Ye Wanrou was extremely anxious: "Does that mean that if Shu-ge'er never meets someone he likes, he'll never get married? How can that be? If we don't try to meet someone, how will we know if the girl we're meeting is someone we like?"
"It's up to him. I don't want to pressure him."
"I think you're just being wary of things now that you've been bitten once," Ye Wanrou said bluntly to Zhou Shuqing. "Shu-ge'er, your aunt is hosting a banquet tomorrow, and you're not allowed to miss it, understand?"
Zhou Shuqing said helplessly, "I know, Aunt."
“That’s more like it. You hardly ever see any girls these days, how could you possibly find one you like? Don’t just stay cooped up in the house and never go out. Let everyone see your talent, Master Zhou, and let us all bask in your glory.”
Zhou Shuqing was extremely embarrassed: "Aunt, please stop making fun of me."
After saying that, he grabbed Lin Jie'er and fled in panic, but Lin Jie'er innocently asked, "Brother, am I going to have a sister-in-law?"
Song Xia and the others burst into laughter, while Zhou Shuqing quickened her pace.
However, what was thought to be just a formality turned out to be a real encounter for Zhou Shuqing, who met the person who captured her heart at first sight.
The other party was the youngest daughter of a military officer who had come to the capital to report on his duties. She had also come back to the capital to find a husband when she reached the age to do so. Unexpectedly, she and Zhou Shuqing hit it off at first sight. After they got married, the two were extremely loving. A few years ago, when she did not conceive, the military officer's family was very anxious, fearing that Song Xia would dislike their daughter.
Unexpectedly, Song Xia comforted him instead and showed no intention of letting Zhou Yuqing take a concubine. Three years after their marriage, the two finally conceived their first child, and that was the beginning. For the next ten years, they continued to have children, giving Song Xia five grandchildren.
Originally, Concubine Gao and Concubine Meng, who disliked the quietness of the mansion, were now being driven crazy by the row of little ones.
Song Xia eventually got scared by all the commotion and left a letter to his family, saying that he was going out to travel and enjoy the scenery. He warned that if he didn't go out and have fun, he wouldn't be able to travel when he got old.
Zhou Yuqing chuckled softly upon seeing this, but her smile slowly faded only when a servant came to report that the man was dead.
To be honest, being forced to work in such a place to quarry stone is quite an achievement; it must have been a relief for them to die.
I wonder if Liu Fangniang and Zhou Shuqing are still waiting downstairs, after all, they are the real family.
Zhou Yuqing casually instructed her servants to collect the body, not intending to get involved any further, but only casually told Lin Jie'er about it.
Lin Jie'er had no memory of this father at all. Moreover, her aunt often said that he was sorry to her stepmother and elder brother. Lin Jie'er even felt a little disgusted. After all, her stepmother and elder brother were so good, how could he bear to harm them?
Zhou Yuqing didn't concern himself with Zhou Yongli's hasty burial. Now, besides taking the children to paint, his other task is to manage the charity hall that his mother entrusted to him.
The charity hall is full of abandoned children adopted over the years, and more than 70% of them are girls.
The adults were the ones who did the evil, but the children were innocent. He used all the money he earned from selling his paintings over the past two years for the charity.
However, to prevent some people from deliberately abandoning children in charitable institutions and then claiming them back when they grow up, the charitable institutions also issued a regulation passed by the Prefect of the Capital: regardless of gender, every child must repay the debts incurred by the charitable institutions after they grow up, and girls must not be forced to marry; if they refuse, they will automatically be sold into slavery in the Zhou family.
And you know what? People's hearts really can't withstand the test. As soon as the regulations came out, several families said they wanted to take their children away.
Zhou Yuqing would carefully raise and teach each of the children who remained. When they reached a certain age, she would arrange for them to work in various workshops, estates, and shops of the Zhou family.
Because of his effective teaching, many other workshops and shops later came to hire him, which briefly created a trend in Kyoto.
Zhou Yuqing felt a sense of pride, thinking that all the hard work over the years had been worthwhile. Although some children were unruly, most of them were good. Saving one child was better than none, after all, it was a life.
The longer he lived, the more afraid he became of losing it, and he gradually began to understand why his mother wanted to run a charity.
One day he woke up from a nightmare, his back covered in cold sweat. When his wife asked him what was wrong, he choked up and couldn't speak for a while.
It turns out that his life in this life was saved by his mother's prayers! And after he died of illness in his previous life, his mother also passed away.
No wonder Mother was so cruel to Zhou Shuqing and the others; it turns out they had killed her once before.
How heartbroken and remorseful Mother must have been to leave so hastily.
Perhaps it was because of his mother's kindness that he was given a chance to change her fate in this life. He will continue to do good deeds in the future, hoping that he can be his mother's son again in the next life.
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