Chapter 74: Living Next Door

Zhao stopped crying, thinking that she had wasted her tears and it was not worth getting angry with a fool, so she continued to wrap dumplings with her head down.

Zhulan clapped her hands, heard what was happening at the Zheng family, and motioned for Li to go out and take a look.

Li went out to check and soon came back, "Mother, Wang Laosi and his family moved into Zheng's house and gave them five cents a day. Aunt Zheng is really evil."

Zhao sneered, "Who asked Wang Laosi to act so generous, as if he was richer than the landlord? If Madam Zheng doesn't kill him, who else can she kill?"

She looked down on Wang Laosi. He didn't protect his own wife, and he turned a blind eye when his own daughter was molested. What honesty was that? In her eyes, Wang Laosi was nothing but a loser.

Her husband is still the best. He protects her and her daughter. Every time he goes out, he secretly buys delicious food for her and her daughter. When she thinks of her husband, Zhao blushes.

Zhulan didn't pay attention to the changes in Zhao's expression. She was feeling upset. Now they were neighbors. Fortunately, the new wall was built, otherwise she would not be able to sleep well with Wang Ru living next door.

In the evening, we had two large pots of dumplings and the table was filled with plates of dumplings. Not only did the four sons each have two large plates, they also drank several bowls of dumpling soup.

The eldest grandson's wife, who is not very old, ate seven. If she wasn't afraid of food accumulation at night, she would have wanted to eat more.

In the end, not only did they eat up the two big pots of dumplings, they also drank up the dumpling soup. Zhulan looked very sad. A dumpling meal is not a Manchu-Han banquet, so one still cannot be full even if one is poor.

After eating, he didn't want to move. His grandson Mingteng touched his round belly and said, "It would be nice if I could eat dumplings every day."

Li patted his son on the head and said, "You are so optimistic. It would be nice to be able to eat a few meals of dumplings made of pure flour a year."

If it were any other family, they could only have one meal together during the Chinese New Year. She felt so happy thinking about it. Her sisters at home were jealous of her for having such a good marriage!

After knowing his family's financial situation, Zhou Lao Da was more confident and did not care about everything. Eating one or two dumplings was nothing. He smiled at his son's angry expression and thought of his father asking, "Mom, did you say Dad went to Jiangnan?"

Zhulan specifically asked her nephew about it. It would take about ten days to travel from the county to the canal by horse carriage without delay. It would take at least ten days to travel south from the canal to Suzhou and Hangzhou. This is if the wind is favorable. If it is slow, it would take at least twenty days. She calculated in her mind, "I guess your father is still on the boat. It will take some time for him to arrive."

Transportation in ancient times was really terrible. This was after the canal was dug. It would have been much longer without the canal.

Zhou Laoer counted the days, "Won't it be the New Year's Eve when Dad comes home?"

Zhulan, "Yes, it takes almost two months to go back and forth."

This is the case when the canal is not frozen on the return journey. If it is frozen, you can only take the official road slowly, which will take longer.

Zhulan suddenly thought of the numerous beauties in Jiangnan, and she wondered if Zhou Shuren would be dazzled by them. Humph, they were tied up anyway, so it was useless for Zhou Shuren to be dazzled.

Zhulan was a little upset and stood up, unwilling to talk anymore. "Master, clean up the table quickly and go back to rest."

Li's intuition was very accurate. He noticed that his mother was unhappy. "Okay, mother."

As soon as Zhulan left, Li complained to her husband, "Why are you talking about something else? Mom and Dad have never been apart for so long. Mom is missing Dad again."

Zhulan didn't walk far and almost slipped and fell. Damn it, who was thinking about Zhou Shuren!

On the sailboat, Zhou Shuren touched the banknotes in his arms. He was really lucky. Zhuo County was the most prosperous canal transportation hub with numerous merchants coming and going. Naturally, there were many scams, especially in the counterfeiting industry. During the break from the escort business, he went out for a walk and happened to meet someone selling fake antiques.

He was not stupid enough to go up and say it was fake. Instead, he pretended to be the buyer's friend and took the buyer away. This way, the buyer could avoid being cheated and keep his eyes open. In total, the merchant received two hundred dollars as a token of his gratitude.

Zhou Shuren was impressed by the merchant's generosity and also praised his shrewdness. Giving him so much money was definitely a favor. After the establishment of the new dynasty, the status of merchants became even lower, and it was even easier not to offend scholars. He was also taking advantage of the scholars.

Li Shuan pushed the door open and came in. "My dear, I went to ask, and it seems that the journey is going smoothly. We will arrive in two days."

Zhou Shuren was too tired to complain about the traffic. Well, he had eaten enough fish. "We are finally here."

Li Shuan nodded, "I'm going to go crazy staying on the boat."

Zhou Shuren saw his relative take out the purse from his chest and look at it, then put it back carefully. This was because he was afraid that it would be stolen as there were many people on the boat.

Li Shuan touched his wallet with satisfaction. With this money, even if he failed to sell the prescription in Jiangnan, he could give an explanation to his mother when he returned home.

Zhou Shuren laughed. In Zhuo County, he took the opportunity to sell the recipe to a merchant he knew. The recipe did not have much technical content, so the merchant bought it and cooked it at home. He sold it to a high price of twenty taels for the sake of face and friendship. Later, he sold it to two more merchants and collected fifty taels of silver. His relative-in-law made a lot of money.

Zhou Shuren couldn't concentrate on reading anymore. He wondered if Zhulan was thinking about him!

The next morning, the sky was clear, and Zhulan could finally put her mind at ease and no longer worry about the snowstorm. Instead, the snow was a good omen for a good harvest.

The weather had gotten even colder after the snow, and the temperature was high enough to freeze the meat. It was a good day to slaughter pigs. After dinner, Zhulan instructed the eldest brother to find Li the butcher to slaughter the pigs.

Zhulan's family has two well-raised pigs, each weighing about 250 kilograms. In ancient times, a pig over 250 kilograms was considered a fat pig. Zhulan stood at the door of the pigpen, her mind full of thoughts: blood intestines, steamed pig blood, stir-fried fatty intestines, braised pork, sweet and sour spare ribs, cold pig ears, and pickled bones. She couldn't help swallowing her saliva.