Chapter 254: What a pity
Zhu Lan asked in confusion, "Auntie, if you have something to say, just tell me directly."
Mrs. Wu Li said to Wu Ning beside her, "You haven't seen Xue Han for a long time. You two should go out and play for a while."
Zhulan heard that she didn't want the children to hear it, so after the two little girls left, Zhulan said, "Auntie, you can tell me now."
Mrs. Wu Li was a little embarrassed to open her mouth, but she felt more confident when she thought of her grandson. "Xue Han is also nine years old this year. What do you think of my Wu Ming?"
Zhulan, "......."
Recalling carefully, she had never mentioned Xue Han's engagement. Xue Han and Wu Ning had a good relationship and both girls would not mention engagement. The Wu family didn't know about the engagement yet. She didn't expect that Wu Li fell in love with Xue Han and asked her so directly!
Zhulan was a little proud in her heart. Xuehan was no worse than a young lady except for her social status. Seeing that Wu Li was waiting for a reply, she smiled dryly and said, "Xuehan got engaged in the winter of the year before last."
Mrs. Wu Li calculated her age and said in surprise, "It's too early to arrange a marriage."
She really had high hopes for Xue Han. The little girl was more stable than her granddaughter. Not only was she blessed, but she also behaved in a graceful and generous manner. With Yang as her mother, the little girl must have a lot of plans in her mind. She really loved Xue Han, otherwise she would not have asked her directly given Xue Han's young age. It was a pity that Xue Han had been engaged so early. She thought that even if she had proposed last year and Xue Han had already been engaged, she could only sigh in her heart that they were not destined to be together.
Zhulan explained, "It's fate that we're getting engaged."
Mrs. Wu Li saw that Zhulan had no intention of introducing a son-in-law. Although she really wanted to know who the chosen one was, since Mrs. Yang didn't mention it, she didn't dare to ask.
Zhulan thought that even if they were not engaged, she would not agree to Wu Ming. Who made Wu Ming's future promising? It was because he was too capable. Who knew if he would have concubines in the future? What if he bullied the young lady?
Rongchuan is still better. Although his background is unknown now, he was raised by me and I am grateful to him. Rongchuan is also a grateful person and will not let Xuehan down in the future.
Even when women in ancient times received education, they still hoped that their husbands would be their own. If they could be open-minded, there would be no house-fighting. House-fighting is not only for the benefit of children, but also to express jealousy and resentment in the heart.
Except for those who really don't care, there are a few women who are willing to share their husbands!
Because Xue Han was getting engaged, it was a bit awkward and Zhu Lan didn't feel like chatting anymore, so she left early.
On the way home, Li looked around, and Zhulan laughed, "Didn't you see enough on the way here?"
Li said excitedly, "Mom, the state capital is different. Not to mention the many shops along the way, just look at the courtyards on both sides. They are more imposing than those in the county."
Zhulan rolled her eyes in her heart, she really didn't see what the imposing manner was, the architecture of the houses in the north wing were basically the same, the only difference was the size of the houses. It was only new to Li's house these two days, after a few days, the difference wouldn't be noticeable.
Zhulan was not in a hurry to go home. She took Li to the market. This would be a good opportunity for Li to learn the way when she wanted to buy vegetables. The Zhou family members all had a good sense of direction and none of them were directionally challenged.
I walked around the market and bought some fish and tofu.
Li was so distressed that she said, "Mom, there is no difference between the vegetable market in the state capital and the ones in the county. The things sold there are almost the same as those in the county. Why are they more expensive than in the county? Fish is one cent more expensive per pound than in the county, and tofu is half a cent more expensive. Aren't they all the same things?"
Li calculated quickly in her mind that after coming to Pingzhou, she no longer had her own vegetable garden, and she would have to spend money to buy vegetables in the future. The monthly expenses would be several times more than back home.
Zhulan saw that Li was depressed, "What are you thinking about?"
Li was heartbroken, "Mother, Pingzhou isn't particularly good either."
People say that the city is good, and she had looked forward to it, but when she really calculated the expenses, her heart bleeds. Now in her eyes, Pingzhou City is a place that swallows up money, and she can't help but hold her purse.
Zhulan, "......."
She really couldn't keep up with Li's train of thought. She didn't know why he was holding his purse as if he was afraid of losing it!
When she got home, Li hurriedly asked Zhou Lao Da to make boxes and fetch soil so that she could grow vegetables.
Zhulan then understood why Li was tightening her purse strings; it was because she felt the expenses in the city were too high.
At noon, I had some leftover meat from yesterday and cut some salted vegetables and ate it.
In the afternoon, Zhulan woke up from her nap. Changlian and Dong came back from their visit. Zhulan went out of the house and saw a gift box on the table in the main hall. It was a return gift from Dong's sister.
Zhulan called out to Mrs. Dong, who opened the door and came over with a smile, "Mom, you're awake."
Zhulan drank tea to moisten her throat and said, "Yeah."
Mrs. Dong knew why her mother called her. She had been waiting for her mother-in-law to wake up. She said, "These are gifts from my sister and brother-in-law, specially for my father and mother."
"That's too much."
She just counted six boxes.
Dong said, "These are for my parents. I have accepted the ones for Chang Lian and me. Mother, my brother-in-law really likes wolf skins and kept saying how much my parents have taken care of them. These are all gifts from my sister and brother-in-law. You should accept them, mother!"
Zhulan thought there would be a return gift, but she didn't expect it to be so much. This did not include the gifts for Changlian and Dong. After all, she is her biological sister, and these gifts are also meant to support Dong!
Zhulan said, "Thank your sister for me, and I'll accept it."
If someone didn't send an invitation, she wouldn't go to the house to express her gratitude. It would be like she was relying on the Jiang family, which would be annoying.
"I have already thanked my sister and brother-in-law. My sister will invite me and my mother to attend a tea party in the future!"
Zhulan kept smiling, looked at what she said, and told her that she didn't need to come to thank him, and that she would invite him to meet her in the future. Zhulan said, "Mother doesn't know much about tea, so you can just go."
As a scholar's wife, she was not enough of a cannon fodder to attend the tea party of an official's wife. As for Dong's own sister, she would naturally take care of her. She didn't want to be looked down upon.
Dong had known that her mother-in-law would say this. Her parents-in-law were not people without sense of propriety. At the same time, she lamented the difficulties of her sister's second marriage. Until now, the wives of officials in the provincial capital were talking about her sister. Her sister did not want her in-laws to come over because she was afraid of causing more gossip.
However, she was very happy today. Her parents-in-law prepared gifts for her visit, especially two good wolf skins, which her brother-in-law liked very much. It also made her sister proud. She did not come to ask for money, but to visit. It also made her brother-in-law think highly of her husband and her in-laws!
Since I didn't embarrass my sister, she was happy and naturally gave me a generous gift in return, which of course also meant to support her.
Zhulan was too embarrassed to open any gifts in front of her daughter-in-law, but luckily Mrs. Dong was very tactful and said, "Mom, I'm going to go back and sort out my sister's return gift. I'll go back to my room first."
"Okay, let's go back."
Zhulan waited for Dong to return before opening the boxes. Among the six boxes, the largest box contained decorations. Zhulan did not know much about decorations, but the gifts from a fifth-rank Tongzhi would definitely not be cheap. Two of the boxes contained two jade hairpins, one box contained a pair of jade bracelets that looked pretty good, and the remaining three boxes contained a piece of fine ink and two brushes that looked expensive.
The six boxes were indeed for her and Zhou Shuren.
As for the other people in the family, they have different identities and statuses, so Dong's sister doesn't need to worry about everything.
Zhulan put all the jewellery in the box back into the jewellery box. She had more and more jewellery, and she was happy just looking at them.
Zhou Shuren didn't come back for dinner at night. Zhulan was worried about him. Life in ancient times was not good. There were no mobile phones. She wanted to ask someone but didn't know where to find him. She could only worry about him as she watched the sky getting darker outside.
Zhulan couldn't control her feet and went to the front yard several times.
Zhou Laoda followed behind his mother. He was also worried about his father. "Mom, how about I go out and look for him?"
Zhulan, "Where are you going to find him? Okay, don't worry about it, your father will be back soon."
Boss Zhou, "......."
Mom, when you say this, you should go back to the backyard. You are still thinking about him here and you won’t go back. He is not only thinking about dad, but also mom.
He and Li had different ideas. Li felt that it was better to stay in his hometown than to spend more money in Pingzhou. He was still knowledgeable. People always strive for higher goals. Staying in the hometown was comfortable, but it also cut off the opportunity to move up. Now that his father had not come back, he felt guilty as a son for not being able to help his father.
Zhulan's ears moved and she walked quickly towards the gate. She felt that Zhou Shuren had returned.
After opening the gate, they saw a carriage or a person. Zhou Laoda looked carefully and said, "Mom, Dad is not back."
Zhulan felt that Zhou Shuren had returned, "Wait a minute, it must be your father who has returned."
(End of this chapter)
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