Yang Yong said: “As long as you know what’s going on, when you move, your eldest and second brothers will come over to help.”

Zhou Shuren was not polite and responded directly, “Okay.”

Zhulan answered with a smile, “At that time, the parents will also come to stay for a while so that the daughter can also fulfill her filial piety.”

She took over the body of the original body, and she would fulfill her filial piety on behalf of the original body. The more she integrated into the original body, the more she liked the Yang family; especially, Sun Shi and Yang Yong’s love for his daughter. It was the father’s love and mother’s love that she had longed for. After all, everyone’s heart was made of flesh. Zhulan truly regarded Sun Shi and Yang Yong as her biological parents.

Sun Shi was cheerful. The better her daughter’s life was, the happier she was. “I won’t beat around the bush, dear. I’ve never lived in such a nice house in my whole life. Your father and I are waiting for you to come and pick us up.”

Yang Yong moved his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately, staying at his son-in-law’s house wasn’t a big deal. As long as his daughter was filial, that was enough. However, seeing the hopeful look in his daughter’s eyes, he swallowed back the words of objection.

Seeing the old man hesitate, Zhou Shuren quickly added, “Then, Mom and Dad, you should stay until Chinese New Year. I’ve checked all the rooms, and it will be warm during the winter. Since Dad’s legs aren’t good, it’s better to stay here and take the medicinal wine to relax and spend the winter comfortably.”

Eldest Yang and Second Yang looked at each other, happy that their mèifū was sincere, and began considering advancing the construction of the house by another year.

After hearing this, Yang Yong felt relieved and very happy. He threw away any discomfort in his heart and said repeatedly: “Okay, okay, Dad will shamelessly come and live here.”

Zhulan, “Dad, look at what you’re saying. How can you accuse them of being shameless for coming to their daughter’s house? Besides, the son-in-law is also half a part of the family. It’s only natural for Shuren to show filial piety to his parents.”

Yang Yong was pleased that his son-in-law listened to his daughter. Initially, when the Zhou family proposed a marriage alliance, he and his wife were against it. No matter how good the Zhou family was, he didn’t want his daughter to marry into it. He wasn’t foolish; he knew the reason the Zhou family wanted to marry his daughter was because of the turbulent times. A daughter-in-law who could defend herself was the best option. He truly looked down on his son-in-law’s lack of martial prowess.

Later, his views changed. Although his son-in-law was weak in scholarly pursuits, he wasn’t narrow-minded. He didn’t despise his daughter’s martial arts training and treated her well. After the establishment of the dynasty, his son-in-law no longer pursued the imperial examinations for the sake of the family, which further won his approval. People are inherently selfish, and he hoped his daughter would have an easier life, rather than the whole family relying solely on her.

This year’s Tongsheng Examination was beyond his expectations. He didn’t expect him to pass in one go. He was naturally happy that his son-in-law was getting better and better. Now he was more and more satisfied with his son-in-law.

Zhulan’s family didn’t stay for a while. The Yang family left first, followed by Zhulan’s family. Zhou Shuren locked the door and the whole family took an ox cart back to Zhoujia Village.

Eldest Zhou and Second Zhou drove an ox cart. The ox cart was borrowed from the clan leader’s house.

Upon returning home, Zhou Shuren and the eldest son went to return the ox cart, while Zhu Lan counted how much of their own belongings they had. This time, when they moved to their new home, they didn’t plan on coming back to live here again.

By the way, the Zheng family has a large vegetable garden in their house. The Zheng family didn’t take everything with them when they left. A large amount of radish and cabbage, as well as a lot of leeks and spinach, were left which now belonged to Zhulan’s family.

In the backyard of the Zhou family, Zhulan had also planted quite a few vegetables by late autumn. There were plenty of Chinese cabbage, white radishes, green radishes, and carrots. She also grew a lot of spinach, which she would dry in the sun once it matured. In winter, spinach soup would be a rare treat, adding a splash of green to the season.

After tallying up the household items, Zhulan realized there were indeed a lot. The dishes and utensils in the house in Li’s village were of better quality than those in their own home. However, Zhu Lan was determined to bring their own dishes and utensils, which she had replaced over the past year. Using these at home has made entertaining guests less embarrassing.

Li Shi’s heart soared with excitement. The entire family was moving to Li’s village, which would make it even more convenient for her to visit her parent’s home in the future. They would still be living in a large house! Oh my, she would stroll home every day. No, she would stroll around Li’s village every day. Those cousins who used to say she was too chubby to marry, and those relatives—let’s see what they would say now! These days, she found herself dreaming joyfully, waking up with a big smile several times!

After taking stock, Zhulan knew what she was doing. She heard her eldest daughter calling her. When she left the granary, her daughter and son-in-law came, “You two came together, but why did you bring meat as well?”

Today, she had her eldest son call Xuemei and Jiang Sheng to go see the house together, but Xuemei didn’t go. It wasn’t good for a married daughter to tag along, Zhulan understood. Her daughter was considerate of Jiang Sheng’s feelings. Even if one’s heart was at peace, there could still be disparities. Xuemei not going along, not showing off her family’s wealth in front of Jiang Sheng, was also Xuemei’s wisdom.

Jiang Sheng stepped forward and said: “This is the beef sent by my eldest brother. Beef is rare. Today is a happy event for taking over the house, so I just brought it over to add some dishes.”

Zhulan didn’t pay attention just now, but now she saw that it was indeed beef. It weighs two pounds. Oops, she had never come across beef after traveling for a year. “Where did you buy it? Did a cow die nearby?”

Xuemei said, “This cow was bought from my eldest sǎozi’s village. It died of old age, so there isn’t much meat left. Most of it was already bought by the officials and nearby landlords. There isn’t much left, and it’s too late to buy more now. My eldest sǎozi happened to be visiting her family and deliberately bought three pounds for us, but only two pounds were sent.”

Upon hearing that three pounds were bought and two pounds were sent, Zhulan realized that the elderly couple from the Jiang family knew they had bought land and a house. They regretted leaving their son behind and were trying to make amends by sending extra beef. However, looking at Jiang Sheng’s expression, he remained unmoved.

Zhulan handed the beef to Li Shi, “It’s a big event today, you have to show all your skills.”

Li Shi was a little nervous, “Mom, I have never eaten beef in my whole life. How do I make this beef?”

Zhulan had eaten beef at Dong’s house. “You can stir-fry it with chili peppers or with sauce.”

Li Shi felt confident and looked at the sun to estimate the time. “Mom, it’s almost noon. I’ll go to the butcher’s to see if they have pig trotters, and liver, and then buy some meat. Oh, and fish too. Mom, I’ll cover the cost of groceries today; you don’t need to use household funds.”

Zhulan said, “Okay.”

Li Shi was so excited that she didn’t hold back at all, her enthusiasm was infectious!

Zhulan motioned Xuemei and her son-in-law to come into the house, “Your father will be back soon.”

Xuemei asked, “Mom, I see my second dasǎo is taking notes in her notebook. Mom, do you and your father plan to move there?”

Zhulan replied, “We will move there in seven days, and we will live in Lijiacun from now on.”

Upon hearing that her parents were indeed going to move, although she had suspected it, Xuemei felt a hollow emptiness. “Mom, when we move, will Changlian and Changzhi be able to shuttle back and forth for schooling?”

Zhulan said, “Well, your eldest brother and second brother will take turns in dropping them in the future.”

The only bad thing was that the children who were studying could only bring snacks for lunch and couldn’t go home to eat. Luckily, Li’s village was close to Zhou’s village, just a fifteen-minute walk away.

The only issue was the direction to Li’s village, which ended up being even farther from Sun’s village. However, it wasn’t too far from the county seat, still about half an hour’s journey.

Xuemei looked at the old house. She was born in the old house. Generations of the Zhou family had lived in the old house. She knew that her parents would move away next year, but they moved to Lijia Village ahead of schedule. She couldn’t help feeling reluctant. “Mom, since you and Dad are already moving, can Jiang Sheng and I move in early?”

(End of Chapter)

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