Zhulan put down the needle and went out. Dong Shi was holding a box in her hand. Zhulan motioned for Dong Shi to sit down, “What do you want to talk to me about?”

Dong Shi put the box on the table and opened it, then took out the land deed from it, “Mom, this is the field my father gave me as a dowry in Lijia Village, fifty acres. I heard from my husband that our family divided the field among the people in Lijia Village to help grow crops. I would like to ask you to find someone to ask if anyone is willing to help grow the field?”

Zhulan glanced at the field. The name was under Dong Shi’s name. Dong Shi had to pay taxes for these fields herself. The tax for fifty acres of field was not small. She and Zhou Shuren dared to do this because Zhou Shuren was confident that he would pass the imperial examination.

Dong Shi’s was a pure dowry, and she had to manage it herself. Whatever she earned in the future would be her own money. Zhulan had to make it clear, “Your land will be taxed and you will hire others to grow the food. If the year is bad, there won’t be much left, and if the year is good, there won’t be much left either. You will earn a lot less money every year. You should think about it carefully.”

Dong Shi also did the math, but she was too young and her husband wasn’t even a scholar. According to the regulations of this dynasty, she couldn’t use slaves and there was no one to manage things. Her husband had to study, and although she earned a lot less, she had her parents to support her, and no one dared to covet her food. She was happy to save trouble, “Mom, I’ve figured it out. My husband and I are young, so it doesn’t matter if we earn less. We just want to save trouble.”

Zhulan thought to herself that, except for Li Shi, the other two daughters-in-law had big ideas. “Since you’ve figured it out, Mom will ask your Dad and we’ll talk about it when you return home tomorrow.”

Dong Shi thanked her, “Thank you, mom.”

“We’re all family, you’re welcome.”

Dong Shi picked up the box, “Mom, I’ll go back to the yard then.”

“Go.”

Dong Shi went out with the box in her arms. She believed her husband’s words and tried not to get close to her mother. Her father-in-law didn’t like it. When she came, she thought that her father-in-law was reading in the study, but she didn’t expect that he was in the house. Although she didn’t see it, she knew that if her father-in-law hadn’t been reading in the house, her mother would have let her in.

Zhulan’s study was just a decoration for Zhou Shuren. Zhou Shuren was not an ancient man. He preferred to read casually. Reading was tiring for the brain. It was more tiring to stay in the study. It was more comfortable to lie down.

Zhulan went back to the house and told Zhou Shuren. Zhou Shuren said that he knew and asked the eldest son to handle it. This matter was good for Lijia Village. There was no need to pay taxes. As long as they helped to farm, they would have food. Last time, Zhulan’s family bought 60 acres of land. Many people asked when Zhulan’s family would buy land again. They all hoped to help farm.

It was a pity that Dong Shi’s fields were near Lijia Village. If they were in Zhoujia Village, they could also benefit Zhou’s poor relatives.

Dong Shi returned to her room. Her husband went to study. She sorted out her dowry. Now that she was no longer a young lady, she had to sort it out by herself. Fortunately, she was mentally prepared. She comforted herself and started sorting.

The cloth was sorted according to the amount of dowry. The washbasins and shelves were taken out by the mother-in-law when the dowry was delivered and placed in the bridal chamber.

The main thing was to pick out the jewelry that could be worn at present and put the rest away. Some headdresses were not suitable for her as an ordinary lady, so she prepared them in advance for the future.

After everything was sorted out, she felt a sense of accomplishment.

Finally, there was the silver money at the bottom of the box. There were two boxes of silver ingots, two hundred taels in each box, a total of four hundred taels, and a small box of fifty taels of gold ingots, of which two hundred taels of silver were the original betrothal gifts. Her parents gave her a dowry of seven hundred taels on the surface, and secretly stuffed a thousand taels of silver notes.

Her dowry was worth three thousand taels in total.

Her sister gave her make-up as a dowry, mainly jewelry, and her brother and saozi didn’t give much, because they knew that as a daughter who was born to her parents in their old age, they would definitely not give her less dowry.

In fact, her dowry could have been more, but when her sister married her brother-in-law, in order not to be looked down upon, her father gave her half of the family fortune in one go. When she was little, her mother taught her to manage the household. Although the Dong family had a lot of wealth, they had several brothers watching over them, and the annual expenses were high, so she really couldn’t save much money in a year.

Dong Shi didn’t know that the window of the study was open, and Chang Lian had been standing by the window watching. Chang Lian was observing his wife’s temperament. Seeing that Dong Shi was busy and didn’t complain, Chang Lian was happy. He was able to endure hardships and was not squeamish. He liked his wife more and more. He stood up to add water to the kettle and took out tea leaves to make tea. When Dong Shi came back, she could drink tea to quench her thirst and have hot water to wash her face and hands.

Zhulan didn’t know that the newlyweds were testing each other. She was preparing the return gift for Dong Shi tomorrow.

Zhou Shuren contributed his hand-copied books brought back from Jiangnan, which were not available on the county magistrate’s bookshelf. Zhulan brought out the screen given to her by her second sister-in-law. This was still Zhou Shuren’s opportunity to exchange for the Yang family. The eldest and second elder brothers expressed their gratitude. Her eldest brother gave a ginseng he had found, and her second saozi, knowing Zhulan liked screens, embroidered one herself. Because it was labor-intensive, it was only sent over during the New Year.

These two items were not bad, and Zhulan added the remaining mutton from the wedding banquet, as well as some other items, making a total of six items, which gave Dong Shi enough face and also showed Zhulan’s satisfaction with this daughter-in-law.

At lunch, Zhao Shi’s eyes were a little red and swollen, and Second Zhou’s eyes were bloodshot. Obviously, Zhulan not only touched Zhao Shi but also Second Zhou. As a man, Second Zhou naturally wanted to give his wife the best, but he had exchanged his wife for food, and his mother didn’t like Zhao Shi at the beginning, so he didn’t dare to mention it. Later, his mother didn’t complain about Zhao Shi, and he also wanted to keep a low profile and planned to wait until the child was a little older.

Now that his mother mentioned it in person, he felt warmed. His mother was the same as his father. Although she didn’t say caring words, she always cared about them with actions, so his mother must live longer than his father. It was not that he was unfilial to his father, but he felt more and more that if his mother died first, he wouldn’t have to worry about his father not being his biological father. He was afraid that his father would die with her.

Dad loved Mom so much that he would do something to bury her with him. He has dreamed of this scene several times and was so scared that he couldn’t sleep for several nights. So such a good mom must live a long life.

Zhulan felt Second Zhou’s admiration for her, and Zhao Shi also treated her as her own mother. Well, her care was not in vain.

The next day, Dong Shi came back to her parents’ home. When Dong Shi saw the return gift Zhulan had prepared, she was moved again.

After going out and sitting in the carriage that the Dong family had sent to pick her up, Dong Shi lowered her voice and said to her husband: “I will treat mom like my mother in the future.”

The return gift given by her mother-in-law not only gave her face but also gave her mother face. Today, there must be a lot of people at home, some to bless her, and some who came to make fun of her. Who didn’t have a few annoying people in their family? There were really a lot of people in her family.

Chang Lian chuckled, looking down at her with her little head raised and making a promise seriously. Why did he think she was so cute? He couldn’t help but pinch his wife’s face, “I believe you.”

Dong Shi’s face flushed. Except for the night in the bridal chamber when her husband held her, they had no more intimate actions. But why did she think her husband looked good when he smiled? Dad had no taste in choosing a husband for my eldest sister, and the brother-in-law who came later came to her on his own. Unexpectedly, Dad had a good taste in choosing a husband for her!

(End of this chapter)

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