Zhou Shuren went to the side room and knocked on the door. When Jiang Sheng came out, Zhou Shuren handed the blanket and diaper to Jiang Sheng with a dark face, "Are the child and Xuemei okay?"
Jiang Sheng's heart trembled. His father-in-law was in a bad mood. Recalling his mother-in-law's tired face, he understood why his father-in-law was angry with him. "The child and Xuemei are both fine. Dad, you and mom can rest assured and go to bed early!"
Zhou Shuren nodded, turned around and went back to the house. When he entered the house, he saw that Zhulan was already asleep.
Zhou Shuren blew out the candle and went to the kang. In the dark, he pinched Zhulan's nose and said resentfully, "You really treat Zhou's children as your own!"
Zhu Lan couldn't breathe properly and slapped Zhou Shuren's hand away, mumbling in a daze, "Stop it."
Zhou Shuren chuckled and hugged Zhulan. This guy is really too soft-hearted sometimes.
The next day, Zhulan didn't get up early. When she woke up, breakfast was already ready. Zhulan's legs felt a little uncomfortable because she stood for a long time yesterday, one and a half hours, which is three hours!
For breakfast, Li made rice porridge, cornmeal pancakes, steamed egg custard, and two stir-fried vegetables. After breakfast, all the oil, salt, sauce and vinegar brought back from Pingzhou were gone.
Xuemei rested for a night, and in the morning she drank rice porridge and ate five boiled eggs in one go. Xuemei's milk supply was good, and the two little ones were also in good condition.
Zhulan was sitting nearby changing the baby's diaper and asked, "These two little guys are nine months old now, right?"
Xuemei had never calculated it, so she calculated in her mind, "Mom, it's already nine months."
Zhulan was relieved. She was not superstitious, but the memory of her original body was quite accurate in terms of whether she would live or not.
Xuemei bit her lip and said, "Mom, I didn't expect them to be so anxious to come out. Thank you for your hard work yesterday."
Zhulan smiled and said, "They also know how to make ends meet. Both of them are blessed."
Xuemei thought that the two little ones were indeed blessed. She felt at ease knowing that the children were born in her mother's home. She felt especially at ease with her mother by her side. However, she did not trust her husband so much. Although her husband was very steady, he was always panicked every time she gave birth. This time, there were two children. If she had really given birth at home, who knows how chaotic it would be!
Zhulan put the children down. She didn't dare to use any force or move lightly. The two children were too young. "Just stay at home and rest assured. If I leave, your second brother and his family are still here. Your second sister-in-law will take care of you, so I can feel more at ease."
Xuemei blinked her eyes and asked, "Brother, are you staying in your hometown and not going back?"
Zhu Lan nodded, "Well, the autumn harvest is coming soon. He can come back to watch over the harvest, and Jiang Sheng only needs to take care of the 20 acres of land in Zhoujia Village. Jiang Sheng can also take better care of you."
Xuemei didn't expect to get pregnant again. They were supposed to take care of her family's land. "If I wasn't pregnant, my second brother and his family wouldn't have to stay."
Zhulan smiled and said, "Even if you weren't pregnant, your father would have let your second brother come back."
Xuemei is indeed one reason. Zhou Shuren arranged his sons in this way, more because he wanted to test the ability of the second son and Chang Lian to be the head of the family alone.
Xuemei felt that something was wrong. Although she did not see her sisters-in-law yesterday, she heard some noises in the house early in the morning. Her second sister-in-law and her younger sister-in-law were very affectionate to her eldest sister-in-law. She did not forget her younger sister-in-law's arrogance. However, as a daughter who married out, giving birth to a child at home would be enough trouble for her mother, so it was better for her not to ask or interfere.
Zhulan left the house, and Jiang Sheng came forward, "Mom, Dad is going back to Zhoujia Village, I'm going back with him to get the baby's things."
Zhulan said, "Go ahead. I'll take care of Xuemei and the child."
Jiang Sheng bowed and said, "Thank you, mother."
Zhulan waited for Zhou Shuren to leave with Zhou Lao Da and Jiang Sheng, then called Lao Er over, "Send Mr. Lu back to the county, and buy all the things the family needs when you come back. I'll write you a list later, and you just buy according to it."
Zhou Laoer said, "Mom, I'll go get the car first."
"Okay, come pick up the order later."
"Why!"
Zhulan held the pen and thought, there are really a lot of things missing at home. My daughter is in confinement at home, so she needs to sell pig's trotters, soybeans, and crucian carp. She also needs to buy oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, millet, rice, and flour for household use, as well as some pork ribs, roast chicken, and braised meat. Most importantly, she needs to buy paper and wine for visiting the graves, and some fruit.
Although the fruits in Northeast China are either mountain pears or hawthorns and are not particularly delicious, they are better than nothing.
Zhulan wrote as she thought, and in total she wrote a page of paper. Her handwriting was small, and she carefully counted the fifteen or sixteen items she wanted to buy.
Zhou Laoer came back and took a look at the list. There were so many good things. "Mom, I'm leaving now."
"kindness."
After Zhou Laoer saw Grandpa Lu off, several daughters-in-law of the Zhou family, including Li went back to her parents' home, while Zhao was packing the second daughter-in-law's luggage. The second daughter-in-law had the most luggage this time as they were going to stay in their hometown, so they didn't actually bring many things back, mainly clothes and quilts, and they had everything they needed for the house.
Zhulan was preparing to make small clothes with the remaining fine cotton when Mrs. Dong knocked on the door and came in, "Mom."
Zhulan motioned for Dong to sit down, "I know why you are here. You will go to the grave to pay respects tomorrow. The day after tomorrow you and Changlian will go back to your mother's home to stay for a few days."
Dong was delighted, "Hey!"
She just wanted to visit her parents, and her mother-in-law actually allowed her to go back and live there for a few days. As long as she didn't cross her mother-in-law's bottom line, she was still generous to her daughters-in-law.
Mrs. Dong picked up the cloth and said, "Mom, I will help you sew it."
"No, just help me go check on your elder sister. If you need anything, just call me."
Dong put down the cloth, "Hey."
Zhulan was skilled in needlework. By the time Jiang Sheng came back driving the ox cart, she had finished making all the clothes. Zhulan was very satisfied with Jiang Sheng washing the baby's diapers. Not to mention in ancient times, even in modern times there are many men who don't care about anything. She thought it was rare to have a Zhou Laoer in ancient times, but she didn't expect that Jiang Sheng didn't despise him, especially since Jiang Sheng was a scholar, which was even more rare.
Among the four sons of Zhou family, the eldest son is not the proactive type. He is capable of being instructed by Li, even behind others' backs. The second son does not care at all. As for Chang Lian, Zhulan does not even need to bet that Chang Lian will never raise a finger. As for Chang Zhi, Zhulan is really unsure. This kid really cares about the things he cares about, and he will not pay attention at all if he does not care.
Jiang Sheng moved all the things the child used into the house. Seeing his mother-in-law holding a basin to wash the child's clothes, he quickly reached out and said, "Mom, just leave it to me."
He didn't dare to trouble his mother-in-law. His father-in-law's face was so scary that he was so frightened that he kept his eyes open while resting last night.
Now his father-in-law has become a juren, and who knows, he might become an official in the future. He is really scared!
Zhulan watched Jiang Sheng take the basin away and remained silent. Zhou Shuren must have scared Jiang Sheng yesterday.
Jiang Sheng is a diligent and clean man. Zhulan sits on a chair and watches Jiang Sheng wash clothes. Jiang Sheng washes clothes very carefully. She never washes clothes three times. She is used to washing twice and then rinsing them three times. Jiang Sheng washes them three times and rinses them three times.
Half an hour later, Zhou Laoer came back. All the necessary household items had been purchased. Zhou Laoer didn't buy too much. His parents said they would leave a horse-drawn carriage at home. It would be convenient for him to go to the county with a carriage. If he needed anything, he could just go to the county and buy it.