Zhulan lowered her eyes and touched the bottom of the teacup with her fingertips. Fang was able to protect Zhao and taught Zhao how to protect herself. Fang had her own wisdom. It could be seen from what Fang said just now that Fang saw everything clearly. Zhao's temperament was obviously inherited from Fang!
Then, it is interesting that Fang revealed the Qian family's financial situation in front of her. There was trust, but more importantly, she wanted to indirectly tell the Zhou family that the Qian family is rich, with a lot of money.
Zhao was dumbfounded. How could her mother say this in front of her mother-in-law? "Mother."
Fang comforted her daughter and asked her to continue listening. Then she said, "Mother, I want to tell you that your uncle Bao was ambitious. Although his sons can't study, he has many grandchildren. He hopes that some of his grandchildren will become scholars, so that they can wash away the reputation of the Qian family as slaves to merchants. In order to have a few promising scholars in the future, your uncle is willing to spend money."
Zhulan's smile deepened. Fang indirectly told her that the Zhou family should not be fooled by the Qian family's small favors. The gifts the Qian family brought were a drop in the bucket for them. She also reminded her that they came not just to recognize their relatives, but for a purpose.
Zhao also reacted, feeling bitter in her heart. Her mother said so much for her sake. She was afraid that the Zhou family would not be able to outsmart the Qian family and would be used by the Qian family in the future. "Mother."
Fang had said everything she could say. Her daughter said that her mother-in-law was a powerful person, and she really was. The smile on her face never changed from beginning to end. She couldn't see through Yang's thoughts. She was good at reading people's minds. At that time in the Yun family, there were so many calculations. Even though she was the housekeeper's wife, she was not decent everywhere. There were too many people who wanted to bring down Qian Shengbao. She relied on reading people's minds to win the wife's favor!
Zhulan put down the teacup in her hand. Fang didn't remind her, and she wasn't worried that the Zhou family would be plotted against. She should be thankful that Zhou Shuren didn't plot against the Qian family. The Qian family dared to come and plot against them. For Zhou Shuren, who was in urgent need of money, it was like a piece of fat meat delivered to his mouth. If he didn't tear off a few pieces, he would be sorry for the meat that was delivered to his door.
Zhulan smiled and said, "Mother-in-law, don't just talk. Try some snacks. These are made by my eldest daughter-in-law. They taste pretty good."
When Li came to Pingzhou, she either cooked or stayed in the kitchen making snacks. Li felt that the expenses in Pingzhou were too high, so she put her mind to making snacks. She wanted to save money by making snacks. She had the basic skills of making mooncakes, and although there was no oven at home, the steamed snacks were also good. Zhulan liked steamed rice cakes very much.
Fang smiled and picked up a piece and tasted it, "It's really good."
As he said that, he took another bite. The rice cake looked ordinary, but it tasted really good. It wasn't too sweet, and the middle had a sesame aroma. It was delicious.
Zhulan pushed the plate down. There were not many rice cakes on the plate. Most of the ones steamed by Li in the morning were given to Rongchuan and Mingyun, and some were sent to the students in the front yard. A few pieces were kept in each room, and the rest were in the main room.
Fang got up early in the morning and must not have eaten anything. She had already had breakfast and had saved some rice cakes for later. This was just right for Fang to have a few more pieces. "My mother-in-law likes it. Don't be polite. Homemade ones are not expensive."
Fang was indeed hungry. "Then I won't be polite."
"Don't talk nonsense, we are all family."
After Zhulan finished speaking, she said to Zhao, "Go and tell your sister-in-law to prepare two tables of food."
Zhao stood up and said, "I'll go find my sister-in-law right away."
"Go ahead!"
Fang then remembered that her daughter was in charge of the Zhou family's household expenses. She asked herself, if she had a daughter-in-law, she really couldn't do what Yang did. She wouldn't torture her daughter-in-law, but she wouldn't give up the power in her hands. She also had to be on guard against her daughter-in-law winning her son's heart and making him disobey her in the future. So she admired Yang more and more. Most people really couldn't be so good to their daughter-in-law!
Zhulan felt admired, and after trying to guess what was on Fang's mind, she laughed inwardly. She wondered why Fang was so kind to her daughter-in-law and gave her power so generously. It was because she and Zhou Shuren were not biological parents. Their goal from the beginning to the end was to make their own lives better.
As for the issue of filial piety, she and Zhou Shuren are not afraid at all. If the children of the Zhou family dare to have evil thoughts, they will tell them what their stepfather and stepmother look like in a minute. She and Zhou Shuren will not hesitate to take ruthless action!
Zhao came back soon. Li and Dong came with her. They didn't come over right away because they knew that Zhao's mother and mother-in-law had a private conversation. Now that Zhao was out, they knew that the conversation was over, so they naturally came over to acknowledge her. It was not only out of etiquette, but also to give Zhao face.
Fang was very happy after hearing the two "Auntie". As a former housekeeper, she knew the most about gifts for meeting someone. "I don't have any good things, so please don't despise my bracelet."
Fang took off the bracelet from her wrist. It was a jade bracelet that she specially brought for this visit, and also because she considered that the family was a scholar family, and gold was too tacky. She bought a pair of bracelets, one for each of them.
Mrs. Dong recognized the good stuff, it was a jade bracelet of good quality, "Thank you, auntie."
Zhulan looked up at the ceiling, she was afraid that she would laugh out loud. Fang also encountered the same problem that she had encountered before, and Li could not help her!
Fang was embarrassed. Zhao held back her laughter and took the bracelet and stuffed it into her sister-in-law's pocket. Fang was relieved of her embarrassment and said dryly, "It's good to keep this bracelet."
Li, “… … ..”
Could she say that she had really tried to lose weight? But after touching the three layers of fat on her belly, she realized that she couldn't lose any more weight. Her mother told her that she had inherited the body type of the Li family and that it would be like this for the rest of her life. The harder she struggled, the fatter she would get!
Li accepted the jade bracelet silently, feeling mad in her heart. Why did he give her a jade bracelet? It would be fine if he gave her gold or silver. At least she could find a silver shop to melt it and make it custom-made for her.
I feel sad when I think that the jade bracelet will be given to my daughter in the future and she can only look at it but not wear it!
Zhulan coughed. Li was really sad. She comforted Li and said, "I will find you a jade bracelet that you can wear in the future."
At worst, when I have money in the future, I can just buy the material and take out what Li can carry!
Li's eyes lit up. Mother-in-law is still the best. "Mother."
Zhulan wanted to touch Li's head, and she couldn't bear to bully him anymore. "Okay, let's go buy some groceries!"
Li responded crisply, "Hey!"
Zhulan curled the corners of her mouth, she was happy again!
Fang was stunned. Is this how the Zhou family's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law get along? Didn't Li think that her mother-in-law was coaxing her? She actually believed it and was so happy!
She didn't believe that Yang could find it. If the Zhou family was a wealthy family, she would believe it, but the Zhou family was just a family of scholars with some wealth. Seeing her daughter believe it, she smiled in her heart. Why did she worry about all this? The better her daughter's in-laws' family was, the happier she would be!
Afterwards, Zhao came in with a few more children, and Fang gave them all gifts, each of which was one or two taels of silver.
Zhulan's mouth twitched. She felt that the Zhou family's fortune had always been prosperous!
At noon, in order to bring honor to the Zhou family, Li used all her housekeeping skills. There were twelve dishes on the table, all prepared by Li. Although she used the mutton sent by the Qian family, Li's cooking skills were good and the Qian family was very satisfied with the meal.
After the meal, the Qian family left. Zhulan asked, "Did Qian Shengbao come here for his grandson? Does he also want to study in the academy?"