Zhou Shuren entered the house in a chill, put on his slippers and got on the kang, curled up in the quilt, "This weather is really cold, I am frozen all over, the frostbite on my feet has finally healed a little, now it itches again, I must have frostbite again."
Zhulan motioned Liuya to get some medicine for foot bathing, "Don't tell me you've been freezing outside?"
Zhou Shuren took the hand warmer that Zhulan handed to him. His hands were a little red and swollen from the cold. He had helped catch fish today, but when he thought of Lord Chen and Lord He who were in even worse condition, he comforted himself a little.
Zhou Shuren rubbed his hands and said, "I was the one who advocated contracting out the pond. Now that the harvest has come, I naturally want to participate in person."
Zhulan felt so distressed when she saw Zhou Shuren's miserable appearance. She thought it was difficult to be a good official, so she quickly found the medicine prescribed by the doctor.
Liu Ya came in with a foot basin, and Zhu Lan pulled Zhou Shuren, "Soak the medicine first."
Zhou Shuren recovered a little and motioned Liu Ya to go out. His feet felt better after soaking in the medicine. "It's been many years. I almost forgot the feeling of frostbite."
He often suffers from frostbite in the orphanage in winter, and the frostbite recurs every year, making him very uncomfortable. He has tried various methods but to no avail. He waited until he grew up and had some money to dress warmly, and then he slowly recovered. Now he has experienced it again, and he is very upset.
Zhu Lan held Zhou Shuren's hand and said, "All the fish in the pond have been sold. You don't have to go out anymore!"
Zhou Shuren nodded, "Yes, from now on I will not leave the city except to go to the government office."
He had done everything he was supposed to do and had lived up to the people of Lizhou City. This year, he felt like he had aged more than two years. It was too much work!
While Zhou Shuren was soaking his feet, Zhulan told him about Zhou Laoer and others, letting Zhou Shuren know the situation. Finally, she said, "If you have anything to say, go ask them after dinner."
Zhou Shuren waved his hands, "I am really tired, just ask me, I don't have anything to say, give me some time to relax."
He has been worrying about the people for the past six months and planning for his own and Zhulan's lives. He really doesn't want to worry about the Zhou family's sons. Anyway, Zhulan is no worse than him. With Zhulan keeping watch, he feels at ease.
Zhulan looked at Zhou Shuren's tired face. Age can't lie. No matter how hard Zhou Laoer and Chang Lian worked, they just needed to recuperate. Zhou Shuren couldn't get back to his best condition. "It would be great if Mr. Lu was here."
Zhou Shuren, "Don't think about it. The old man will not leave his hometown when he gets old."
Zhulan was just thinking about it, but when she heard Liuya say that the food was on the table and there was a whole family to meet, she said, "Let's go, come back and rest after dinner."
Zhou Shuren stood up and said, "Yeah."
This time all the Zhou family members were present, and there were no empty seats at the two tables; they were now full.
Zhou Shuren had Zhulan's inoculation. When he saw Changyi and Changlian stand up and kneel, he quickly motioned for them to sit down. Zhou Shuren first glanced at Mingyun and Rongchuan, and finally glanced at Zhou Laoer and Changlian. Well, he was jealous. He worked so hard as a father, but his two adopted sons were plump. Even if they lost weight after traveling all the way, they still looked a lot fatter. Zhou Shuren was so upset that he was even more unwilling to talk. "We're all home. Today is the reunion dinner. I don't have much to say. It's good for the family to be together. Let's eat."
Zhou Shuren was hungry. He had lunch at a commoner's house. Although it was stewed fish, he was embarrassed to eat it. He didn't eat much. Now he just wanted to drink some hot chicken soup.
Zhou Laoer saw his father picking up chopsticks to eat, and he had prepared a lot of words for nothing. He felt bad when he saw that his father had lost a lot of weight. His father had done everything for the family, so he stood up and served his father some chicken soup, "Dad."
Zhou Shuren hummed, "Sit down and eat."
Zhou Laoer felt even more sad. He got closer and saw the fatigue on his father's face. Only then did he realize that his father had great responsibilities as an official. When their family were ordinary people, he hoped to have a good official. He knew even better how difficult it was to be a good official. Thinking about the news he had heard today, his father had really worked hard.
Zhou Shuren didn't like anyone except Zhulan to pick food for him. He tolerated it once or twice, but when it happened too many times, Zhou Shuren's face turned black.
"Eat your own."
Zhou Laoer took back his chopsticks, "..."
How could he forget that Dad doesn't like people picking food for him? Well, apart from the food picked by Mom, Dad eats whatever Mom leaves behind. As for his sons, haha, Dad doesn't even need to hide his disgusted expression. Look, the old man has changed his dinner plan!
After dinner, Zhou Shuren couldn't hold on any longer and wanted to go back to rest. Zhulan signaled that everyone could go, and Zhulan got up and went back to the house with Zhou Shuren.
Zhao and Dong waited for the whole afternoon, hoping to talk more with their mother-in-law.
It didn't take them long to pack their luggage. Most of the time was spent trying to get the little girl to talk. Especially after they knew how good the mother-in-law was to the eldest sister-in-law, they were really anxious.
Li wrapped herself in the new cloak her mother-in-law had given her and yawned. She was also sleepy. "Boss, let's go back!"
Zhou Lao Da felt that his wife was particularly fond of sleeping while pregnant with this child, and was afraid that she would fall down due to yawning, so he carefully supported her and said, "Okay."
Zhao's attention was focused on her sister-in-law, and she felt even more jealous. Her sister-in-law changed two cloaks in one day? Now she was wearing top-grade fur!
She was also knowledgeable. Ever since her father-in-law passed the imperial examination, the Qian family had given her many gifts. When her father-in-law became a fifth-rank prefect, the Qian family even gave her furs and silver in the name of supplementing her dowry. It was a pity that she was rejected by her husband.
Dong was the daughter of an official, but she had never had many top-notch wives. She felt jealous. When she thought about the fact that her elder brother and sister-in-law were surrounded by people, and Ming Teng, who was not very old, had servants, Dong felt even more jealous.
Li didn't know that she was jealous, and she slowly returned to the yard. Today her mother-in-law made her feel at ease, and she felt much more relaxed and could sleep well.
Zhulan returned to the room, and Zhou Shuren took off his clothes and got on the kang. "Are you not going to rest yet?"
Zhulan, "Now that all the rooms are together, no matter how partial I am, I can't just give the servants to the eldest room. I still have to make some arrangements."
Zhou Shuren pursed his lips unhappily, "More people means more trouble."
"Don't think so. They can help me a lot when they come. I have already planned that in the future, the farmland near home will be managed by the eldest son, and the industries in Jiangnan and other places will be managed by the second son. Zhou Laoer is very thoughtful and few people can fool him. I can feel more at ease."
Zhou Shuren's impatience subsided after hearing this. "How are you going to arrange the servants? Apart from the fixed ones, few of our servants can be transferred."
Zhulan said, "I am not planning to buy any more maids or servants. After more than half a year of getting to know them, I found that the three servants and maids who volunteered to sell themselves are of good character. The people from these three families have also passed my test. I have asked the boss to hire them to work in the orchard. They can only rely on us in the future, and I can trust them more."
Zhou Shuren knew that Zhulan was cautious. In ancient times, they were even more cautious for their lives and property. This was taking into account all possible future events. "Do you want to give the two servants who are willing to sell themselves to Lao Er and Chang Lian?"