Zhulan had been accompanying Wu Li for a while. Wu Li was still crying, crying very sadly. Wu Li finally calmed down. Zhulan asked with concern, "Auntie, are you feeling better?"
Wu Li wiped away her tears and said in a choked and hoarse voice, "I'm much better now. I'm sorry to have embarrassed you today."
She really had no one to vent her anger to, and she didn't dare cry in front of the old man. Thinking that Yang was a tight-lipped person, she came over.
Zhulan understood that everyone has a fragile side, and as Wu Li was getting older, it was normal for her to be sentimental. "Aunt, what you said is untrue."
Mrs. Wu Li sighed, "I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. I'm really sad. Wu Ming became a scholar and studied under a famous teacher. The eldest brother's family came to our house to repent. I'm the one who made you angry. People get soft-hearted when they get old. Plus, your uncle and I are old and don't have the energy to go out with Wu Ming, so we forgave the eldest brother and his wife. Who would have thought that they would set their sights on Wu Ming's marriage?"
Mrs. Wu Li felt a little embarrassed when she mentioned marriage. She had once liked Xue Han.
Zhulan thought it was no wonder that Wu Li was so sad. Children are the most deliberate in hurting their parents. Seeing that Wu Li had no intention of continuing to talk, she changed the subject and said, "Aunt, try the cakes made by Li."
Mrs. Wu Li took a piece of the rice cake and tasted it. "Your eldest daughter-in-law is a really good cook. You are a blessed person."
She was really envious. She only had two daughters-in-law, one of whom was dead, and the other was still calculating. Whenever she gave her something, she would not be satisfied unless she got more in return. They were nothing like Yang's daughters-in-law, who were not only obedient and sensible, but also nice to Yang.
Zhulan kept smiling. Except for Mrs. Dong, the other two daughters-in-law were all taught by her personally. However, Mrs. Li was a good cook, so she was really lucky.
Zhulan saw Wu Lishi's disappointment. Well, Wu Lishi is very sensitive now. She can associate everything with her family. She should not follow the conversation and change the subject. "I see that Wu Ning has a good foundation. When do you think you can officially become his disciple?"
This was a happy event. Wu Li's depressed mood improved and she was a little excited. "Become my disciple?"
Nowadays, some skills are not passed on to outsiders. She came here shamelessly just hoping to get some guidance. Unexpectedly, she could become a disciple. Now that her granddaughter has the skill of embroidery, she will be looked up to by her husband's family in the future.
Zhu Lan smiled and said, "Yes, Zhao really likes Wu Ning and thinks that we are a good match. That's why she mentioned it to me. Even if you didn't come today, I would have gone to tell you."
Mrs. Wu Li was happy. These past few days had been filled with bad things. Now there was something good. "Thank you, auntie."
She knew in her heart that without Yang's help, Zhao would not easily accept a disciple.
Zhulan: "You are too polite, auntie."
Wu Li stood up and said, "Then I will go back. I will become your disciple tomorrow. What do you think?"
"Tomorrow is a good day, so let's set it for tomorrow."
Wu Li smiled again, "Don't send me off."
Zhulan knew that Wu Li was not being polite, but she still had to see her off as it was etiquette. After seeing Wu Li off, Zhulan informed Zhao.
Zhao also liked Wu Ning. The little girl was very understanding. "Mom, do I need to prepare anything tomorrow?"
This was her first time accepting an apprentice.
Zhu Lan said: "You are officially accepting a disciple, so you need to prepare a gift for the meeting. You can give it as you like!"
Zhao had money and jewelry in her hands, so she didn't need to envy her sister-in-law anymore. After thinking about it, she knew what to give her, "Yes."
On the second day, Wu Li came with a gift for becoming an apprentice. The gift consisted of six items, including food and cloth. It was a very valuable gift for the Wu family.
Zhao accepted the gift, and after becoming the disciple, she took a pair of silver earrings as a gift.
Wu Ning took it with both hands, "Thank you, Master."
Zhao smiled and said, "Just call me aunt."
Wu Ning glanced at her grandmother and saw her nod. She smiled and said, "Aunt."
Zhao liked the little girl very much. When she didn't get along well with her eldest sister-in-law before, she was willing to help take care of Yu Lu who was a few months old, all because she liked the girl. "Good child, come and learn tomorrow."
Wu Ning was happy, "Yeah."
Not only did she like embroidery, but she could also supplement the family income by learning it, so her elder brother didn't have to work so hard.
After becoming Zhou's apprentice, Wu Ning came to Zhou's house every day. Zhulan liked Wu Ning in the first place, and the little girl was always in front of her, so Zhulan paid more attention to her. Suddenly, she found that Wu Ning had grown up a lot. The grown-up Wu Ning looked really good. When comparing looks, Wu Ning and Xue Han each had their own merits, but as for their personalities.
Xue Han is calm and steady, because her family is very happy. Xue Han's eyes are bright and her smile gives people a sweet feeling.
Wu Ning is different. She lost her mother and father due to accidents when she was young, and she tried her best not to cause trouble to others. The girl was very sensible and precocious. She seldom smiled, and when she did, she smiled with her lips pursed, giving people the impression that she was very well-behaved.
Zhulan sighed. Although Wu Ning had her own ideas in mind, she was too quiet. She hoped that her daughter-in-law would be more outgoing and could take care of the fourth room.
Zhao was a perceptive person. She noticed her mother-in-law looking at Wu Ning several times. Later, her mother-in-law stopped paying attention to her. Zhao understood that her mother-in-law felt that Wu Ning was not suitable for Chang Zhi.
She should have avoided the meeting between Wu Ning and Chang Zhi. Usually, she kept Wu Ning in the house. The girl was in love and they had a childhood sweetheart. Chang Zhi was also good-looking, so it was better to keep them apart.
Zhulan also noticed this and was satisfied with Zhao. Zhao was a thoughtful person, but she always did things in the most thorough way.
In a blink of an eye, it was the day when Zhou Shuren would go to participate in the competition. The sons of the Zhou family only knew that their father was very busy recently, but they had no idea what he was busy with.
Zhou Shuren wanted to bring one real and one fake antique to the competition, and he took Zhulan's jade bracelet.
Zhou Shuren left at noon. After he left, Zhulan became absent-minded, worrying about the result in her mind. She went out from time to time to look at the sky and calculate the time.
On the other side, Zhou Shuren and Jiang Ming were sitting upstairs. It was not yet his turn to participate in the competition, and now they were competing in another way.
Jiang Ming drank his tea with a playful look in his eyes. At first, he didn't think much about it when he met Zhou Shuren. But when he got home, he realized that the man was deliberately stalking him. He was not angry, but found it interesting. Later, he sent someone to the antique shop to ask. It turned out that the man caught him the first time, proving that Zhou Shuren was a really capable person.
In fact, he never cared about his father-in-law's mention of Zhou Shuren several times. He had seen many talented scholars, but it is not enough to have talent, but also luck, or to put it bluntly, luck in becoming an official. Before Zhou Shuren passed the imperial examination, he had never thought of meeting him.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Shuren wanted to borrow his strength and went through such a big detour, but this was also the smartest part, because Zhou Shuren knew clearly in his heart that Zhou Shuren had no weight at all.
He found it interesting and really wanted to see Zhou Shuren's appraisal skills. He had been waiting for a long time to watch the fun, so he came today to give him some face.
An hour later, the first game was over, and Zhou Shuren stood up. "It's my turn, Lord Jiang. I'll go down first."
Jiang Ming held up the teacup, "I'll use tea instead of wine. I hope you can win the game."
He would be disappointed if he lost after putting in so much effort, and Zhou Shuren would also have a low reputation in his heart.
Zhou Shuren understood, but he didn't say much after drinking the tea. No matter how much he said, it was all empty talk, and no matter how beautiful the words were, they were not as good as the results.