In order not to be embarrassed about flower arrangement, Zhulan took her daughter to arrange a few vases these past two days. She clearly remembered that when the girl was learning flower arrangement from her, her flower arrangement was only beautiful, but there was no artistic conception of matching.
Zhulan took a closer look at the vase with the most votes, with a smile in her eyes. This girl took advantage of the situation, as she matched it according to the shape of the headpiece, and the red flower in the middle was the finishing touch.
Zhulan handed the number of votes and the list to Hua and said, "We can't give out the first prize today."
In one sentence, we all know who won the first place.
Hua looked at the list and the number of votes quickly, her face froze. She thought her daughter's work was the best. Although she seldom taught her daughter, she believed that her daughter, as a lady from an official family, had some aesthetic taste.
Miao was also unhappy because her daughter was not as good as the girl from a farming and scholarly family.
Xue Han was very surprised, she thought the headwear was very beautifully matched and eye-catching, she didn't expect to win. Her expectations were not high, as long as she didn't embarrass her parents.
Hua and Miao laughed dryly and said congratulations in a dry voice.
Afterwards, the two wanted to show off their daughter, and wanted her to perform all the arts of music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Unfortunately, Zhulan's family didn't have music or chess. As for writing and painting, Xue Han was not afraid at all. Xue Han had been very self-disciplined since she was young, and she had never stopped writing big characters every day. Xue Han's calligraphy had already had its own style.
As for painting, Zhulan likes painting and often takes her daughter to paint together. Practice makes perfect, and Xuehan has some talent.
Hua and Miao were so upset that they decided to go home and teach their daughters personally. Xue Han also aroused the jealousy among the young ladies from official families.
Xue Han was destined not to become friends with the daughters of the two families.
The banquet had sixteen dishes, and there was nothing wrong with them. Hua said dryly, "Mrs. Zhou is so thoughtful. Thank you for your trouble."
Zhu Lan said politely, "It's my pleasure, Hua Yiren, please."
Everyone had their own thoughts during the meal. After seeing Zhulan's shrewdness today, no one would look down on Zhulan anymore. Not only did they not dare to look down on Zhulan, they were also very polite to the Yang family and did not dare to look down on the Yang family for being rude behind their backs.
After the banquet, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren saw everyone off. After everyone had left, the couple smiled at each other.
In the Chen family's car, Hua Shi described the situation in the backyard, "Mr. Zhou's wife is very cunning. I have been angry all day today."
Chen Chen covered his chest with his hands. He had been thinking that he could relieve the pain in his heart from his wife's words, but now it hurt even more.
When Hua saw the master's appearance, she sighed and said, "In the future, let's live in peace with the Zhizhou family!"
Chen Chen pursed his lips, "Yeah."
In the He family's carriage, He Jun talked about what happened in the front yard, and Miao talked about the wonderful things in the backyard. The couple looked at each other and thought, Lord Zhou and his wife cannot be messed with!
After just one banquet, everyone knew what kind of person Zhulan was, and all the bad rumors about her disappeared.
Zhulan received many invitations one after another. Except for some official positions that were too low to be invited, all the invitations above the sixth rank were received.
In the following month, Zhulan attended an event every few days and completely integrated into the circle of officials' wives in Lizhou City, and brought Wuchun's wife, Wu, along with her.
Zhulan and the wives of officials in Lizhou City were on good terms for a month, but none of the wives caught Zhulan's eye. However, Xuehan did make a friend, the daughter of Zheng Hong from the Zheng family. She met her on a visit to the Yang family. Zheng Hong's daughter was one year younger than Xuehan. The sons of the Zheng family all had good martial arts, but the daughters were all pampered.
The little girl Zheng Yu, Zheng Hong’s eldest daughter, is one year younger than Xue Han. However, because she is the eldest daughter, she is much calmer than Xue Han.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye it was August. The weather in August was really hot. The only thing that made Zhulan happy was that the watermelons and melons she planted were about to ripen. Because they were planted from seeds, they matured relatively late, until September.
In Lizhou City, not only Zhulan's family planted watermelons, but the Yang family also planted a lot. Some wealthy families followed suit and planted some as well. There were quite a lot of watermelons and fruits in Lizhou City.
In the past two months, Zhou Shuren has made full use of the labor force. The roads have been repaired, ponds have been dug, and some farmers' dilapidated houses have been demolished and rebuilt.
The entire village near Lizhou City has changed dramatically. Although the government no longer employs people, the people are smiling all the time as the high-yield crops of sweet potatoes and potatoes are about to be harvested, and Zhou Shuren's reputation has become even higher.
The families of the people who participated in the employment had more or less some silver and money. There were more merchants in Lizhou City in the past two months. Not only restaurants were opened, but also inns. From time to time, foreign merchants came to Lizhou City, and the price of the shop that Zhulan bought also went up.
When Zhou Shuren returned home at night, he saw Zhulan sitting at the table writing. "What are you writing? Why are you so focused?"
Zhulan was so focused that she got a little startled. After she calmed down for a while, she said, "The watermelons and melons are about to ripen. I thought of writing some flyers to let the nearby prefectures know that we have late watermelons and melons in Lizhou City."
Zhou Shuren took a bite of the watermelon in his hand. The watermelons his family ate were all bought in Chuanzhou City. Zhou Shuren counted the days and asked, "Is the watermelon supply in Chuanzhou going to end?"
Zhulan nodded, "Chuanzhou planted the rice seedlings in the fields ten days earlier than us. I asked the eldest brother to check it out. In a few days, there will be no watermelons to sell in the fields."
Zhou Shuren ate the watermelon and washed his hands and said, "Are our apples going to be ripe soon?"
Zhulan smiled and said, "We have to wait a little longer, around the end of October."
Zhulan went to see the orchard in person. The high price she spent on hiring the fruit farmers was worth it. The fruit trees were well taken care of and the fruits were of good quality. Although the fruits were not very large due to the ancient varieties, there were still quite a few of them. Zhulan couldn't help but calculate how much money she could earn this year.
Zhou Shuren picked up the promotional slogan written by Zhulan and asked, "Are you planning to have people promote it near the inns in each state?"
Zhu Lan nodded. "Foreign merchants are rich. They all gather in the inn. They are well-informed. They can't eat so many late watermelons and melons, so they will naturally inform their companions. Merchants from this dynasty will also pay attention to the movements of foreign merchants, which will naturally attract more merchants to Lizhou. As long as you take the merchants to the fields, you can see the orchards. Merchants will come to buy the fruits before they are ripe."
In ancient times, fruits were valuable and their yields were low. People would only complain about the small number of fruits, but no one would complain about the large number of fruits.
Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "Your publicity saves the government a lot of trouble."
Zhu Lan smiled and said, "The government has a lot of things to do. You should also publicize the plan to build Lizhou City into an apple state in the future. Only by spreading the word can more people know about it and attract more fruit merchants to come."
Zhou Shuren nodded and was about to speak, but Butler Ding knocked on the door and said, "Master, Madam."
Zhou Shuren asked, "What's the matter?"
It’s almost dark, no one should be coming!