Chapter 233: Showing Off Your Ability

Zhou Shuren saw his relative's face turn pale, "Relatives."

Li Cong came back to his senses and wanted to ask his in-laws if they hired someone to look after the house because they were worried about the Li family. Also, he said he would help look after the house, but in the end he didn't and someone broke in. Would his in-laws be dissatisfied with the Li family?

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren looked at each other. The Li family's thoughts were too easy to guess. The in-laws' face changed and they seemed to be hesitant to speak. It was clear that they were overthinking it. Zhulan thought that the Li family's brain damage was also hereditary. They didn't even say anything, but the in-laws thought of all kinds of possibilities and scared themselves.

Zhou Shuren suppressed the twitching of his lips. He couldn't blame the Zheng family, so he had to let the Yang family take the blame. "Most of the Zheng family members left, and we have few family members. My father-in-law was afraid that he couldn't control the thieves, so he hired someone to watch over us. He wanted to use this opportunity to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, so that no one would dare to steal in the future. He didn't tell my in-laws in advance because he didn't want the news to leak out. When we move to Pingzhou in the future, we will have to rely on my in-laws to look after us, so that we can feel at ease."

Li Cong smiled, as long as his in-laws were not on guard against them and did not blame them, it was fine. "Okay, it's getting late, I'll go back too. I'm still waiting for news!"

The guards spoke and would not release them without the father-in-law's permission. The four boys were beaten badly, with not a single bad spot on their faces and their arms drooping. No one knew if they were broken or what. It was only because the father-in-law was not easy to mess with. If it were someone else, they would have made trouble with him a long time ago.

Zhou Shuren stood up and said, "I'll see my in-laws out."

Li Cong waved his hands hurriedly, "No, no, please stay."

As he spoke, he was about to walk out the door, ignoring even Li and hurried back in the ox cart.

The news of what happened in Lijia Village spread to all the nearby villages the next day. It was a thorough example of killing a chicken to scare the monkeys. Even if the guards did not show up, no one dared to hang around the Zheng family's house, for fear of being caught as a thief. Being beaten was a small matter, but if they were really caught and thrown into jail, they would cry so hard that they couldn't even find the rhythm. Everyone knew that Mr. Zhou and the county magistrate were relatives.

Zhou Shuren's background was examined in detail again. After all, he was the future in-law of the county magistrate, and he himself was a scholar and the son-in-law of the Yang family. The Yang family had deep ties with the escort agency, and many people in the escort agency had seen blood. After a detailed count, it was found that the Zhou family was not easy to mess with and bully, so those with evil intentions gave up completely.

Since no one dared to approach the Lijia Village house, Zhulan's family slowly moved into the house, first moving the food, and then the unworn clothes. It took two days to move all these things, mainly because there were more food and other food. Only during the move did Zhulan realize how many dried vegetables she had stored and how many pickled vegetables Li had pickled. Li's pickled vegetables filled a cart.

When Zhulan's family officially moved, there were not many things left in the house, so they borrowed two ox carts and made the move.

Zhulan handed the key to the house to Xuemei. Xuemei and her husband didn't have much stuff, so they moved in yesterday. All they needed to do was tidy up the place.

Today I will go to the house in Lijia Village and stay for one night to help prepare ingredients for tomorrow's banquet.

When Xuemei and Jiang Sheng came to the house for the first time, Li didn't even pack her own luggage and dragged Xuemei around everywhere. Although Li was not smart, she did not take the wrong road. Finally, Zhulan concluded that people with simple minds have clear minds and will not be disturbed by external things and will not get lost.

Zhulan cleaned up the main house and originally wanted to give it to her parents, but her parents were unwilling, so they ended up cleaning up the yard next to the main house.

The Yang family asked their neighbors to look after the house. All the Yang family members are here today and will go back after the banquet tomorrow.

With the help of her two sisters-in-law, Zhulan quickly packed up and sorted the things.

The eldest and second eldest Yang were also not idle, and they rode the ox cart up the mountain to collect firewood. Zhou Shuren felt embarrassed to let his uncle run around, so he followed them.

Zhulan's family left all the firewood to the daughter before they moved in. Since they were not in the same village in the future, the son-in-law and the daughter would not have the energy to collect firewood with an ox cart. The family had already collected enough firewood to last the winter. The daughter's family of four only used firewood in the main room, but it could last until the beginning of next spring.

The house in Lijia Village had ready-made furniture. Zhulan's family had not moved in yet, and there were some unused altars and jars. There were a lot of things left in the old house, so the girl's family did not have much financial resources so she did not need to buy any more household items.

The meat and vegetables for tomorrow's meal were sent by Li's parents' family as a gift to celebrate the move. It was a slaughtered fat pig, and the vegetables were all grown in Li's parents' own yard.

Zhulan felt embarrassed. A pig is worth a lot of money. The Li family was not rich. She tapped Li's forehead and said, "Your eldest brother gave it to you, and you dare to accept it?"

Li's forehead was a little painful, and her mother-in-law urged, "Mom, my mother wants to thank you and Dad for your help. If I stop her, I will definitely be beaten when I return to my parents' home."

Her mother didn't like her and she was often beaten when she was a child.

Zhulan knew that what Li said was true, but this gift was indeed not small. "We have the meat for tomorrow, so don't sit idle. You are familiar with Lijia Village. Buy all the chickens and fish for tomorrow and kill them for later use."

Twelve tables have been prepared for tomorrow's banquet. Two tables will be enough for the Zhou family, three tables for the Li family, two tables for the Yang family, and the remaining three tables are prepared by Zhou Shuren's friends in the county. The extra two tables are prepared in case there are too many people.

There is no need to borrow tables, chairs, plates, etc., those left by the Zheng family are enough.

Li was very familiar with Lijia Village and quickly bought enough hens, rabbits, fish, etc.

On the first day of moving, Zhou Shuren and his sons collected firewood all day, Zhulan and several sisters-in-law washed dishes, and Li's daughters-in-law cut and roasted meat, which were things that even children could do. Everyone was busy all day and went to bed after a quick meal in the evening.

The next morning, Zhulan woke up still a little dazed. She looked around the house and then came to her senses and realized that she had moved. She was still a little uncomfortable with the bright house. When Zhulan moved, Zhou Shuren woke up with a hissing sound in pain.

Zhu Lan reached out to help Zhou Shuren rub his waist, "I'm letting you show off, how long have you not worked? Don't you know?"

Zhou Shuren knelt down and motioned for Zhulan to help him. "Big brother and second brother help to collect firewood. I, as the head of the family, can't just sit there doing nothing."

Zhu Lan said, "Can you compete with the elder and second brothers in physical strength? They practice martial arts all year round, and picking firewood doesn't count as work. You can't compete with them, and you don't know how to do things within your ability."

Zhou Shuren shut up. He had indeed been a little too arrogant yesterday. He was also out of his mind. Seeing the disgust in his brother-in-law's eyes, he wanted to prove to his brother-in-law that he was strong. He persisted to the end and suddenly laughed. He really regarded the Yang family as Zhulan's family, so he wanted to prove himself!

Zhulan helped rub it for a while, then patted Zhou Shuren's back, "I'm going to the kitchen first, you lie down for a while."

Zhou Shuren didn't want to move anymore. He felt uncomfortable all over. "Yeah."

While eating, Zhulan looked at Zhou Shuren who had an expressionless face. This guy was also a pretender. He acted as if nothing had happened even though he was clearly feeling uncomfortable.

Boss Yang felt wronged. Dad scolded him yesterday, saying that he had exhausted his brother-in-law. But look, his brother-in-law is fine. He was scolded for nothing!

Zhou Laoer was very observant and could tell at a glance that his father was showing off. He lowered his head silently, not wanting his father to notice!

After dinner, Zhou Shuren couldn't hold on any longer. He wanted to go back and lie down for a while. The guests would arrive soon and he would be busy. This time he really got himself into trouble.

Zhou Shuren lay down for a while before he heard the door open and saw Zhulan, "Why are you back?"

Zhulan shook the medicinal wine in her hand and said, "My father gave me the medicine to rub on you, so that you won't be too tired today and can't get up from the bed tomorrow."

Zhou Shuren is also a person who cares about his reputation. "You know everything?"

Zhulan didn't know whether Zhou Shuren had been the head of the family for too long or was influenced by the ancient times. He was very concerned about his reputation, especially in front of the children. "Don't worry, Dad gave it to me secretly."

Zhou Shuren breathed a sigh of relief, as long as it didn't affect his appearance, "Hurry, help me wipe it off, the guests will be here soon."

Zhulan knows how to massage and with the help of medicinal wine, Zhou Shuren felt warm all over and felt much more comfortable. Zhulan put down her sleeves and said, "You lie down for a while. I'll go out first."

Zhou Shuren pulled Zhulan up and kissed her, "Thank you, my wife."

In the past, it was quite atmospheric to kiss inside the old house, but now it was much brighter and Zhulan still felt a little uncomfortable. She snorted, quickly closed the door and went out. It was time for Mrs. Li Xu to come, and she had to go to the front to greet her.

The first to come were the Li family, followed by the Zhou clan, and finally Zhou Shuren’s friends from the county.

Zhulan also got to know all of Zhou Shuren's friends in the county today, including the head of the yamen runners, the county scholar, etc. The important guests were the county magistrate's family. There were also visitors from the Dong family, as well as some officials of the eighth and ninth ranks in the county. All of them came with the county magistrate. Of course, there were also some who came uninvited, all of whom were curious about the Zheng family's house and wanted to explore it.

Zhou Shuren was not stupid, so how could he let people go around? He didn't mention it. As the future relative, the county magistrate still had some tacit understanding and sat there drinking tea. Those who wanted to take a look didn't dare to mention it.

Zhulan’s important guest is Dong Lin. Xuehan has already taken Dong Chuchu to the backyard.

Zhulan accompanied Dong Lin, and today the reception of the female guests was handed over to Li. Li was not needed in the kitchen today. Zhulan's two nieces-in-law were also good cooks, so they were the head chefs today.

Just as Dong Lin suggested taking a look around, Li came in and said, "Mom, come here. I have something to tell you."