Chapter 377: Still as Sour as Old Vinegar

Zhou Shuren entered the house with a chill on his body, and quickly slipped on the kang and slid into the quilt. "It's really cold, and I'm frozen all over. The frostbite on my feet finally healed a little, but now it itches again. I must have frostbite again."

Zhulan motioned Liuya to get the foot bath medicine over, "Don't tell me you were freezing outside the whole time?"

Zhou Shuren took the hand warmer that Zhulan handed to him. His hands were a little red and swollen from the cold. He had just helped catch fish today, but when he thought of Lord Chen and Lord He's even worse looks, he comforted himself a little.

Zhou Shuren rubbed his hands and said, "I was the one who advocated contracting out the pond. Now that the harvest has come, I naturally want to get involved myself."

Zhulan felt so distressed when she saw Zhou Shuren's miserable appearance. She thought it was difficult to be a good official, so she quickly found the medicine prescribed by the doctor.

Liu Ya came in with a foot basin, and Zhu Lan pulled Zhou Shuren, "Soak the medicine first."

Zhou Shuren came back a little slower and motioned for Liu Ya to leave. His feet felt better after soaking in the medicine. "It's been many years. I almost forgot the feeling of frostbite."

Now he often suffers from frostbite in the orphanage in winter, and it recurs every year, making him very uncomfortable. He has tried various methods but none of them worked. He waited until he grew up, had some money, and could wear warmer clothes, and then he slowly recovered. Now he feels the same again, and he is very upset.

Zhu Lan held Zhou Shuren's hand and said, "All the fish in the pond have been sold. You don't have to go out anymore!"

Zhou Shuren nodded, "Yes, from now on I will not leave the city except to go to the government office."

He has done everything he should do and has lived up to the people of Lizhou City. This year, he feels like he has aged more than two years. It has been too hard!

While Zhou Shuren was soaking his feet, Zhulan told him about Zhou Laoer and others, letting Zhou Shuren know the situation. Finally, she said, "If you have anything to say, go ask them after dinner."

Zhou Shuren waved his hands, "I am really tired. Just ask me. I don't have anything to say. Give me some time to relax."

He has been worrying about the people for the past six months and thinking about what to do for himself and Zhulan. He really doesn't want to worry about the Zhou family's sons. After all, Zhulan is no worse than him. With Zhulan keeping watch, he feels relieved.

Zhulan looked at Zhou Shuren's tired face. Age can't deceive people. No matter how hard Zhou Laoer and Chang Lian worked, they just needed to take care of their bodies while they were young. Zhou Shuren couldn't get back to his best condition. "It would be great if Master Lu was here."

Zhou Shuren, "Don't think about it. My grandfather will not leave his hometown when he grows old."

Zhulan was just thinking about it, but when she heard Liuya say that the food was on the table and that they still had a big family to meet, she said, "Let's go, we'll come back and rest after dinner."

Zhou Shuren stood up and said, "Yes."

This time all the Zhou family members were present, and there were no empty seats at the two tables; they were now full.

Zhou Shuren had received a vaccination from Zhulan. When he saw Changyi and Changlian standing up to kneel, he quickly motioned for them to sit down. Zhou Shuren first glanced at Mingyun and Rongchuan, and finally glanced at Zhou Laoer and Changlian. Well, he was jealous. He worked so hard as a father, but his two adopted sons were both plump. Even if they lost weight after traveling all the way, they still looked fatter. Zhou Shuren was so upset that he didn't want to talk anymore. "We're all home. Today is the reunion dinner. I don't have much to say. It's good to be a family. Let's eat."

Zhou Shuren was hungry. He had lunch at a commoner's house. Although there was stewed fish, he was embarrassed to eat it. He didn't eat much. Now he just wanted to drink some hot chicken soup.

Zhou Laoer saw his father picking up chopsticks to eat. He had prepared a lot of words for nothing. He felt bad when he saw that his father had lost a lot of weight. His father had lived for this family. He quickly stood up and served his father chicken soup. "Dad."

Zhou Shuren hummed, "Sit down and eat."

Zhou Laoer felt even more sad. He got closer and saw the fatigue on his father's face. Only then did he realize that his father had great responsibilities as an official. When his family was an ordinary citizen, he hoped to have a good official. He knew better how difficult it was to be a good official. Thinking about the news he had heard today, his father had really worked hard.

Zhou Shuren didn't like anyone except Zhulan to pick food for him. He tolerated it once or twice, but when it happened too many times, Zhou Shuren's face turned black.

"Eat your own."

Zhou Laoer took back his chopsticks, "......."

How could he forget that dad doesn't like anyone picking food for him? Well, apart from what mom picks for him, dad eats everything mom leaves behind. As for his sons, haha, dad doesn't even need to hide his disgusted expression. Look, grandpa has changed his dinner plan!

After dinner, Zhou Shuren couldn't hold on any longer and wanted to go back to rest. Zhulan signaled that everyone could go, and Zhulan got up and went back to the house with Zhou Shuren.

Zhao and Dong waited for the whole afternoon, hoping to talk more with their mother-in-law.

It didn't take them long to pack their luggage, and most of the time was spent trying to get the little girl to talk. Especially after knowing how good the mother-in-law was to the eldest sister-in-law, they were really anxious.

Li was wrapped in the cloak that her mother-in-law had just given her, yawning. She was also sleepy, "Boss, let's go back!"

Zhou Lao Da felt that his wife especially liked to sleep while carrying this child, and was afraid that she would fall down due to yawning, so he carefully supported her and said, "Okay."

Zhao turned his attention to his sister-in-law, and felt even more sad. His sister-in-law changed two cloaks in one day? Now she was wearing top-grade fur!

She was also knowledgeable. Ever since her father-in-law passed the imperial examination, the Qian family had given her many gifts. When her father-in-law became a fifth-rank prefect, the Qian family even gave her leather and silver in the name of supplementing her dowry. Unfortunately, she was rejected by her husband.

Although Dong was the daughter of an official, she had never had any high-class status. She felt jealous. Then she thought that her elder brother and his wife were followed by others, and that most people in the Ming Dynasty had servants. Dong felt even more jealous.

Li didn't know that she was jealous, and she went back to the yard slowly. Today her mother-in-law made her feel at ease, so she felt much more relaxed and could sleep well.

Zhulan returned to the room, and Zhou Shuren took off his clothes and got on the kang. "Are you not going to rest yet?"

Zhulan, "Now that all the rooms are together, no matter how partial I am, I can't just give it to the servants of the big room. I still have to make some arrangements."

Zhou Shuren pursed his lips unhappily, "More people means more trouble."

"Don't think so. They can help me a lot when they come. I have already planned that the farms and fields near home will be managed by the eldest son, and the industries in Jiangnan and other places will be in charge of the second son. Zhou Laoer is very thoughtful and few people can fool him. I can feel more at ease."

Zhou Shuren's impatience calmed down after hearing this. "How are you going to arrange the servants? Apart from the fixed ones, there are not many servants in our family that can be transferred."

Zhulan said, "I am not planning to buy any more maids or servants. After more than half a year of getting to know them, I found that the three servants and maids who volunteered to sell themselves are of good character. The people from these three families have also been tested by me. I have asked the eldest brother to hire them to work in the orchard. In the future, they can only rely on us, and I can trust them more."

Zhou Shuren knew that Zhulan was cautious. In ancient times, they were even more cautious for their lives and property. This was taking into account everything that might happen in the future. "Do you want to give the two servants who voluntarily sold themselves to Lao Er and Chang Lian?"

(End of this chapter)