The next morning, Chang Lian put on new clothes and tidied himself up like a prince. He was carrying a box made by a carpenter in his hand, which contained the prepared moon cakes. In his purse was the recipe dictated by his saozi. He wrote the recipe and left riding a bullock cart with confidence.

Zhulan could already imagine Chang Lian’s return appearance. Then she glanced at the absent-minded Li Shi and realized there was another person in the family eagerly awaiting his return. Li Shi couldn’t conceal her thoughts, thinking Zhulan was unaware of their plans. She couldn’t speak up and could only keep quiet. Zhulan felt uncomfortable just watching.

Zhulan disliked Li Shi hanging around in front of her, “You haven’t gone out to chat for a long time. Nothing is going on at home today. You don’t have to wait at home. Go out quickly!”

Li Shi really couldn’t stay at home anymore, so she might as well go and gossip. You have to be distracted, otherwise, everything you watch will be disturbing, and your heart will be in a state of confusion, “Mom, I’m going out.”

Zhulan waved her hand and said disgustedly: “Hurry up and leave.”

After a while, she was able to change her mind. She felt dizzy. Li Shi, who was already fat, was spinning around like a top, and she looked dizzy.

Li Shi pouted slightly with some grievance. Just yesterday, she was her mother-in-law’s favorite, but today she felt rejected. Her mother-in-law’s mood was even more changeable than a child’s. However, thinking about her mother-in-law’s childishness, she felt a bit relieved.

Fortunately, Zhulan didn’t know what Li Shi was thinking, otherwise, she would have scolded Li Shi. After all, she was not even forty yet, so she wasn’t old at all!

After a while, the Zhou family was busy. It was a sunny day. Zhulan was sitting in the yard sewing clothes with needle and thread. Zhou Shuren was reading a book on one side. Xuehan was practicing walking with Yulu. The picture of the Zhou family was quiet and peaceful.

Second Zhou went out and came back soon. Zhulan saw that Chang Yi’s face was not good, “What’s going on?”

Zhou Shuren also put down the book in his hand and waited for Second Zhou’s answer. Second Zhou was so good at pretending. So it was rare when he showed his emotions!

Second Zhou’s plan failed for the first time, “I tried to trick Fourth Wang, but in the end, Wang Xin sold herself out and signed a death contract.”

After countless calculations, he still hadn’t considered everything thoroughly enough. There were too many unexpected variables, revealing his inadequate abilities. This was a valuable lesson for him.

Zhulan suspected that she heard wrongly, “Wang Xin sold herself? To whom?”

Second Zhou squinted, “Sold to Shi Gongzi. Fourth Wang said that it was Wang Ru’s idea. She said she didn’t want to be separated from her elder sister, but she couldn’t bring outsiders into the inner courtyard, so she could only go in as a maid. Wang Xin sold herself and didn’t give Fourth Wan her money, and both Fourth Wang and Sun Shi were furious and scolded her at home.”

Zhulan felt a little weird in her heart. Wang Ru woke up this time and it was a little strange. She seemed to hate Wang Xin so much that she even tricked Wang Xin into signing a death contract. Wang Xin’s future life was in Wang Ru’s hands. Zhulan Asked, “Where is Wang Rong?”

Second Zhou said: “I heard from Fourth Wang that Wang Ru was very kind to Wang Rong. People who went to visit Wang Ru said that Wang Ru gave all her jewelry to Wang Rong.”

Zhulan didn’t believe that it was solely because of Wang Ru’s incident. The behavior of Wang Ru in regards to Wang Xin and Wang Rong showed how partial she was. After all, Wang Ru had just woken up and slapped Wang Xin. It took a lot of hatred to wake up and be so agitated at the sight of someone. Then she fainted again due to the subsequent excitement. Something was not right with Wang Ru’s situation.

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren looked at each other and understood that this was too unusual. Wang Ru was obviously trying to make Wang Xin’s life worse than death.

Second Zhou couldn’t figure out why Wang Ru was behaving so unusually. He only thought that Wang Xin must have done something to provoke Wang Ru while she was unconscious, causing her to hold such a grudge. She didn’t vent her anger at her mother, so she could only blame Fourth Wang for it. Squinting his eyes, he needed to think about it some more.

Zhou Shuren picked up the book and said, “Okay, go ahead and do your own thing!”

Second Zhou said, “.”

He had only been sitting there for a long time, but his father already disliked him for being an eyesore. He wanted to spend more time with his parents, but it was a pity that they both seemed to dislike him!

An hour later, Zhulan’s clothes were ready and she was playing with her little granddaughter. Xuemei and Jiang Sheng came together.

Looking at the couple’s faces and looking at Jiang Sheng’s clothes, they came back from the county. Now there was no support from Zhou Shuren outside, and Jiang Sheng’s help in the county had also ended.

Jiang Sheng and Xuemei, “Mom.”

Zhulan picked up Yulu and said to Jiang Sheng, “Your father is in the house. You go in to find him. Xuemei, come talk to me.”

Jiang Sheng was indeed in a hurry to find his father-in-law. The two-cent job was gone, and his father-in-law didn’t go to the county anymore. He wanted to know what happened.

Xuemei waited for her husband to enter the main room and asked hurriedly, “Mom, has something happened to Dad?”

Compared with the fact that her husband’s loss of job was a trivial matter, she was more worried about whether something happened to her dad.

Zhulan felt relieved seeing the worry in Xuemei’s eyes. She felt it was worth caring for Xuemei. The first thing she asked was about Zhou Shuren. “Your father is doing well. It’s just that our family is just a minor xiucai, attracting too much attention. In the future, your father will study at home. Don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

Xuemei knew that her mother would not lie to her about this matter, and seeing that her mother looked good, she was completely relieved that her father was indeed fine.

Zhulan was originally waiting for Xuemei to ask about Jiang Sheng, but Xuemei coaxed the child and didn’t ask.

Zhulan asked, “Don’t you ask about Jiang Sheng?”

Xuemei smiled and replied, “Mother, as long as Father is well, Jiang Shengcai will be fine. If Father is okay, then Jiang Shengcai just lost a job. As long as Father is fine, there’s nothing more to ask.”

The smile in Zhulan’s eyes grew thicker, “As long as you understand in your heart.”

Xuemei was not stupid. Her husband depended entirely on his dad for today. Without her Father to support him, he would lose his job. This was normal, and she knew better. Dad was good. That was the most important thing.

The Zhou family was bound to have a lot of things going on today. Before noon, Chang Lian also came back. His mouth was pursed and his face was stiff. When he came back, he went straight to the house and closed the door loudly.

Xuemei was startled, “Mom, what happened to Chang Lian?”

(End of this chapter)

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