Zhulan took her family to have lunch before going home. When she got home, all four sons were standing in the house. The daughter-in-law had been beaten and was curious, so she didn't dare to come over.
Zhulan sat down to warm herself for a while, then said to her four sons, "I am indeed going to Jiangnan."
Zhou Lao Da is the eldest brother. He is really worried about his mother, especially since traveling in winter is too hard. "Mom, if you have anything to do, let your son go."
Zhulan felt the boss's genuine concern and raised her eyebrows. She found that the boss had changed back to the way he was when she first came. Since Zhou Shuren's identity changed, the boss's concern was more or less thoughtful. It seemed that Li's behavior taught the boss a lesson. "You can't do it this time. Today, the four of you are here, so I'll tell you everything. I plan to go to Jiangnan to buy two manors. This is something I planned a long time ago."
Zhou Laoer had been in Lizhou city for seven days and had figured out some of the family accounts. He estimated that including the silver he brought back, the family had as much as five thousand taels. He was really shocked. He had heard from Chang Lian that his mother had bought another house in the capital. He didn't expect that his family still had so much silver and money. You know, there were orchards and land, all of which were silver and money. After they were converted into cash, well, the family fortune was too rich.
Now that he heard his mother saying that she wanted to buy two farms, Zhou Laoer's brain came to life. It is indeed better to buy farms than to keep the money in his hands. The income from the farms is basically fixed every year as long as it is not a disaster year. In the future, there will be two stable incomes every year, which can add up to a lot.
Zhou Laoer said excitedly: "Son, go with mother."
He knew that his mother was just like his father, and that it was useless to persuade him with unwavering words. It would be better for him to follow his mother and broaden his horizons.
Chang Lian wanted to go, but he swallowed the words back because his teacher was teaching him and he couldn't leave.
Changzhi wanted to go. He really liked Jiangnan. Jiangnan had beautiful scenery and many students. He didn’t stay there long enough last time. “Mom, please take your son with you.”
Zhulan rolled her eyes in her heart. She would not take Changzhi with her. She went to Jiangnan for business and she did not want to worry about Changzhi. "You still have to teach Mingteng and Mingrui, so you stay."
Changzhi was unwilling to accept it, "Mom."
Zhulan, "I wanted to talk to your father and ask him to show you the book he got."
Chang Zhi, “… … .”
Just half a sentence. Isn't this a threat to him
Zhulan drank tea and looked at her eldest son with a smile. It was good to have more books at home, as it would be convenient for her to grasp Changzhi's life pulse.
Changzhi smiled and said, "Mom, don't worry. When you come back, I will make sure Mingteng can recite the poetry collection and Mingrui can recite the Thousand Character Classic from memory."
Boss Zhou, "..."
Zhou Laoer, "..."
This is revenge!
Zhulan smiled and said to Zhou Lao Da and Zhou Lao Er, "You two come with me. Oh, and come with Butler Ding. I'm not at home because I'm going to Jiangnan. Chang Lian will be in charge of the house."
Boss Zhou breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that he could go with his mother and take good care of her.
Zhou Laoer was very happy. Now that his mother was taking him with her, he had long wanted to take charge of things like his older brother.
Zhulan said to Changlian, "After a few days, the river water will be frozen solid. Remember to hire people to collect ice and put it in the small ice cellar. In the other larger ice cellar, you can use wooden barrels to freeze the well water and store it there."
She has two ice cellars, one for ice in the summer and the other for clean water so she can have clean drinking water in case of drought.
Chang Lian said, "Mom, I've written it all down."
In the evening, Zhulan told her daughters-in-law that Li just needed to take care of the pregnancy, Zhao would be in charge of the kitchen, Dong took over the sewing room, and Xuehan would be in charge of the backyard.
Zhulan doesn't really trust her two daughters-in-law, and she feels more at ease with her daughter.
Zhulan made all the arrangements and spent two days packing the luggage at home. When everything was ready, Zhulan was ready to set off.
At night, Zhou Shuren rarely nagged: "Be careful not to catch a cold on the way. If you feel a little uncomfortable, you must see a doctor. It doesn't matter if the journey is slow, you must take good care of yourself."
The more Zhou Shuren talked, the more worried he became. He really wanted to go with Zhulan. This time was different from his first time going out, but the relationship between them was vague at that time, and they were not that reluctant to part.
But it’s different now. He wishes Zhulan was wherever he was. The more Zhulan leaves home, the more anxious he becomes.
Zhu Lan held Zhou Shuren's hand and said, "Look at you. I'm already so old, and I can't take care of myself?"
Zhou Shuren took a deep breath to calm himself, but he couldn't calm down. Damn the ancient times. He missed his cell phone and video calls. At least he could always know if Zhulan was okay. He said sullenly, "I really don't want you to leave."
But he also knew that he would never have the chance to take Zhulan to Jiangnan in the future unless he retired. But by that time they would be old and could not withstand the long journey. Besides, Zhulan also wanted to help him, so he had no reason not to support her.
Zhulan touched Zhou Shuren's face. Fortunately, Zhou Shuren stopped talking, otherwise, she would really be reluctant to leave. But she would not feel at ease unless she saw Zhuangzi with her own eyes. And she also missed Jiangnan. This was probably the only chance, because not only Zhou Shuren had a premonition, but she also had one. There was no way she could be transferred to Jiangnan.
The next morning, Zhou Shuren's eyes were black. Zhulan brought Liuya to the carriage, pulled open the curtain and looked at Zhou Shuren. Well, she didn't want to leave anymore. She looked at Chang Lian who stayed behind. She felt a little sympathetic towards Chang Lian. It would be better not to provoke Zhou Shuren, otherwise when she was not at home, Chang Lian could only fend for himself.
There were four carriages in total, and each carriage was filled with luggage for the journey. Zhulan had her maid with her on this trip, so she brought all the things with her and could finally travel comfortably.
Zhou Shuren didn't get on the carriage to go to the yamen until it was out of sight. Until Zhou Shuren left, Chang Lian and his party didn't dare to leave either.
Without Zhulan, Zhou Shuren is really the stepfather at this time.
Chang Lian stamped his feet out of the cold. He warned himself that he would never get close to his father until his mother came back. After calming down for a while, he took the servant to the Meng Mansion.
Li was wearing so many clothes that she didn't feel cold at all. She was just in a very low mood. The person who treated her best in the family was gone, and she needed to take a break.
Zhao was happy that her husband went out with his mother. She calculated the time and thought she should be able to make a set of clothes for her mother-in-law, so she walked quickly into the yard.
Mrs. Dong sighed. Now that her mother-in-law was gone, who could she please
Because Zhulan was not in a hurry to leave, she found an inn to stay in when she arrived at the county town at night. Now that she had the conditions, Zhulan didn't want to treat herself badly at all.
At the Zhou family's dinner, Zhou Shuren did not eat in the main hall. He went back to his room and asked the servants to deliver the food to the room. No one was allowed to come in during the meal.
Zhou Shuren brought back two boxes, opened them and took out the red satin that he had bought long ago. The silk was cut according to Zhulan's size. Zhou Shuren could sew clothes, but cutting and making clothes was difficult for him.
Zhou Shuren had watched Zhulan make clothes many times, and with his own sewing experience in the modern orphanage, he was able to sew the cut cloth together.
If he was able to buy a wedding dress, he would rather buy it directly instead of letting Zhulan wear the one he sewed. He wanted to give Zhulan the best.
It was a pity that in order to buy the material, he had to buy it in Zhulan's name. There was nothing wrong with buying the material and having it cut, but it was too much to just buy the wedding dress directly.
After lighting four candles, Zhou Shuren held the needle and thread and thought to himself, he was so romantic, Zhulan must be deeply moved. Thinking of this, he started sewing with great enthusiasm.
Zhulan really didn't know that Zhou Shuren did needlework. It was strange that she lived alone. People's habits were really scary. Without Zhou Shuren around, she seemed to be asleep, but in fact she was always in a half-awake state.
Well, the next day, Zhulan just took a nap in the car while they were on the road.
Time passed quickly, and five days went by in the blink of an eye. Zhou Shuren's clothes were also sewn. Although they did not look good, they were already very good. Zhou Shuren got the new jewelry and head ornaments. They looked good, but they were too expensive. All the silver and money he had picked up from the foreign merchants were gone.
Zhou Shuren thought Zhulan must be very happy and smiled, but soon Zhou Shuren became unhappy. The reason was very simple. Zhulan had been gone for several days and hadn't even written him a letter!