Chapter 983: Imperial Examination Essay: The Evil Mother-in-law (6)
"You've worked hard for most of your life. Now that you've married your daughter-in-law, it's time to take a good rest." Aunt Wang said with understanding. As a neighbor, she knew Wu Shichu's hard work very well, even better than his son Han Ji.
"My health is not good. I hope my son and daughter-in-law won't dislike me for not being able to work." Wu Shichu said with a wry smile and began to prepare reasons for his future "recuperation" life in advance.
"How could that be? Han Ji is a good and filial child. He loves you as a mother so much that he would never despise you for not being able to work. You just wait for him to pass the imperial examinations and become a successful person so that you can become his ancestor!" Aunt Wang said enviously.
"Thank you for your advice. I'll be waiting for his success." Wu Shichu said with a smile.
She started chatting with Aunt Wang about other things.
At the Han family, in the new house of the young couple, after a heartfelt talk, Zhang Luoyi nestled in Han Ji's arms and suggested, "Husband, why don't we buy a maid to do the housework?"
Han Ji looked embarrassed: "Our family can't afford to buy a wife..."
Zhang Luoyi gritted his teeth and said, "I have it. My mother gave me a dowry of 100 taels. I can use more than ten taels of silver to buy a capable wife."
"But... isn't this too extravagant? Our family has never had servants." Han Ji said hesitantly.
"If you haven't used it before, it doesn't matter if you start using it now. Anyway, when you pass the imperial examination and get an official title, you can't do without servants. We are just doing it earlier now." Zhang Luoyi tried her best to persuade her husband. She didn't want to use her delicate hands to light the fire, cook, feed the chickens and ducks, and become exhausted like a yellow-faced woman.
"But that is your dowry money. How can I use your dowry?" Han Ji's heart was shaken, but he still had some concerns. After all, asking his wife to use the dowry money to subsidize her in-laws right after getting married would make people look down on him.
"My husband, I am already yours, so why differentiate between you and me? I am willing to use my dowry to improve our family's life. If you feel guilty about it, when you become successful in the future, you can pay me back several times or even dozens of times, okay?" Zhang Luoyi saw that he was wavering and immediately stepped up her efforts to persuade him.
Han Ji hesitated for a while, and agreed: "Well, I'm sorry, but I will return the money to you a thousand times in the future, and I will never let you suffer any loss..."
"My husband, I don't feel wronged at all." Zhang Luoyi was so happy to see that he finally agreed that she couldn't help hugging him and kissing him. Han Ji immediately kissed her back...
So when Wu Shichu returned home after strolling around the village, she heard Han Ji and Zhang Luoyi telling her that they wanted to buy a maid to work for her.
Of course Wu Shichu would not object. After all, she was not the one who paid the money, and she was also one of the beneficiaries. Therefore, she said to them with a gentle and loving face: "It's up to you to decide on this matter. Now you are the pillars of this family. From now on, you will be in charge of all matters, big or small."
"Mom, what are you talking about? You are the backbone of this family. Without you, where would I be?" Han Ji said righteously, "My son and I are still young. We don't know anything. We still have a lot to learn about how to behave in society. Aren't you afraid that we will mess it up?"
"No, you have been mature and steady since childhood. Now that you have started a family, you are even more mature and rational. Why should I worry about leaving the house to you? As for your wife, she is a good girl who was carefully brought up in a wealthy family in this town. She is well-educated, virtuous and kind. There is no problem for her to manage household affairs. In short, I am 100% assured leaving the house to you." Wu Shichu praised both of them.
As long as they can get rid of this mess, Wu Shichu is willing to praise them dozens of times.
Managing household affairs sounds good, as she is the head of the family and makes all the decisions. However, managing a poor and struggling family is very tormenting: she has to rack her brains to make money and take care of her family with great difficulty, which is all hard work.
Wu Shichu is not the original owner, who would be willing to endure all these hardships for Han Ji.
After being praised by Wu Shichu, Han Ji and Zhang Luoyi suddenly felt very proud and felt that they could really take charge of a family. It was as if they could see how prosperous and flourishing this family would be under their management in the future...
Thus, with the mutual consent of both parties, Wu Shichu successfully transferred the responsibility on his shoulders and became a hands-off boss who did not care about anything.
The meal that day was again prepared by Han Ji and Zhang Luoyi, and it was still very unpalatable, but Wu Shichu ate it all without changing her expression. She had eaten even the most unpalatable food before, so she didn't care at all about these burnt and yellowed dishes.
But Zhang Luoyi and Han Ji saw this and felt that they had to hurry up and buy a wife, otherwise they would starve to death.
So the next day, Han Ji told Wu Shichu that he was going to the college in town and would take Zhang Luoyi back to Yue's house so that the Yue family could help find an honest and capable woman to work for him.
Of course Wu Shichu had no objection and was very supportive.
Han Ji sent Zhang Luoyi back to the Zhang family. After exchanging greetings with the Zhang family for a while, he returned to the college.
As soon as Han Ji left, Zhang's mother took Zhang Luoyi's hand and looked at her face carefully. After a while, she frowned and said, "What's wrong with you? You looked rosy when you came home two days ago, but you look so pale today, as if you didn't have enough food."
"I really didn't have enough to eat." Zhang Luoyi said with a sigh.
"What? Did your mother-in-law bully you?!" Zhang's mother's eyes widened with anger when she heard this. "Then I'll go to her house and ask her how she has the nerve to mistreat my daughter!"
Zhang Luoyi quickly shook her head: "No, it's not my mother-in-law's fault. It's because my mother-in-law fell ill these two days and couldn't cook. I could only learn to cook with my husband. As a result, I didn't cook well and it tasted bad. I couldn't eat it, so I became thin because of hunger, right?"
When Zhang's mother heard her words, she was stunned: "Is this why you are so hungry?"
"Yes..." Zhang Luoyi answered with a red face. She also knew that this reason was a bit absurd, and then she said aggrievedly, "Haven't I ever cooked before? Don't you know when I cooked when I was at our house?"
Zhang's mother choked for a moment, and after a long while she said helplessly, "My dear daughter, now that you are married, things are different from when you were at your parents' home. Before you got married, your mother and your father could spoil you and not let you do any work; but after you got married, you can no longer do nothing like before, otherwise your husband and mother-in-law will have opinions, so you should learn to do it in the future. Your mother doesn't want you to suffer, but there is nothing you can do about it. Who made you marry into a poor family?"
(End of this chapter)
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