At noon in the Ministry of Revenue, Zhou Shuren went out to have lunch with Ran Zheng. "I haven't seen you for a long time. Why do I feel like you look a lot younger?"
Ran Zheng raised his hand and touched his beard, then touched his face, "My youngest son's departure from Beijing went smoothly. I have nothing to worry about. I feel relieved and naturally look younger. On the contrary, you look much older."
Zhou Shuren, "... Did you come here today just to stab me in the heart?"
Ran Zheng drank the wine, "Haha, just kidding, Brother Zhou looks very good."
Zhou Shuren snorted, "You stay at home now, rarely go out, let alone come to see me, tell me, why do you want to treat me to dinner today?"
He doesn't think that the position of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is stable, Ran Zheng has nothing to worry about, and Ran Zheng will not take any action until the Crown Prince succeeds to the throne.
Ran Zheng touched his nose, feeling a little embarrassed, "You also know my Ran Xun."
Zhou Shuren knew that Ran Xun and Ming Teng were close friends who always teased each other in modern times. They would always hurt each other every day. If something happened, Ran Xun would definitely be the first to help. "Did Ran Xun get into trouble?"
Apart from this, he couldn't think of anything else. This kid was a troublemaker, but, wasn't he being very low-key now
Ran was about to grab his grandson and beat him up, but after looking at the image of his grandson in Zhou Shuren's mind, he coughed and said, "This kid didn't cause any trouble. He's not young anymore. Your Ming Teng is already engaged. Look, his family has found a marriage for him, but this kid refuses to agree and even secretly ruined the upcoming marriage."
Zhou Shuren understood, "You want to ask me to help you find a husband? Then you've got the wrong person. You should ask your wife to find my wife. I'm too busy every day."
Ran Zheng didn't dare to let his wife go to Yang Shuren, fearing that he would be embarrassed. He might as well try it out himself. "Well, your granddaughter is not young anymore, right? Shouldn't you hurry up and get her engaged?"
Zhou Shuren: "... ...Hehe."
So she was waiting for him here? After going around in circles, she fell in love with his granddaughter? Her hands were itching? She wanted to break Ran Xun's legs? He said why did Ran Xun come to Zhou's house as soon as he had time? He thought he was looking for Ming Teng, but it turns out he had other purposes.
Ran Zheng's heart trembled? This cold laugh? He laughed dryly, "Ran Xun has made a lot of progress."
Zhou Shuren didn't even raise his eyelids? "I only have one granddaughter."
At present, there is only one. He really likes Jiang Miao, this child, who is very insightful in reading? Who says that girls are inferior to boys? He thinks it is good no matter how he looks at it. Sometimes when he goes to buy books, he will also bring a book for his granddaughter? No, my hands are itching. I will go back and deal with Ming Teng first. It’s all his fault!
Ran Zheng naturally knew this, and said shamelessly: "Look, our family owes your family a great favor. Our two families know each other well, so it's good to have a closer relationship."
Zhou Shuren sneered, "You really don't understand your grandson? Even someone as busy as me knows your grandson's boast, a virtuous wife and beautiful concubines!"
Ran Zheng, “… .”
He really didn't know. This kid had never said this at home. This time he didn't dare to continue talking. His face was already swollen. Everyone knew the family style of the Zhou family. He could only drink the wine dryly, as if the conversation just now was an illusion.
Zhou Shuren curled his lips. First, Ran Xun was really not the candidate for his grandson-in-law in his mind. Second, when the crown prince ascended to the throne in the future, the Ran family would surely rise in power. It would be fine if concubine Ran did not give birth, but what if she gave birth to a prince? He did not want to get more deeply involved. It would be bad to have a close relationship.
Finally, Ran Zheng also had his own thoughts. What was the status of the Jiang family? Although Ran Zheng was not the eldest son of the Ran family's main branch, he was also a legitimate son. The Jiang family was not worthy of him, even with the bonus of the Zhou family.
As Zhou Shuren sipped his wine, Ran Zheng naturally felt relieved. The crown prince was secure. How could Ran Zheng not fantasize about Concubine Ran giving birth to a prince? This was human nature!
In Zhoujia Village, Chang Zhi first went to the clan school to communicate with several scholars who were going to take part in the provincial examination this year, and then went home.
Steward Ding is an elder of the Zhou family and knows his masters very well. "Is the Fourth Master happy?"
Chang Zhi played with his fan and said, "I'm glad. You've seen it too. I won't mention the children of the Zhou family. The scholars who participated in the provincial examination this year are all good."
If there were a few more juren in the Zhou family, the whole family would not be supported by the father alone.
Steward Ding said, "It's a reflection of the prosperity of the Zhou family."
Changzhi returned home briskly and saw his wife standing at the door. "Why did you come out?"
Su Xuan rubbed her shoulders and said, "I came out to see off the elders of the clan."
Since returning to her hometown, she has been meeting her clansmen every day, which has forced her to stay at home and not go out.
Changzhi held his wife's hand and said, "You are the county lady, everyone wants to come and see you, my wife, you have worked hard."
Su Xuan smiled, "It's not hard at all, but my hometown is not like the capital. Some of the words are quite blunt, and I'm still a little uncomfortable with it. By the way, the clansmen who came back later brought a lot of gifts to recognize their family, and I returned almost all of them. Our family is not short of these."
Apart from not having the love of her parents since she was a child, she was also born into wealth and had seen too many good things. These things were really not to her liking.
Chang Zhi sighed, "As the family grows, there are more people with ulterior motives, especially those who came back later. They have more experience and ask for more."
"It's natural. Everyone has their own little thoughts. Our house is like gold. Everyone is watching us!"
Chang Zhi nodded, "So this loophole cannot be opened. Like you said, our family is not short of these gifts, and we cannot be looked down upon by our clan members."
Su Xuan curled her lips and said, "I am better at socializing than you."
She has been around since she was a child and has seen all kinds of situations. Not to mention her own family, her parents-in-law are no different. She doesn't want to be looked down upon by her clansmen for some gifts.
Changzhi and his wife were talking about their tribesmen, and the tribesmen who came back later were also discussing them.
The gift Su Xuan gave in return was neither taking advantage nor too much, which made the clan members look up to her in a much higher regard. Zhou Shuren's branch had always had absolute prestige, and it was even more so now.
In the capital, Changzhong looked out the carriage window. It was a rainy day, and a child with his clothes soaked was still standing outside a small private school, listening to the reading inside, and moving his mouth to repeat silently.
Changzhong looked for a while, lowered the carriage curtain, and asked the coachman to pass an umbrella over.
Zhu Lan stopped her, "Umbrellas are very expensive. Have you ever thought about whether he can keep a child?"
Changzhong pursed his lips and said, "Mom, isn't it just an umbrella?"
Zhulan took the umbrella from the car and said, "Because my mother likes umbrellas, our umbrellas are not ordinary umbrellas. The materials used are all top-quality. This kind of umbrella cannot be bought outside."
She used to like ancient umbrellas. Now that her family has status and wealth, she likes to tinker with them when she has nothing to do. The umbrellas she uses for her own home are all custom-made, from the umbrella frame to the water-retaining fabric. What's more, the fabric is embroidered with patterns, all of which are embroidered by top embroiderers. Finally, there are pendants, all of which are jade pendants of fine quality.
Their umbrellas can no longer be called umbrellas, but works of art, and they are high-end custom-made ones.