Zhu Lan waited for Zhou Shuren to hang the earthworm again, "If you don't say anything, I'll take it as your consent?"
Zhou Shuren narrowed his eyes. He would not lose. "Let's bet. If you lose, can you cook a meal for me yourself?"
Zhu Lan was surprised at Zhou Shuren's request at first, knowing that her cooking was not good. But then she felt something was wrong and recalled that her original birthday was the second day of August, and so was her birthday. She thought again and asked, "Your birthday is June 20th? Same as Zhou Shuren's?"
Zhou Shuren looked at Zhulan approvingly, and responded very quickly, "Well, we have the same birthday, so I asked you to cook a meal."
He really didn't care about any gifts, he just wanted to have a meal cooked by Zhulan.
Zhulan was silent. She thought that Zhou Shuren, the old fox, would ask for some other benefits, but she didn't expect it to be this. However, she would never ask for a change of bet. If she really said that, Zhou Shuren would think that she hoped something else would happen!
When Zhou Shuren saw Zhulan nod, his smile became even more intense. He really thought that she didn't want to ask for benefits, but it was just the wrong time. Zhulan's body seemed to be in good condition, but in fact, Zhulan's body needed to be taken care of. It would take at least one or two years to take good care of her body. Otherwise, even if they wanted to have a child of their own, Zhulan's body could not bear it. She was already an elderly mother, and there were no sound medical conditions in ancient times. He would not take the risk.
In addition, I will have to go to Beijing after the provincial examination next year, and I don’t know whether I will stay in the capital or be sent abroad. All these factors combined make it not a good time to seek happiness.
He also thought that if he really had a child in two years, Zhulan would be in danger, but it was more dangerous now and it was equivalent to chronic suicide. He considered having a baby if it really didn't work out. Although it was a pity not to have his own child, he just wanted to grow old with Zhulan.
Seeing Zhou Shuren distracted, Zhulan hurriedly pulled, "Your fishing rod is moving, pull it quickly or it will come off the hook!"
Zhou Shuren finally came back to his senses and hurriedly picked up the fishing rod. The fish was quite strong, so it had to be said that both of them had good luck. The fish Zhou Shuren caught was not small, weighing more than two kilograms.
Zhulan was just thinking about not letting the fish run away, but now that they were tied, she was lucky that she had a good attitude and didn't want to lose. She was also willing to cook for Zhou Shuren, and since she won she could finally have a bed with him. It was a win for her anyway, so she went back to stare at her fishing rod.
Soon there was no fish for a long time. The two of them stared at the fishing rod. It was so quiet around that Zhulan heard every sound very clearly. She turned her head to stare at the bushes behind them, and seeing Zhou Shuren also turned his head, Zhulan gestured to him to keep quiet.
The two heard clearly Wang Ru's voice, "If you get the job done, I'll give you another ten taels of silver."
Another person lowered his voice, and it could be identified as a woman, "Ten taels of silver is too little."
Wang Ru's voice was a little annoyed, "If you don't do it, someone else will. Someone in your family will do it."
After a while, they were at a stalemate. The woman refused to compromise and threatened, "If you don't give me more money, I will tell the whole village about it and you won't succeed."
Wang Ru's voice was filled with anger. "Fifteen taels, don't go too far. I'll pay you twenty taels first, and then add fifteen taels, making it thirty-five taels."
"Pay thirty taels first, and I'll give you another ten taels when the matter is done."
There was another silence, and the two reached an agreement and left quickly.
Zhulan turned her head and looked at the river in silence. She was bored at home and went fishing with Zhou Shuren and met Wang Ru. She didn't know whether to say that Wang Ru was unlucky or that they had a deep connection with Wang Ru!
Zhou Shuren asked, "Can you tell whose voice it is?"
Zhulan spread her hands, "Don't count on me. There are many women in the village. I'm a homebody after I came here, so I really can't hear it."
Zhou Shuren was alert, "Keep an eye on the children these days, don't let them target us."
Zhulan nodded, "Yes."
Because Wang Ru disturbed the atmosphere between the two, they went back after fishing for a while. In the end, Zhulan lost by two fish. Zhou Shuren walked briskly. Zhulan was naive. Cheating was a common practice everywhere. It was worth it for him to tell a joke to amuse Zhulan from time to time and move the fishing rod when she was not paying attention.
Zhulan pouted her lips at the smug Zhou Shuren, thinking that she didn't notice it. She couldn't see it the first or second time, but after so many times. It turned out that she had sensitive senses due to her martial arts training. She just watched Zhou Shuren, who thought he had cheated successfully, happily without saying a word. She would never admit that she was a little reluctant to leave Zhou Shuren's arms!
On the afternoon of the second day, before Zhulan could be on high alert, she knew what Wang Ru was planning. Suspecting that she had heard it wrong, she asked Zhou Wangshi, "Wang Ru wants to be adopted?"
Zhou Wangshi is the mother of the village head. Today, the commotion came to their house. She looked at the whole scene and said, "Yeah."
Zhulan felt that Wang Ru would not simply be adopted, so she asked hurriedly, "Which family was she adopted to?"
Mrs. Zhou Wang kept it a secret, "There are two new families in the village, one surnamed Wang and the other surnamed Qian. They came together. The Wang family's bloodline is not strong, and their only son just married the Qian family's daughter, but he died of illness before the child was born. The Qian family's daughter couldn't stand the shock and had a difficult childbirth. You remember this, right?"
Zhulan dug up her memories, and this incident did happen. "It was quite a big deal back then. The Qian family came to the door and the old couple of the Wang family were already in poor health. They couldn't bear the blow and both passed away last summer. Auntie, do you want Wang Ru to be adopted by the extinct Wang family?"
Mrs. Zhou Wang nodded, "Yes, it was the Qian family who started it. Old Madam Qian cried and said that her daughter came into her dreams every night and cried and made a fuss, saying that she wanted to have a daughter. She also left her horoscope, and a pair of horoscopes showed that it was Wang Ru. The old lady believed it even more, and then went to Old Fourth Wang's house. Then she made a scene in front of my son, and Old Fourth Wang refused to agree, so Old Madam Qian cried and made a fuss again."
She felt a headache after hearing this. She had finally sent the people away, and she didn't want to stay at home for fear that the Qian family would come again, so she came out for a walk and chat with Yang.
Zhulan felt relieved. Wang Ru's plan was to adopt her. She said with relief, "Wang Lao Si naturally disagrees. Wang Ru is a cash cow. Wang Lao Si can live his current life entirely thanks to Wang Ru. Wang Lao Si is reluctant to let her go."
She really despised Wang Laosi. She used to make sausages and sell them, but unfortunately she didn't keep it up for long as Wang Laosi started living the life of a master. Now the Wang family does nothing and relies on Wang Ru for their money. Every time she sees Wang Laosi's proud look, it hurts her eyes.
Zhou Wangshi said sarcastically, "You didn't see that Wang Laosi was so angry at that time. He had always been a coward, but he dared to hit someone and threatened to chop anyone who stole his daughter."
Zhou Wangshi changed the subject and said, "I'm just telling you, I think Wang Ru was behind this. This girl is very evil. I've been staring at her. Wang Ru seemed to have anticipated that she would not agree, and she was watching the show leisurely!"
Zhulan thought that Zhou Wangshi was amazing and was right about everything she said. "It seems that adoption is a matter of time."
Zhou Wangshi had guessed it, so she was even more unwilling to stay at home, and asked her daughters-in-law to go out and not stay at home. "You said Wang Ru and Master Shi were not clear about it. If Master Shi really liked her, why didn't he take her away?"