Zhulan did not eat at her mother's house. She sat for a while and then went home. Her father had money in his hands, and her parents had gained weight. She had nothing to worry about. She just didn't know when her second brother's family would come back. Yes, it was her second brother's family. They lived with Wuhe.
Zhulan sent the New Year gift to her parents' home in advance today.
She also has to prepare New Year gifts for Mr. Chen's family and Mr. He's family. Every time she returns home, she is busy.
At the yamen, Lord He whispered, "Lord Zhou has a constant smile on his face. If I hadn't known that Lord Zhou's wife was back, I would have been very nervous."
Master Chen pursed his lips and said, "My wife has been acting weird every day since Master Zhou's wife came back. Now that she's back, why don't you come to verify it in person?"
Lord He's expression froze. He came from a farming and scholar family, and his father-in-law's family was powerful, so he was no different from a live-in son-in-law. Lord Chen also had a concubine and two maids, but he didn't even dare to go to his concubine. He had a hard time these days. His wife said she wanted jewelry, but he had no money. His salary was in his wife's hands!
The most annoying thing is that his wife always thinks he has private money, but he really doesn't have any. He wants to save it, but he doesn't dare!
Lord Chen and Lord He sighed to each other, and then they couldn't help but dislike Lord Zhou!
Zhou Shuren was disliked but didn't realize it. He wanted to tell everyone how happy he was. "Master Chen, Master He, I'll treat you to dinner at the restaurant today."
Mr. Chen, “… .”
Mr. He, “… .”
No, they don't want to go, but they want to curse. It's rare for Lord Zhou to invite us, so we have to go!!
Zhulan returned home, and Li was pregnant. Wherever Zhulan went, Li followed her. Zhulan said, "... ...Aren't you tired of following me with a big belly?"
Li's short, fat little hands tightly grasped a corner of her mother-in-law's cloak, "Mom, I just want to follow you."
Zhulan's heart softened. She was the only one in the family who could pamper Li. Li felt uneasy when she was not at home. Li was pregnant and was prone to overthinking. She would cry when she thought too much and became emotional. "Follow me!"
Li grinned, "Hey!"
Juanhua looked up at Li. She wanted to think about how she could stay with the First Lady forever. She knew very well that the First Lady had completely clung to the mistress's leg. Although she would receive less rewards by staying with the First Lady, there would be fewer troubles, and she would feel at peace!
Besides, with the mistress backing the eldest lady, no one dared to neglect her. No matter how many servants there were in the future, they would all be polite to her.
Zhulan counted the New Year gifts for each family, and Zheng Hong of the Zheng family also had to give something. When it came down to it, the New Year gift for Zhou Shuren's first year as an official was a large sum of money.
Fortunately, she brought back some rare vegetables, fruits and other rare items from the south, so she no longer had to go out to buy them.
Li followed her mother-in-law and was a little shocked. "Mom, are we going to send all these away?"
Zhulan checked the gift list and replied, "Yes."
When Li heard the head of the household talking about how much money was spent on buying vegetables, her heart skipped a beat. She kept counting the money in her mind as she ate the vegetables. Every bite she ate was money. Now they had to give away several kilograms of vegetables. "Mom, is it going to be like this every year from now on?"
Zhu Lan said faintly: "There will be more in the future."
Unless Zhou Shuren is demoted or commits a crime and is stripped of his official position, the number of New Year gifts will only increase.
Li was reluctant to give it up, "Mom, wouldn't that cost a lot of money every year?"
Zhulan smiled and said, "This year, the autumn harvest in Lizhou City has not come. People are having a hard time and don't have much money. This year's Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival were not celebrated or gifts were given to each other. Next year, gifts will be given on these festivals."
Li was the best at math, and she quickly calculated the accounts, "Mom, I feel bad."
Zhulan chuckled. She liked Li's straightforward and frowning face. "You only thought about giving it away, but forgot that gifts are mutual. Let me tell you, Master Chen has a tea garden, and tea must be on the list of return gifts. Master Chen's return gift must be good tea, so we don't need to buy tea next year..."
Zhulan listed the possible gifts that each family might give back one by one, and Li's mouth opened wide when she heard it. "Mother, how do you know so much?"
Zhulan tapped Li's forehead and said, "This is called knowing yourself and knowing your enemy. Do you think that only mother understands? The situation in our family is no secret either."
Li felt scared just thinking about it. She thought that it was better for the head of the family to be a little stupid. Li felt that without the smartness of her father-in-law and mother-in-law, it was better to do her duty, otherwise she would die without knowing how she died.
Zhulan returned to the yard, and Mrs. Dong came over with the account book. Mrs. Dong tried to ignore her sister-in-law. She was a step late and was beaten to the punch by her sister-in-law. She wanted to follow her, but she was too deliberate. "Mother, this is the money for the sewing room at home when you go out."
Zhulan didn't look at the account book. She had set up many rules for the account office. It was difficult to make false accounts in Zhou's house. "I've handed it to you, so there's nothing to worry about. Take the account book back. It's still a few days before the New Year. We should get rid of the old and welcome the new. We should make two sets of clothes for each family."
Mrs. Dong was delighted by her mother-in-law's trust and asked with a smile, "Mother, where are the servants?"
Zhulan's servants were required to have two sets of clothes for each season. The servants wore cotton and linen fabrics which were not expensive. Eight sets of clothes a year were a must. The servants were also the face of the Zhou family, so their clothes had to be decent.
Zhulan thought for a moment, "This is the first New Year, and the servants all have two new sets of clothes."
Dong said, "Mother, I have written it all down."
Zhao came out from the kitchen. She wanted to come earlier, but she had to arrange what to cook for lunch, especially since her mother-in-law was back. She couldn't be careless about the dishes. If her mother-in-law didn't eat well, it meant her father-in-law would be unhappy.
Zhao came in and said, "Mother, Chang Lian had a roasted whole lamb at Mr. Meng's house. You see, now that you're back, are you going to have one too tonight?"
After several years of observation, she found that her mother-in-law and father-in-law liked eating it more and more, so she proposed it. She thought her mother-in-law would like it.
Mrs. Dong was depressed. Chang Lian had also told her about it, so why didn't she remember to mention it to her mother-in-law? Mrs. Dong lowered her head. Among her two sisters-in-law, the second one was the most scheming.