The second day of the first lunar month is the day when married daughters return home.
Now that the mourning period has ended, Hua Zhi no longer restricts the women in the family and allows those who wish to return to the family to do so.
Women are naturally attached to their parents' home, and on days like this they are often eager to return home. Even Xia, who had previously had an unpleasant experience with her parents' home, is no exception.
It was not surprising to know that Fourth Aunt did not plan to return to Huazhi. Among the aunts, Fourth Aunt knew good from bad best. But she did not expect that her three younger sisters did not plan to follow her to her parents' home.
After thinking about it, Hua Zhi asked someone to call the three people over.
"You all have to go with them. Second and Third Aunts are both soft-tempered. If they are coaxed by their natal family, they might agree to do something. You need to go with them and keep an eye on them."
The three sisters looked at each other. They had misunderstood. They had only thought about not meeting those snobbish people, but had forgotten that their mother might not be a clear-headed person.
"You must not be negligent in your manners. When you are out in public, your every move represents the Hua family. Especially at a time like this, you must remain calm and not let others look down on you. Just remember that the sky will not fall, and even if it does, it will not fall on you. The good or bad of the Hua family has nothing to do with outsiders, so you don't need to care about what they say."
Hua Zhi looked at the three people and said, "Of course, we can't be bullied. If someone fights back, I will bear all the consequences."
The three of them nodded vigorously.
Let the second and third sisters make preparations, and Hua Zhi stays with her half sister.
The girls of the Hua family have all changed a lot. They have become more generous and straightforward. With a role model in front of them, they are unconsciously changing in that direction. The petty-mindedness of Hua Rong is obviously gone.
"I wanted to keep Concubine Qin at home, but she went to ask mother for help, and mother agreed for your sake. You need to be careful when you go back this time, and don't let your mother be deceived. If anyone mentions your marriage, you can say that I have already made a plan for this matter, and that the affairs of the Hua family do not need others to interfere. Do you understand?"
Hua Rong showed a fierce look on her face, "Yes, elder sister, I have seen some sincerity and hypocrisy these days, I will not listen to them."
"It's good that you know what's going on, but you don't have to worry too much. Now that the Qin family is willing to repair their relationship with me, they must have warned them. Aunt Qin doesn't know what's going on at home, so there's no need to worry about her being tricked. You just need to be careful that she doesn't make random promises."
"Yes, I remember that."
Looking at her half-sister who seemed to have grown up suddenly, Hua Zhi's expression softened, "Don't worry about marriage. You are still young now, and I will definitely find a good marriage for you. You will have everything that other sisters have, and I won't let you down."
"I've never been worried." Hua Rong bit her lip, "I believe in my elder sister."
She believed that her elder sister would not marry her off to someone else at will, and that her elder sister would not let her suffer any grievances. She believed in her elder sister more than anyone else.
Before leaving, Hua Zhi went to Yan Xi's room again. The brother and sister looked at her together, looking abandoned and making people want to laugh. "I promise to be back after lunch. Fudong will prepare a lot of delicious food for you. Oh, Haiwei sent some small fish over, and asked Fudong to fry them for you."
The last sentence was said to Shaoyao. Seeing her swallowing her saliva, her smile deepened. No matter how much she had been through, no matter how much ugliness she had seen, it was great to still have someone by her side just like the beginning.
Hua Zhi looked up and met Yan Xi's gaze. She narrowed her eyes and smiled, revealing the dimples on her cheeks.
Gu Yanxi couldn't help but think, if only the days could stop at this moment.
…
I went out a little late and was blamed as soon as I entered Zhu's house.
"I've been waiting for so long that my neck has grown several inches." Old Madam Zhu actually touched her neck, and it seemed as if it had really grown longer.
The eldest lady of the Zhu family said jokingly, "Why don't you ask my aunt to clean up a little more? I see that my aunt is in high spirits today."
"My sister-in-law is just teasing me." Zhu and her daughter bowed together. "If I were the only one here, I would have returned before dawn. Who can blame me for having a busy person at home? She gets busy early in the morning and even takes a few turns before leaving the house. If it was any other day, I would have asked her not to come."
"She has such a big family and she has to take care of everything. How can she not be busy?" Old Madam Zhu poked her forehead and said, "How dare you say that? If you could do something, Zhi'er, why would you have to take care of the affairs of the inner house?"
Zhu smiled and acted like a spoiled little girl.
Hua Zhi smiled and took over the conversation, "Most of the household affairs are managed by Fourth Aunt. Mother is often with Fourth Aunt, so she also helps out."
"You don't have to speak for her. Everyone in the family knows what she is like." Although she said this, Old Lady Zhu was very happy. Just by looking at Zhier's attitude, she knew that she was very protective of her mother. This was good, so that there would not be any rift between mother and daughter.
Speaking of grudges, Old Madam Zhu sighed inwardly, but still smiled as she turned around and ordered, "Shan'er, why don't you greet your aunt and cousin?"
Zhu Shan walked out from behind the old lady and bowed politely, "Good morning, auntie, good morning, cousin."
"Happy New Year, cousin too." As soon as Hua Zhi came in, she saw Zhu Shan standing behind her grandmother. It seemed that her grandmother had accepted her advice and brought Zhu Shan up to educate her personally, hoping to pull her out of her dilemma.
Zhu Shan greeted Zhu again and apologized, "I was ignorant before, please don't blame me."
"You are just a kid, your aunt is really going to be angry with you." Zhu pulled her up, "Don't talk about the past in the New Year. The past is the past. Don't think about it anymore."
As she spoke, Zhu asked Lin Shuang to bring a box over and open it. "My aunt has poor eyesight and couldn't pick out anything good. I asked your cousin to buy this. I think the water head is pretty good. You can wear it for fun."
In the box was a pair of ruby earrings. Both the material and the workmanship were very good. Zhu Shan liked them too. She took them, thanked quietly, and bowed to Hua Zhi.
Hua Zhi felt this thank you was much more sincere than before.
Good phenomenon.
Zhu looked at her two sisters-in-law and asked them questions as she had always done, "Why didn't the eldest and second sisters-in-law go back to their parents' home?"
"They are all in the capital, there is no need to rush today." Old Madam Zhu said it lightly, but Hua Zhi understood why. She was afraid that everyone was waiting for her.
"Where's Grandfather?"
Just as Mrs. Zhu was about to reply, she heard some noise outside. Soon the curtains were opened. She smiled and said, "Here they are."
The men of the Zhu family came in one after another. The eldest grandson Zhu Ziwen was among them. As soon as they came in, their eyes fell directly on Hua Zhi. They didn't know how to glare at her, but they couldn't calm down if they didn't glare at her. It was really true. Couldn't they let every family in the capital spend the New Year in peace
Hua Zhi stood up to greet him. Old Master Zhu pinched his brows, looked up and said to his wife, "I'll take Zhi'er away. You can arrange the rest."
The old lady looked at her granddaughter and had to nod. This matter was indeed a bit too big. Today was only the second day of the Chinese New Year, and there were already four groups of people who came to pay New Year's greetings but actually to gather information.