's ear, "I want to try the third position on page five of the picture book, the one you wore back then..."
As Zhou Lin spoke, his voice gradually lowered, and his breathing became heavier.
Mu Jin was both embarrassed and annoyed. She pushed the face next to her ear away forcefully, and the tips of her ears turned red.
"You...you're getting worse and worse, you're never serious, don't you have anything important to do anymore!"
Having said it, Zhou Lin had become quite shameless.
She coughed lightly. "You said it yourself, as long as you can afford it, it's fine. It doesn't even need to cost money."
Hibiscus felt even more ashamed and lay down straight, burying her head in the quilt.
Zhou Lin was initially a little shy, but upon seeing this, his shyness disappeared, and he only wanted to tease the hibiscus under the quilt.
She nudged him, lay down, wrapped her strong arms around her husband under the covers, and chuckled softly, "So, is it going to work or not?"
Mu Jin didn't respond, so Zhou Lin pressed closer to his head and asked several more times.
As she questioned herself, she realized that she was indeed becoming worse, just as her husband had said.
But despite his self-reflection, he had no intention of changing.
Enraged by his question, Mu Jin threw off the blanket, clenched her fist, and punched him hard.
"Fine, fine, fine! If you don't get the job at the Zhao family's place, see how I deal with you when you get back."
After saying this angrily, Mu Jin pulled the blanket over herself and lay on her side, refusing to pay any more attention to Zhou Lin.
Only her ears, red and bleeding, remained, showing that she was truly ashamed and angry.
Having received confirmation, Zhou Lin dared not tease him any further. He blew out the oil lamp, happily embraced Mu Jin, and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, Zhou Lin went to town, Bai Qiqiu went to the Zhou family to look for Zhou Qiang, Mu Zhou also returned home, and Wen Zhaoran was called away by him early in the morning.
Only Zhou Si and Mu Jin remained at home.
Zhou Si had noticed Mu Jin's mood swings since morning, sometimes laughing, sometimes angry, her expression constantly changing. It seemed as if she had encountered something unclean.
"Big...Big Brother, do you still recognize me?" Zhou Si pointed to himself.
Mu Jin put down the wooden ladle in her hand, looked at Zhou Si with a start, and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? I slept for a while, how could I forget you?"
Zhou Si secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "Big brother, what's wrong? You've been acting strange since this morning... Did I make you angry?"
Mu Jin nodded as if in agreement, "He really made me angry."
Zhou Sisi thought about it for a while and asked in confusion, "Big brother has been doing well these days, hasn't he? I haven't heard him mention sending anything to our parents in a long time. There was so much venison left, and we all got a sore throat from eating it, but he didn't say anything about sending any. Could it be that he secretly gave our parents money?"
Mu Jin chuckled and shook her head. "No, it's just that I got too angry."
Zhou Si was completely baffled. He scratched his head, and seeing that Mu Jin didn't seem genuinely angry, he didn't delve any further.
I watered the vegetable garden, fed the chickens and ducks, and turned over the bamboo that was drying in the yard.
After cleaning the yard, Mu Jin went to the field to weed the remaining two or three acres of land.
When Zhou Lin had not returned by lunchtime, Mu Jin had a feeling that something was wrong.
With a smile on his face, he stir-fried the remaining venison at noon, dug up a small basket of dandelions at the foot of the mountain, blanched them, mixed them, and ate them to cool down.
When Zhou Lin returned home that evening, the joy on his face was clearly visible even from three zhang away.
When Zhou Si, Wen Zhaoran, and Bai Qiqiu were having lunch, they heard Mu Jin say this, and upon seeing this, they couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.
"Big brother, is it done?" Zhou Si asked again to confirm.
Zhou Lin nodded. "My master and I stayed. There are five carpenters in total. The new mansion is large, and the young master of the Zhao family made a lot of furniture. We'll be busy until autumn."
Mu Jin's phoenix eyes were practically slits from laughing so hard, showing just how happy she was.
"Congratulations, brother, you're always getting work." Bai Qiqiu said with a smile, holding up a bowl of vegetable soup.
Hearing these words, the wealthy family members, who were not destined to be busy and hardworking, were certainly displeased.
But for farmers, endless work means a constant flow of money, which naturally makes them happy.
Zhou Lin clinked bowls with him and drank half of the soup in his bowl.
After Mu Jin finished celebrating, she instructed the others, "You must not tell anyone about this, especially Qi Qiu. Don't tell Fourth Brother either. If Mother finds out, she will definitely make a scene."
The group nodded repeatedly, "None of us will tell."
Zhou Lin was taken aback. He had been so busy these days that he hadn't seen his parents for a long time.
Then, remembering Zhou Wu's previous behavior, her initial thought of checking on the Zhou family elders before going to town to work vanished.
“I’m afraid I won’t have time during the summer wheat harvest. If my parents come looking for me, we have plenty of land at home. Ah Jin, if you have some free time, please go and help them out.”
Mu Jin nodded, but whether he would be available at the time was up to him.
Bai Qiqiu took a big bite of the coarse flour steamed bun and ate it with some stir-fried greens.
"Brother, don't worry, I'll go too. You can go to town and work without worry."
Zhou Lin smiled, and Mu Jin sighed, "Qi Qiu, our brother can't be too eager. Even if you want to help, your fourth brother should come and invite you first."
Bai Qiqiu waved his hand dismissively. He had been raised like a man since he was a child, doing all sorts of chores. Harvesting wheat was relatively easy for him.
"My brother, my former fiancé was someone I helped him find a partner through chores. My parents have worried about me since I was little. I know I'm not good-looking, and the only thing I'm good at is working."
Mu Jin sighed as she listened, realizing that Bai Qiqiu still needed to correct his inferiority complex.
Wen Zhaoran glanced at Bai Qiqiu, opened her mouth as if to speak, but hesitated and ultimately did not say anything.
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