Zhou Shuren opened the box, which was filled with neatly stacked silver ingots. He pointed at the box and said, "There are a total of 120 taels of silver in the box. The bracelets I have at home are not of good quality, so the price has been reduced a lot."
Zhulan closed the box and counted the money. "Chang Lian's family paid 300 taels of betrothal gifts, and there are more than 460 taels of silver left. The male protagonist later gave two gifts, and Wang Ru and Shi Qing gave one more. Not counting the money from selling the gold, I just counted the family assets, and there are a total of 490 taels left. Now add the 120 taels from selling the gold, and the family has a total of 610 taels of silver."
With more than 600 taels of silver, Zhulan now felt confident that she would have enough money after buying the Zheng family's house. She would also have money left over to hold a wedding banquet and support the family's expenses. There were many scholars in the family, and the paper expenses every month would cost a lot of money!
Zhou Shuren felt that his family had very little money. Now they had only bought land, not even a farm, and the family’s money was running out. He calculated all the family assets in his mind and found that it was not enough to buy a house in the capital. They were still poor!
When Zhou Shuren heard Li calling for dinner, he closed the box and pushed it into the corner. "Don't worry about the money. Let's go out and eat!"
"good."
The next day they went to look at the land. Zhou Lao Da drove the car, while Zhulan and Zhou Shuren went together. Zhou Shuren went to look at the land, while Zhulan was responsible for looking at the house. It was her first visit, so Zhulan brought pastries, but she didn't want to show off the fabric. The Zheng family would not be short of fabric in the future, so it would be better to bring some snacks.
Zheng's family, the Zheng family, is quite prosperous. Zheng is the youngest in the family. Her brothers are all very old and have grandchildren. After more than 40 years of development, the family has become a large one. The house is not built like a farmer's house, but is surrounded by a high wall outside and is divided into several courtyards inside, which do not interfere with each other but are connected.
If Zhulan hadn't been led by someone as soon as she entered the house, she would have easily gotten dizzy. This showed how much thought had gone into its construction. When she arrived at the main courtyard, Zheng's parents were still alive, and probably because they were military generals, they were still in good health.
Mr. Zheng laughed and said, "I thought the person should be here by now. He arrived just as I finished speaking."
Zhou Shuren and Zhulan greeted each other. They were the younger generation, and Zhou Shuren said, "It's my first visit, so I don't have anything good to offer. I just brought some cakes for the children."
Master Zheng is not just a military general. Back then, his father was stubborn and insisted on staying to prove his innocence, and he was the one who knocked his father out. Later, God helped the Zheng family. The heavy snowstorm helped to cover up their identities. After they were settled, the old man was no longer angry with him. After all, it was all his credit that the whole family escaped intact.
Mr. Zheng smiled kindly, "Thank you for being polite, nephew. Stop standing and sit down."
Zhulan looked at Old Master Zheng. She originally thought that Zheng looked like her mother, but now she realized that he looked like his father. Old Master Zheng was very thin and did not look like a military commander at all. Instead, he looked more like a scholar.
The Zheng family was not in a hurry to discuss the land and the house. Zhulan realized why Zheng's sister-in-law came to Zheng to talk about selling the land, and why the Zheng family only told Zheng about the sale of the land but did not publicize it themselves. It turned out that the buyer the Zheng family was looking for was their family.
I just don’t know whether Zheng knew about her family’s plan to buy land from the clan leader’s family, or whether it had been planned in advance. I don’t know whether Zheng knew about her family’s plan.
Zhou Shuren was not in a hurry to ask about the land. He drank his tea leisurely and laughed in his heart. Whoever told him that military generals were all straightforward, he would be angry with them. Then he thought, the Zheng family was really straightforward and they had died out long ago. How could they settle down in Lijia Village
Zhulan was pulled aside by Old Lady Zheng to talk. The old lady had lived in the countryside for more than 40 years, but she still showed good upbringing and her every move was full of charm. Zheng's calligraphy and painting must have been taught by the old lady.
Mrs. Zheng smiled and said, "Try the snacks brought from the northwest. They have a different flavor. I just don't know if you can get used to them."
Zhulan is a foodie, and Northwestern dim sum is mainly noodles. In modern times, she likes Northwestern dim sum very much. She picked up a piece and took a bite. "It's delicious."
Seeing that Zhulan was not lying, Mrs. Zheng smiled more sincerely, "It's delicious. Bring some back. It's hard to find Northwestern dim sum in the Northeast."
Zhulan really likes to eat it. It tastes much better without pollution than in modern times. "Then I won't be polite."
Mrs. Zheng asked casually, "I heard you were learning to paint?"
Zhulan thought that not only did they notice the Zheng family, but the Zheng family was also paying attention to them, and even asked about her painting. "We are now in-laws with the county magistrate's family. The county magistrate's wife invited me several times to discuss tea art or painting. I thought I couldn't embarrass the head of the family and my son, so I gritted my teeth and learned it. I have been exploring on my own, and the recent progress is all due to my sister-in-law's guidance."
Mrs. Zheng heard from her daughter that Yang was particularly talented in painting. "I heard from Xinyi. By the way, I was the one who taught your sister-in-law how to paint. I was thinking of giving you some pointers sometime. But plans can't keep up with changes. We have to go to the northwest now. I guess we won't have a chance to see each other again in the future."
At this point, Old Mrs. Zheng was very sad. Her daughter was in poor health and might die ahead of her. She would not even have the chance to meet her in the future.
Zhulan noticed that the old lady was in a low mood and said hurriedly, "You never know what fate is. Maybe we'll meet again in the future."
The old lady liked to hear this. "I like you very much. We are destined to be together. I am not lying to you. We are worried about selling the house we live in now to anyone else. We can only sell it to you. You are a member of the Zhou family, and you are relatives. In a roundabout way, we are also relatives."
If it weren't for Xinyi's poor health, her son-in-law's old age, and her eldest grandson's mediocre academic talent and no chance of passing the imperial examination, they would have given up the idea of leaving the house to their son-in-law's family to look after. They were afraid that it was too far away, and if their daughter passed away early, their grandson would not be able to keep the house under control and it would be easy for something bad to happen. They were thinking about how to deal with the house, which was the Zheng family's hidden way out, and only then did they get to know Zhou Shuren's family through their daughter. After getting to know them, they found someone more suitable to take over.
Zhulan thought to herself, this house is designed with a lot of skill. Why does she feel that the Zheng family came to them just to take care of the house through them
Zhulan and Zhou Shuren looked at each other. They were still trying to find out about the other person, but ended up falling into the trap. They fell into the trap on their own initiative. This feeling was really not good.
Zhulan could only keep smiling, "Yes, we are relatives after all."
Mrs. Zheng was even more satisfied. It was just as her daughter said. They were all smart people. Some things didn't need to be pointed out. People could guess them. However, they were indeed a little dishonest. They put out bait and waited for people to take the bait. They didn't even tell her daughter about this plan. Her daughter was involved in the plan. The old lady felt calm again. She pulled the bracelet on her hand and said, "I have worn this bracelet for some years. It is a top-quality jade bracelet. I heard from Xinyi that you also had a serious illness and have been recuperating. It is said that jade that has been worn for a long time has spirituality. This jade is given to you by your aunt."
Zhulan wanted to withdraw her hand, but was silent. The old lady's hand was very strong and the bracelet was already on her hand. The old lady said with satisfaction: "Look how well it suits you."
The old lady didn't feel sorry for them. When they were escaping, the head of the family and the eldest uncle took their sons to raid the house of the guard who wanted to harm the family in the middle of the night. No one was killed, but a lot of gold, silver and jewelry were taken away, so the Zheng family was not short of money.
The jade bracelets I give away now are just the ones I like. I have quite a few at home, but I never wear them to keep a low profile.
Zhulan looked down at the jade bracelet, speechless. This bracelet was worth a lot of money. Sure enough, her intuition was right. Their family was looking for someone to look after the house!