The next morning at breakfast, Zhou Lin was noticeably absent-minded and somewhat uneasy, glancing at Li Mai and Zhou Quan every now and then.
After finishing her meal, Li Mai put down her chopsticks and said with a light laugh, "Xiao Lin, just say what's on your mind. Your elder brother and sister-in-law are not outsiders. When your parents are not around, your elder brother and sister-in-law are your parents. If you need any help, we will do our best."
"No, there's nothing I can help with. Brother and sister-in-law, are you going to see the Xu family at noon today?" Zhou Lin asked softly.
Li Mai nodded, "We will go. Since you said so, we will definitely go. We also need to see if the Xu family is worth it for us to form a marriage alliance."
"Thank you, sister-in-law. What I want to say is that although we come from a farming family, you don't need to be subservient to his family. I don't want my brother and sister-in-law to be taken advantage of because of me."
Zhou Lin had trouble sleeping last night. He stared at the ceiling all night thinking about many things, from his elder brother's injury to the family's situation during the two years his brother was ill, to his sister-in-law's marriage, which cured his brother and led the whole family, even helping the whole village build a new village and enabling everyone to live a life without lack of food and clothing. In his heart, his sister-in-law was like a goddess.
What he feared most was that the Xu family would speak rudely to his elder brother and sister-in-law, or look down on them for coming from the countryside.
In that case, even if he marries into the Xu family and can support his sister, but makes his elder brother and sister-in-law lose face, then he will be a sinner. In his heart, his elder brother and sister-in-law are the people he respects the most.
He even regretted his impulsive words last night, wondering if he had been too confident and immature.
In his interactions with others, he also learned that some of the big families in the town looked down on the people in their village and cursed them behind their backs, saying that those who came out of the village to do business were from humble backgrounds.
Li Mai chuckled. Doesn't this kid know how good he is in Miss Xu's heart? Is he denying himself now?
To reassure him, Li Mai said with a smile, "Xiao Lin, go with your brother to take care of something this morning. As for the Xu family's matter, don't worry. It's good enough that your sister-in-law won't look down on them. Even the Lu family has invited your brother and me several times, but we haven't gone to the Lu family as guests. The fact that we're giving the Xu family face is also for your sake. They wouldn't dare to act presumptuously in front of us. Relax, I guarantee I'll take care of things for you. You can just wait to get married."
"No, sister-in-law, I'm not..." He wanted to say that he wasn't in a hurry to get married, but he was too embarrassed to say the rest, and his face turned red instantly.
Li Mai laughed and said, "Alright, just trust your brother and sister-in-law. You go open the shop first and let Nan Su watch over it. You go out with your brother to take care of something."
"Yes, sister-in-law!" Zhou Lin replied, still unaware of what he was about to do.
After Zhou Quan delivered Li Mai and Zhou Tao to the shop, he took the carriage to the backyard and then went to the back street to find Zhou Lin.
After that, the two brothers walked into the street.
"Big brother, what does your sister-in-law want me to do with you?" Zhou Lin walked side by side with his older brother.
The two brothers, who are the same height and equally handsome, are quite eye-catching when they walk together. Young women and wives passing by on the street often turn around to steal a few glances at their backs.
“Go to the official brokerage and change the name on the land deed,” Zhou Quan said simply.
"Oh, what do you mean by changing it? The shop? It's fine as long as it's registered under your name." Zhou Lin assumed they wanted to change the shop's name.
"Change it. Also, that mansion in the north of the town. Your sister-in-law said she'd give the mansion and the shop to you for your wedding. Change the name back. From now on, these will all be your private property. Your brother will set up the shop for you. From now on, you'll be a merchant in this town. After you get married, you'll be the head of the household. Live a good life with Miss Xu and use your skills to expand your business." Zhou Quan thought for a moment and decided he still needed to tell him this and give him some advice on how to proceed.
This is probably the kind of worry that every older brother has to have!
Zhou Lin stopped abruptly, staring in disbelief at his elder brother's retreating figure. "No way, brother, these were all bought with sister-in-law's money. How can you give them to me?"
Zhou Quan stopped and turned to look at him. "Come on!"
Zhou Lin said "Oh" and quickly followed. Zhou Quan continued, "This is a gift from your sister-in-law. If you think the gift is too valuable, then thank your sister-in-law properly. After you get married, you and your wife should show more respect to your sister-in-law."
“We will definitely take care of you, but this is where you were going to live. If we give it to us, will you still move in?” Zhou Lin asked softly, feeling a little confused.
“We’re not moving. We’ll stay in the east of town. You can tidy up this place a bit more. The main courtyard will be used for your wedding. If you can make room, you can reserve a small courtyard for me and my parents’ family in the main courtyard. We can come and stay with you occasionally, and it will be nice to have some fun.”
"As for mansions, your sister-in-law and I have plenty. We even have a large mansion in the capital, bigger than the one you're given to us. That was also given to us by your sister-in-law's elder brother. We used to live there."
After Zhou Quan finished speaking, Zhou Lin remained silent. He was deeply moved. His elder brother and sister-in-law had given him so much. Was he too immature to have driven them to this point?
My older brother had already prepared a small courtyard for him in the village, where he could get married.
Even after marrying Miss Xu, he never considered asking his elder brother and sister-in-law to buy him a separate house in town. He planned to live with his elder brother and sister-in-law after the wedding, and then buy a place to build or a ready-made mansion once he had earned enough money.
These were all things he had planned last night, but who knew things would turn out this way today.
While Zhou Lin was struggling with his feelings, Zhou Quan spent the whole morning and paid a bribe of five taels of silver to change the land deeds of the mansion in the north of the town and the shop that Zhou Lin used to Zhou Lin's name. He then went to the government office, found the town magistrate, and paid some money to separate Zhou Lin's household registration, making it a household registration for him alone, thus establishing him as a merchant.
Unlike the dynasties recorded in history, where children of merchants were not allowed to participate in the imperial examinations, children of merchants in this era could study and take the imperial examinations. Only the children of people of low social status were not allowed to take the imperial examinations or study, but they could join the army. Only those who were exiled were not allowed to join the army, study, take the imperial examinations, or become officials.
Once Zhou Lin becomes an independent merchant, the mansion can simply be marked with the name of the Zhou family.
Anyway, Zhou Quan's family's business was established under the name of Li Mai, and in this era, there were no restrictions on female households.
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