Chapter 248: Fat Can’t Be Carried

Zhulan coughed, and Li's heart trembled. She felt even more wronged. Her mother didn't like her anymore. She said dryly, "Sister-in-law doesn't have much money. This is a token of my love. Don't despise it."

Mrs. Dong did not mind. She had not expected it, so receiving a gift was already a pleasant surprise. The box was open and contained a head flower from the jewelry shop in the town. It came from the south and cost two cents each. For Mrs. Li, whom she knew well, it was a rare gift for a meeting.

Mrs. Dong accepted it with a smile, "I like it very much. This is for my sister-in-law. I don't know what she likes. Please don't dislike it."

Li had never expected there would be a return gift. She then noticed that there were a few small boxes and purses on the tray brought by Dong. She happily took them. As long as she didn't lose money, she said, "Don't mind, don't mind."

When he opened it, he saw a silver hairpin. He smiled even more foolishly.

Chang Lian knew this would happen, so he took Dong to meet his second brother and his wife.

The fan given by Zhao, "Sister-in-law, I am better at embroidery. This is a fan I made myself, please don't dislike it, sister-in-law."

Mrs. Dong also had many fans from Jiangnan. She knew that Mrs. Zhao's embroidery was good, but she didn't expect it to be so good. She smiled and said, "I like it very much. I also like needlework. I will bother my second sister-in-law more in the future."

Zhao lowered her head and said, "You are welcome anytime."

Dong returned the gift, also a silver hairpin.

Then they got to know each person one by one. Xue Han, who was close to Mrs. Dong, got Yu's earrings. Yu Shuang and Yu Lu each got a pair of silver ear studs. Ming Yun, Ming Teng and Ming Rui each got a purse containing two cents in silver.

The recognition was over and everyone left.

Zhulan called out to Li and Zhao, "Wait a moment, both of you."

Dong looked back, and Zhulan said, "Dong should stay too!"

Zhulan got up and went into the house. She quickly took out two red cloth bags and opened one of them to signal Li to come forward. Zhulan reached out to hold Li's hand, but then paused. Her wrist was too fat to carry anything. Zhulan silently let go of Li's hand and handed the red cloth bag to Li. "Before the establishment of the new dynasty, mother did not dare to be high-profile and never gave you good things. This is a supplement for you, but it seems that you can't carry it."

Li, "........"

The excitement and touching feeling disappeared in an instant, and mother didn't say another word from then on.

Mrs. Dong suppressed her lips, thinking that her mother-in-law was too much of a pain in the ass.

Zhulan ignored Li's expression of bullying again and opened another bag for Zhao to carry. "When you first came into our family, there was no betrothal gift and no matchmaker. You were wronged. In the future, you will have everything that your eldest sister-in-law and younger brother have. I have chosen a date to match your horoscopes with the second brother and write a marriage certificate. It will be three days later, two days after your younger brother and sister-in-law return home."

After Zhulan finished speaking, she said to Li: "Take a count of how much meat is left at home and see if it is enough to prepare a few tables of delicious dishes. If not, you can go and buy some more."

The first time Li saw Zhao, she didn't cover her face and sob, but raised her head and cried. She didn't think it was beautiful for a beautiful woman to cry, but she felt that it was not easy for her brother-in-law and sister-in-law. In order to protect herself, she was replaced as a daughter-in-law. Her brother-in-law and sister-in-law suffered too much. "Mother, leave the food to me. I will definitely take out the housekeeping book to celebrate for my brother-in-law and sister-in-law."

Zhao couldn't help it, and threw herself into her mother-in-law's arms and cried. As a woman, who doesn't want to be married in a formal way, who doesn't want to hold the marriage certificate and horoscopes and get the recognition of the husband's family.

She had no choice. She had to protect herself while fleeing the famine, and exchange herself for food. At first, she lost her qualifications.

This is because the Zhou family is kind and her husband protects her. Otherwise, a daughter-in-law who is exchanged for a husband is, to put it nicely, a daughter-in-law, but to put it bluntly, she is just an exchanged laborer, and no one will care if she is really sold.

There were other daughters-in-law in Zhoujia Village who were either beaten or scolded by their mothers-in-law or husbands. They ate little and ate mostly dry food. On the one hand, they had no support from their natal family, and on the other hand, they had no matchmaker and no marriage certificate, so their in-laws looked down on them.

She has two children already. Her mother-in-law and husband treat her well. She is in charge of the family's monthly expenses. She lives in a big house, wears clothes without patches, has new clothes every quarter, wears jewelry, and can save money every month. She is already very content.

I never thought that her mother-in-law would help her get a marriage certificate and match her horoscopes. Besides her mother and husband, her mother-in-law is the third person who treats her so well.

Zhulan felt heartbroken when she heard Zhao's crying. This was different from Zhao's previous sobbing. This was the first time Zhao burst into tears. It was not easy for Zhao. She had to learn to protect herself at a young age. She also experienced her family selling her mother. Now her mother who protected her was gone. She could only rely on herself to survive. She did not want to be sold to a dirty place like a brothel, so she had to endure the fear and had to be on guard against anyone all the time. She had been holding it in her heart and dared not vent it. Even when facing Changyi, Zhao always appeared very strong.

Her actions today touched the softest part of Zhao's heart.

Zhulan touched Zhao's hair and said, "Cry, it will be better if you cry it out."

Dong just came back to her senses from her second sister-in-law's face and was stunned. She had seen beauties before. There were beauties in the county, and there were many beautiful young ladies in merchants' families. But it was the first time she had seen someone as beautiful as her second sister-in-law. No wonder her second sister-in-law was weird and kept her head down, not daring to look up to see people.

Li wiped away her tears. Seeing Dong looking at Zhao, she thought of Dong's background, blocked her gaze, and stared at her with her small eyes, "This is our family's secret. Once you enter our family, you are not allowed to tell anyone, otherwise I will be angry with you."

Mrs. Dong was stunned. When she was eating, she saw the eldest sister-in-law complaining about the second sister-in-law. Now she actually protected her. Although she didn't understand the eldest sister-in-law's thoughts, she was also moved. Her eyes were soft, "Sister-in-law, I won't tell anyone."

Li was worried, "Your parents wouldn't allow it either."

Dong laughed cheerfully. She knew what to say and what not to say. The second sister-in-law was the one she shouldn't tell. Her mother had told her a long time ago that she couldn't tell everything to her parents' home after becoming a daughter-in-law. Moreover, she had been educated more broadly than her eldest sister-in-law since she was young. She really couldn't tell the second sister-in-law's affairs. At least her father-in-law's family couldn't protect her and might get into trouble. "I won't tell."

After hearing this, Zhao stopped crying and looked at her sister-in-law with tears in her eyes. She never expected that her sister-in-law would protect her so much. Although her sister-in-law cheated her from time to time, she was a good person and she could tolerate her sister-in-law.

Li covered her chest and said, "Sister-in-law, please stop looking at me. I, a woman, can't stand it anymore. Mother, I'll go see how much meat is left."

Zhulan, "......."

It was a very touching moment, but the atmosphere was lost as soon as Li opened his mouth.

Zhao stopped crying, and Zhulan did not plan to take out a second gift. She planned to give it to Zhao three nights later. If Zhao wanted to cry for the second time, she should go back to her own yard.

Zhao and Dong left together. Zhulan went back to the room to change her clothes. Zhao was such a crybaby that her clothes were all wet.

Zhou Shuren lay on his side, watching Zhulan change her clothes with a smile on her face, his eyes full of tenderness. Zhulan's heart was kind and gentle. She kept the whole family in her heart, and she remembered everyone's birthday in the family. Although the other children in the Zhou family shared her heart, he liked the kind-hearted Zhulan. He had a really good eye!

It's a pity that he can't go back to the modern times. If he could, it would be much better without these annoying people like the Zhou family. He still thinks there are too many annoying people.

Zhulan changed her clothes and was about to sew when she heard a knock on the door. "Mom, I have something to talk to you about."