Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Zhou Laoer came forward with a tray and said, "Dad, I wish you good health and a long life."
Zhulan saw that Changzhong's jade horse and the birthday boy's jade horse were made of the same material. The second son was really generous and this gift was not cheap.
Zhou Shuren was very happy on his birthday, "That's very thoughtful."
When Zhou Laoer saw that his father liked the gift, he felt relieved and felt that it was worth his time to think of a gift.
What Chang Lian gave was a painting of calligraphy. The painting showed a pine tree, and there was a poem he had written next to it. Zhou Shuren read the poem and gave it a high evaluation.
The gift for the fourth room was prepared by Su Xuan, a rare book. It was rare that Chang Zhi didn't have a painful expression on his face.
Zhou Shuren had already put on Xue Han's gift. Chang Zhong had no gift to prepare, so he just memorized a blessing.
Then came the gifts for the grandchildren. The Zhou family's children were not the type to spend money recklessly, and each had their own little treasury. However, the gifts that Mingyun and the others prepared together showed no sense of competition, and showed that there was a lot of love between the brothers.
Zhou Shuren stroked his beard and said to Mingyun, "Not bad."
Mingyun kept his grandfather's teachings in mind that the descendants of the Zhou family should be united at home and should only plot against outsiders. He straightened his back, thinking that the idea was his and he deserved his grandfather's praise.
Boss Zhou grinned foolishly. He was proud of being the eldest son in the family with many sons. Even though he was not good at studying, he was still good at giving birth to sons. Look, his son got the praise from his father.
Boss Zhou looked at his other two sons with a smile on his face. He was a little naughty, but it was pleasing to the eye. There were four grandsons standing in a row, three of whom were from the eldest son!
Zhou Laoer looked at Mingyun with envy, then moved his gaze to Mingrui. Fortunately, his son was not bad, otherwise he would have been even more jealous. He glanced at Changlian out of the corner of his eye. The second wife at least had a son, but he didn't know about the third wife. No matter how he looked at the third wife, she was destined to have only daughters!
Chang Lian felt his second brother's gaze. What did he mean? It hurt his heart. He just didn't believe it. He thought that when the third wife had a son, he would slap his second brother in the face.
Chang Zhi's eyes fell on his wife. It had been almost a year since they got married. They had worked hard and the baby should be here soon. He was also thinking that if he listened to his father and didn't take the imperial examination, he would stay at home for three years and prepare to have two babies!
Su Xuan pinched Chang Zhi secretly, but the man was staring at her straight, and her sister-in-law had noticed it.
Chang Zhi hissed and obediently withdrew his gaze.
The two granddaughters of the Zhou family also prepared gifts together, and the two girls copied scriptures.
Next was Wu Ning's gift. The gift couldn't be considered as prepared by Wu Ning, but rather sent by Wu Ming. It should be said that it was a gift from the Wu family. Among them was Rong Chuan's gift. The gifts of these two people were: Rong Chuan's copied calligraphy and painting, and Wu Ming's antique bottle.
After the gifts from his family were delivered and the guests arrived one after another, Zhou Shuren regretted that he had to wait until the evening to see Zhulan's gifts, so he got up and took his sons to the front yard.
Zhulan came to welcome the female family members. Fortunately, they did not bring their daughters and granddaughters, otherwise, the backyard would be too small to accommodate them. Today is Zhou Shuren's birthday, and the younger generations have all returned to their own yards.
Tao sat next to Zhulan, "Liu is seriously ill, it turns out to be true."
Zhulan, "What do you mean?"
Ran took over the conversation, "If she wasn't seriously ill, Liu would definitely come to this occasion."
Zhulan was silent, so these two people always thought that Liu was pretending to be sick.
Tao smiled and said, "I can have a good meal today."
Ran waved her fan, "My ears are quiet now."
Zhulan smiled. In the fight between the Ran and Liu families, the Ran family was the winner. She heard from Shuren that the third prince was enthusiastic about Lord Ran again, and the Ran family was doing very well now.
Zhulan looked at Ran. Ran's personality was indeed good, not to mention Lord Ran. She had also heard from Mingyun that the grandchildren of the Ran family were also outstanding. Zhulan picked up the teacup and drank tea, but she had something in mind. The Ran family was also connected to the prince. If Miss Ran only had a princess and no prince, the grandchildren of the Ran family would be a rare and good son-in-law.
It's a pity that Zhou Shuren's official position is not as high as Lord Ran's, and the eldest and second sons are commoners. When a rich family marries off their daughters, their granddaughters have to suffer.
Mrs. Tao was well-informed and whispered, "The Fifth Prince's mansion is decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations. His wedding is very grand."
Ran covered her mouth with her fan, "It's all for my own face."
Otherwise, why would the Fifth Prince care so much about marrying a concubine's daughter? He is just trying to save face for himself.
Zhulan thought to herself, you can see it very clearly!
In the Yaohou Mansion, Yao Yao sat in her mother's room and picked up Yao Xin's dowry list. "Mom, isn't this too much? After all, I'm marrying the fifth prince as his principal wife."
There were no valuable items on the dowry list, only flashy things, which made people think that the Yao Hou Mansion was down and out and had no money.
Bai took the dowry list and said, "Yao Xin's dowry was provided by the Marquis' Mansion. Your father gave me this dowry. It's ridiculous that you want to pass it through my hands."
Over the years, she has taken so much blame for her master and is becoming more and more exhausted.
Yao Yao narrowed her eyes. Dad used to be so close to the Fifth Prince. Now he is treating Yao Xin like this, which shows that he dislikes the Fifth Prince. "Dad is so hurtful. He looks down on the Fifth Prince so much. Why is he using me as a pawn?"
Upon hearing this, Bai clenched her fists. To the master, the three of them were just pawns. Her eyes were filled with suppressed hatred.
In the afternoon, the Zhou family's banquet was over. Zhou Shuren was forced to drink a lot. It was a rare opportunity that he was not afraid of being tricked by Zhou Shuren, so he drank too much.
Zhulan saw off the officials' families and counted the gifts. Many of the gifts on the gift list were sent by merchants from Jinzhou. The gifts had arrived, but the people could not come in.
The pile filled up half the room. Zhulan looked at it and said, "Celebrate your birthday and make a fortune."
After these things were sold, the revenue would almost equal the Zhou government’s income for most of the year.
Mrs. Song said, "We still have to change it back."
"That's true, it's just a transfer from left hand to right hand."
Mrs. Song thought to herself, this is just gift-giving between officials. Once you enter the capital, there will be more powerful families. If you don't go when they invite you, you're being ignored. But if you go, you have to give gifts. For some powerful families who made their fortunes during wars, there are too many good things, and ordinary people really don't care about them.
Zhulan classified and registered the gifts. It was almost dark. She stood up and rubbed her arms. She was getting old. It had only been a short time and her arms were already sore.
Back in the house, Zhou Shuren was washing his face. Zhulan asked, "Why didn't you rest for a while?"
Zhou Shuren's voice was hoarse, and he drank a few glasses of water before saying, "I missed your gift."
Zhulan laughed, "I'll take it out right away."
Zhou Shuren pressed his brows and sat on the chair waiting. No matter how brightly he smiled today, it was useless because these people kept trying to get him drunk. It was a headache.
Zhulan took out the paintings and showed them to Zhou Shuren one by one. "This is the gift. I will draw one every year for your birthday."