Chapter 399 Moving Away
Three days later, Zhou Laoer came back from Chuanzhou. He did not buy a house in Chuanzhou city, but a house near the orchard, a house with two entrances.
Even after the house was bought, Zhao couldn't move in alone. She had to wait for Zhou Laoer to return from Pingzhou.
The next morning, Zhou Laoer and Chang Zhi returned to Pingzhou.
Zhou Shuren sorted out books for Xu Jinshi, and Zhulan added some fabrics to Xu Jinshi's wife. The two of them worked hard to take care of Changzhi.
As for Xuemei, this time Zhulan did not bring anything back, but wrote a letter.
After Zhou Laoer left, Fang came to find Zhulan, and Zhao accompanied Fang.
Zhu Lan asked, "Is there something wrong with my mother-in-law?"
Zhou Laoer was not at home, and Fang never left the house, let alone appeared in front of Zhulan. She simply claimed to be sick and hid in the yard. Zhulan knew how embarrassed Fang was, so she didn't dare to ask a doctor.
Fang clutched her handkerchief tightly, her heart aching. The Qian family sold off some antiques, and the total amount on the books was 35,000 taels of silver. She had finally swallowed 30,000 taels of silver from the Qian family, and now she had to give back 22,000 taels. The remaining 8,000 taels, and the 2,000 taels she had made from selling her jewelry and antiques, she felt a little resentful, her mouth was very stiff, "I have disturbed you for a few days, and today I am here to say goodbye."
Zhulan, "Where is my mother-in-law going?"
Fang laughed dryly, "I'll stay at the inn first, and then buy a house to live in."
She didn't want to live in the Zhou family anymore. Her children had been very dissatisfied with her these days, and her son-in-law was even more dissatisfied. Now that her son-in-law was gone, it would be better for her to leave early.
Zhulan frowned. Fang went out to stay at the inn. People who didn't know would think that the Zhou family couldn't accommodate a widowed in-law. "Butler Ding is familiar with the pawnbroker. My mother-in-law doesn't have to leave in a hurry. It won't be too late to leave after buying the house."
Fang wanted to refute, but seeing her mother-in-law's slightly unhappy face, she didn't dare to say anything. "Thank you, mother-in-law."
Zhao wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into. When she met her mother this time, she found that her mother was really petty. She saw herself in her mother. Just as she saw her mother, the Zhou family must have seen her in the same way. She was so petty that she could not show it to the public. The more Zhao thought about it, the more embarrassed she became.
Fang couldn't stay any longer. She was angry. Even if she was wrong, she shouldn't have sent back 22,000 taels. "Mother-in-law, I'm going back first."
Zhulan looked at Fang calmly, "Yeah."
Fang turned around and left. Zhao blushed. She felt so unfamiliar with her current mother. She had been scolding her for being useless and her husband these past two days. Her mother even wanted to give them 10,000 taels and let them pretend to take the silver and send it back to Qian's family. She was shocked.
Seeing her mother standing there at a loss, Yu Shuang secretly pulled her grandmother's clothes.
Zhulan patted Yushuang's hand and said to Zhao: "Butler Ding is very efficient. You can tell him that he will finish it this afternoon. You can buy some food and vegetables for your mother. It can be regarded as your filial piety."
Zhao stared at her mother-in-law in a daze. Her mother was instructing her. No matter how many faults her mother had, outsiders only looked at the Zhou family's performance. "Mom, I'll go now."
Zhulan waited for Zhao to leave, and then said to Yushuang, "You must remember to be magnanimous. Even if you are unwilling in your heart, you must consider the overall situation and your family's reputation."
Yu Shuang nodded and understood. Grandma didn't like my grandmother, but for the sake of the Zhou family's reputation, she still instructed my mother. She also knew that my grandmother was a weak person and the Zhou family was an official family. People were often willing to sympathize with the weak, especially when my grandfather was in power. Many people were willing to find fault with the Zhou family. Grandma did this so that people couldn't find any fault with her.
Yu Shuang understood, but she felt a little aggrieved, especially since she was the head of the family, "Grandma."
Zhulan smiled, thinking that the child she taught was the best. She felt sorry for her, but the child didn't know that she had never taken Fang seriously.
In the afternoon, Butler Ding helped Fang buy a house and a shop. Zhulan was not curious about how much money Fang had, nor did she want to calculate it. Zhulan instructed Butler Ding to prepare some cloth and furs to send to Fang, as this was the Zhou family's intention.
The next morning, Fang took her son to buy the house, and Zhao also went with them, taking away the gifts from the Zhou family and Zhao's filial piety.
The next day, Sun brought Zhulan's eldest sister-in-law to Zhou's house.
Zhulan asked, "Mom, is there anything wrong at home?"
Sun smiled and said, "It's spring now, the weather is getting warmer, I can't stay at home anymore so I came to visit you."
Zhulan smiled, "Mom, there must be something else!"
Sun was puzzled, "How did you know that?"
Zhulan laughed, "If you can't stay here any longer, Dad will definitely take you out of town for a walk. Why would he let you come here alone?"
Sun smiled and said, "I'm telling you the truth, you know the girl from Zheng Hong's family!"
Zhu Lan nodded, "I know. She is the eldest daughter of the Zheng family. She is a stable and successful girl."
Sun smiled and said, "It's good that you like her. I also think this girl is good. What do you think of her and Changzhi?"
Zhulan, "......."
She really didn't expect that the old lady came for Changzhi.
Seeing that the lady didn't look happy, Sun asked, "Is it inappropriate?"
She thought it was a good match, and she really liked the daughter of the Zheng family.
Zhulan explained, "Mom, let me tell you, even if Shuren is transferred to another place in the future, our family will not marry into the Zheng family."
Sun asked, "Why?"
Zhulan thought about how to explain it more simply. "Now everyone knows that Shuren is the emperor's confidant. If Shuren wants to move up, he can't marry into the Zheng family."
Sun was an old lady with little knowledge. She widened her eyes and said, "It will affect Shuren, so forget it. Just pretend I didn't say anything today."
Zhulan thought that she just didn't want to scare her mother. In fact, to put it simply, if Zhou Shuren wanted to retire safely, the Zhou family could not marry into a military family.
Especially Zheng Hong from the Zheng family. It seems that Zheng Hong is also the emperor's confidant. Ha, the emperor is not happy to see the two families getting married and adding the Yang family.
Master Zheng was optimistic about Mingyun, but unfortunately he did not expect that Zhou Shuren would be so favored by the emperor. The Zhou family received the word "Fu" from the emperor. Master Zheng and Zhou Shuren never mentioned Mingyun's name again in their letters.
Sun Shi didn't dare to introduce anything else and chatted with her daughter about other things. "Time flies so fast. It's already been a year. A few days ago, your father and I went outside the city and saw many farmers buying seeds to prepare for spring ploughing."
The smile on Zhulan's face deepened. Zhou Shuren had finished digging the ice cellar. In order to finish it quickly, he hired many common people, paying each of them 20 coins a day for lunch. After working for ten consecutive days, each person earned 200 coins.
Each household has a lot of able-bodied laborers, with as few as two people participating and as many as four or five. Every household has income.
He received some silver before the spring ploughing, which was just enough to buy seeds. This was all planned out by Zhou Shuren.
There was still some money left from digging the ice cellar, but Zhou Shuren did not keep it in the account. Instead, he continued to hire people to repair the dike. Zhou Shuren had thought of both drought and floods.
The only thing that Zhou Shuren regretted was that no one donated money. If there was money, he would have wanted to build a canal ten miles outside the west city!
(End of this chapter)