Chapter 97: Disgraceful

Two days passed in a blink of an eye, and the news that Xue Han and Zhang Rongchuan were engaged spread throughout the village.

In two days, Zhulan asked Li to prepare the menu for the engagement. Many people would come, including Zhulan's family members, Li's in-laws, and several elders from the clan who had visited. Counting the number of people, there would be at least five tables, excluding the children.

The tables and chairs were all borrowed from within the clan. The benefits of reintegrating into the clan came. When one family had a problem, the other family would help. Before Zhulan could even open her mouth, the tables, chairs, plates and bowls were delivered to her.

The living room of Zhulan's house can accommodate three tables, and the other two tables are placed in Zhulan's bedroom, one in Li's room, and one in Li's room.

In order to appear important and respectable, Zhulan bought half a pig, five hens, and five rabbits, and prepared eight dishes, including braised spareribs, braised pork, sauerkraut stewed with bones, stewed chicken with mushrooms, braised rabbit meat, braised pork intestines, and fragrant sausages. For the last dish, Zhulan cut a piece of ham to make soup, and the staple food was mixed noodle steamed buns.

Early in the morning, Li and the eldest daughter-in-law of the clan leader's family began to cook, and the second and third daughters-in-law of the clan leader's family helped.

Zhulan wanted to entertain the female guests, but Zhao was just a few days away from finishing her confinement and couldn't help.

The engagement had nothing to do with Xue Han, because she was young and Rongchuan was given to Zhulan, and there were no elders in the family. After the clan leader's family came to the door early in the morning, Xue Han went to accompany Zhao.

Rongchuan was going to meet a guest, so he put on new clothes and stayed next to Zhou Shuren.

Zhulan and the clan leader's wife were chatting in the bedroom. Zhulan said enthusiastically, "I really want to thank my auntie today. Without my auntie's help, I would definitely not be very busy!"

Zhao is in confinement after giving birth, and she and Li are really too busy to take care of her.

Mrs. Zhou Wang was quite pleased with herself. She was a fertile woman and raised all eight children, six of whom were sons. Her daughters-in-law did more work and were all very filial. "Just wait a few years until Chang Lian and Chang Zhi get married, and then there will be enough people in the house."

Zhulan thought that it would be better to hope that Zhou Shuren would have a good reputation and buy a cook for him than to hope that her two sons would get married and find wives to help. She said, "My aunt is one of the most blessed people in the village."

Zhou Wang looked around the bedroom. No wonder Yang was envied. The cupboards were covered with cloth without patches. The sewing basket was filled with cloth and no one knew what it was used for. Thinking carefully, Yang had never worn clothes with patches. Zhou Shuren really loved his wife. She was jealous. "You are the most blessed person in the village. Even your aunts envy you."

She has been bullied by her mother-in-law for several years!

Zhulan, "......."

She shouldn't mention blessings!

Fortunately, the Yang family arrived, and Zhulan hurried out to greet them. Zhulan supported Sun and said, "Mom, why did you and Dad come in person?"

She thought that it was so cold and only her two brothers came with their wives and sons.

Sun was unhappy, "My granddaughter is getting engaged and I am not allowed to see her in person?"

"Aren't I worried about your and Dad's health?"

Sun Shi didn't give her face. She was really angry. She only found out about her granddaughter's engagement at the last minute. Although she liked Rong Chuan very much, she snorted and said, "My health is much better than yours. You should take care of your own health!"

Zhulan knew she was in the wrong. When her second son came back from delivering New Year gifts, he said that the old lady and the old man were unhappy. She quickly smiled and said, "Yes, yes, mother is right."

Zhulan helped her mother into the house and quickly squatted down to put on her slippers. "The kang is warm, please stay warm for a while. I'll go get some more tea."

Sun said "yes", but she was still angry.

Zhulan came back soon with tea, and her mother started chatting with the clan leader's wife, and it was quite lively.

Zhulan served tea while chatting with her sister-in-law. She felt guilty, after all, she was not her original self. She and Zhou Shuren were used to being independent and handling things on their own. It was difficult for them to change completely. Sometimes they were lacking and could only make up for it slowly. She had thought of going back to her parents' home in person after the engagement to apologize to her parents, but she didn't expect her mother and father to come in person in this cold weather.

Sun was very comfortable being served, and the anger in her heart disappeared. She was not angry at all, and she did not want to interfere in her granddaughter's marriage. She just felt that her daughter did not tell her about any important matters, and she was very upset. She felt sorry for her daughter, and she did not want her body, which had been recovered with great difficulty, to be tired. "Okay, stop working, sit down and rest."

Zhulan breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "I am the one that my mother loves the most."

Sun's heart was warm, as the daughter was closest to her, but she said, "A grandmother is still acting like a spoiled brat. Aren't you ashamed?"

"Even if I am a great-grandmother, I am still my mother's daughter. I have been my mother's daughter all my life."

Sun smiled and tapped the girl's forehead, "You're making people laugh."

Zhou Wangshi was stunned. The rumor that Yangshi was favored by the Yang family was true. She couldn't bear to watch it anymore. She would be jealous!

The Li family also came, including old lady Li, and then several other families came. Zhulan’s status suddenly dropped and there was no place to sit.

The token of engagement between Xue Han and Rong Chuan was a jade pendant. Zhou Shuren went to the county personally and spent ten taels of silver to buy it. The marriage certificate was written by the Zhou clan leader. The two children exchanged the jade pendant in front of witnesses. The marriage certificate was given to Zhu Lan for safekeeping, and the engagement was completed.

There is no way, no one can stop Rongchuan from having any elders.

Everyone in the Zhang family knew about the engagement, but they also knew how Rongchuan paid the debt to Zhulan's family. When the accident first happened, they guessed that he was a farmhand, and later the rumor about him being a child foster husband came true. Zhang was ashamed that Rongchuan was being bullied and no one in the family stood up to help him, and she also felt that being a child foster husband was not a decent thing. Zhang didn't even have time to hide, let alone visit.

Zhulan heard from Zhou Wang that Zhang Datie and Zhu had been warned by the Zhang clan leader that they were coming, so they did not come to cause trouble.

Zhulan knew in her heart that Patriarch Zhang did not necessarily feel sorry for Rongchuan, and he had never been afraid of Zhu secretly causing trouble for Rongchuan. After all, it was because Zhou Shuren was reintegrated into the clan that the Zhang family became more cautious and did not want to make enemies, so they controlled Zhang Datie and his wife.

Who let the Zhang child study in the Zhou family school?

These days are enough to let the whole village know how much Zhou Shuren is valued by the tribe!

By the time they finished eating, it was already afternoon. Zhulan was so busy that she didn't have time to talk to the eldest daughter Xuemei. Zhulan first saw off the Yang family who were in a hurry, and then saw off several elders and the Li family. The clan leader's family helped wash the dishes and clean up before leaving.

Zhulan felt really embarrassed. She had planned to take her two daughters and Li to clean up. The clan leader's family helped a lot. Zhulan was not a stingy person. Because there were a lot of dishes left in the pot, Zhulan filled two large bowls of dishes and took a cup of tea to send to the clan leader's family.

After seeing the people off, Zhulan called her third son and eldest son who had not drunk any wine to return the table and chairs, and Rongchuan went with them. Zhulan felt at ease about marrying off her half son this time. After the ox cart left, Zhulan stretched her waist and straightened her body, and finally she could rest.

Xuemei hurried forward to support her, "Mom, I'll help you go back and rest. You're exhausted today."