With a smile in Zhulan’s eyes, she knew that Li Shi would come over, “Yeah.”

Li Shi came in and pinched the clothes. She wanted to open her mouth but was timid and clumsy to please: “Mom, you are tired from sewing clothes today. I’ll rub my mother’s shoulders.”

Zhulan was silent. If it were any other form of favor from Li Shi, she could have teased her a bit. However, Li Shi’s massages were something she couldn’t handle. Her skills were honed on the eldest son, whose tough skin and thick muscles still made him howl in pain. Zhulan, with her petite frame, couldn’t endure it. She simply tapped her fingers on the edge of the kang and said, “Take it.”

Only then did Li Shi notice the purse in her mother-in-law’s hand. She was so moved in an instant. It turned out that her mother-in-law had already seen through her thoughts and was waiting for her to come over. She grabbed her purse happily and said, “Mom, you are so kind to me. Thank you, Mom.”

She was so moved that her mother-in-law only gave her a purse. She loved her the most.

Zhulan chuckled lightly, Li Shi was so easy to satisfy. This was just a reward purse embroidered by the little girl. It couldn’t even compare with what Zhao Shi made. Yet Li Shi still carefully accepted it. “It’s getting late. Your father-in-law will be back soon. With two extra guests tonight, you should roll out some more noodles to ensure there’s enough to eat.”

Li Shi got the purse and happily responded, “I’ll go right away.”

Zhou Shuren came home on time and changed his clothes before coming out. Zhulan had already helped Zhao Shi set up the hot pot and was waiting for Zhou Shuren to sit down and start eating.

Zhou Shuren was polite to Dr. Lu and his son first, which made Dr. Lu impatient before Zhou Shuren used his chopsticks.

Zhulan suppressed the smile at the corner of her mouth. Zhou Shuren definitely did it on purpose. Dr. Lu teased Zhou Shuren a lot. This time, Zhou Shuren found a chance, so he naturally wanted to return it. See how greedy Dr. Lu was.

In the evening hotpot, they had bought ten catties of pork belly, all sliced up. When they bought it, it looked like a lot, but after slicing and putting it in the pot, it was just a plateful. It was truly unexpected that Dr. Lu, despite his age, was one of the main eaters, consuming almost as much as Boss Zhou. Thankfully, Li Shi had rolled out plenty of noodles; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been enough to eat.

Dr. Lu was satisfied with his meal. Fortunately, he came to stay at Zhou’s house, otherwise he would have missed the hot pot. He touched his beard and felt that he would gain a few pounds at Zhou’s house.

As the head of the family, Zhou Shuren chatted with Dr. Lu for a while and inquired a lot about the situation next door. Dr. Lu didn’t think much about it. It was normal for the two families to be curious as neighbors.

Zhulan sat in the room and listened to the talk. After a while, Zhou Shuren came back. “Has Dr. Lu gone back to rest?”

Zhou Shuren was tired from using his brain for a day. He took off his shoes and said, “No, the old man went next door to watch. He wanted to stay next door for a while and ask the door to the house not to be closed.”

Seeing Zhou Shuren rubbing his forehead tiredly, Zhulan motioned for Zhou Shuren to lie down, stretched out her hand to massage Zhou Shuren, and said while massaging: “Do you think Wang Ru can survive it?”

Zhou Shuren closed his eyes and said, “It’s not going to work out. She has nothing to do with us anymore. She can’t escape being controlled alive. In fact, death is a relief. Her death is good for everyone.”

Zhulan’s hand paused, and she looked down at Zhou Shuren. She couldn’t match Zhou Shuren. The heart of a man was indeed colder and harder than that of a woman’s. Zhou Shuren had always been indifferent even before crossing over. After crossing over, he quickly assimilated into ancient times, adapting exceptionally well. Now, speaking of death so casually, it could only mean that Zhou Shuren had seen too many lives undervalued, something she didn’t know about.

Zhou Shuren felt Zhulan’s fingers caressing his eyebrows and reached out to grab Zhulan’s hand. “What’s wrong? Why are your brows furrowed?”

Zhulan stared into Zhou Shuren’s eyes but ultimately didn’t ask what she wanted to. Zhou Shuren, as a scholar, was navigating through the outside world. Suddenly gaining favor from the young master of the Marquis’s mansion would naturally attract jealousy. He must have faced even more difficulties these days, and the county magistrate couldn’t protect him at all times. As long as Zhou Shuren didn’t die from grievances, the county magistrate wouldn’t intervene. There was an unmistakable pain in her eyes. “It’s nothing. I just wanted to see you.”

Zhou Shuren’s heart trembled, he hummed softly and then closed his eyes. He had indeed encountered a lot of trouble recently, and he sneered in his heart. Some people even deliberately took him on a day trip to the cell. Just today, he saw a boy’s legs were broken and left in the rain just because he said the wrong thing. He quietly watched the boy struggling in the rain. Even if the boy was sent to the hospital later, he would not survive if he was unlucky. He had a deeper understanding of the despicable life of the lower class.

If the Zhou family wanted to thrive, he had to work harder to climb higher. Only with his own strength could he escape the fate of being crushed. Even though climbing up meant still being under the control of imperial power, at least it was the imperial power that controlled the fate of the Zhou family, not just anyone with a bit of ability who could destroy the Zhou family at will.

He hadn’t planned to tell Zhulan about these thoughts, but he was surprised that Zhulan’s intelligence picked up on some changes in his mindset just from his words. He tightened his grip on Zhulan’s hand. If it weren’t for Zhulan, he believed that in order to live better, his moral standards would be much lower, and he might even resort to any means necessary. It was precisely because Zhulan was there that he had something to rely on, a vulnerable spot, and a moral boundary.

Although neither of them spoke, their hearts were connected.

The two of them didn’t talk before going to bed tonight. Zhulan was nestled in Zhou Shuren’s arms, and Zhou Shuren was holding Zhulan, face to face and caring. Their hearts seemed to be beating on the same beat as if they were part of each other.

In the morning, Zhou Shuren did not get up and looked at Zhulan, “I forgot to mention yesterday that from now on I will not go to the county and will devote myself to studying.”

Zhulan was happy that Zhou Shuren wasn’t going out, knowing that he wouldn’t face harassment and unfair treatment at home. “What does Master Dong mean?”

Zhou Shuren nodded. “The identity of the young master of the Marquis’s mansion is troublesome. Yao Zheyu made use of our intention towards Wang Ru, but outsiders don’t know about it. It’s just too conspicuous. Originally, there were quite a few people jealous of me in the county. After discussing with Master Dong, it’s better for me to stay at home and study. If there’s anything you don’t understand, we can ask him together when he’s resting.”

Zhulan said, “That’s okay. I think Wang Ru will survive and Shi Qing will definitely take care of her. Maybe he will leave with Wang Ru, and when the male protagonist also leaves, our family will be quiet.”

Zhou Shuren also felt the same way. Now that this cash cow, Wang Ru, had gotten into trouble, Shi Qing won’t let Wang Ru off easily. This big trouble was finally going away.

Zhulan paused for a moment after putting on her clothes and said with some worry: “You said that Wang Ru is so obsessed with Xuehan. She is committing suicide and getting worse and worse. In the end, will she drag Xuehan with her even if everything is broken?”

Zhou Shuren didn’t exclude this possibility; when a person’s resentment reaches the extreme, he would form an obsession, just like being possessed by a demon. He was even more worried about whether the entire Zhou family would be involved. “If Wang Ru survives, she will only cherish her life even more. She won’t do it unless she has to. Either way, at least it will give me time to grow up.”

As long as he became a juren and then became a Jinshi and an official, he would not be slaughtered casually.

For breakfast, Li Shi cooked millet porridge and steamed vegetarian buns. During the meal, Dr. Lu’s son was the only one eating, and the old man was still sleeping.

Lü Lingzhi explained, “Father stayed up for most of the night last night. He just came back to rest not long ago. Please leave some food for him to eat when he wakes up.”

Zhulan replied, “Of course, that’s only right.”

Zhou Shuren then inquired, “Has the fever of the person next door subsided?”

(End of chapter)

---