Zhulan asked doubtfully, “Aunt, just say it directly if you have something to say.”

Wu Li Shi said to Wu Ning beside her, “You haven’t seen Xuehan for a long time. You two can go out and play for a while.”

Zhulan heard that she didn’t want the children to hear it. After the two little girls went out, Zhulan said, “Aunt, you can tell me this time.”

Wu Li Shi was a little embarrassed to open her mouth, but then she thought of her grandson and became more confident. “Xuehan is nine years old this year. What do you think of my Wu Ming?”

Zhulan, “…”

Recalling carefully, she had never mentioned Xuehan’s engagement. Xue Han and Wu Ning had a good relationship and the little girls would not mention engagement. The Wu family didn’t know about the engagement yet. She didn’t expect Wu Li Shi to fall in love with Xuehan and ask her so directly!

Zhulan was a little proud. Xuehan was no worse than a young lady except for her status. Seeing Wu Li Shi waiting for a reply, she laughed dryly, “Xuehan got engaged the winter of the year before last.”

Wu Li Shi calculated her age and said in surprise, “It’s too early to get engaged.”

She really liked Xuehan. The little girl was more stable than her granddaughter. Not only was she blessed, but she was also very generous. With Yang Shi as her mother, the little girl must have made a lot of plans in her mind. She really loved Xuehan, otherwise she wouldn’t have asked directly because of Xuehan’s young age. It was a pity that Xuehan got engaged early. She thought that even if she had mentioned it last year, Xuehan would have been engaged. She could only sigh that they were not destined to be together.

Zhulan explained, “It’s fate that she got engaged.”

Wu Li Shi saw that Zhulan had no intention of introducing her son-in-law. Although she wanted to know who she was engaged to, she didn’t ask Yang Shi since she didn’t mention it.

For Zhulan, even if Xuehan was not engaged, she would not agree to Wu Ming, because Wu Ming had a promising future and was too capable. Who knows if he would have concubines in the future? What if he bullied her daughter?

Rongchuan was still good. Although his background was unknown now, he was raised by her. He was grateful to her. Rongchuan is also grateful and would not let Xuehan down in the future.

In ancient times, women who received education hoped that their husbands would only be theirs. If they were open-minded, there would be no house fighting. House fighting was not only for the benefit of children but also for jealousy.

Except for those who really didn’t care, how many women were willing to share their husbands!

Because Xuehan was engaged, it was a bit awkward. They didn’t have the mood to chat, so Zhulan said goodbye early.

On the way home, Li Shi looked around, and Zhulan laughed, “Didn’t you see enough on the way here?”

Li Shi said excitedly, “Mom, the state capital is different. Not to mention the many shops along the way, look at the courtyards on both sides, they are more imposing than those in the county.”

Zhulan rolled her eyes in her heart. She really didn’t see any imposingness. The buildings of the houses in the north house were basically the same. The only difference was the size of the houses. It was only new to Li Shi for these two days, but it wouldn’t feel different in a few days.

Zhulan didn’t rush home and took Li Shi to the market. When Li Shi wanted to buy vegetables in the future, it was a good opportunity to get to know the way. The Zhou family had a good sense of direction and none of them lost direction. They walked around the market and bought fish and tofu.

Li Shi was so distressed, “Mom, there is no difference between the vegetable market in the state capital, the things sold are similar to those in the county, why are they more expensive than in the county? Fish is one cent more expensive per pound than in the county, and tofu is half a cent more expensive, aren’t they the same things?”

Li Shi calculated quickly in her mind. After coming to Pingzhou, she no longer had a vegetable garden. Wouldn’t she have to spend money to buy vegetables in the future? The monthly expenses were several times that of her hometown.

Zhulan saw that Li Shi was wilting, “What are you thinking about?”

Li Shi was heartbroken, “Mom, Pingzhou is not particularly good.”

Everyone said that the provincial city was good, and she also looked forward to it, but when she really came and calculated the expenses, her heart was bleeding. Now in her eyes, Pingzhou City was a place that swallowed money, and she couldn’t help but cover her purse.

Zhulan, “.”

She really couldn’t keep up with Li Shi’s train of thought. She didn’t know why she was holding her purse as if she was afraid of losing it!

When she got home, Li Shi hurriedly asked Boss Zhou to make a box and get soil for she wanted to grow vegetables.

Zhulan finally understood why Li Shi was tightening her purse strings. She felt that the cost of living in the city was too high.

At noon, she had some leftover meat and vegetables from the day before and cut some pickles for a meal.

In the afternoon, Zhulan woke up from her nap. Chang Lian and Dong Shi came back from their visit. Zhulan went out of the room and saw a gift box on the table in the main hall. It was a return gift from Dong Shi’s sister.

Zhulan called Dong Shi, who opened the door and came over with a smile, “Mom, you’re awake.”

Zhulan drank tea to moisten her throat, “Yeah.”

Dong Shi knew why her mother-in-law called her. She had been waiting for her mother-in-law to wake up. She said, “These are return gifts from my sister and brother-in-law. They are specially for Dad and Mom.”

“These are too many.”

She just counted six boxes.

Dong Shi said, “These are for my parents. I’ve accepted the ones for me and Chang Lian. Mom, my brother-in-law likes wolf skin very much. He kept saying that my parents took a lot of trouble finding them. These are the thoughts of my sister and brother-in-law. You should accept them, Mom!”

Zhulan thought there would be gifts in return, but she didn’t expect so many. This didn’t include the gifts for Chang Lian and Dong Shi. After all, she was her biological sister. These gifts also mean to show support for Dong Shi!

Zhulan said, “Thank your sister for me, and then Mom will accept them.”

If they didn’t send an invitation, she wouldn’t go to their house to thank them. It would seem like she was relying on the Jiang family and it would be annoying.

“I have already thanked my sister and brother-in-law. My sister will have a tea party in the future and asked me and my mother to attend it together!”

Zhulan kept smiling, looking at this, telling her that she didn’t need to go to the door to thank them and that she would invite them when they met in the future. Zhulan said, “Mother doesn’t know much about tea, so you can just go when the time comes.”

She was just a xiucai’s wife, and she was not brave enough to be cannon fodder when attending the official’s wife’s tea party. As for Dong Shi, she was her younger sister, so she would naturally take care of her. She didn’t want to be looked down upon.

Dong knew that her mother-in-law would say this a long time ago. Her parents-in-law were not people without measure. At the same time, she sighed about the difficulties of her sister’s second marriage. Until now, the wives of officials in the state capital have been talking about her sister. Her sister didn’t want her in-laws to come to the door, and she was afraid of adding more discussions.

However, she was very happy today. Her parents-in-law prepared gifts for her to visit, especially two good wolf skins. Her brother-in-law liked them very much. This also made her sister proud. She didn’t go to the door to ask for money, but to visit, which also made her brother-in-law look up to her husband and her in-laws!

Because she didn’t embarrass her sister, her sister was also happy, so she naturally gave her a generous gift in return, and of course, she also wanted to support her.

Zhulan was embarrassed to open any gifts in front of her daughter-in-law, but fortunately, Dong Shi was very considerate, “Mom, I am going back to sort out my sister’s return gift.”

“Okay, you can go back.”

Zhulan waited for Dong Shi to go back before opening the box. Among the six boxes, the largest box contained decorations. Zhulan didn’t know much about decorations, but the gifts from the fifth-rank Tongzhi must not be cheap. One of the two boxes contained two hairpins inlaid with jade, and one box contained a pair of jade bracelets that looked pretty good. The remaining three boxes contained a piece of good ink and two brushes that looked expensive.

The six boxes were indeed for her and Zhou Shuren.

As for the others in the family, after all, their status and position were different, and Dong Shi’s sister didn’t need to worry about everything.

Zhulan put all the jewelry in the box into the jewelry box. She had more and more jewelry, and she was also a vulgar person who was happy to see it.

Zhou Shuren didn’t come back for dinner. Zhulan was worried about him. The ancient times were not good. There were no mobile phones. She wanted to ask him but didn’t know where to find him. She could only worry about him as the sky was getting darker outside.

Zhulan couldn’t control her feet and went to the front yard several times.

Boss Zhou followed behind her mother. He was also worried about his father. “Mom, how about I go out to look for him?”

Zhulan said, “Where can you find him? Okay, don’t worry about him. Your father will be back soon.”

Boss Zhou, “.”

Mom, when you say this, you should go back to the backyard. You are worried about him here and don’t go back. He was not only worried about his father but also about his mother.

His thoughts differed from those of Li Shi. Li Shi felt that spending money in Pingzhou was not as worthwhile as spending it in their hometown. But he had a broader perspective—people strive to move upwards. Staying comfortably in their hometown might be easy, but it also cuts off opportunities for advancement. Now that his father hadn’t returned, he felt guilty for not being able to help as a son.

Zhulan’s ears moved and he walked quickly to the front door. Zhulan felt that Zhou Shuren was back.

After opening the gate, there was no carriage or person in sight. Boss Zhou looked carefully and said, “Mom, Dad hasn’t come back yet.”

Zhulan felt that Zhou Shuren had returned, “Wait a moment, it must be your dad who is back.”

(End of this chapter)

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