Seven days later, Wang Wei took a special leave to accompany his wife back to her hometown. This was the first time that Yu Lu brought the child back after the confinement period.
Zhulan held the fat boy in her arms and said to Yulu, "Now I believe what your grandmother said. This child is growing up really well. Look at his fat arms, which are like lotus roots."
Yu Lu is happy that her son is healthy, but she is also worried. "It's hot in the summer, and the child needs to wipe his sweat frequently. He also needs to be very careful when wiping, otherwise his skin will turn red."
Zhulan looked at the fat boy's arm and said, "You really need to be more careful. Also pay attention to your neck and buttocks."
"Well, two maids are watching."
Zhulan handed the child to the eager Li and looked at her granddaughter carefully, "Why do I feel that you are thinner than before you were pregnant?"
Yu Lu is very satisfied with her current weight: "It's uncomfortable to be in confinement in the summer, and I don't have much appetite, so I'm going to lose all this fat."
Mrs. Li felt sorry for her daughter. She thought a girl with some flesh on her body was more pleasing to the eye. "Now that you are out of confinement, you should eat more."
Yu Lu shook her head. She didn’t want to do that. Her current weight was just right.
Mrs. Zhao sat aside and amused the child. She also missed her grandson. "Yushuang wrote back saying that everything was fine. I really believed it at first. Later, my husband asked the delivery boy to inquire about it. Then I realized how difficult their life was."
Yu Lu and her eldest sister were in correspondence, and her eldest sister always said that everything was fine and she was thinking about her very much. Now, after hearing what her second aunt said, her eldest sister only reported good news and not bad news, and she was thinking about what to send over.
Zhulan said: "Yushuang has always been successful. She will live a good life."
Zhao sighed, thinking that her children were all debts. She had only given birth to four. Look at her mother-in-law, her mother-in-law really had a hard life.
In Zhangzhou, Yu Shuang took her son to the yard to watch the servant digging a pond. She wanted to plant some lotus roots and raise some fish. Yu Shuang calculated the time but did not see her husband coming back for dinner, and she was so busy that she forgot the time.
It's not easy to be a county magistrate, sir. The county is already poor, and there has been little rain this year, making life even harder for the farmers.
The county is digging wells now, and my husband has to go to various townships to check the drought conditions in the fields. The cattle in several villages are bought and rented to the villages by the county government.
Yu Shuang signaled the maid to take lunch to the front and took her son back to the house to eat.
There are not many shops in the county town, only some daily necessities shops, so the tax collected in the county town is not high, and some wealthy people have already left the county town.
Yu Shuang went to the street once, and she looked at every shop. Most of the jewelry shops only sold gold and silver, and there were no more exquisite jewelry. If she wanted to buy exquisite jewelry, she had to go to Zhangzhou Prefecture.
Liu Feng didn't eat in front, and came back with the mother-in-law. The lunch was very simple, a plate of vegetables, a dish of scrambled eggs, and a fish.
This is incomparable to the meals in the capital. Liu Feng saw his wife's thin face and said, "You have suffered with me."
Yu Shuang pointed at the food on the table and said, "There are fish and vegetables. How can this be considered suffering? This is what I ate when I was young."
She was precocious and remembered a lot of things from her childhood. Later, when her grandfather became an official, the family's meals became more abundant.
Liu Feng was thinking about the shrimps, fruits, etc. that his mother-in-law in Beijing sent him from time to time. His wife in Beijing was eating really well.
But here, the poor people raise chickens to lay eggs and sell them, and rarely sell chickens unless they have to. The ingredients sold in the county market are simple, and they don't have farms here, so they can only go to the market to buy.
Of course, there were also gifts from local landlords, but he refused them all.
As the two were talking, the maid came in and said, "Master, the motorcade from the capital has arrived."
Yu Shuang stood up, "Mom has sent us something again."
Her mother and mother-in-law would send them things from time to time, fearing that they were having a hard time.
Liu Feng was also a little amused and helpless. His mother and mother-in-law sent gifts too frequently. The two mothers also liked to discuss together, and the gifts they sent were particularly complete.
After everything was moved down, Yu Shuang saw a hen laying eggs and two sheep.
Liu Feng was stunned, "How come there are still living things?"
Yushuang, "I wrote back and said everything is fine."
"I guess mother doesn't believe it. We can find out the situation here by asking around."
Liu Feng really guessed it right. The servant found out the truth and went back to learn how to speak, which is why he sent the living creature over.
Apart from living things, most of the things were food and dry goods, some southern bacon, etc. After reading the letters written by the two mothers, Yu Shuang touched her nose and handed them to her husband.
Liu Feng took a look and said, "Sure enough, I have asked around."
Yu Shuang looked at the durian. She liked to eat it at her mother's house. It tasted stinky at first, but after eating it, her whole family liked it very much.
"Why did mother send so much?"
Liu Feng looked at the durian in the box in silence. These were not fruits at all, they were clearly silver.
In Beijing, Wang Wei accompanied his father-in-law to tidy up the vegetable racks in the garden. Chang Li looked at the sweat on his son-in-law's forehead and said, "You go and take a rest. I'll be here in a while."
He felt very comfortable that his son-in-law could lend a hand to him.
Wang Wei's men moved quickly and said with a smile, "Dad, I'm not tired."
He has been following his superior around the Ministry of Industry, sometimes doing his own work, and he is now much more efficient at his work than before.
Chang Li has never known how to get along with his son-in-law. Unlike Liu Feng and Wang Wei, he is not as capable and tough as his second brother, and it is difficult for him to put on airs as his father-in-law.
Today, his son-in-law offered to help him, but he didn't take it seriously. He thought that his son-in-law was just talking and that there was no way his son-in-law could do this given his background.
As a result, the son-in-law did a good job. He was not exaggerating, he really wanted to help him with the work.
The father-in-law and son-in-law have worked together, and now their relationship is much closer than before.
After finishing the work in hand and preparing the meals in the main courtyard, Zhulan smiled with relief as she saw that the father-in-law and son-in-law were less distant from each other, and she liked Wang Wei more.
After dinner, Yu Lu took the child back home.
On the streets of the capital, Chang Yi was on his way back to the Ministry of Rites after finishing his errands. There were people in front of him who were drunk and making trouble. Chang Yi didn't care at first, thinking that it would be resolved in a moment anyway.
I just heard a familiar voice, so I pulled aside the curtain and took a closer look. It turned out to be the second master of the Wen family, Wen Qingfeng.
Chang Yi looked at Wen Qingfeng coldly when he was drunk. The Zhou family and the Wen family were not on good terms. This second master would make sarcastic remarks every time he saw him, and acted condescendingly. He looked down on him and the Zhou family.
As a result, Wen Qingfeng was dismissed from his official position and could never be an official again. The emperor would not slap him in the face, and this was how Wen Qingfeng's life would be.
After Dad rejected the reward, he talked to him about the Zhou family and the Wen family. If it wasn't the wrong timing, he really wanted to step on them hard.
Chang Yi said to the driver, "Let's go."
The driver was stunned, but still obeyed and shouted to make way.
The crowd who came to watch the fun made way for him. Chang Yi did not lower the curtain of the carriage and just looked at Wen Qingfeng.
Wen Qingfeng was a little sober now, and then he noticed the carriage of the Ministry of Rites. He looked up and saw Zhou Changyi. His blood boiled instantly. He used to be so high and mighty, but now he didn't want to see Zhou Changyi at all. His face turned red.
This scared the Wen family's servants. When their own carriage came, they quickly found someone to help the Second Master get on the carriage.
Zhou Changyi saw the movement behind him and sneered.