"Second brother, could you please help me find a blacksmith and ask if he can make these things? I don't mind if the price is a bit higher, but they must be exactly the same as the pictures."
She deliberately pointed out that she had marked the sizes and other details, so it should be easy to understand at a glance.
Lu Lao Er took the blacksmith's hands and examined them closely, then frowned: "These things are so strangely shaped, I'm afraid they won't be easy to make! But it's alright, I'll go around asking around, I'm sure I can find a skilled blacksmith!"
He didn't ask He Jiuniang why she was doing these things. In his heart, he felt that his third sister-in-law must have her reasons for doing them. He was not smart enough, so he just had to follow her instructions.
"Alright, thank you for your trouble, Second Brother."
He Jiuniang smiled and prepared to go back to sleep for a while, as she hadn't slept well last night.
In the afternoon, Yu Yuantang's coachman came again, but this time he was there to deliver something to He Jiuniang.
"The magistrate's daughter has recovered, and the magistrate is very happy. He gave her twenty taels of silver, as well as these bolts of cloth and ox horn peppers. The shopkeeper said the silver would be split equally, ten taels each. The cloth and ox horn peppers were clearly for Doctor He, so he didn't need them."
The driver whispered to He Jiuniang, who nodded in agreement and accepted everything without any hesitation.
These fabrics are clearly for women's wear, so it makes sense that Manager Ren wouldn't accept them. As for the horn peppers, needless to say, they don't even know how to eat them.
After all the things were moved into the house, the coachman said, "Tomorrow we're going to the prefectural city to see a family. Doctor He, please make some preparations in advance. I'll come to pick you up first thing tomorrow morning."
"OK."
He Jiuniang readily agreed, and after the coachman left, she gave ten taels of silver to Sun Shi. This time, Sun Shi refused to accept it no matter what.
“I wanted to say this last time: you’ve contributed to the family business, so the money you earned from studying medicine should be yours to keep. I’ll tell them tonight that if anyone has any objections, I’ll kick them out!”
Ultimately, Sun Shi still favors He Jiu Niang. To put it bluntly, the whole family is now relying on He Jiu Niang for support. The only one who can actually do anything is Lian Hua. The others just follow orders and haven't made any significant contributions to the family.
If it were in the past when the family was poor, it would be one thing, but now that life is better, how can the whole family still rely on He Jiu Niang to support them?
This time, He Jiuniang did not refute, and put the money away.
She was willing to contribute before because her family was in financial difficulty. Now that she has brought everyone along, at this rate, every family will receive a large sum of money by the end of the year, and she will no longer need to make such selfless contributions.
As for household chores, she designs sewing machines and helps draw blueprints, which already takes care of a lot of work.
"Thank you, Mother. I will take care of you in your old age!"
She tried to flatter Sun by holding her hand, but Sun glared at her and said, "Who needs you to support me? I'll get a share of the profits too!"
"That's different, anyway, I said I'll raise it!"
Sun was secretly pleased, but she still said, "I have two sons of my own, I don't need you to support me! If you remarry in a couple of years, then you can live your life properly..."
He Jiuniang: ...Here we go again!
To stop Sun from nagging, He Jiuniang covered her mouth to stop her from speaking, and then went back to her room to pack her things.
If she were going out alone, she wouldn't need to prepare much, but this time she's taking her dog with her, so she'll have to prepare properly.
During dinner that evening, Madam Sun directly stated that He Jiuniang should no longer give the money she earned from studying medicine to the government. She argued that such a large family should not be supported by a single woman.
The eldest brother, Lu, spoke first: "Mother is right. Now that the family is doing well, how can we ask our third sister-in-law for help? All the businesses we're running now were started by our third sister-in-law, and she's been drawing up blueprints day and night. If we were to ask her for those consultation fees, we would be too inhumane!"
Madam Yu then spoke up: "Yes, it's not easy for Third Sister-in-law to raise the dog alone. She should think about herself. We all owe our current lives to Third Sister-in-law, so we have no objections."
Lu Lao Er went out and hadn't returned yet, so Qin Shi, the second wife, took the lead in speaking. The sisters-in-law had always been harmonious, so naturally they had no objections. Moreover, the fact that He Jiu Niang had stayed up all night drawing blueprints made them feel uneasy, and the fact that the public funds weren't taking money from He Jiu Niang would help alleviate some of her unease.
Lu Guilan and Shen Shi naturally had no say, so they ate silently without making a sound.
Seeing their reaction, Madam Sun was somewhat satisfied, but still said, "Don't let me find out if any of you dare to complain behind my back. If I find out, I'll kick you out of the house! Don't think I'm biased towards my third son's wife. People should know how to repay kindness. Think about how we've gotten here. If it weren't for my third son's wife, would any of you be alive today? Without her, would we have these businesses? And even with these businesses, without her managing them, would we have made any money?"
Her sharp gaze swept over everyone, checking if they showed any displeasure.
Fortunately, the Lu family didn't have any such awful people, and what Madam Sun said made sense, so no one objected.
Old Man Lu said to Lu the eldest, "Even so, you must take care of the third brother's wife and son in the future. Even if the third brother is gone, you will always be his elder brothers."
"I understand, don't worry, Father and Mother!"
Lu nodded, and Qin hurriedly answered for her husband, so no one dared to cause any trouble.
At a command from Madam Sun, she said, "Let's eat!"
The next morning, the coachman came to pick up He Jiuniang. This was her first time going to the prefectural city to make a house call. Although there was a boss there, Manager Ren still wanted to go with her to report on the business accounts in the county during this period and to introduce He Jiuniang to the boss.
The coachman took her to the county town to meet up with Manager Ren, and then they went to the prefectural city together.
They got up a little early in the morning, and the little dog was drowsy as soon as it got on the bus. When they arrived in the county town, Manager Ren wanted to tell He Jiuniang the details, but seeing that she had a child sleeping in her arms, he didn't say much and got on another bus.
Halfway there, the puppy finally woke up, climbed up and sat on its own, refusing to be carried by He Jiu Niang.
"I'm all grown up now, I want to do it myself!"
The little guy, all proud and spirited, successfully made He Jiuniang laugh.
Daling County is not far from the prefectural city. We arrived at 3:45 PM. The little dog jumped off the carriage with great energy.
Seeing this, Manager Ren, who had gotten off the carriage first, was afraid that he would fall, so he hurriedly came over to help him. Seeing that he was chubby and very cute, he thought of his little grandson at home and felt a pang of pity. He smiled and asked, "What's your name?"
He Jiuniang just got off the carriage and was about to speak when Xiaogou'er beat her to it.
The little guy shouted, "My name is Lu Ziyu!"
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