Chapter 166: Betting

Zhulan has never seen so many relatives visiting a birthday party in modern times. Nowadays, when a grandfather celebrates his birthday, there are not many blood relatives. Instead, those who attend the birthday banquet are all partners with common interests. There are not many genuine people and the party is not lively. It is not like in ancient times, when all the relatives were relatives. Yangsun's family was from the same village, so there were even more relatives in the village. The house was particularly lively and you could hear what they said even if they spoke in a low voice.

Zhulan came in and chatted for a while. The mats for the birthday celebration outside were ready, and everyone went to the main hall. Outsiders were outside because the hall was too small and there was no room for even the Yang family.

The birthday greetings began. The old man and the old lady sat down. The eldest son of the Yang family, Yang Zhumu, and his wife knelt down first to present birthday gifts. The two sons of the Yang family all had family assets. Although not as rich as Zhulan's, they were not poor either. The eldest son prepared a cushion made of wolfskin and a pair of silver bracelets, which were expensive birthday gifts.

Then it was the second son Yang Zhulin who came with his wife to pay birthday tributes. They presented a home-embroidered table screen and a cigarette holder. The embroidery was done well by the second sister-in-law Zhulan, and the screen was worth a lot of money, so the birthday gift was also very expensive.

Finally, it was the turn of the young lady Zhulan and Zhou Shuren. Zhulan had prepared six birthday gifts, including a set of expensive gold jewelry and a cape. Seeing the lively eyes flashing, everyone believed that Zhulan's family was really wealthy.

Sun didn't look at the gold jewelry but kept touching the clothes. She knew that her daughter was unwilling to do needlework. Although the embroidery was simple and not particularly good, every stitch was a sign of her filial piety. "Okay, okay."

Mr. Yang was also very happy. He could finally wear the decent clothes made by his daughter. He had never dreamed of that before.

Zhulan embroidered the clothes with all her heart, stitch by stitch. Seeing that the two elders liked them, she smiled and said, "Dad and Mom like them. I will make more clothes for you in the future."

Yang Sun saw the needle hole on the girl's hand when she took the clothes. She said distressedly, "Mother can't bear it. You two should get up quickly."

Sun was really happy to see her son-in-law. She had not expected that her son-in-law could become a scholar. It really made her proud. The more she looked at her son-in-law, the more she liked him!

Then it was the turn of the grandchildren to pay their respects. Among the grandchildren, Wuchun had the most abundant foundation. However, in order to take care of his other brothers, he did not send any expensive gifts. All the gifts sent by the grandchildren were food.

Zhulan's grandchildren are her grandchildren, and the gifts they gave were basically the same. Although Zhulan did not remind them not to say too much in the birthday greetings, the children knew in their hearts that the Yang family's grandchildren were not as well educated as the Zhou family's, and since it was a birthday and a happy event, they wanted to not embarrass their cousins, so they all said proper birthday greetings.

Then there are the great-grandchildren. The great-grandchildren have quite a few children, and if there are some babies, some big and some small, with baby voices, it will ruin Sun's family's happiness.

After the direct bloodline birthday celebrations were over, it was the turn of the younger generations. There were quite a lot of children, and Zhulan saw that the basket of red envelopes prepared by her mother had almost been distributed.

Zhulan also received a red envelope, which turned out to be small change, about one or two taels. The red envelopes for the grandchildren were one hundred yuan each, and the great-grandchildren were fifty yuan each. Zhulan's family alone received a lot of money.

We received a lot of gifts today and also gave away a lot of money.

The ten-course birthday gift was perfect. Zhulan and her husband sat with their parents. Zhulan did not have time to eat because Zhou Shuren had become famous as a scholar, and Zhulan also remembered many relatives with the surname Sun.

The birthday banquet was over, and the leftovers from each table were taken home by the women at each table. After seeing off the guests, the old couple were exhausted after a busy day and could not hold on any longer, so they took a rest.

There were a few more tables for the birthday banquet, and there were still two tables of untouched dishes left. The sister-in-law gave Zhulan a pork elbow, a small bowl of chicken, and a bowl of pig's trotters. Zhulan didn't refuse, and just happened to invite the clan leader to have dinner with her in the evening.

When Zhulan and her family arrived home, every household in the village had already started preparing dinner. The clan leader and his wife stayed for dinner before returning home.

After the birthday banquet, the Zhou family became famous for their wealth. Even if Zhulan released them and did not let Changlian meet them, they still could not stop the people from coming to propose marriage. Even Zhou Wang came to test Zhulan, but Zhulan insisted that she would not meet him, so no one came to visit again.

In June, the vegetable seedlings planted by Li in the house grew big enough to be moved to the vegetable garden. Zhulan had free time, so she helped her two daughters-in-law plant vegetables. Although it looked simple, it was quite learning. After finishing planting her own vegetables, Zhulan went to help the eldest daughter-in-law plant vegetables. It would be a shame if the eldest daughter-in-law's vegetable garden was not used properly.

Because Xuemei and her husband had just moved in and had not yet planted any seedlings, they sowed the seeds directly. The germination rate was not very high, and they had to wait for the seedlings to emerge and sow more seeds. The vegetables they could eat would be later than if they had planted the seedlings in advance, but the advantage was that they would last longer.

The vegetables that Zhulan grew for the lady had lost their freshness.

In modern times, she is so busy that she seldom has any leisure time. She came to the ancient times to adapt herself and was always busy. Later, she followed Zhou Shuren to Pingzhou and was always busy. Suddenly, she felt bored and didn't know what to do for a while.

As for learning characters, she could recognize most of them and could read what she wrote. She had learned a lot of classical Chinese in her high school textbooks, and Zhou Shuren had taught her a lot. She had also read some books and understood the meanings. She was not preparing for the imperial examinations, so these were enough to overwhelm Ming Teng. As a grandmother who had learned literature, she was not willing to learn anything too in-depth.

After the beginning of summer, the children at home could no longer be kept at home and could only be seen at mealtimes. The yard became quiet and Zhulan had nothing to do.

After hearing the sigh for the nth time, Zhou Shuren put down the book in his hand and asked, "Boring?"

Zhulan lay there with her body stretched out, "Well, I don't like gossiping. I can't think of anything interesting to do right now."

Zhou Shuren is the opposite of Zhulan. He particularly likes to be idle. He also feels that he has failed in his duty as a husband. After thinking for a while, his eyes lit up and he asked, "Can you fish? Let's go fishing in the river?"

Zhulan sat up and said, "I know how to fish. Grandpa taught me how to fish!"

Zhou Shuren secretly thought it was a pity. He also wanted to help, and said regretfully: "Then let's go fishing. I'll get two fishing rods."

Zhulan pretended not to understand the sigh and urged, "Go quickly."

When it comes to fish, she is really greedy. Although the fish nowadays are not as fat as those in autumn, they are all wild and taste really good.

Zhulan changed into a set of dirty clothes, and Zhou Shuren had already prepared two fishing rods.

Zhou Shuren hurried away with Zhulan, thinking that it was a good thing that his grandson went out to play, otherwise their world of two would be gone.

In the yard, Zhou Lao Da and Zhou Lao Er looked at each other and thought silently, Dad really dotes on Mom!

Zhulan and her friend went to the river, where only a few children were playing. They found a place farther away and Zhou Shuren was in charge of fishing.

Zhou Shuren waited for Zhulan to throw down her fishing rod and said, "It's so boring to fish like this, how about a competition?"

Zhu Lan snorted, "Do you think I'm stupid? I can tell you're an expert by your skillful techniques. I won't gamble when I know I'll lose."

Zhou Shuren raised his eyebrows, "Fishing also depends on luck. Sometimes even the most skilled people can't compare to the luckier ones."

Zhu Lan looked at Zhou Shuren silently, "Then tell me, is it good luck or bad luck that I saved you and came to the ancient times with you?"

Zhou Shuren, "........"

This question is not easy to answer, and any answer will be a trap!

Zhulan's fishing rod moved. She opened her eyes wide and did not wait for Zhou Shuren to reply. She picked up the fishing rod and slowly reeled in the fish. After a while, she saw the body of the fish. No wonder the head was so big. The fish was really big. Zhulan smiled and said, "At least two pounds."

When the carp was picked up, Zhulan looked at its size and smiled, "Let's compete. If you lose, go back to your own nest."

She had been thinking about this for a long time. In winter, Zhou Shuren was like a stove, and a quilt was really comfortable. But the weather was getting hotter and hotter, and Zhulan couldn't stand it anymore. Zhou Shuren had a strong blood, and she was sweating from the heat, so she kicked the quilt honestly!

When Zhou Shuren heard this, he thought it was unacceptable. It would be cold to hug Zhulan in winter, but it would be cooler to hug Zhulan in summer. He didn't want to have a quilt all by himself!