Zhulan felt guilty. Coincidentally, on the way to the food store, she passed by the tavern. Zhu Lan bought two pig’s trotters on her way and arrived at the food store. She saw Li Shi sitting pitifully at the store entrance. Feeling guilty, Zhulan spoke first, “Hurry, get on the carriage. Just ran into your father on the way to the market again, so I came late. Mother bought your favorite pig’s trotters for you. Were you anxious waiting?”

Li Shi’s words were stuck in her mouth, and her mother had said everything that needed to be said. She even gave her sweet dates. In her grievance, everything disappeared. Just now, she was genuinely upset, feeling that her mother had forgotten about her. She had waited for nearly an hour. Sitting on the ox cart, she held the pig’s trotters that her mother handed to her in her arms. Taking a whiff, it smelled delicious. Her mother had remembered her, and Li Shi smiled.

Boss Zhou watched helplessly as his wife blatantly told lies, knowing well that she had indeed forgotten about Li Shi. However, he received a threatening look from his father, and seeing how easily his silly wife could be placated, he grinned foolishly. Well, his wife wasn’t the brightest in the family, but he decided to be kind to her and not bully her. It wasn’t because he felt guilty; after all, he had also forgotten about his wife.

On the way home, a light rain fell from the sky. The oxcart didn’t go far, and the light rain turned into moderate rain. Fortunately, Zhulan brought rain gear, because Zhulan liked ancient umbrellas, especially bamboo umbrellas, although those from the south of the Yangtze River were better than those from the locals. The umbrellas were more expensive, so Zhulan also bought ten of them at once.

The only bad thing was that there were no different sizes of umbrellas, they were all single umbrellas.

Now there was Zhou Shuren. Zhulan picked up her daughter and said to Zhou Shuren: “You hold one, and I will hold my daughter and hold one.”

Zhou Shuren held up the umbrella, feeling that his daughter was a bit bothersome. If she didn’t come, there would be one less umbrella, and he could share one with Zhulan. Regretfully, he withdrew his gaze and looked at the fields along the roadside.

Xuehan lifted her head to look at the umbrella, yep, no gaps. Only when she felt her father’s gaze shift away did she sneak a glance at him. Oh, she was being criticized again. The notion of being the cherished youngest daughter was non-existent in their family. Yes, keep close to Mother, wu wu, Mother was better, she wanted to pray every day, hoping that Mother could live a long life!

When they got home, the rain turned into heavy rain. Even with an umbrella, the lower half of her body was wet. Li Shi was the most embarrassed. She had to protect the glutinous rice noodles she bought, and her upper body was very wet.

Zhulan changed her clothes, and Zhao Shi knocked on the door and came in with ginger soup, “Mom, I saw it was raining, so I made some ginger soup. Mom and Dad drink a bowl so as to not catch a cold.”

Zhulan picked up the bowl, ” Have you sent it to your Dasao?”

Zhao Shi knew it well, even though her mother favored her more, in her mother’s heart, she was more concerned about her elder dasao. The idea that a child who cries and throws tantrums is more endearing held true. While her mother may have expressed disdain for her dasao, she still cared for her. Unfortunately, Zhao Shi couldn’t change her own nature, but she couldn’t help but envy her dasao. Simple-minded people had their own blessings. Taking an empty bowl, she said, “The head of the household sent it over, and I just happened to pass it to my sister-in-law earlier.”

Zhulan smiled. , “It’s better for you to be more careful. Your dasao is careless. She will never make ginger soup at home. If she doesn’t notice it in the future, mother will have to rely on you.”

Zhao Shi smiled lightly and said, “This daughter-in-law has taken a note of it, Mother. I’ll go first.”

She was afraid that if she heard too much, she would become jealous of her dasao. Although her mother-in-law expressed disdain verbally, she never made her dasao change. She felt sad and even more envious of her dasao. She never thought that one day she would be so envious of her dasao.

Zhou Shuren heard the emotion in the second daughter-in-law’s tone. After the door closed, he came closer to Zhulan and said, “Didn’t you hear it? The second daughter-in-law is a little jealous.”

Zhulan wiped her hair, “If you heard it, that’s okay. There are too many things Zhao Shi has hidden in her heart. She has drawn a circle for herself. There is nothing I can do about it. People get along with each other. She has locked herself up. What can I do? The intimate mother-in-law is too arrogant, and there was no need for an intimate mother-in-law in ancient times!”

She was sure that if she became intimate in Li Shi and Zhao Shi, Li Shi would be frightened to the point of having issues with her mind, and as for Zhao Shi, she would think too much. Zhao Shi was too clever for her own good.

Zhou Shuren asked casually, and then lay down on the kang, “It’s comfortable on a rainy day, it’s been a long time since it was so cool.”

Zhulan frowned, “It’s cooler today, but when the rain stops, I’ll suffer. The humidity is heavy and stuffy. It’s even more uncomfortable.”

Zhou Shuren counted the days, “There are still a few days before the weather breaks out. After the weather breaks out, the weather won’t be so hot, and there will be less rainy days in summer this year. I think it will rain in the next few days, and there will be no high temperature weather. Now, I can finally live a comfortable life.”

For a person who was already afraid of heat, he has been running outside every day this summer. It was a miracle that he did not suffer from heatstroke.

Zhu Lan replied casually, “The Ninth lunar month is still very hot. No, wait, this is ancient times, not modern. The weather in modern times is already abnormal due to the greenhouse effect. The climate in ancient times is accurate, and being in the northeast, the cooling is indeed noticeable. Phew, finally, life will become comfortable.”

Zhou Shuren didn’t have to come back dripping with sweat every day. His inner clothes couldn’t be washed out. They were soaked in sweat. This was also a testimony of Zhou Shuren’s hard work. Zhulan looked at Zhou Shuren carefully, “You seem to have lost weight again. “

She reached out and touched Zhou Shuren’s arm. He had indeed become thinner again and she felt very distressed.

Zhou Shuren didn’t think anything of it. Only by enduring hardship can one become a master. The hardships he put in today were all to lay the foundation for the future. He couldn’t bear Zhulan’s heartache, so he nodded his lips and said, “Kiss me and I will gain weight.”

Zhulan knew that Zhou Shuren was teasing her, so she lowered her head and kissed her. Zhou Shuren’s eyes dimmed slightly, and with a swift motion of his big hand, he drew Zhulan into his embrace. This is a small welfare package delivered to his door, he was a fool if he didn’t take advantage of this!

This time no one bothered him. Zhulan’s mouth was swollen and her face felt like it was on fire. She stared at Zhou Shuren, “We will have lunch in a while. How can I go out like this?”

She was truly afraid that Ming Teng would ask. After all, it was about her grandmother, and she cared about her reputation.

Zhou Shuren was thick-skinned, and teased Zhulan and said, “Who dares to say that while I’m there?”

Zhulan glared at Zhou Shuren, Zhou Shuren was thick-skinned, but she was not as shameless as Zhou Shuren, “Go and bring me a basin of cold water.”

Zhou Shuren was just talking casually. He still cared about Zhu Lan’s reputation. Putting on his shoes, he said, “I’ll go fetch water now.”

After a while, the water came back, Zhulan applied it with a handkerchief for a while, and then her lips were back to normal.

Zhulan looked at the heavy rain outside and was a little worried, “Will the river burst its banks when the water rises?” “

“Not to worry. The dam was newly constructed this year, and Lord Dong from the county did a good job. Plus, it’s our hometown. When they repaired it, they didn’t cut corners. Water scarcity is rare in the north, so we should be fine for the next couple of days.”

Zhulan felt relieved when she heard Li Shi calling for dinner. She put down her handkerchief and confirmed several times that it was back to normal before following Zhou Shuren to the main hall for dinner.

The pig’s trotters she bought were chopped into small pieces by Li Shi with great strength. Two pig’s trotters was divided into two dishes. The vegetables were sweet potato leaves fried in lard, cold shredded radish, and the staple food was corn pancakes mixed with white flour.

Because the rain was so heavy, those who were studying in the afternoon did not have to go to school. Zhou Shuren was rarely at home, so he led several boys in the family who were studying to take an exam.

The rain lightened up in the afternoon and turned into moderate rain, and it didn’t stop until I went to sleep.

The sky was still gray in the morning, and the rain, which finally stopped, started again after breakfast.

Li Shi looked at the sky, “Mom, the rain won’t stop today. Will Young Master Hou come again? Do I still need to buy meat?”

(End of Chapter)

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