The third son of the Zhou family was officially engaged to the county magistrate's family. After Zhulan's family had breakfast, there was a constant stream of people coming to visit their home, including women from the clan as well as people with other surnames in the village. Zhulan went from being the least welcome person to the most popular one in the village. She would get angry with anyone who said that people in ancient times were stupid and stubborn. After more than a year, she felt that people in ancient times knew how to adapt to the situation and seek benefits and avoid harm better than modern people.
Zhulan had been hearing flattering words since morning. This time, no one dared to say anything sarcastic. They all wanted to praise Zhulan to the utmost, and she was almost stiff with laughter all day.
Li, on the other hand, never stopped talking throughout the entire day. Even after everyone had left, she was still reluctant to leave and particularly enjoyed the feeling of being envied.
Zhulan was speechless, "You haven't been talking for a whole day, and you don't feel tired at all."
She just smiled and talked too little, her lips became dry and her throat felt uncomfortable. Li talked the most, and her voice never changed.
Li still felt that she hadn't boasted enough, "Mom, you don't know, they have been gossiping about me behind my back, thinking I didn't know. Today, they acted so jealous but had to flatter me, it made me so angry that I let out all the anger."
Zhulan laughed. Li was lovable because she always knew what she was doing. When Zhulan saw Zhou Shuren pushing the door in, she said to Li, "Go cook!"
Li was afraid of her father-in-law, so she called him "Dad" and quickly went out.
Zhou Shuren looked at Li, who looked like she wished she could grow two more legs and run faster, and said with a twitching mouth, "I'll bring back two roast chickens for dinner."
Li was most afraid of her father-in-law speaking, but fortunately it was good news, so she responded and left quickly.
Zhulan asked, "Why did you buy a roast chicken today?"
Zhou Shuren sat down and changed his shoes while saying, "I met Shi Qing at the county government office today. I came back at night and found an excuse to buy roast chicken to avoid Shi Qing. I didn't expect that I still couldn't avoid him. He said he was going back to the village too, so we happened to be going together. I had no choice but to buy roast chicken and come back."
Zhu Lan took Zhou Shuren's coat and paused, "Shi Qing won't live next door, will he?"
Zhou Shuren took the clean clothes and said, "Yes, we moved in next door."
Zhu Lan thought for a while and said, "Shi Qing knows that our family is related to the county magistrate's family and has a relationship with Jiang Ming, the eldest son-in-law of the Dong family, so he is paying attention to you?"
Otherwise, a scholar is really not worth Shi Qing's calculations.
Zhou Shuren changed into clean clothes and felt much more comfortable. He leaned against the fire wall and fanned himself. "I came back today to avoid Shi Qing. Although the county magistrate didn't say it clearly, he also conveyed his meaning. He and Jiang Ming don't get involved in anything. I have to be aware of it and don't get tricked."
Zhulan was happy to hear this, "Master Dong is a wise man."
Zhou Shuren, "Mr. Dong cannot become the local county magistrate if he is not smart. Although the court has no clear regulations, it is rare for people to become local officials in their hometowns."
Zhu Lan likes great teammates. If they weren't great teammates, Zhou Shuren wouldn't have bothered to befriend the Dong family. She sighed and said, "Chang Lian is lucky to have a good Yue family."
Except for a few daughters-in-law of the Dong family who looked down on the Zhou family because of their class, all the others were good.
As for Shi Qing's attention, Zhulan is not worried that Zhou Shuren will be tricked. Compared with Shi Qing, it is good enough that Shi Qing is not tricked.
At dinner time, the kids were enjoying the delicious roast chicken. Ming Teng was gnawing on the chicken wings, muttering, "It's good that big brother is going to school."
Zhulan immediately understood the little girl's thoughts, "You are the only one who has many thoughts."
Ming Teng laughed. Ever since his eldest brother started eating with his father, there was one less person at the table, so he got more.
Yu Shuang swallowed the chicken in her mouth and said, "It will be even better when my second brother goes to school."
Ming Teng was unhappy. The table with his father was occupied by adults, unlike when he was eating with his grandmother, where there were many children and he had to get a larger portion. The thought of eating at the next table turned his sadness into appetite.
Zhao tapped her daughter's forehead and said, "Just understand it in your heart."
Yu Shuang just laughed, she liked teasing her second brother, just like her mother liked to watch her eldest aunt having fun from time to time.
Zhulan really likes Mingteng, the happy guy. She pinched Mingteng's chubby face and it felt really good. It seemed that this boy was getting fatter and fatter.
The next day, Zhou Shuren didn't have to go to the county. After dinner, Zhulan took out the good tea from home to make tea.
Li came into the room to make tea and asked, "Mom, are there any guests coming today?"
The tea at home is also divided into several grades. The cheaper tea leaves are for everyday guests, the better ones are for elders like clan leaders, and the best ones are only taken out when important guests come to the house.
Zhulan: "Yeah."
As soon as Zhulan finished speaking, Zhou Laoer led people into the main hall. Zhulan heard that Shi Qing said to Zhou Shuren, "Excuse me for interrupting you."
Zhou Shuren was waiting in the main hall. "Mr. Shi, you are too polite. Please take a seat."
Li heard the noise and lowered her voice, "Mother, the guest you are talking about is Mr. Shi? Isn't he related to Wang Ru? Why is he coming to our house?"
Zhulan didn't plan to explain to Li. Li loved to supplement her brain. She was really afraid that Li would supplement her brain too much and become startled, which would easily lead to bad things. "I guess Wang Ru lives next door, so she visited on her behalf!"
Mrs. Li, "I see. Mr. Shi wouldn't have lived next door yesterday. My goodness, the house next door is full of girls. The reputation of the house next door is already bad, and now a man from outside is allowed to live there. The reputation of these sisters is completely ruined."
Fortunately, Li knew there were people outside, so she kept her voice low.
Zhao interrupted, "When the head of the household was closing the gate yesterday, he saw Wang Rong from next door carrying a bag back to Wang Lao Si's house."
Zhulan was not surprised that the second girl Wang Rong would leave. Instead, she was surprised, "Wang Rong is the only one left?"
Zhao nodded, "She's the only one."
Li had a strange expression on her face. After being attacked by a family of smart people, she became much smarter. "I said Wang Xin is not as good as her mother. This girl must think that she is too old and Wang Ru is too young, so she has her own ideas!"
Zhulan gestured, "Okay, stop talking."
On the one hand, she didn't want to hear what was happening next door, and on the other hand, Shi Qing was outside, and she was really afraid that Li wouldn't be able to control herself and raise her voice so that people outside could hear it.
Mrs. Li closed her mouth, smiled ingratiatingly, and lowered her head to continue helping her mother-in-law to divide the lines.
Shi Qing left after a short while. Li and Zhao were very observant. When they heard the guest leave, they knew that their father-in-law must have returned to the main house, so they went back to their own rooms.
When Zhou Shuren entered the room, he saw only Zhulan. He became more and more satisfied with his two daughters-in-law and treated them more and more discerningly.
Zhulan put down her needlework and asked, "What did Shi Qing say?"