Zhulan put down her needle and went out. Dong was holding the box in her hand. Zhulan motioned for Dong to sit down and asked, "What do you want to talk to me about?"
Mrs. Dong put the box on the table, opened it, and took out the deed from it. "Mother, this is the 50 acres of land that my father gave me as a dowry in Lijia Village. I heard from my husband that our family has divided the land among the people of Lijia Village to help grow food. I would like to ask mother to help me find someone who is willing to help grow the land."
Zhulan glanced at the fields. The name was under Dong's name. Dong had to pay taxes for these fields herself. The taxes for fifty acres of land were not small. She and Zhou Shuren dared to do this because Zhou Shuren was confident of passing the imperial examination.
Dong's is purely a dowry, and she has to manage it herself. Whatever she earns in the future will be her own money. Zhulan wants to make it clear, "Your land has been taxed and you have helped to grow crops. If it's a bad year, there won't be much left. If it's a good year, there won't be much left either. You will lose a lot of money every year. You should think carefully."
Dong also did the math, but she was too young, and her husband wasn't even a scholar. According to the rules of this dynasty, she couldn't use slaves, and there was no one to manage things. Her husband also had to study. Although she earned a lot less, she had her parents to support her, and no one dared to covet her food. She was happy to save trouble, "Mom, I've figured it out. My husband and I are young, so it doesn't matter if we earn less. We also want to save trouble."
Zhulan thought that, of the three daughters-in-law, except for Li, the other two were people with big ideas. "Since you have figured it out, mother will ask your father to ask, and we can talk about it when you return home tomorrow."
Mrs. Dong thanked him, "Thank you, mother."
"We're all family, you're welcome."
Dong picked up the box and said, "Mom, I'm going back to the yard now."
"Go ahead."
Dong went out with the box in her arms. She believed her husband's words and tried not to get close to her mother, as her father-in-law didn't like her. When she came, she thought her father-in-law was reading in the study, but she didn't expect him to be in the room. Although she didn't see him, she knew that if her father-in-law hadn't been reading in the room, her mother would have let her in.
The study in Zhulan's house is just a decoration for Zhou Shuren. Zhou Shuren is not an ancient person and prefers to read books casually. Reading is already tiring for the brain, and it would be even more tiring to stay in the study. It would be more comfortable to lie down.
Zhulan went back to the house and told Zhou Shuren about it. Zhou Shuren said that he knew about it and would let the boss handle it. This would be a good thing for Lijia Village. There would be no need to pay taxes, and as long as they helped with farming, they would have food. Last time, Zhulan's family bought 60 acres of land, and many people asked when Zhulan's family would buy more land, and they all hoped to help with farming.
It’s a pity that Dong’s fields are near Lijia Village. If they were in Zhoujia Village, they could also benefit Zhou’s poor relatives.
Dong returned to the room. Her husband went to study, and she sorted out her dowry. Now that she was no longer a lady, she had to do it herself. Fortunately, she was mentally prepared. She comforted herself and started to sort it out.
The cloths were arranged according to the quantity of dowry, and the washbasins, shelves and other items that were used had already been taken out by the mother-in-law and placed in the bridal chamber when the dowry was delivered.
The main thing was to pick out the jewelry that could be worn currently and put the rest away. Some of the headwear were not suitable for a white-body lady like her, so her mother prepared them in advance for the future.
Now that everything is sorted, I feel a sense of accomplishment.
Finally, there was the silver money at the bottom of the box. There were two boxes of silver ingots, two hundred taels in each box, a total of four hundred taels, and a small box of fifty taels of gold ingots. Two hundred taels of silver were the original betrothal gift. My parents openly gave me a dowry of seven hundred taels, and secretly gave me one thousand taels of silver notes.
The total value of her dowry was three thousand taels.
The dowry included dowries given by my sister, mainly jewelry. My brother and sister-in-law didn’t give much because they knew that as a daughter born in old age, my parents would definitely give me a lot of dowry.
In fact, her dowry could have been much larger, but when her elder sister remarried her brother-in-law, in order not to be looked down upon, her father gave half of the family fortune to her elder sister in one go. When she was still young, her mother taught her how to manage the household. Although the Dong family was wealthy, they had several brothers to look after them, and the annual expenses were high, so they really couldn't save much money in a year.
Mrs. Dong didn't know that the window of the study was open a crack and Chang Lian had been standing by the window watching. Chang Lian was observing his wife's temper. Seeing that Mrs. Dong was busy and didn't throw a tantrum or complain, Chang Lian was happy. She was able to endure hardships and was not spoiled. He liked his wife more and more. He got up to add water to the kettle and took out tea leaves to make tea, so that when Mrs. Dong came back, she would have tea to quench her thirst and would have hot water to wash her face and hands.
Zhulan didn't know that the newlyweds were testing each other. She was preparing a gift to bring back to Dong tomorrow.
Zhou Shuren contributed his handwritten books, which he brought back from Jiangnan, as they were not on the county magistrate's bookshelf. Zhulan moved out the screen given to her by her second sister-in-law. This was another opportunity Zhou Shuren had exchanged for the Yang family. The eldest and second brothers expressed their gratitude. The eldest brother gave her the ginseng he had found. Because Zhulan liked the screen, the second sister-in-law embroidered the screen, but because it took too much effort, it was not sent to her until the New Year.
These two items were not bad at all, and Zhulan added the leftover mutton from the wedding banquet, and some other things, making a total of six items. This gave Mrs. Dong enough face and also showed Zhulan's satisfaction with her daughter-in-law.
At lunch, Zhao's eyes were a little red and swollen, and Zhou Laoer's eyes were bloodshot. It was obvious that Zhulan not only touched Zhao, but also Zhou Laoer. As a man, Zhou Laoer naturally wanted to give his wife the best, but he had exchanged his wife for food back then, and his mother didn't like Zhao at first, so he didn't dare to mention it. Later, his mother didn't scold Zhao, and he also wanted to keep a low profile and planned to wait until the child was older.
Now that his mother had brought it up herself, he felt heartwarmed. His mother was just like his father. Although she didn't say anything about her concern, she always cared about them with her actions. That's why his mother must live longer than his father. It's not that she is unfilial to his father, but he feels more and more that if his mother passes away first, he won't have to worry about his father not being his biological father anymore. He is afraid that his father will be gone with her.
Dad loved Mom so much that he might do something to be buried with her. He had dreamt of this scene several times and was so scared that he couldn't sleep for several nights. So, such a good mom must live a long life.
Zhulan felt Zhou Laoer's admiration for her, and Zhao also seemed to treat her as her own mother. Well, her care was not in vain.
The next day, Dong came back to her parents' home. When Dong saw the return gift, Zhulan was moved again.
After leaving the house and sitting in the carriage that the Dong family came to pick them up, Mrs. Dong lowered her voice and said to her husband, "I will definitely treat you as well as my mother in the future."
The return gift given by her mother not only gave her face, but also gave face to her mother. There must be a lot of people at her home when she returns home today, some to wish her well, some to come just to laugh at her jokes. Who doesn't have a few annoying people in their family? There are really quite a few in her family.
Chang Lian chuckled, looking down at her with her head raised and making a promise in a serious tone. Why did he think she was so cute? He couldn't help but pinch his wife's face, "I believe you."
Dong's face flushed. Except for the fact that her husband held her all night in the bridal chamber, they had not had any other intimate actions. However, she thought her husband looked good when he smiled. Her father had no taste in choosing a husband for her eldest sister, and her later brother-in-law came to her on his own. Unexpectedly, her father had good taste in choosing a husband for her!