Zhulan asked doubtfully, "Aunt, if you have something to say, just tell me directly."
Mrs. Wu Li said to Wu Ning beside her, "You haven't seen Xue Han for a long time. You two should go out and play for a while."
Zhulan heard that she didn't want the children to hear it, so after the two little girls left, she said, "Auntie can tell me now."
Mrs. Wu Li was a little embarrassed to open her mouth, but she felt more confident when she thought of her grandson. "Xue Han is nine years old this year. What do you think of my Wu Ming?"
Zhulan, "... ..."
Recalling carefully, she had never mentioned Xue Han's engagement. Xue Han and Wu Ning had a good relationship and both girls would not mention engagement. The Wu family didn't know about the engagement yet. Unexpectedly, Wu Li fell in love with Xue Han and asked her so directly!
Zhulan felt a little proud in her heart. Xuehan was no worse than a young lady except for her status. Seeing that Wu Li was waiting for a reply, she laughed dryly and said, "Xuehan got engaged in the winter of the year before last."
Wu Li calculated her age and said in surprise, "It's too early to arrange a marriage."
She really had high hopes for Xue Han. The little girl was more stable than her own granddaughter. Not only was she blessed, but she also behaved in a graceful and elegant manner. With Yang as her mother, the little girl must have a lot of plans in her mind. She really loved Xue Han, otherwise she would not have asked her directly because of her young age. It was a pity that Xue Han had been engaged so early. She thought that even if she had proposed last year and Xue Han had already been engaged, she could only sigh in her heart that they were not destined to be together.
Zhulan explained: "It is fate that makes us get engaged."
Seeing that Zhulan had no intention of introducing a son-in-law, Mrs. Wu Li wanted to know who the son-in-law had been chosen, but since Mrs. Yang didn't mention it, she didn't dare to ask.
Zhulan thought that even if they were not engaged, she would not agree to Wu Ming. Wu Ming had a promising future and was too capable. Who knew if he would have a concubine in the future? What if he bullied her daughter
Rongchuan is still better. Although his background is unknown now, he was raised by me. I am grateful to him. Rongchuan is also grateful and will not let Xuehan down in the future.
In ancient times, even if women received education, they still hoped that their husbands would be their own. If they could be open-minded, there would be no house fighting. House fighting is not only for the benefit of their children, but also because of the jealousy and resentment in their hearts.
Except for those who really don’t care, how many women are willing to share their husbands!
Because Xue Han was engaged, it was a bit awkward and Zhu Lan didn't feel like chatting anymore, so she left early.
On the way home, Li looked around. Zhulan laughed, "Didn't you see enough on the way here?"
Li said excitedly, "Mom, the state capital is different. Not to mention the many shops along the way, just look at the courtyards on both sides. They are more imposing than those in the county."
Zhulan rolled her eyes in her heart, she really didn't see what grandeur there was. The architecture of the houses in the north wing was basically the same. The only difference was the size of the houses. It was only new to Li's house these two days, but after a few days, she wouldn't feel the difference anymore.
Zhulan didn't rush home, but took Li to the market. When Li needed to buy vegetables later, it would be a good opportunity to get familiar with the road. The Zhou family members all have a good sense of direction and none of them have a poor sense of direction.
I walked around the market and bought some fish and tofu.
Li was distressed. "Mom, there's nothing different about the vegetable market in the state capital. The things sold there are almost the same as in the county. Why are they more expensive than in the county? Fish is one cent more expensive per pound than in the county, and tofu is half a cent more expensive. Aren't they all the same things?"
Li calculated quickly in her mind that after coming to Pingzhou, she no longer had her own vegetable garden. Wouldn't she have to spend money to buy one in the future? The monthly expenses would be several times more than what she spent in her hometown.
Zhulan saw that Li was wilting, "What are you thinking about?"
Li was heartbroken, "Mother, Pingzhou isn't particularly good either."
People say that the city is good, and she had been looking forward to it, but when she really started calculating the expenses, her heart bleeds. Now in her eyes, Pingzhou City is a place that swallows up money, and she can't help but hold her purse.
Zhulan, "... ..."
She really couldn't keep up with Li's train of thought. She didn't know why he was holding his purse as if he was afraid of losing it!
When she got home, Li hurriedly asked Zhou Lao Da to make boxes and get soil so that she could grow vegetables.
Zhulan then understood why Li was holding on to her purse. She felt that the expenses in the city were too high.
At noon, I had some leftover meat from yesterday and cut some pickles and had a meal.
In the afternoon, Zhulan woke up from her nap. Changlian and Dong came back from their visit. Zhulan walked out of the house and saw a gift box on the table in the main hall. It was a return gift from Dong's sister.
Zhulan called out to Mrs. Dong, who opened the door and came over with a smile, "Mom, you're awake."
Zhulan drank tea to moisten her throat, "Yeah."
Mrs. Dong knew why her mother called her. She had been waiting for her mother-in-law to wake up. She said, "These are gifts from my sister and brother-in-law, specially for my father and mother."
“That’s too much.”
She just counted six boxes.
Dong said, "These are for my parents. I have accepted the ones given to me and Chang Lian. Mother, my brother-in-law really likes wolf skins and kept saying how much my parents have taken care of them. These are gifts from my sister and brother-in-law. You should accept them, mother!"
Zhulan thought there would be a return gift, but she didn't expect it to be so much. This doesn't even include the ones for Changlian and Dong. After all, she is her biological sister. These gifts are also meant to support Dong!
Zhulan said: "Thank your sister for me, then mother will accept it."
If someone didn't send an invitation, she wouldn't go to the door to thank them. It would be like she was relying on the Jiang family, which would be annoying.
"I have already thanked my sister and brother-in-law. My sister will have a tea party in the future and let me and mother attend it together!"
Zhulan kept smiling, looking at this, and told him that there was no need to come to thank her, and that she would invite him to meet her in the future. Zhulan said, "Mother doesn't know much about tea, so you can just go there when the time comes."
As a scholar's wife, she was not even qualified to be cannon fodder when attending a tea party hosted by an official's wife. As for Dong's own sister, she would naturally take care of her. She didn't want to be looked down upon.
Dong had known that her mother-in-law would say this. Her parents-in-law were not people without sense of propriety. At the same time, she sighed about the difficulties of her sister's second marriage. Until now, the wives of officials in the provincial capital were talking about her sister. Her sister did not want her in-laws to come to visit because she was afraid of causing more gossip.
However, she was very happy today because her parents-in-law prepared gifts for her visit, especially two good wolf skins, which her brother-in-law liked very much. This also made her sister proud. She did not come to ask for money, but to visit, which also made her brother-in-law think highly of her husband and her in-laws!
Since I didn't embarrass my sister, she was happy and naturally gave a generous gift in return, which of course also showed my support for her.
Zhulan was too embarrassed to open any gifts in front of her daughter-in-law. Fortunately, Mrs. Dong was very considerate. "Mother, I'm going to go back and sort out my sister's return gift. I'll go back to the house first."
"Okay, let's go back."
Zhulan waited for Dong to return before opening the boxes. Among the six boxes, the largest box contained decorations. Zhulan didn't know much about decorations, but the gift from a fifth-rank Tongzhi must not be cheap. One of the two boxes contained two hairpins inlaid with jade, one box contained a pair of jade bracelets that looked pretty good, and the remaining three boxes contained a piece of fine ink and two brushes that looked expensive.
The six boxes were indeed for her and Zhou Shuren.
As for other people in the family, they have different identities and statuses, so there is no need for Dong's sister to worry about everything.
Zhulan put all the jewellery in the box back into the jewellery box. She had more and more jewellery, and she was also a worldly person who was happy just looking at it.
Zhou Shuren didn't come back for dinner at night. Zhulan was worried about him. It was not good in ancient times. There were no mobile phones. She wanted to ask someone but didn't know where to find him. She could only worry about him as the sky outside was getting darker.
Zhulan couldn't control her feet and went to the front yard several times.
Zhou Laoda followed behind his mother. He was also worried about his father. "Mom, how about I go out and look for him?"
Zhulan, "Where are you going to find him? Okay, don't worry about it, your father will be back soon."
Boss Zhou, “… .”
Mom, when you say this, you should go back to the backyard. You are still thinking about him here and you won’t go back. He is not only thinking about dad, but also mom.
He and Li had different ideas. Li felt that it was better to stay in his hometown than to spend more money in Pingzhou. He was a knowledgeable person. People always strive for higher positions. Staying in his hometown was comfortable, but it also cut off the opportunity to move up. Now that his father was not back, he felt guilty as a son for not being able to help his father.
Zhulan's ears moved and she walked quickly towards the door. She felt that Zhou Shuren had returned.
When the gate was opened, there was a carriage or a person. Zhou Laoda looked carefully and said, "Mom, Dad is not back."
Zhulan felt that Zhou Shuren had returned, "Wait a minute, it must be your father who is back."