Chapter 244: Survival is not easy, it all depends on acting skills
() Zhulan looked at Yao Zheyu's pale face and said, "Sir, your condition is not yet fully recovered. How about you rest for one more night and leave tomorrow?"
Don't let your illness get too serious, or their kindness will be gone. This is the real world. Look at how miserable the hero is. There is a chance that he will die.
Yao Zheyu was in a hurry to return to Beijing. He regretted not waiting for his grandfather's team to pick him up. Worried about his grandfather's illness, he led his men back. However, he was ambushed on the first day. He realized that someone had deliberately exaggerated his grandfather's condition in order to lure him back.
Now he was afraid that his grandfather's team would fail to pick him up in Pingzhou and would go back to look for him. If they really missed him, it would be even more difficult for him to return to Beijing. Although his grandfather had given him a lot of things over the years, the bulk of the money was still in his hands. Not to mention the people far away, he must get his hands on the connections and list of confidants in his grandfather's hands and must not let his father get them.
He must go back to the capital, he must go back.
Yao Zheyu said, "Thank you for your kindness, Madam Xiucai. I rested all night last night and I am much better now. As long as the car doesn't leak, my condition won't get worse."
Zhulan kept smiling, meaning that they should fix the donkey cart. Yang's donkey cart was really not that good, only slightly better than an ox cart shed, and it was bound to leak air.
Zhou Shuren said, "Young Master, please go back and rest first. I will notify you when the car arrives."
Yao Zheyu thanked him and said, "Sorry for the trouble, Mr. Zhou."
Boss Zhou went to Sunjia Village, and it was noon when he came back. Boss Zhou not only brought back a car and a donkey, but also brought back beef, and a lot of beef, almost ten pounds in size.
Zhulan looked at the beef and asked, "Where did your grandfather get the beef?"
Zhou Laoda said, "In Sunjia Village, the cowshed of Sun Sanwang's family collapsed and killed the cow. It happened to be the day when my uncle came to pick up my grandparents. My grandfather waited for the people from the county government to leave and bought 30 kilograms of meat in one go. These 10 kilograms are for my mother. I won't go to my grandfather's house today, but my uncle will send it tomorrow."
When Zhulan saw that Zhou Lao Da didn't take out any money, she knew that her parents had taken the money to buy a car and a donkey. There are not many donkeys in the Northeast, and they are faster than cows. Although they are not as good as horses, their price is not cheap.
After discussing it with Zhulan, Zhou Shuren took out twenty taels of silver to buy the donkey and the cart. They wanted to give more, but were afraid that their parents would not want it, so they finally took the market price.
Zhou Shuren asked the eldest brother to replace the car curtains with quilts because the straw curtains were too leaky. He also asked him to repair the inside of the shed to minimize the leaks.
Zhulan asked Li to cook porridge and steam hot buns, then took out an old quilt to flatten the interior of the car, and covered the porridge jar and buns with a cotton coat. After everything was ready, she went to inform Yao Zheyu.
Finally, Zhou Shuren took out twenty taels of silver with a painful look on his face and gave it to Yao Zheyu, "Don't be disgusted, young master. I should have given more, but my family has just bought land and a house, and I just gave money to Yue's donkey cart, so I can't give much."
Yao Zheyu felt complicated. Although he didn't see how big the house was, he knew it was not cheap. How much money could a scholar have? Seeing Zhou Xiucai's sincere look, the last bit of grudge in his heart disappeared. Zhou Xiucai was indeed a man of high moral character and noble character. "I will remember your kindness today. I will thank you when the dust settles on my affairs."
Of course I'll give him some money. Mr. Zhou has a good character, but he trusts people too easily, which is not good. I originally wanted to use Mr. Zhou to do things in the future, but now it seems I'd better forget it, so as not to implicate him.
Zhou Shuren covered his face and said, "Sir, I am ashamed to hear you say that. The land and the house are rare opportunities. I have exchanged all the gold ornaments you gave me for silver. I hope you will not blame me."
Yao Zheyu didn't take it to heart. He thought to himself, no wonder Zhou Xiu had the money to buy the land and the house.
Zhu Lan looked down at the snow at her feet. Life is not easy and acting skills are the only thing that can be relied upon. Even the male lead has been fooled by Zhou Shuren's acting skills. To be honest, it is not easy for them either. The scheming male lead is not good. They have to control the degree to make the male lead grateful but not to let him miss them. It is really a test.
Zhou Laoer had a blank expression on his face, but he was uneasy inside. Dad was so amazing that he could even deceive the young master of the Marquis's Mansion without changing his expression!
Boss Zhou became more excited, sweat broke out on his back, and he thought to himself, is there anything that my father wouldn't dare to do?
Zhou Shuren and Zhulan saw Yao Zheyu off. The donkey cart left the village, and the big trouble was gone. Zhulan thought it was time to celebrate. She hadn't eaten wontons for a long time, so she would eat wontons tonight.
Yao Zheyu appeared suddenly and left quickly without bringing any trouble to the Zhou family. Ten days after Yao Zheyu left, New Year's Eve arrived.
This was the second New Year that Zhou Shuren and Zhulan celebrated in ancient times. The food was the same as the first year. They still had hot pot for lunch, but it was more elaborate than last year and there were more types of meat.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, we celebrated the New Year. With the experience of last year, we all prepared a lot of auspicious words. The situation like last year did not happen again. We have learned our lesson and lost a lot of fun.
This year's red envelopes are twice as much as last year, and each red envelope is twenty cents.
After moving to Lijia Village, the red envelopes given out were no less than those in Zhoujia Village. There were more children in Lijia Village than in Zhoujia Village. Zhulan's family was a wealthy family and it was the first year they moved here. After breakfast, the children came to the door. Fortunately, Zhulan had made preparations, otherwise there would not be enough to go around.
The children in Lijia Village were happy. Although there were many children in Lijia Village, it was also the poorest village among the nearby villages. The children seldom ate candy, let alone saw a penny. One penny could buy two pieces of maltose!
The children in Zhoujia Village were unhappy because they had lost the opportunity to make a penny.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Xuemei and her husband came with their children, and Zhulan gave them red envelopes.
Zhu Lan waited for Jiang Sheng and Zhou Shuren to leave before saying, "You guys came early enough. Didn't you come from Jiang's house?"
Xuemei, "I came back on New Year's Eve, but the scene was a little unpleasant. My mother-in-law complained that the New Year's gift we gave was too little, and she said a few words to me, which my husband heard. We came back yesterday afternoon. By the way, my husband said he wanted to sell the house we were allocated to my eldest brother's family. My eldest brother's eldest son is getting married, and now he is worried about the house."
"Jiang Sheng doesn't plan to go back in the future?"
Xuemei was delighted. "Well, my husband said that he would buy a house in Zhoujia Village when he has money in the future. Selling the house will also give my parents-in-law some peace of mind."
She really didn't expect that her parents' family's prosperity would have such a huge impact on her husband's family. Her parents-in-law have become somewhat unrecognizable. Maybe this is the nature of her parents-in-law. If she hadn't been cold to them, why would she have tortured them in the past?
Xuemei and her husband came to pay New Year's greetings. They bought meat and made clothes for Zhulan and Zhou Shuren. When the couple returned to Zhoujia Village, Zhulan brought two pounds of mutton with bones, five pounds of pork, and a rabbit, enough cloth to make a set of clothes for the whole family. Finally, she gave Xuemei a silver hairpin with a gemstone and a pair of silver earrings to Jiang Miao. The little girl had her ears pierced in winter, and by the time she found out, she had already done all the piercings.
In modern times she is afraid of piercing her ears, so now she has no ear holes.
Xuemei didn't take the basket. "Mom, you and Dad have given us a lot of money this winter. This is too much."
Zhulan stuffed it into Xuemei's pocket and said, "It's not much. Compared to the New Year gifts I received, it's nothing. I won't need much if I keep it. Even if you get married, you will still be my mother's daughter. Your brothers and sisters won't be short of money. Take it now!"
Xuemei now understands her mother's feelings after returning from visiting her grandmother's house: guilt, emotion, and a bit of powerlessness. She can't help her mother's family in any way, and the only thing she can do is not to cause trouble for her parents.