Zhou Shuren recalled carefully, "Is there?"
Zhulan felt balanced. It wasn't that she was cold-blooded. Zhou Shuren didn't remember it either. "My eldest daughter, Zhou Xuemei!"
Zhou Shuren was stunned and patted his head, "If you hadn't mentioned her, I would have really forgotten about her."
Zhu Lan laughed, "It's not your fault that you forgot about her. I only remembered her once when I first came to Laishun's house and the next time I remembered her was when I was sharing Jiangnan's gifts. I never thought about her at all."
Zhou Shuren frowned, "It was not easy for a married woman to return to her parents' home in ancient times. As far as I can remember, the last time Xuemei came back was in July."
Zhulan felt guilty. She and Zhou Shuren took over the original couple's property but forgot about their eldest daughter. "Fortunately, the original owner had good taste in choosing a husband for her daughter. Xuemei's mother-in-law is sensible, and Xuemei's husband is the youngest son of the Jiang family and is more favored. Xuemei has not been tortured and lives a pretty good life."
Otherwise, if life is really not going well, the couple will forget about it and they will feel uneasy.
Zhou Shuren recalled, "As far as I can remember, my eldest son-in-law Jiang Sheng passed the examination for Tongsheng only last year, and he failed the college entrance examination this year. He is 22 years old this year, three years older than Xuemei, so they are 190% related."
Zhu Lan nodded, "Yes, he is twenty-two years old. In my original memory, Jiang Sheng treated Xuemei well."
Zhou Shuren tapped his hands with the book in his hand, "In my original memory, Jiang Sheng's talent was OK, but unfortunately his family was not well-off, he did not read enough, and he did not have a good teacher. If it were not for the Zhou family's books, Jiang Sheng would have had a hard time passing the examination for a Tongsheng."
Zhu Lan sighed. Jiang Sheng was the representative of a poor family. "The Jiang family had few relatives in Wangjia Village for several generations, and they had no clan. They could only rely on themselves. Jiang Sheng married late because he had chosen Xuemei early on and valued Zhou Shuren and the Zhou family's books. Otherwise, he would not have waited until he was twenty to get married."
Jiang Sheng's parents really worry about everything for their son!
Who knew that there was no compulsory education in ancient times? It was difficult for poor students to study, and the education level was limited. Unlike the children of aristocratic families, who had no shortage of resources since childhood, if the elders in their family were officials who had passed the imperial examination, and their enlightenment was from elders who had passed the Jinshi examination, the advantage would be directly widened. It was not uncommon for aristocratic families to have scholars in their teens, and a scholar in his twenties from a poor family was considered a genius.
Seeing Zhulan distracted again, Zhou Shuren shook the book to attract her attention and said, "You are indeed far-sighted, but it is difficult to pass the exam as a scholar under the current situation. The hope of the entire Jiang family is on Jiang Sheng. It costs a lot every year, and the Jiang family has many sons. Jiang Sheng failed the exam twice, and his brothers can't wait any longer. As the saying goes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. I think the Jiang family has a lot of contradictions."
Zhulan knew that Zhou Shuren's analysis was correct. She sighed and thought of the jewelry Zhou Shuren brought back for the maids. She sat up and said, "You forgot to bring jewelry for the eldest daughter last time. I was so focused on the fan that I forgot about the jewelry. Look, your granddaughter is already over one year old. Give the remaining set of jewelry to her!"
Zhou Shuren felt a little uncomfortable. He had completely forgotten about his eldest daughter. "The eldest daughter must have been teased by her sisters-in-law in the Jiang family. I remember there were silver earrings when we counted our assets last time. You can find a pair of them for the eldest daughter. This year's New Year gifts should be more substantial. In addition to the gifts for the eldest daughter, you can also add some practical gifts for the Jiang family."
Zhulan thought about it, "The eldest girl and her parents-in-law will eat. The Jiang family doesn't have much land and they support Jiang Sheng's education, so they must be reluctant to spend money on food and clothing. Buy more pork and rice so that they can have a good meal during the New Year. The daughter and the children can also eat more. The day after tomorrow, let the second son inform Xuemei of the engagement and send it over by the way."
Zhulan didn't dare to take more than what she had. She only had the memory of her original body and hadn't met her son-in-law in person yet. Anyway, she believed in her own eyes more. At least she would think about how to make up for the loss after she had seen it in person.
Zhou Shuren, "Yes."