Zhulan has never seen so many relatives paying birthday visits in modern times. When a modern grandfather celebrates his birthday, there are not many blood relatives. Instead, those who attend the birthday banquet are all partners with common interests. It is really not lively if there are not many people. It is not like in ancient times, where there are relatives everywhere. The Yang Sun family is from the same village, so there are even more relatives in the village. The house is very lively and you can hear what people say even if they speak softly.
Zhulan came in and chatted for a while. The mats for the birthday celebration outside were ready, and everyone went to the main hall. Outsiders were outside because the hall was too small and even the Yang family couldn't fit in.
The birthday celebration began. The old man and the old lady sat down. Yang Lao Da and his wife Yang Zhumu knelt down first to present birthday gifts. Both sons of the Yang family had family assets. Although not as rich as Zhulan's family, they were not poor either. The eldest son prepared a cushion made of wolfskin and a pair of silver bracelets, which were valuable birthday gifts.
Then it was Yang Zhulin from the second house who came with his wife to pay their respects. They had a homemade embroidered screen for the table and a pipe. Zhulan's second sister-in-law was good at embroidery, and the screen was worth a lot of money, so the birthday gift was also very valuable.
Finally it was the turn of the little girls Zhulan and Zhou Shuren. Zhulan prepared six birthday gifts, including a set of expensive gold jewelry and a cloak. The eyes of those watching the fun flashed, and this time everyone believed that Zhulan's family was really well-off.
Sun didn't look at the gold jewelry but kept touching the clothes. She knew her daughter was unwilling to do needlework. Although the embroidery was simple and not particularly good, every stitch was a sign of her daughter's filial piety. "Okay, okay."
Old Master Yang was also very happy. He could finally wear the decent clothes made by his daughter. He had never dreamed of this before.
Zhulan embroidered the clothes with all her heart, stitch by stitch. Seeing that the two elders liked them, she smiled and said, "Dad and Mom like them. I will make more clothes for you in the future."
When Yang Sun saw the needle hole on her daughter's hand when she was picking up the clothes, she said distressedly, "Mother can't bear it, you two should get up quickly."
Mrs. Sun was really happy to see her son-in-law. She didn't expect that her son-in-law could become a scholar. It made her proud. The more she looked at her son-in-law, the more she liked him!
Then it was the turn of the grandchildren to pay their respects. Wuchun was the one with the most wealth among the grandchildren. However, in order to take care of his other brothers, he didn't send any expensive gifts. All the gifts sent by the grandchildren were food.
Zhulan's side had grandchildren, and the gifts they gave were basically the same. Although Zhulan did not remind them not to say too many birthday greetings, the children knew that the Yang family's grandchildren were not as good at studying as the Zhou family, and it was a big birthday, so they didn't want to embarrass their cousins, so they all said proper birthday greetings.
Then came the great-grandchildren. They had quite a few children, some big and some small, with baby voices, which made Mrs. Sun very happy.
After the direct bloodline paid their respects, it was the turn of the younger relatives. There were quite a lot of children. Zhulan saw that the basket of red envelopes prepared by her mother had almost been distributed.
Zhulan also received a red envelope, which contained small change of about one or two taels. The red envelopes for the grandchildren were one hundred coins, and the red envelopes for the great-grandchildren were fifty coins. Zhulan's family alone received a lot of silver.
We received a lot of gifts today and gave away a lot of money.
The birthday gift of ten dishes was perfect. Zhulan and her husband sat with their parents. Zhulan didn't just eat because Zhou Shuren became a scholar and famous. Zhulan also remembered many relatives with the surname Sun.
After the birthday banquet, the leftovers from each table were taken home by the women at each table. After seeing off the guests, the old couple were exhausted after a busy day and could not hold on any longer, so they took a rest.
There were a few more tables at the birthday banquet, and there were still two tables of untouched dishes left. The eldest sister-in-law gave Zhulan a pork elbow, a small bowl of chicken, and a bowl of pig's trotters. Zhulan didn't refuse, and just happened to invite the clan leader to have dinner with her in the evening.
When Zhulan and her family arrived home, every household in the village was preparing dinner. The clan leader and his wife stayed for dinner before going home.
After the birthday banquet, the Zhou family became famous for their wealth. Even if Zhulan was released and Chang Lian was not allowed to meet her, they still couldn't stop people from coming to propose marriage. Even Zhou Wang came to test Zhulan, but Zhulan insisted that she didn't want to meet her, so no one came to visit again.
In June, the seedlings planted by Li in the house had grown big enough to be moved to the vegetable garden. Zhulan was free and helped her two daughters-in-law to plant vegetables. Although it looked simple, it was quite knowledgeable. After she finished planting her own vegetable garden, Zhulan went to help her eldest daughter-in-law plant vegetables. It would be a shame not to make full use of the eldest daughter's vegetable garden.
Because Xuemei and her husband had just moved in and had not yet planted any seedlings, they just sowed the seeds directly. The germination rate would not be very high, and they had to wait for the seedlings to emerge before planting more seeds. The vegetables they could eat would be later than if they had planted the seedlings in advance, but the advantage was that they would last longer.
The novelty of the vegetables that Zhulan grew for her daughter had worn off.
In modern times, she was so busy that she seldom had any free time. She had been straining herself to adapt to the ancient times. Later, she followed Zhou Shuren to Pingzhou and was always busy. Suddenly, she felt bored and didn't know what to do for a while.
As for learning characters, she could recognize most of them and could read what was written. She had learned a lot of classical Chinese in high school textbooks, and Zhou Shuren had taught her a lot. She had also read some books and understood their meanings. She was not preparing for the imperial examination, so these were enough to crush Ming Teng and make her a literate grandmother. She was not willing to learn anything too in-depth.
After the beginning of summer, the children in the family could no longer be kept at home and could only be seen at mealtimes. The yard became quiet and Zhulan had nothing to do.
After hearing the sigh for the nth time, Zhou Shuren put down the book in his hand and asked, "Boring?"
Zhu Lan lay there, "Well, I don't like gossiping. I can't think of anything interesting to do right now."
Zhou Shuren was the opposite of Zhulan. He particularly liked to be idle. He also felt that he had failed in his duty as a husband. After thinking for a while, his eyes lit up. "Do you know how to fish? Let's go fishing by the river?"
Zhulan sat up and said, "I know how to fish. Grandpa taught me how to fish!"
Zhou Shuren secretly said it was a pity, he also wanted to help, he said regretfully: "Then let's go fishing, I'll get two fishing rods."
Zhulan pretended not to understand the sigh and urged, "Go quickly."
When it comes to fish, she really gets greedy. Although the fish nowadays are not as fat as those in autumn, they are all wild and taste really good.
Zhulan changed into a set of dirty clothes, and Zhou Shuren had already prepared two fishing rods.
Zhou Shuren took Zhulan and left quickly, thinking that it was a good thing his grandson went out to play, otherwise their world of two would be gone.
In the yard, Zhou Lao Da and Zhou Lao Er looked at each other and thought silently, Dad really dotes on Mom!
Zhulan and her friend went to the river, where only a few children were playing. They found a place farther away and Zhou Shuren was responsible for fishing for earthworms.
Zhou Shuren waited for Zhulan to throw down her fishing rod and said, "It's so boring to fish like this. How about a competition?"
Zhu Lan snorted, "Do you think I'm stupid? I can tell you're an expert by your skillful techniques. I won't make a bet that I know I'll lose."
Zhou Shuren raised his eyebrows, "Fishing also depends on luck. Sometimes even the most capable people can't compare to those with good luck."
Zhu Lan looked at Zhou Shuren silently, "Then tell me, is it good luck or bad luck that I saved you and came to the ancient times with you?"
Zhou Shuren, “… … ..”
This question is difficult to answer, and any answer will be a trap!
Zhulan's fishing rod moved. She opened her eyes wide and did not wait for Zhou Shuren to reply. She picked up the fishing rod and slowly reeled in the fish. After a while, she saw the body of the fish. No wonder it was so strong. The fish was really big. Zhulan smiled and said, "At least two pounds."
When the carp was lifted up, Zhulan looked at the size and smiled, "Let's compete. If you lose, go back to your bed."
She had been thinking about this for a long time. In winter, Zhou Shuren was like a stove, and the same quilt was really comfortable for her. But the weather was getting hotter and hotter, and Zhulan couldn't stand it anymore. Zhou Shuren had a strong blood, and she was sweating from the heat, so she kept kicking the quilt!
Zhou Shuren thought this was unacceptable. It would be cold to hug Zhulan in winter, but it would be cooler in summer. He didn't want to sleep alone in his own quilt!