Chapter 376 Filial Piety

Seeing that his mother stopped looking at the account book, Zhou Laoer knew that his mother was satisfied with his work, and smiled and said, "My eldest sister also took advantage of my father's help this year. Not only did she buy another three mu of dry land, but her brother-in-law also went to teach in the clan school, earning four hundred coins a month. Jiang Du also entered the clan school for enlightenment, and Jiang Miao now treasures her hair the most and won't let anyone touch it. The youngest twins can also walk. The two children look alike, not big but with big minds."

Seeing that his mother liked listening, Zhou Laoer told her more interesting stories about the twins.

Zhulan felt relieved when she knew that the eldest daughter's family was living a good life. Now that the eldest daughter had slowly built up a foundation, her future life would not be bad.

Zhu Lan looked at Chang Lian and said, "After being in my hometown for more than half a year, I think you have become much more stable."

Chang Lian has thought a lot in the past six months. He had never thought about his own shortcomings carefully before, but he has figured them out in the past six months. He has been studying peacefully for half a year, and has indeed washed away a lot of his impetuousness. "Mom, your son understands your painstaking efforts."

Zhulan nodded secretly in her heart. She had been observing Chang Lian from the beginning, and she thought that Meng Ju was satisfied with Chang Lian now. "Your master has been talking about you a lot recently. Bring a gift to the Meng Mansion to meet your master tomorrow!"

Chang Lian felt relieved, "Yes."

Zhulan saw that her two sons looked tired. They had rushed all the way here because they were afraid of being delayed by the snowstorm. "Go back and take a shower, change clothes and rest. We'll talk when your father comes back in the evening."

Zhou Laoer and Chang Lian stood up, "Mom, we're going back first."

"Go back!"

Zhulan waited for her two sons to leave, as she still had a lot of work to do. All the gifts brought by Zhou Laoer had to be unpacked and stored in the warehouse. Zhulan called housekeeper Ding and Liu Ya, and she took the list and checked it one by one.

The books and calligraphy and paintings were placed separately, waiting for Zhou Shuren to come back and take a look. After the other bottles, antiques, etc. were inspected, those suitable for display were taken out, and those not suitable were put into the warehouse.

After an hour, they checked everything one by one. Zhulan went to see the mountain products brought by Zhou Laoer. Zhou Laoer really collected a lot of mountain fungus, mushrooms, hericium, bracken, day lily, etc.

Zhulan asked Liuya to take out some ferns and day lilies and send them to the kitchen so that they could have some more vegetables to eat tonight. They had had enough of radishes and potatoes these days.

Yes, and I've had enough mutton and pork.

Having said that, the cabbages and radishes in Lizhou City are a little more expensive than in the inland areas and the north. No matter how much cabbage the people grow in their vegetable gardens, they can all be sold, and merchants from other ethnic groups often come to buy cabbage and radishes.

After Zhulan finished the inspection, Wanjiu, who was driving for Zhou Shuren, came back first with two buckets of fish in the carriage.

Wan Jiu said, "These fish were given by the people who contracted the pond. The master couldn't accept them, so he left money to buy them. Madam, the master asked me to send them back and pick them up. Madam, I'm going to pick up the master now."

Zhulan, "Go ahead."

After Wan Jiu left, Zhu Lan was circling around the two buckets of fish. These were not small buckets for fetching water, but large wooden barrels specially used to hold live fish. The fish in the two buckets were not small, each weighing more than two kilograms. Zhu Lan knew that the fish fry in the pond were all caught from the river. The big ones weighing three or four kilograms were sold directly, and the ones weighing less than two kilograms were raised together. It would be good if they could grow to more than two kilograms in a few months.

These two buckets of fish can hold fifteen pieces, weighing more than thirty pounds. Although Lizhou City may seem poor, everything becomes expensive in winter. These thirty pounds of fish can be sold for thirty wen per pound, which is almost one or two taels of silver.

Seeing Wan Jiu's happy expression, it seems that the people who contracted the pond have also made money.

Zhulan smiled and said, "I'll cook fish tonight and give you three pieces of fish. Now that we're all together at home, it'll be a lively occasion."

Liu Ya was delighted. She hadn't eaten fish for a long time. "Well, I'll go to the kitchen."

"Go ahead."

The servants in Zhulan's family all ate together. The Zhulan family did not need anyone to serve them during meals. When the master was eating, they would also go to eat. There were more than twenty servants, and it was just right to divide them into three tables and three fishes.

Zhulan returned to the courtyard. Li woke up and held the purse, "Mom, this is my gift to you."

Zhulan was stunned. She already knew about the one thousand taels of silver. She was still wondering if Li would give it to her first. She didn't expect that she would be the first one to give it to her. Zhulan took the purse and opened it under Li's expectant eyes. There was a silver note in the purse, which was a fifty-tael silver note. But Zhulan's heart was beating, "For me?"

Li was still a little reluctant, but when she thought about how good her mother-in-law was to her, she felt that she should give it. "I originally wanted to go to the street to buy jewelry for mother, but my taste is not good, so I asked the head of the family to exchange it for silver notes. Mother, the money is not much, but it is a filial piety from me and the head of the family."

Zhulan held the purse, and Li was picking the money because she was short of money. She had no confidence and could only pick the money. But if you think about it carefully, from her to ancient times, Li would always honor her whenever he got money, no matter whether it was to please her or out of sincerity, he always honored her.

The other two daughters-in-law also tried to please her, but they failed to do as well as Li did. Instead, they just talked more.

Zhulan took Li's hand. Her chubby hands had become much thinner and she could wear the jade bracelet again. Don't blame her for being partial to Li. People really care about each other. She felt Li's sincerity. This time, Li was respecting her from the bottom of his heart.

"Stop standing and come sit down."

Li sighed, sensing her mother-in-law's happiness, "Mom, buy whatever you like."

Zhulan was a person who treated anyone well. She would treat them twice as well. The two ladies were always thinking about her, and she was always thinking about them. Li was filial to her, and she was not a stingy person. "I have a cloak given by Master Chen's wife. Although the color is a little darker, the leather is top-notch. It will suit you well since you have a fair complexion."

After Zhulan finished speaking, she motioned to Liuya to take out the cloak. This cloak was really good and she really liked it, but she just didn't like the color to remain there all the time.

Liuya took it and Zhulan put it on Li. Although the color was a little darker, it was still more suitable for Li's white skin. In addition, Li looked younger because she was fat, and she didn't think that the cloak had to be used by older people.

Li was stunned, "Mom."

She's not asking for anything.

Zhulan smiled and said, "Okay, you can take it back. It's time to eat soon and I'll change my clothes."

Li returned to her yard dazed, wearing her new cloak. Boss Zhou saw the cloak on his wife at a glance and recognized it. Li was amazed and said that the fur alone was worth dozens of taels!

Boss Zhou, ".......Aren't you honoring your mother? Why did you come back with a cloak?"

Li touched the fur on her collar and was silent for a while before sitting down and saying, "Boss, this is what my mother gave me."

Boss Zhou glanced at the cloak and fell silent. He couldn't help laughing at himself. His parents were very smart. They could see clearly what they were thinking. Boss Zhou realized that he shouldn't think too much. He was the eldest brother and he just needed to be filial to his parents and do his duty. "My wife taught me a lesson today."

Li, ".......Don't be so literary, it makes me feel weird."

Boss Zhou laughed and said, "Okay, not so fancy."

Zhou Shuren came back after dark, but it couldn’t be said that it was dark, because the days were short, and the time he came back was the same as usual.

There are two more

(End of this chapter)