Zhulan sighed, realizing that plans often couldn’t keep up with changes. However, without plans, there wouldn’t be a clear direction. Despite the changes, she was relieved that the overall direction remained unchanged. “As we agreed initially when we leave, you can move in to help watch over the house. We’re moving out first, so of course, you can move in earlier. However, you won’t be able to get back the rent you paid for the year. After all, we’re family, and we agreed on a year’s rent from the start.”

Xuemei didn’t need to hide her thoughts. She was actually considering moving in early. The newly built firewalls at her parents’ house were warmer in winter than the rented house. Plus, if she and Jiang Sheng moved in early, her in-laws wouldn’t be able to come over uninvited, which would be fair.

Xuemei said: “Mom, I am a sensible person and will not ask for a refund for the rent.”

Jiang Sheng listened to the conversation between his mother-in-law and his wife. He couldn’t say anything. He had already guessed that his wife’s family would move out. His wife said they would move in advance. He was supportive of coming here, not because of the good conditions, but because he wanted to move here so that he could hide away from his parents. He wanted to concentrate on studying and was afraid that his parents would come over and talk about his studies and put pressure on him. Of course, he also felt sorry for his parents in his heart. They completely disappointed him and hurt his heart.

Zhulan knew that her daughter didn’t have many things at home, so she thought to herself that there were a lot of things at home, many of which were unused, so she just wanted to keep some more.

Zhou Shuren came back. Zhulan took her daughter to help make lunch. Li Shi bought ten kilograms of pork, three kilograms of ribs, four pig’s trotters, and half a liver. The fish were all bought in large sizes. Yes, she bought four grass carp in one go, each weighing three or four pounds. Finally, she bought pheasants and wild rabbits.

Xuemei estimated the money, gasped in her heart, and whispered in her mother’s ear: “Mom, is this still the dàsǎo I know?”

Although life in her mother’s family had gotten better and better, her dàsǎo had also become the most popular person in the family besides her mother as a person with money. But her dàsǎo was still not generous. Last time, her mother hoodwinked her dàsǎo and made her buy a cake for half a tael of silver. Her dàsǎo didn’t dare to be unhappy in front of her mother, so she was not so polite to her. She hadn’t been giving her a good face for several days!

Not only did she take the initiative to spend money this time, but she was also cheerful. Why did she feel that her dàsǎo was possessed by an evil spirit?

Zhulan said, “Her brain is hot right now. When the temperature drops, she will regret it.”

She didn’t even need to guess; she knew that Li Shi had been indulged and bought too much. Well, it served her right. When she felt remorse later, it would be a good lesson for Li Shi to learn from.

Xuemei, “.”

Indeed, it’s something her dàsǎo would do!

Li Shi turned around slowly, her mother’s voice remained undiminished. She had regained her senses. Oh, she had indeed gotten too excited. Everyone in the village knew that her husband’s family had bought sixty acres of land and a big house. She had enjoyed the jealous looks from the younger daughters-in-law along the way, and had been flattered by the butcher’s wife and the hunter’s wife. That’s why she ended up buying too much.

Li Shi looked at the pheasants and rabbits on the ground, her heart ached, and she was a little unsteady holding the knife in her hand.

Zhao Shi silently stayed away from her dàsǎo. She was really afraid that her dàsǎo would be too heartbroken to hold the knife. She was afraid of accidentally hurting herself.

Zhulan coughed and said, “Li Shi, kill the rabbit quickly. Don’t just stand still.”

Li Shi gripped the knife tightly. “Mom, I think we have plenty of vegetables today. Skinning the rabbit will be too much trouble. Let’s just leave it for another time!”

She thought she could save the rabbit and send it back? The pheasant couldn’t go back, it was already dead and couldn’t die again.

Zhulan smiled, “There are indeed a lot of dishes for lunch.”

Li Shi was delighted, “Yes, even if I don’t kill the rabbit, there are ten dishes. Mom, please listen to the ten dishes I am going to cook. Boiled fish, braised fish, stewed pheasant, soy beef, soy pig trotters, fried liver with chili, braised pork, braised pork ribs, two vegetarian dishes, isn’t that enough?”

Zhulan followed the words: “So if you can return the rabbit, you can exchange it for some money, so it won’t hurt so much.”

Li Shi nodded repeatedly, “Yes, how did mother know.”

Li Shi hesitated to speak further as she realized her mother-in-law’s intention. She trembled, feeling a sense of unease. Despite her mother-in-law’s smiling demeanor, she found it unsettling. Each time her mother-in-law smiled like that, it signaled impending criticism. Quietly, Li Shi reflected on her recent behavior.

Li Shi, “.”

She seemed to have gone too far. Ever since the family bought the land, she hadn’t spent much time at home. She either went back to her parent’s home to enjoy the fawning of her dàsǎo or her èrsǎo or wandered around the village and enjoyed everyone’s sarcasm and jealousy. It seemed that she had gone too far.

This time, Zhulan really didn’t intend to scold Li Shi. It was human nature to show off, and now that everyone knew about it, Li Shi’s boasting didn’t do much harm. Zhulan also knew that people in the village looked down on Li Shi and spoke ill of her behind her back. As for her own family, she was actually happy to see Li Shi go out and irritate others. She just wanted to tease Li Shi.

In the end, she forgot about Li Shi’s imagination. This time, Li Shi really scared himself.

Zhulan was not smiling now, and not smiling would frighten Li Shi even more. She coughed and said, “I’m going to talk to your father about something. I’ll leave the kitchen to you.”

Li Shi was a little confused. What did it mean that her mother-in-law was gone? Was she scolding her or not?

Zhulan returned to the main room. Before Zhulan could speak, Zhou Shuren sent his sons and son-in-law away, “You all go about your business!”

The sons of the Zhou family got used to it and left neatly.

Although Jiang Sheng had seen him a few times, he still didn’t get used to it. He looked at her and followed others out.

Zhulan really didn’t have anything to discuss with Zhou Shuren. She simply didn’t want to scare Li Shi, so she found an excuse to talk to him. “You don’t need to accompany me. I just came back to rest for a while.”

Zhou Shuren said, “If you hadn’t gone to cook, I wouldn’t have found a few I have a son to pass the time.”

Zhulan, “.”

Originally, these boys felt that they were redundant, shouldn’t they cry if they heard this?

Seeing Zhulan’s expressionless face, Zhou Shuren could guess Zhulan’s mental activities and smiled, “Okay, I’m teasing you. I do have something to explain to the boys. I’ve finished explaining it and there’s nothing more to say, so I’ll just let them go and do their own thing.”

Zhulan snorted. She didn’t believe Zhou Shuren was teasing her. His instructions were genuine, and he genuinely wanted to pass the time. She reached out and gave Zhou Shuren a playful pinch.

Zhou Shuren wanted to have fun, but unfortunately, conditions didn’t allow it. Fortunately, they were going to move after a while, and the plan couldn’t keep up with the changes. Now it seemed that the benefits of the changes were not small. The depression that came from Old Man Zheng threatening him before leaving was gone.

There were quite a few dishes for lunch, and they were all quite elaborate. By the time they sat down to eat, it was well past lunchtime. There was an additional spicy rabbit meat dish for lunch, but one of the vegetable dishes was missing.

Today, receiving the new house was a joyous occasion, so even the students took a day off from their studies. The whole family gathered together, and both men and women happily drank together.

Zhulan’s body also had a good alcohol capacity. Although it was not as good as those trained in modern times, this body’s alcohol capacity was considered good. After a few drinks, she didn’t feel dizzy or blush.

Xuemei and Xuehan followed Zhulan and Zhou Shuren, and they had a good drinking capacity. Xuehan didn’t get drunk even at a young age. Zhulan didn’t expect that Zhao Shi was also a good drinker, but her face turned red after drinking.

Zhao Shi trusted her husband’s family but did not trust Jiang Sheng, the nǚxù. She didn’t show her real face to him, but she did not hide it from Xuemei.

Xuemei was touched by her èrsǎo’s trust in her, and she didn’t think there was anything wrong with hiding from her husband. If èrsǎo’s appearance was troublesome to her parent’s family, it would be better if one less person knew about it.

It was not that she didn’t trust her husband, she didn’t trust her husband’s family!

Among the women in the family, Li Shi was the one who surprised Zhulan the most with her drinking capacity.

(End of chapter)

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