Zhulan looked at the return gift from Second Zhou when he moved into the house. The meat in the basket was mutton, all of which had been processed. The basket was full, with bones and meat, almost the size of a whole sheep. There were also red dates and other foods that were all for body nourishment.

There was a lot of food, and there were also two boxes. When the boxes were opened, there was a pair of ornaments and a painting. There were two cloaks wrapped in a large cloth bag. Zhulan had been to the leather shop many times, and she could tell at a glance that they were made of fox fur. Zhao Shi was also holding a box in her hand.

This return gift far exceeded the value of what they had given!

The Zhou family was stunned. No matter what, they shouldn’t have received so many return gifts!

Boss Zhou asked, “Second brother, what’s going on?”

Second Zhou teased and picked up the ornament. “Mother, does this ornament look familiar to you?” he asked.

Zhulan took the ornament and looked at it. “Isn’t this similar to the pair of ornaments I sent over there?”

The biggest difference was the color.

Second Zhou said, “Mother, the Yun family made porcelain vases. Every year, they made a batch of unique vases and give them to officials of all ranks in Pingzhou. Steward Qian remembered them all. As soon as he saw the ornaments I sent, he knew they belonged to Lord Jiang’s family. After knowing why the vases were in our house, he was particularly polite to us. That’s why we got so many return gifts.”

Zhao Shi opened the box in her hand and said, “Mother, this is the dowry that Old Man Qian gave me.”

Zhao Shi never expected that she would find a stepfather after recognizing him as her relative. She felt deeply moved that he was worthy of being the steward. She had become valuable. Not only did he recognize her, but he also increased her dowry. He was really calculating.

Zhulan took a quick look and saw a pair of jade bracelets in the box, which looked of decent quality, two gold hairpins, and a pair of gold bracelets, which looked quite dazzling. Steward Qian invested because he saw the benefits, but she also had a rough estimate of the money in Steward Qian’s hands.

The Qian family must have a lot of money, and they must have embezzled a lot of things from the master’s family. The calligraphy and paintings were the best evidence.

The dowry that the Qian family gave to Zhao Shi was dazzling, but in fact, it was a drop in the bucket for the Qian family. Steward Qian was calculating in his bones. He gave a decent return gift and acknowledged his adopted daughter as his own. In the future, if the Zhou family did not become successful, there would be an educated relative who would be good to the Qian family. If the Zhou family did become successful, there would be relatives in the official family, so the family would not be badly off in the future. No matter how the Qian family calculated, they would not lose out.

Li Shi stared at her dimei’s dowry. Well, she used to be able to suppress her dimei, but now her dimei has more private property than her, and she has become the last one in the family. Unexpectedly, her dimei went out to recognize her relatives and even supplemented her dowry, which made her worry in vain.

Dong Shi’s frown soon relaxed. She despised the Qian family in her heart.

The steward of a merchant family was good at calculating even though he had become a free farmer. Fortunately, the Qian family had a clear mind.

At the same time, she despised the Qian family even more.

This was a perfect example of bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

Boss Zhou frowned, he didn’t like the Qian family. First, they bullied his brother’s wife’s mother, but now that she had someone to rely on, they compensated her with money. They were too profit-oriented.

Chang Lian considered things from his father’s perspective. He thought that the Qian family as their step-relatives were troublesome and not relatives with whom he could have a deep friendship.

Zhulan motioned for Zhao Shi to put the box away, “It seems that your mother will be able to live a happy life in the future.”

Zhao Shi closed the box and said, “Yes, today the sons and daughters-in-law of the Qian family have apologized and promised to respect my mother like their own mother in the future.”

Zhao Shi thought about what her mother had said to her alone. Her mother was reluctant to leave her three-year-old brother because she knew that if she left, her brother would be the Qian family’s child and could not leave. A child without his mother would be worse than a weed. Her mother also considered her and did not want to add to her burden.

Mother always thinks about her children and never thinks about herself. When she thought of this, her heart ached.

Dad was a good person at the beginning. He was good to Mom and her. But things went badly. One winter, Dad injured his waist while trying to pull Mom out of the river. It would be difficult for them to have children in the future. Dad was not good to Mom, especially because the baby she was pregnant with at the time was stillborn and it was said to be a boy.

This is also one of the reasons why her mother was sold, and she was told not to hate. Her mother felt sorry for her father, and in the end, just asked her to protect herself because her father had changed a long time ago.

Her father sold her mother for the boy of the Zhao family. Later, she was exchanged her for food, and her father didn’t even look at her.

Zhao Shi thought too much and her eyes turned red. She held back her tears. Her mother said that everything was fine now and the Qian family would respect her in the future. As long as her husband’s family was better, her mother would live a better life.

Zhulan saw that Zhao Shi was not in a good mood, so she said to Changyi, “You are tired all day, go back and rest!”

Second Zhou said: “Mom, we will go back first.”

“Ok.”

Zhulan said to Li Shi again, “It’s very cold today. We can stew some of the rare mutton tonight. You can collect the remaining mutton and jujubes.”

Li Shi’s stomach was no longer short of pork, but mutton was still missing.

“Mom, it’s getting late. I’ll go cook now.”

“Go ahead.”

Dong Shi stood up and said, “Dàsǎo, I’ll help you.”

Li Shi smiled and said, “Okay.”

She now liked Changlian’s wife more and more, and gave her cooking lessons!

As for the remaining gifts, Zhulan looked at the displayed bottles. What she got in return was not what Zhou Shuren liked. She calculated carefully in her mind. Chang Lian went out to visit, and the family gave out a lot of things and received gifts in return. The third house also got a lot of things. The second son’s family also gave out a lot when he recognized his relatives, and received some in return. Only the eldest house got nothing.

Zhulan pointed at the display bottles and said, “Boss, take this pair of bottles back and put them away.”

Boss Zhou was stunned, “Mom, what should I do with it?”

Such a valuable thing was better kept by his mother.

Zhulan was too lazy to explain, “I am giving this pair to the big house, so take it back!”

Boss Zhou realized that Mother was seeking balance. She felt that the first wife’s family was at a disadvantage, so she gave the decorative vase to them. He somewhat understood now. No wonder dàmèi¹ never actively asked Mother for anything and never showed envy whenever she visited. It turned out that the dàmèi was the one who understood their parents the most. Because she did not compete, and their parents were fair, they would naturally compensate her. She gained a good reputation and made their parents think of her. The eldest sister was truly clever!

Boss Zhou was looking at Changzhi. Changzhi had an expression that said what the eldest brother deserved. The calculating Changlian also had the same expression. Hey, he knew how to be the eldest brother in the future.

Boss Zhou was holding the box, feeling very happy. He had gained so much today.

Changlian and Changzhi didn’t leave. They were waiting to see the painting!

Zhulan saw that they were staring at the painting and said, “Open it and take a look at it yourself. Don’t damage it.”

Changzhi was much faster than Chang Lian. “Mom, don’t worry. I will be very careful.”

Zhulan laughed and shook her head, and Changzhi became particularly active in calligraphy and painting.

Zhulan touched the fur of the cloak. The two cloaks were given to her and Zhou Shuren. Hers was fox fur and Zhou Shuren’s was sable fur. They felt good to the touch and could not be compared with rabbit fur.

Zhulan hung all the cloaks in the closet. Thanks to Wang Ru, large wardrobes were very popular now, and the Zhou family had bought quite a few of them.

Changzhi and Changlian were looking at the calligraphy and paintings.

Zhulan didn’t know how to appreciate calligraphy and paintings, so she just glanced at them roughly. “Well, the calligraphy is nice,” and that was it. As for who signed the signature, she didn’t know, but it should be a calligrapher from an imaginary dynasty.

Changzhi looked at it carefully, frowning, “Huh.”

(End of this chapter)

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Footnote

1. Eldest of the younger sisters.