Zhulan really didn’t expect that Li Shi’s drinking capacity was so light. She had drunk alcohol before. Yes, she only drank one drink before. Today, Li Shi drank two glasses. Zhulan didn’t notice Li Shi at first. She was drunk but because Li Shi was so good at pretending that she kept eating the food without blushing. After Zhulan had had three glasses of wine, Li Shi realized that her glass was empty and reached out to get the wine.

While holding the wine glass, she giggled, “Hey, why are there two mothers-in-law? I’m scared to death. Why are there three? One mother-in-law is scary enough, why three?”

Zhulan said, “.”

Those who didn’t know would have thought she had done something to Li Shi! And those who claimed to like her the most? Haha, you couldn’t trust a simpleton’s words; they were all lies!

Li Shi smiled naively, “Mother-in-law, don’t move, don’t move, just sit still.”

The one who was so bold and timid was Li Shi. Look at how powerful Li Shi was.

Zhou Shuren looked at Boss Zhou expressionlessly. Boss Zhou drank a lot. He woke up as soon as his wife opened her mouth. When his father saw this, he was no longer drunk at all. He stood up and went to his wife, “You drank too much. Come, I’ll take you back.”

Li Shi waved her hand, and Zhou Eldest, who had been waving vigorously, staggered. Li Shi chuckled, “The head of the family, why are you swaying? The head of the family must be particularly happy, right? The head of the family says he’ll never split up the family. Indeed, we shouldn’t split up the family. It’s best to stay with Mom and Dad, no worries, good food, good living, living the good life.”

Boss Zhou, “.”

He didn’t know before that his wife would tell the truth when she was drunk. He could feel the eyes of his brothers looking at him. This time it was his little thoughts, not his wife’s!

Zhulan sipped her wine, but she didn’t expect that she would have dinner and watch a show. As for the boss’s petty thoughts, neither she nor Zhou Shuren would take it to heart. Only those who had petty thoughts were normal, and those who didn’t have petty thoughts were really stupid.

Boss Zhou was really afraid that his wife might say something again. He acted swiftly, pulling Li Shi away. Once they were out of the main room, he quickly covered Li Shi’s mouth. Oh, he was really scared this time; he felt like he might lose years of his life if this happened again.

Seeing that everyone had stopped using their chopsticks, Zhulan said, “What are you thinking about? Are you all full?”

Naturally, they hadn’t eaten enough. The dishes on the table were hardly touched; they had all opted to drink first rather than eat in a rush. Now, they were coming to their senses and using their chopsticks to eat the food.

Zhou Second didn’t think his older brother had any ulterior motives. He had his own thoughts as well. Like his brother, he was adamant about not splitting up the family. He saw things even more clearly. His father and his third and fourth brothers were all pursuing the imperial examinations. He didn’t know how far they would go in the future, but they were at least better off than him and his older brother. They lacked the natural talent for studying. If the family were to split in the future, they would have to rely on their sons. He and his older brother would never catch up to their third and fourth brothers, no matter how many years passed.

So they must not separate the family, they must follow their father to the death.

Chang Lian now had a general direction. He no longer stared at home but had already set his sights outside, looking at Mingyun who was like a little adult. This kid was pitiful. In the future, the first room will depend on him, not only to take care of his parents but also to take care of his noisy younger brother. He patted Mingyun on the shoulder and said, “Thank you for your hard work.”

Mingyun said, “…”

He really didn’t feel it was hard. Grandparents were watching over him, so he only had to keep an eye on his younger brother. Well, as for the future, he will have grown up by that time, and it will be less hard work as he becomes more capable, so he really didn’t understand what this hard work was that the third shūshu was speaking about!

Lunch took a bit longer, come on, there was no need for dinner.

When she got up the next morning, Zhulan asked her daughters-in-law to pack up the belongings in each room. She would pack them all out first and then bring them together two days later.

As soon as Zhulan packed her clothes, Zheng Shi and Zhou Wang Shi came to the door.

Zhou Wang Shi Shi was extremely envious. She also wanted to live in a big house, so she suppressed her envy and said, “I know you are moving, so I came over to see if there is anything I can do to help.”

Just now, Zhulan had neatly packed away all the clothes, so the kang was not in disarray. “We’re moving in six days, so there’s no rush to tidy up. Shěnzi and sǎozi please have a seat.”

Zheng Shi didn’t know why the house was only sold for a hundred taels. There must be a reason for her father to give this price, and she felt closer to Yang Shi. Her father was a good judge of people. She trusted her father and reached out to touch the bracelet on her wrist. Her parents had gone away and left her a lot of gold and silver jewelry. She understood that her future wouldn’t be as comfortable as it had been.

Zheng Shi smiled: “I didn’t expect that we would still have such a fate. It’s a pity that you had to move away not long after we moved here, and we didn’t stay as neighbors for long.”

Zhulan said: “This is the old house of the Zhou family, the roots of our family. Our family will come back in the future. When the time comes, we will renovate the old house and build a big house like the Zheng family’s house.”

Zhou Wang Shi had long stopped trying to guess how much money Zhou Shuren’s family had. She spoke up, “Although your place is not small, it’s still too small for building a big house.”

Zhulan’s family indeed had a decently sized property, about one and a half acres. However, it was too small to build the Zheng family’s mansion. They would need at least three acres of land. So, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren set their sights on the neighboring Zhang family. The Zhang family’s mansion was also purchased later, so it was relatively easier to buy than an old mansion. As long as they had enough money, they could buy it. However, they didn’t plan to buy it this year; they could wait a few years.

Zhulan smiled and said, “We’ll talk about it later. It’s too early to build a house now.”

Zhou Wang Shi smiled, and she didn’t ask Zhou Shuren’s family if they had their own plans.

Seeing that there was really nothing they could do to help, Zheng Shi and Zhou Wang Shi sat there for a while and then went back.

Zhulan sent the two of them away, returned to the house, took out the box containing the money, and put all the money in the house. At present, there were more than 360 taels of silver in the house, and her jewelry was also worth a lot of money. However, the most valuable thing was the jade pendant left by her mother-in-law. Zhulan took out the jade pendant and put it away carefully. Unfortunately, her mother-in-law passed away before she finished speaking. However, it must be very important for her mother-in-law to take it out in the end.

Zhulan thought to herself that in the future if she became unable to handle things, she would make sure to address the most important matters first instead of leaving them until the end. That way, everything would be clear from the start instead of being left unfinished in a rush.

In the afternoon, Li Shi’s father came, his face was covered with sweat. Li Shi’s face turned pale, “Dad, what happened?”

Li Cong didn’t have time to talk to his daughter, so he hurried to the main room and saw his in-laws sitting in the main hall. Now, he said to his in-laws: “A thief broke into the Zheng family’s house yesterday. The thief was caught. In-laws, do you want to go over and have a look?”

Zhou Shuren asked, “How many were caught?”

Li Cong felt embarrassed. Not everyone in Li’s village was trustworthy. There were a total of four youngsters, two from the Li family’s village. “Four of them,” he clarified.

“Where are the people caught?”

Li Cong said, “The one guarding the house has tied the person to a big tree at the village entrance. In-law, aren’t you going to take a look?”

Only then did he realize that his in-laws had no intention of going!

Zhou Shuren thought to himself, “The person left by Old Master Zheng is really reliable. Since someone is watching the house, it doesn’t matter whether I go or not. Since it hasn’t been reported to the authorities, if they belong to Li’s village, they can be taken back there. If not, they can be taken back to their own village.”

Li Cong thought about the guard and felt a bit shaky in the legs. He was also glad that the two youngsters in the village would surely learn a lesson this time, and there would be fewer thefts in the village. Curiously, he asked, “In-law, is the person guarding the house from the escort agency?”

It must be someone hired by his in-laws, and he admired his in-laws for their thoughtfulness and knowing how to leave someone to look after the house.

Zhou Shuren thought to himself that Old Man Zheng really did not leave any omissions. He had included all his in-laws. After this, everyone would guess like Li Cong. Who in the ten miles and eight villages didn’t know that the Yang family had a close relationship with the escort agency? “Yes.”

Li Cong was relieved. His tone and complexion became bad again, and then he remembered what he had overlooked.

(End of this chapter)

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T/N A very important plot point is mentioned in this chapter. Can you guess it???