Chapter 111 Balance

Xuemei coughed and said, "Mom, I don't want to come back to live here anymore."

Zhulan was stunned for a moment, frowning, "That won't do. It's not that I don't love you, but you and your son-in-law have just separated and you live in your mother's house. It's not good for your reputation and family. If you are worried about the child, the child can stay, but you and your son-in-law can't."

Xuemei blushed. She really had no intention of staying at her mother's house. "Mom, I don't mean to live at home. I heard from my aunt in the clan that a family in the clan moved to the county and the house is empty for rent. Jiang Sheng and I decided to live in Zhoujia Village. Not only is it convenient for copying books, but Jiang Sheng can also consult Dad from time to time."

Zhulan suddenly realized. She had been talking about how to live for Xuemei and her husband along the way. The couple had been laughing dryly. It turned out that they had made up their minds. However, living in her mother's village once the family was separated would not be good for the reputation of the girl.

Xuemei guessed what her mother was thinking, "Mom, we have enough reasons. Jiang Sheng asked his father-in-law for advice in order to take the exam for the title of scholar. Besides, we have no land left and we are really afraid of what people will say. We will come back to help with the spring ploughing and autumn harvest without hesitation."

Zhulan didn't agree blindly and went out to find Zhou Shuren. She didn't know as much about ancient times as Zhou Shuren did. When she saw Zhou Shuren's gloomy face and his son-in-law lowering his head, Zhou Shuren already knew what the lady was thinking. "What do you think?"

Zhou Shuren frowned. There was a child foster husband at home. It was he who advocated the division of the family. The eldest son-in-law should move in after the division of the family. It seemed that he was so overbearing. After thinking for a while, he said, "You can live there, but you have to wait until after the spring plowing."

At least if he passes the imperial examination this year, the reason for asking Xuewen to teach would be more convincing, and no one would gossip if Jiang Sheng and his family moved in.

Jiang Sheng immediately understood what his father-in-law meant. His father-in-law was more knowledgeable than him. Xiucai had no problem with this. He knew that his idea was not comprehensive, so he hurriedly said, "I am too impatient and have caused trouble for you."

He was truly impressed by his father-in-law's knowledge, otherwise he would not have had such an idea. He also knew it was not a good idea.

It was settled. They still had to buy all the necessities for daily life. Boss Zhou first went to buy a truckload of chopped firewood. After unloading the truck, he took Zhulan and Xuemei to the county.

In the county, I bought rice jars, water jars, pots, bowls and chopsticks, and other things, and also prepared all the seasonings, and finally the fine grains.

Zhulan also spent money to buy eggs, meat, radishes and cabbage, and filled a car with things before returning to the Jiang family.

Zhou Shuren took Jiang Sheng to the village to buy second-hand tables, chairs, cupboards, water buckets and poles, etc., trying to buy as many as possible to avoid being ridiculed for borrowing.

Zhulan gave her daughter two hundred coins in allowance for things, Xuemei spent about one or two taels of silver herself, Zhou Shuren gave another two hundred coins, and the division of the family cost a total of one or two to four hundred coins.

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren tried their best to arrange everything for their daughter. They treated the children more and more as their own and wanted to take care of everything so as not to make the children suffer.

This made the Jiang family's wives jealous. Their eyes turned red. Daughters of different families are like water spilled once they get married. But looking at Zhou Xuemei, they felt that they were just picked up, and no matter how jealous they were, they couldn't divide the family property. Since the younger brother's family had the Yue family to rely on, they didn't dare to make trouble or make sarcastic remarks.

Are we going to split up the family later? I really don't regret it. If we didn't split up the family, the Zhou family wouldn't have helped so much. On the contrary, it's not good to put pressure on the Jiang family to support Jiang Sheng's studies. It's better to be free now.

Jiang Sheng stayed at home to keep the fire going and look after the house, while Xuemei followed him back to Zhou's house.

Later, Jiang Sheng had to copy books at home. Zhou Shuren was worried about the original books so he took them back to copy. Jiang Sheng copied the first two, and he and Rongchuan copied the remaining two. The one Jiang Sheng took back was the handwritten copy.

In the future, the children at home would read the handwritten copy, which Zhou Shuren originally wanted to seal and keep.

After having a good meal in the evening, the two children will go home to live with Xuemei tomorrow. After Xuemei's idea didn't work, she naturally took the children back home to avoid any opinions from her sister-in-law and to try not to cause trouble for her parents.

The next morning, Zhulan packed things for the eldest daughter, including the family's clothes, an old quilt, spicy cabbage and sausage made by Li. Zhulan also caught a laying hen and finally gave the eldest daughter two taels of silver.

Xuemei ate and drank at her mother's house, and when she returned home, she blushed as she ate and took things. "Mom, I feel really guilty. Please don't give me any more money."

Zhulan thought that mothers all have the habit of giving money to their children. She especially understood that the Yang family was giving money to the original mother. If she wasn't afraid that her son-in-law would become lazy, she would want to take more. "If you don't take it, it means you think it's not enough."

Xuemei's nose felt sour. "Mom, you know that's not what I meant."

Zhulan smiled, "Mother knows everything. I will only give you subsidies this year. When Jiang Sheng passes the exam to become a scholar next year, I will stop giving you subsidies, okay?"

I felt it was a pity. Unless Jiang Sheng passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, he would still have no financial and rice subsidies. Only scholars would receive money and subsidies from the imperial court every year.

So I still need Zhou Shuren’s help!

Xuemei had confidence in her husband and accepted the money knowing her mother's good intentions, "Thank you, mother."

Zhulan did not send the eldest daughter and her family back in person, but asked the eldest and second eldest sons to send them back together. The grandson and granddaughter had developed feelings for each other, and the two children cried loudly, making Zhulan feel sad. Without Jiang Du, who had a particularly sweet mouth, it was as if she had lost several children. She went back and lay down without much energy.

When Zhou Shuren came in with a book, he saw Zhulan's eyes were blank, so he went over to sit down and said, "Let's pack our bags tomorrow and go to Pingzhou."

Zhulan was surprised, "Aren't you waiting until the end of the first lunar month?"

Zhou Shuren said, "No need to wait. It's hard to buy anything in the store after the first month of the lunar year."

Zhulan was a little anxious. The rent of the shop was quite a lot. One shop was enough for the whole family to use for the whole year. Money would not make money if it was not saved. Only buying a shop could make money. "I'll make the arrangements. We'll leave tomorrow?"

Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "I will go find a carriage and a team tomorrow. It will take at least a day or two to set off."

Zhulan was no longer anxious, "Who else are you going to take with you this time besides the two of us?"

Zhou Shuren had already thought about it. "When I'm not around, the eldest has to support the family and manage the Li family. The second child can make up for the eldest's shortcomings. Chang Lian and Chang Zhi are studying, so we can't take Rong Chuan with us either. Rong Chuan is not suitable for special treatment. We will only take Xue Han with us this time to prevent Wang Ru from thinking about her daughter when we are not around."

Zhulan calculated the time. It would take seven or eight days to buy the shop and go back and forth. She had to give Li a good lesson when he was away for a while, otherwise the monkey would become king when the tiger is away.

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren were men of action, and the next morning Zhou Shuren went to the county to find a carriage and convoy to Pingzhou, and set off the day after tomorrow morning. Pingzhou was a transportation hub, and the north was not as rich as the south. Pingzhou was very stable, and there was no need to worry about safety issues when following the convoy.

Zhulan took out eight days' worth of food from home and counted out one hundred copper coins as emergency household expenses. Zhulan gave the silver to Li and the food to Zhao.

Li had a lot of money in her hands, so she would not hold on to the hundred coins stubbornly. Besides, everyone had a New Year's money, so even if something happened, they would not make trouble for the money. It was the same whether Li took the money or not. Zhao had her own plan in mind, so she used the food to check and balance Li. Li loved to think, so she must have thought that she secretly asked Zhao to watch her. Zhulan put a lock on Li, so Li didn't dare to do anything when she was not at home.