Dou Zhao had no idea what his uncle and grandfather said, but when his uncle came back, his face was very ugly.
"Ruifu," my aunt came forward with a worried look on her face, "what did my father-in-law say?"
"What good words can he say!" The uncle sneered, and glanced at the warm kang from the corner of his eye, and saw Dou Zhao sitting at the end of the kang with a velvet ball in his hand, staring at him curiously with a pair of big eyes as bright as the morning stars. His heart ached, thinking that Dou Duo was his niece's grandfather and Dou Shiying was her father. He swallowed the resentful words that came to his lips, and was afraid that his expression would scare Dou Zhao, so he forced a smile and asked his wife in a gentle voice: "Have the children had lunch?"
"I've used them all." The aunt responded, and followed her uncle's gaze back at Dou Zhao, her eyes immediately moistened, "This child seems to know that her mother is gone. She doesn't cry or make a fuss, and eats whatever I feed her... She used to be someone who wouldn't eat anything... I don't know how much suffering she's going to have to endure from now on?"
My uncle lowered his head sadly and said, "I was just about to discuss this with you..."
"Just what you said." My aunt took out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes. "When I married into the family, Gu Qiu was only five years old... On our wedding night, she insisted on sleeping with me, saying that she liked me as her elder sister... I raised her until she was sixteen, and personally sent her to marry the Dou family. She is my sister-in-law, but more like my daughter-in-law... You don't need to discuss her affairs with me. Whatever you say, I will never say a word."
"Xiaoe!" My uncle shook my aunt's hand gratefully. "Thank you for your hard work over the years!"
"We are husband and wife," said the aunt, her ears reddened, "Why are you saying these things?" She sat on the kang somewhat embarrassedly, held Dou Zhao and sat him on her lap, coaxing him, "The cousins are all taking a nap, why don't you take a nap too? After taking a nap, you will have energy to play with your cousins in the afternoon. Do you want to play with them?"
Dou Zhao has been waiting for his uncle to come back.
Now the uncle has something to say to the aunt. If she pretends to be asleep, the uncle and aunt will certainly talk without restraint.
Dou Zhao nodded slightly and yawned.
My aunt helped her take off her outer bra, pulled the quilt over her, held her in her arms and patted her gently, then asked her personal maid to pour hot tea for my uncle and told her, "My master and I have something to talk about. Please watch out outside."
The maidservant left immediately.
My uncle and aunt sat side by side on the kang and said, "I want to bring Shougu to live with us for a long time."
Dou Zhao, who had his eyes closed, moved his ears.
My aunt had no objection and said, "Shou-gu is here, it's just right for Zhang-ru to keep her company."
A trace of relief flashed across my uncle's eyes, and he said thoughtfully, "Last time you said that Shougu and Sister Tian's son were engaged. Do you have a token of love?"
"Yes." The aunt patted Dou Zhao and said, "It's a mutton-fat jade bracelet that Sister Tian brought as a dowry when she got married."
"Gu Qiu just left, and the Dou family probably hasn't had time to pack up her things yet." The uncle whispered, "Gu Qiu's things have always been taken care of by Madam Yu. Send one of your maids to secretly go to Madam Yu and get Shou Gu's engagement token in her hands."
Although my aunt was stunned, she didn't ask anything and called a maid in to give her some instructions.
My uncle explained, "Now that Gu Qiu is gone, Shougu and the Wei family's marriage has not been formally arranged, so I'm afraid there will be some twists and turns. I think Dou Shiying is a fool. If a woman looks at him a few more times, he will lose his mind..." Speaking of his father, my uncle was a little excited, "He doesn't even know his own weight. It's better to hope that he dies early than to expect him to make decisions for Shougu! If he dies, at least we can legitimately intervene in Shougu's affairs..."
"Keep your voice down!" my aunt said hurriedly, "Be careful not to wake the child."
My uncle leaned over to look at Dou Zhao. Seeing that she had closed her eyes, he breathed a sigh of relief and spoke in a slower tone, "If Shougu can find a good family in the future, we won't have to mention this matter. If there is no suitable one, with this token in hand, it may not be easy for the Wei family to regret it."
Dou Zhao's eyes were dim.
After her mother passed away, she became the "eldest daughter of a widow". She was an undisciplined person and no good family would marry such a girl.
Uncle, he thought of everything for her...
She suddenly remembered.
When her mother and mother-in-law exchanged tokens, she thought she was dreaming, so she didn't pay much attention. In fact, she didn't see any tokens before she got married in her previous life. It was on the wedding night that Wei Tingyu brought a jade pendant and a pair of bracelets, saying that they were the engagement tokens of the two families. She thought it was given to the Wei family by her father.
Could it be that in the previous life, this jade bracelet was in my uncle's hands?
Her heart began to pound.
I heard my uncle's apologetic voice: "Xiao'e, I think except for the thirty acres of sacrificial land, I should sell all the other ancestral properties!"
"Ah!" my aunt exclaimed, "Why, why are you selling the family property?"
Dou Zhao was also startled and squinted his eyes to glance at his uncle.
My uncle lowered his eyelids and said softly, "Xiao'e, you were originally a daughter of a wealthy family who had never had to do any housework. But since you married me, you have not only had to take care of my paralyzed mother-in-law, raise my young sister-in-law, bear my children, and manage the household chores, but also patrol the fields during the busy farming season... Everything inside and outside depends on you... I remember it all in my heart... I wanted to study hard and pass the imperial examinations, win a crown and a bridal robe for you, and let you be proud of yourself for once... But Guqiu has had such an incident, I can't ignore my only sister for the sake of my own future... Only Jinshi can enter the Hanlin Academy, and only Hanlin can enter the inner cabinet... I am sorry for you..."
"No, no." The aunt said hurriedly, her eyes red. "You treat me very well. I know that after I gave birth to Zhangru, my mother was afraid that you would dislike me, so she asked someone to buy a beautiful girl from Jiangnan for you to bring back. You said you couldn't afford to raise her and refused to take her..."
My uncle was like a wolf who had been caught in a lie. He said firmly, "I can't afford it!"
My aunt smiled cheerfully and agreed with my uncle meekly, "Yes, we can't afford it." But tears were falling from her eyes.
Dou Zhao almost shed tears.
The elegant and handsome uncle stood next to the middle-aged and plump aunt. They didn't look like a couple, but more like siblings, and they were siblings with an age difference of at least five years.
But my uncle never forgot his roots, always remembered the kindness of my aunt, and never wanted to make her sad.
"Why are you saying that? Bi Ru and the others are my own flesh and blood no matter what." The uncle said uncomfortably and threw a handkerchief to the aunt, "Hurry up and wipe your tears."
My aunt smiled and wiped her tears.
My uncle said, "I want to go to Beijing to make some arrangements and find a real job. Then we can take Shougu with us to take up the post." At this point, my uncle's tone was a little bitter, "But, I calculated that even if I sell the acres of land passed down from my ancestors, it may not be enough... Can you," my uncle's voice gradually became lower, and a look of shame and guilt appeared on his face, not daring to look at my aunt, "lend me your dowry... I will return it to you as soon as I find a job..."
"What are you talking about!" my aunt scolded, "What's mine is yours! Didn't my parents give me so much dowry because they wanted us to live a good life? As long as we live a good life, this dowry will be used to its full potential. Why not spend it? If you don't tell me about this big thing, I think you and I are not on the same page!"
Dou Zhao started crying.
"Shougu, Shougu, what's wrong with you?" Auntie picked her up in panic, "What's wrong? What's wrong?"
Dou Zhao leaned on his aunt's shoulder and burst into tears.
In the previous life, my mother passed away and my uncle was powerless to fight against the Dou family. He endured the grief and went to take the imperial examination. Then he used my aunt's dowry to plot a real vacancy and wanted to take her to the office. However, she bit my aunt in front of the Dou family and shouted that she would not go with her aunt... My uncle has already let my aunt down for his sister. If he plotted for the real vacancy but did not take the office, he would lose his official position, and he would be even more unfair to my aunt who had given so much for him... In addition, all the Zhao family's properties had been sold, so he had no choice but to leave.
Who is it?
Who instigated her to bite her aunt?
Although she had lost her mother, her father and grandfather were still alive. If she vehemently expressed her unwillingness to go to her uncle's house, her uncle would be helpless.
And in that situation, her resistance was equivalent to slapping her uncle and aunt hard!
Dou Zhao straightened up and stopped crying, his tear-stained little face full of determination.
She wants to find this person!
※※※※※
My uncle got the mutton-fat jade bracelet without any hesitation. He gave it to my aunt and kept it. "... I will leave after the seventh day of autumn. You should take care of the family affairs. When I have news, you can take Shougu home to stay for a few days on the pretext of taking her to work. When she reaches the age of marriage, we will send her back to the Dou family to get married." He added, "Don't tell your mother-in-law and uncle yet. Go see them before you leave, and write a letter to apologize to the old people after we settle down."
My aunt said without any hesitation: "I will start arranging household affairs in the next two days."
The maid guarding the door coughed heavily and shouted, "Third Master, Sixth Master!"
My aunt whispered, "Just go and do your thing. I'll take good care of Shougu."
My uncle nodded slightly and walked out through the curtain.
The aunt combed Dou Zhao's hair and said with a smile, "Shou Gu, how about you follow your aunt from now on?"
Her expression was relaxed and her tone was somewhat happy. It was obvious that she not only had no grudges against her uncle's arrangement, but was also very happy about it.
My aunt is a very good woman!
Dou Zhao's eyebrows were curved and his smile was as sweet as sugar.
Her aunt kissed her.
Zhao Zhangru ran in with a clattering voice: "Shougu, Shougu, I found a nest of ants under your osmanthus tree. Let's go and see the ants moving things."
Zhao Biru walked in steadily and held her sister's hand: "Aunt is gone, don't run around. Shougu still has to go to the mourning hall to burn incense for Aunt."
Zhao Zhangru didn't understand this, so he blinked his big eyes and asked his mother, "Where is my aunt?"
The aunt touched her daughter's head and said with some sadness: "Aunt went to the South China Sea."
"Oh!" Zhao Zhangru understood, "So auntie went to see the Bodhisattva."
Zhao Biru turned away.
The aunt put Dou Zhao on the ground and gently told her, "Go play in the yard with your sisters!"
"Hurry up, hurry up!" Zhao Zhangru grabbed Dou Zhao's hand and ran out.
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