Time flies, and it is March in a blink of an eye. Even though spring is almost here, the snow in the north has not melted yet, and the daytime temperature is still very low. There are more windy days in March. The spring breeze is biting. I went out for a walk and felt cold all over. It seemed like my bones were aching.
Even in April it wasn't much warmer. Instead the earth was thawing. When the cold finally came to an end, Zhulan felt even more distressed for Zhou Shuren. Her hand, which had finally recovered, was going to suffer again.
Time flies, and soon it is late March. The carriage and caravan to Pingzhou have been found, and we will set off for Pingzhou tomorrow.
This time when she went to Pingzhou, Zhulan brought Mingteng, Yushuang and Xuehan with her. They stayed in Pingzhou for at least a month and a half, as Zhulan felt too lonely by herself.
This time Zhou Shuren didn’t think that the children were light bulbs.
There are two grandchildren, one from each of the first and second wives, without any bias.
After more than a month of Zhulan's teaching, Li was able to understand the characters and basically knew the names of dishes. She had a plan in her mind and learned to use her brain. She was busy learning characters every day and her gossiping habit had improved a lot.
The day before leaving, Zhulan called Li and Zhao. Looking at Li's surprised eyes, she was so happy that she couldn't even wait for her to leave. Zhulan played with her fingers, thinking that Li would cry soon. It was really exciting.
Since Li knew that her mother was going to accompany her father to Pingzhou, she had sweet dreams every night. She finally didn't have to think about what to cook for three meals a day, and she didn't have to learn to read anymore. Life finally returned to a good state. Her voice became sweeter. "Mom, is there anything else you want to tell us?"
Zhao wanted to cover her eyes. The eldest sister-in-law was stupid again. Didn't you see that mother was smiling? This is a signal. Every time mother cheats people, she smiles!
Zhulan snorted in her heart. Li's tail was too high. "There are indeed some things that I haven't explained. Li, I've been away for more than a month. You can't stop writing the menu, and you can't be careless. Write it every day and give it to your sister-in-law. I'll check it when I come back."
Li felt like she was struck by lightning. She felt like her mother had done it on purpose. She hadn't told her to write a menu in the past few days. She thought she wouldn't have to write it after her mother left, and she had been secretly happy. Unexpectedly, she was hit by a stick before she left, "Mom."
If you do this you will lose your eldest daughter-in-law!
Zhulan handed the purse in front of her to Zhao, "Your sister-in-law is in charge of more than a month's food. Here are two taels of silver. When I'm not at home, the meat, eggs and other daily expenses will all come from here. I know you are smart and you can read. You have not stopped learning to read with the second brother after you got married. You should remember all the expenses. I will come back to see them."
Zhao hooked her fingertips. She had never said that she could read. When did her mother-in-law know about it? She also learned to read with the head of the family secretly. She didn't expect her mother-in-law to know about it. She felt that her mother-in-law was unfathomable. She lowered her head respectfully and took the purse. "Mother, I will keep track of the accounts."
Zhulan nodded. She knew that it was just a coincidence that Zhao could read. For Mingrui, Zhao would carry Mingrui to accompany her whenever Zhou Shuren was not around. Sometimes when she was writing, Zhao would watch her out of the corner of her eye. After doing this many times, she found that Zhao's fingers had traces of holding a pen. She found out out of curiosity by chatting with her eldest granddaughter and asking her questions.
Seeing that her mother-in-law didn't want to say much, Zhao understood that she was not angry and was happy. She knew that she didn't know many characters, so she learned from her mother. Unfortunately, her mother didn't know much either. Later, she married the head of the family. The head of the family knew that she knew how to read and had been teaching her ever since, and he had never stopped over the years. Her mother-in-law didn't get angry at her for wasting ink and paper, and she treated her mother-in-law as her own mother even more in her heart.
Zhulan did not mean to criticize Zhao by saying this, she quite supported it. Only when a daughter-in-law is literate can she understand etiquette, and she can set an example for the next generation. The saying that a woman without talent is virtuous is bullshit. How many daughters of noble families or officials are illiterate? Some daughters of officials have read as many books as boys. If you teach your daughter so that she cannot read a single word and does not understand etiquette, then you are not marrying two families together, but simply ruining the daughter and taking revenge on the in-laws!