Zhulan coughed, and Li's heart trembled. She felt even more wronged. Her mother didn't like her anymore. She said dryly, "Sister-in-law doesn't have much money. This is a token of my love. Don't despise it."
Dong didn't mind. She had never expected it, so receiving a gift was already a pleasant surprise. The box was open and contained a head flower from a jewelry shop in the town. It came from the south and cost two cents of silver each. For Li, whom she knew well, it was a rare gift.
Mrs. Dong accepted it with a smile, "I like it very much. This is for my sister-in-law. I don't know what my sister-in-law likes. Please don't dislike it."
Li had never expected that there would be a return gift. She then noticed that there were a few small boxes and purses on the tray brought by Dong. She happily took them. As long as she didn't lose money, it was fine. "Don't mind, don't mind."
When he opened it, he saw a silver hairpin and smiled even more foolishly.
Chang Lian knew this would happen, so he took Dong to meet his second brother and his wife.
The fan given by Zhao, "Sister-in-law, I am better at embroidery. I made this fan myself, so please don't dislike it, sister-in-law."
Dong also had a lot of fans from Jiangnan. She knew that Zhao's embroidery was good, but she didn't expect it to be so good. She smiled and said, "I like it very much. I also like women's needlework. I will have to bother my second sister-in-law more in the future."
Zhao lowered her head and said, "You're welcome anytime."
Dong returned the gift, also a silver hairpin.
Then they recognized each person one by one. Xue Han and Dong were close friends, so they got Yu's earrings. Yu Shuang and Yu Lu each got a pair of silver earrings. Ming Yun, Ming Teng and Ming Rui each got a purse containing two cents of silver.
The recognition was over and everyone dispersed.
Zhulan called out to Li and Zhao, "Wait a moment, you two."
Dong looked back and Zhulan said, "Dong should stay too!"
Zhulan got up and went into the house. She quickly took out two red cloth bags and opened one of them to signal Li to come forward. Zhulan reached out and took Li's hand, then paused. Her wrist was too fat to carry it in. Zhulan silently let go of Li's hand and handed the red cloth bag to Li. "Before the establishment of the new dynasty, mother didn't dare to be high-profile and never gave you good things. This is for you, but it seems you can't carry it."
Li, “… … ..”
The excitement and touching feelings disappeared in an instant, and my mother didn't say a word from now on.
Mrs. Dong suppressed her lips, thinking that her mother-in-law was really hurting her sister-in-law.
Zhulan ignored Li's look of bullying again and opened another bag for Zhao. "When you first entered our family, there was no betrothal gift and no matchmaker. You were wronged. In the future, you will have what your eldest sister-in-law and younger brother have. I will choose a date, match your horoscopes with the second brother, and write a marriage certificate. It will be in three days, two days after your younger brother and sister-in-law return home."
After Zhulan finished speaking, she said to Li: "Count how much meat is left at home later to see if it is enough to prepare a few tables of delicious dishes. If not, you can go and buy some."
The first time Li saw Zhao, she didn't cover her face and sob, but raised her head and cried. She didn't think the beauty's tears were beautiful, but she felt that her sister-in-law had a hard time. In order to protect herself, she was replaced as a daughter-in-law. Her sister-in-law suffered too much. "Mother, leave the food to me. I will definitely take out the housekeeping book to celebrate for my sister-in-law."
Zhao couldn't help it and cried into her mother-in-law's arms. As a woman, who doesn't want to get married in a formal way? Who doesn't want to hold the marriage certificate and horoscopes and be recognized by the husband's family
She had no choice. She had to protect herself while fleeing the famine and exchange herself for food, but she lost the qualification at that time.
This is because the Zhou family is kind and her husband protects her. Otherwise, a daughter-in-law who is exchanged for a wife, to put it nicely, is a daughter-in-law, to put it bluntly, she is just an exchanged coolie, and no one will care even if you are really sold.
There are other daughters-in-law in Zhoujia Village who are exchanged for wives. They are either beaten or scolded by their mothers-in-law and husbands. They eat little and work a lot. On the one hand, they have no support from their natal family. On the other hand, they have no matchmaker and no marriage certificate, so their husband's family looks down on them.
She has two children already. Her mother-in-law and husband treat her well. They also manage the family's monthly expenses. She lives in a big house, wears clothes without patches, has new clothes every quarter, wears jewelry, and can save money every month. She is already very content.
I really didn't expect that her mother-in-law would help her to revise her marriage certificate and match her horoscopes. Besides her mother and husband, her mother-in-law is the third person who treats her so well.
Zhulan felt heartbroken when she heard Zhao's crying. This was different from Zhao's previous sobbing when she wiped her tears. This was the first time Zhao cried loudly. It was not easy for Zhao. She had to learn to protect herself at a young age. She also experienced her family selling her mother. Now her mother who protected her was gone. She could only rely on herself to survive. She did not want to be sold to a dirty place like a brothel, so she was afraid and could only endure it herself. She had to be on guard against anyone at all times. She had been holding it in her heart and dared not vent. Even when facing Chang Yi, Zhao always appeared very strong.
Her actions today touched the weakest part of Zhao's heart.
Zhulan touched Zhao's hair and said, "Cry, it will be better if you cry."
Dong came back to her senses from her second sister-in-law's face and was stunned. She had seen beauties before. There were beauties in the county, and there were many beautiful young ladies in merchants' families. But it was the first time she had seen someone as beautiful as her second sister-in-law. No wonder her second sister-in-law was so strange and kept her head down and dared not look up to see people.
Li wiped her tears. Seeing Dong looking at Zhao, she thought of Dong's background, blocked her sight and stared at her with her small eyes. "This is our family's secret. Once you enter our family, you are not allowed to tell anyone, otherwise I will be angry with you."
Mrs. Dong was stunned. She saw her eldest sister-in-law complaining about her second sister-in-law while eating. Now she was actually protecting her. Although she didn't understand her eldest sister-in-law's thoughts, she was moved. Her eyes softened. "Sister-in-law, I won't tell anyone."
Li was worried, "Your parents wouldn't allow it either."
Dong laughed cheerfully. She knew what to say and what not to say. The second sister-in-law was the one she shouldn't tell. Her mother had told her a long time ago that she couldn't tell her parents everything when she became a daughter-in-law. Moreover, she had been educated more broadly than her eldest sister-in-law since she was a child. She really couldn't tell the second sister-in-law's affairs. At least her father-in-law's family couldn't protect her and it would be easy to get into trouble. "I won't tell."
After hearing this, Zhao stopped crying and looked at her sister-in-law with tears in her eyes. She never expected that her sister-in-law would protect her so much. Although her sister-in-law cheated her from time to time, she was a good person and she could tolerate her sister-in-law.
Li covered her chest and said, "Sister-in-law, please don't look at me. I, a woman, can't stand it anymore. Mother, I'll go see how much meat is left."
Zhulan, "... ..."
It was clearly a very touching moment, but the atmosphere was ruined as soon as Li opened his mouth.
Zhao stopped crying. Zhulan didn't plan to take out a second gift and planned to give it to Zhao three nights later. If Zhao wanted to cry for the second time, she should go back to her own yard.
Zhao and Dong left together. Zhulan went back to the room to change her clothes. Zhao was so crying that her clothes were all wet.
Zhou Shuren lay on his side, watching Zhulan changing clothes with a smile on her face, his eyes full of tenderness. Zhulan's heart was kind and soft. She kept the whole family in her heart. She remembered everyone's birthday in the family. Although the children of the Zhou family shared Zhulan's heart, he liked the kind-hearted Zhulan. He had a really good eye!
It's a pity that he can't go back to the modern times. If he could, it would be much better without the Zhou family and other eyesores. He still thinks there are too many eyesores.
Zhulan changed her clothes and was about to sew when she heard a knock on the door. "Mom, I have something to talk to you about."