Everything in Wujia Village remains the same, yet it seems to have changed somewhat.
Oh, it turns out the old man has aged a bit more, and the child has grown a few inches taller.
The grass, trees, and houses all exhibit variations at different levels.
It is very subtle, yet visible to the naked eye.
When Grandpa Wu and his entourage returned, the once quiet Wu Family Village became lively again.
People who are on good terms with their neighbors will bring fresh fruits and vegetables to their doorsteps, and then they'll slip away, no matter how hard you try to stop them.
The chicken and duck coops at home were empty, and the piglets had grown quite a bit thanks to the feeding by the maids and servants.
Old Zhou was satisfied; there's no place like home.
No matter how luxurious the house in Yunshui County is, it's not as comfortable as your own kang (heated brick bed).
"Old woman, I'm going to take a stroll in the village. I'll be back after dinner."
Old Master Wu smiled and carried several jugs of wine, clearly heading to visit his old friends.
Of course, there's also an element of showing off involved.
"Go ahead, go ahead, I'll take the eldest son and his wife to tidy up the house and cook dinner later."
Seeing the old man's demeanor, Old Zhou didn't bother to say anything more.
Let him do as he pleases; the more he sends out, the less he'll end up eating.
Go ahead and give it away, show off this eye-catching bag!
Having many children and grandchildren is a good thing; Grandpa Wu doesn't have to worry about anything.
Leaning on his cane, he slowly walked out of the house, the wine jug in his hand clinking together with a sound. He then moved it more carefully...
Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom, and Uncle's family are all back!
The young woman couldn't sit still any longer. She wrapped her head in a scarf and brought over a basket of eggs.
"You're well past your postpartum period, why are you still wearing this thing? Doesn't it feel stuffy?"
Seeing this, Madam Zhou couldn't help but whisper something to her daughter.
"Oh, Mother, don't even mention it. I don't want to wear it, it's so stuffy, but my husband is even more worried than I am, afraid that I'll catch a cold."
The girl smiled wryly; this was a sweet burden!
"Tomorrow, I'll come to your house to help you tidy up. I'll also talk to Fang Ming about how it's getting hot and he shouldn't be bundled up too much."
Madam Zhou was both amused and exasperated; her son-in-law was indeed a doting husband.
As she spoke, she told her daughter not to rush off. She rummaged through her luggage for a while, found many things, put them into a bundle, and handed it to her daughter, saying:
“These are items that your brother and sister-in-law and I bought while shopping in Yunshui County. The dark blue fabric is for Fang Ming to make a dress, and the pinkish-blue fabric is for you to make a dress for yourself. The soft fabric is for Haoran to make a dress.”
Haoran was her daughter's grandson, born after a day and a night of labor, so naturally, she, as his grandmother, cared about him.
“Mother, I’m already so old. This pinkish-blue fabric is better suited for making clothes for my younger brother and sister-in-law.”
Da Niu smiled. She was happy that her mother, who was away, still cared about her.
However, as the eldest sister-in-law, she couldn't possibly steal the spotlight from her younger siblings.
"I was just sneezing; turns out my older sister was thinking of me~"
Just then, Jiang Xiaodie came over and overheard her sister-in-law thinking about her and wanting to give her the fabric. She quickly came in to greet her and, incidentally, to help her mother-in-law out.
"Sister-in-law~"
Da Niu responded with a smile, saying that overall, she got along quite well with this sister-in-law, who respected her and never gave her a hard time.
She was quite content with that.
She didn't dare to ask for much intimacy; as long as they didn't ostracize her and were good to her parents and younger brother, she would be eternally grateful.
"Big sister, this fabric was specially chosen for you by Mother, so please accept it. I also have some, but mine is light blue, which I like."
Jiang Xiaodie said gently, she had no intention of taking her sister-in-law's fabric, nor did she intend to accept it half-heartedly.
There's no need to be so short-sighted. If she wanted something, she would have informed her mother-in-law back in Yunshui County, and her mother-in-law would have bought it for her.
Even if her mother-in-law doesn't buy it, her husband will.
Even if her husband doesn't buy it for her, she has the money!
Half of the money my husband earns goes to the public fund, and the other half goes to her!
Over time, without spending any money, her silver box was overflowing!
And then there was her third aunt, who gave her a lot of fabric before leaving. She wasn't worried about having fabric to make clothes, nor did she have any ambition to excel.
Her sisters-in-law are friendly, her mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are harmonious, her husband and wife are loving, and she has children, but not yet. All she's missing is a little girl.
"Okay, I'll head back now. I'm a little worried about Fang Ming taking care of the child alone."
Seeing this, Da Niu felt a little relieved. It wouldn't be good to refuse again, so she accepted the bundle her mother gave her, picked up the empty basket, and went home.
After her daughter left, Madam Zhou spoke a few words to her daughter-in-law and gave her some instructions before going to the kitchen to start a fire and boil water.
Hmm, boil water first, let it cool, it'll taste good.
The head of the household, along with his second brother, son, and nephew, were cleaning and wiping the tables and chairs.
Dusk hasn't fallen yet, no rush to eat, let's boil water first~
The little girl mainly watched her nephews play in the yard, preventing them from leaving the yard or doing dangerous work.
Seeing her lively and cheerful nephews, she touched her increasingly protruding belly.
I wonder if her child is a boy or a girl?
Judging from my mother-in-law's words, the family doesn't favor boys over girls, and having a granddaughter would be ideal...
A moment later—
Da Niu returned home and had just put down her bag.
Then she saw her husband come out carrying the swaddled baby with a serious expression. His smile widened when he saw her.
"My wife~"
"Haoran peed again, but I changed his diaper and washed his bottom."
Zhou Fangming did not suffer from the common flaws of most literati—
Pretentious.
He was actually quite down-to-earth and didn't look down on his own child at all.
He can do everything: help the baby urinate, wipe away dirt, change diapers, and soothe the child.
She did everything herself and was quite skilled at it.
"My husband is really amazing."
The young woman praised, then took the baby from her husband's arms and placed it in the cradle.
She's asleep, so sweet~
Zhou Haoran
Zhou Fangming put his arm around his wife's shoulder and asked in a low voice:
"My wife, how are your parents-in-law?"
"Yes, Mom and Dad are back. It's just that no one has lived in the house for so long, so they're cleaning it."
Tomorrow, school's out. My dear husband, you go to town in the morning with Uncle Village Chief's oxcart and buy lots of meat and ribs. I'll make some meatballs and braise some pork chops at home, and we'll take them all to the old house together."
Da Niu nodded, and after explaining, she didn't forget to give her husband some instructions.
Although her husband had used up several years' worth of salary in advance to marry her and give her a home.
However, her husband was also working hard. He took a job copying books at the town's bookstore, earning about eight hundred copper coins to one tael of silver a month.
I still have enough money to buy some meat.
As for her money, her husband said that unless absolutely necessary, it shouldn't be used; it should all be saved for their parents' retirement and for their children.
"Alright, my dear wife, you seem to be running low on red dates. I'll buy you two more packs tomorrow. Eat more of them; they're good for replenishing your blood and energy."
Zhou Fangming mostly listens to his wife, but occasionally he will offer his own opinions.
Especially when his wife gave birth to Haoran, she bled a lot.
The midwife said to eat more red dates and longan to replenish blood!
"It's so dry, can we not eat it?"
Red dates are good, but you can't keep eating them all the time.
The eldest daughter was a bit tired of the usual food and wanted to try something different.
"Alright, then let's change it to longan. From now on, every day at dawn, I'll get up and cook longan eight-treasure porridge for my wife, to nourish her properly~"
Zhou Fangming was very concerned about replenishing his blood.
The level of importance they placed on it was comparable to grading students' homework—they were incredibly persistent…
The girl stopped talking; she was afraid her ears couldn't take the nagging.
Yes, I'm being nagging~
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