Zhulan lowered her eyes and touched the bottom of the teacup with her fingertips. Fang Shi was able to protect Zhao Shi and teach her how to protect herself. Fang Shi had her own wisdom. From what she said just now, it can be seen that Fang Shi sees everything clearly. Zhao Shi’s temperament was obviously inherited from Fang Shi!

Then, it was interesting for Fang Shi to reveal the Qian family’s wealth in front of her. There was trust, but more of a desire to indirectly tell the Zhou family that the Qian family was rich, with a lot of money.

Zhao Shi was dumbfounded. How could her mother say this in front of her mother-in-law? “Mother.”

Fang Shi comforted her daughter and asked her to continue listening.

Then she said, “Mother also wants to tell you that your uncle is ambitious. Although his sons can’t study, he has many sūnzi. He hopes that some of his sūnzi¹ will become shūréns² so that they can wash away the reputation of the Qian family as slaves to merchants. To have a few promising shūréns in the future, your uncle is willing to spend money.”

Zhulan’s smile deepened. Fang Shi indirectly told her that the Zhou family should not be fooled by the Qian family’s small favors. The gifts the Qian family brought were a drop in the bucket for them. She also reminded her that they came not just to recognize their relatives, but for a purpose.

Zhao Shi also reacted, feeling bitter in her heart. Her mother said so much for her sake. She was afraid that the Zhou family would not be able to outsmart the Qian family and would be used by the Qian family in the future. “Mother.”

Fang Shi had said everything she could say. Her daughter said that her mother-in-law was a powerful person, and she really was. The smile on her face never changed from beginning to end. She couldn’t see through Yang Shi’s thoughts. She was good at reading people’s minds. At that time in the Yun family, there were so many calculations. Even though she was the housekeeper’s wife, she was not decent everywhere. Too many people wanted to bring down Steward Qian. She relied on reading people’s minds to win the Madam’s favor!

Zhulan put down the teacup in her hand. Even if Fang Shi didn’t remind her, she wasn’t worried that the Zhou family would be plotted against.

She should be thankful that Zhou Shuren didn’t plot against the Qian family. The Qian family dared to come and plot against them. For Zhou Shuren, who was in urgent need of money, it was like a piece of fat meat delivered to his mouth. If he didn’t tear off a few pieces, he would be sorry for the meat that was delivered to his door.

Zhulan smiled and said, “Mother-in-law, don’t just talk. Try some snacks. These are made by my eldest daughter-in-law. They taste pretty good.”

When Li Shi came to Pingzhou, she either cooked or stayed in the kitchen making snacks. Li Shi felt that the expenses in Pingzhou were too high, so she put her mind to making snacks. She wanted to save money by making snacks. She had the basic skills of making mooncakes, and although there was no oven at home, the steamed snacks were also good. Zhulan liked steamed rice cakes very much.

Fang Shi smiled, picked up a piece, and tasted it, “It’s really good.”

As she said that, she took another bite. The rice cake looked ordinary, but it tasted really good. It wasn’t too sweet, and the middle had a sesame aroma. It was delicious.

Zhulan pushed the plate down. There were not many rice cakes on the plate. Most of the ones steamed by Li Shi in the morning were given to Rongchuan and Mingyun, and some were sent to the students in the front yard. A few pieces were kept in each room, and the rest were in the main room.

Fang Shi got up early in the morning and must not have eaten anything. She had already had breakfast and had saved some rice cakes for later. This was just right for Fang Shi to have a few more pieces. “My mother-in-law likes it. Don’t be polite. Homemade ones are not expensive.”

Fang Shi was indeed hungry. “Then I won’t be polite.”

“Don’t be so polite, we are all family.”

After Zhulan finished speaking, she said to Zhao Shi, “Go and tell your dasao to prepare two tables of food.”

Zhao Shi stood up and said, “I’ll go find my dasao right away.”

“Go ahead!”

Fang Shi just remembered that her daughter was in charge of the Zhou family’s household expenses. If she had a daughter-in-law, she really couldn’t do what Yang Shi did. She wouldn’t torture her daughter-in-law, but she wouldn’t give up the power in her hands. She also had to guard against her daughter-in-law trapping her son’s heart and being unfilial to her in the future. So she admired Yang Shi more and more in her heart. Most people couldn’t be so good to their daughter-in-law!

Zhulan felt the admiration and guessed a little from Fang Shi’s heart. She laughed in her heart. Why was she good to her daughter-in-law and gave up power generously? Because she and Zhou Shuren were not biological parents. Their goal from beginning to end was to make their lives better. As for the issue of filial piety, she and Zhou Shuren were not afraid at all.

If the children of the Zhou family dared to have evil thoughts, they would tell them what their stepfather and stepmother looked like in a minute. She and Zhou Shuren would not hesitate to take ruthless action!

Zhao Shi came back soon. Li Shi and Dong Shi came with her. They didn’t come over right away because they knew that Zhao Shi’s mother and mother-in-law were having a private conversation. Now that Zhao Shi was out, they knew that the conversation was over, so they naturally came over to acknowledge her. It was not only out of etiquette but also to give Zhao Shi face.

Fang Shi was very happy after hearing about the two “Auntie”. As a former housekeeper, she knew the most about gifts for meeting someone. “I don’t have any good things, so please don’t despise my bracelet.”

Fang Shi took off the bracelet from her wrist. It was a jade bracelet that she specially brought for this visit, and also because she considered that the family was a scholar family, and gold was too tacky. She bought a pair of bracelets, one for each of them.

Dong Shi recognized the good stuff, it was a jade bracelet of good quality, “Thank you, Auntie.”

Zhulan looked up at the ceiling, she was afraid that she would laugh out loud. Fang Shi also encountered the same problem she encountered at the beginning, Li Shi couldn’t wear it!

Fang Shi was embarrassed, Zhao Shi held back her laughter, took the bracelet, and stuffed it into her dasao’s hand. Fang Shi was relieved of her embarrassment, and said dryly: “It’s good to put this bracelet away.”

Li Shi, “.”

Could she say that she had tried to lose weight seriously? But she touched the three layers of fat on her belly and couldn’t lose any more weight. Her mother told her that she had inherited the body type of the Li family and would be like this for the rest of her life. The harder she worked, the fatter she would get!

Li Shi silently accepted the jade bracelet and was mad in her heart. Why did she give her a jade bracelet? It would be fine to give her gold or silver. At least she could find a silver shop to melt it and customize it for her to wear.

When she thought that the jade bracelet would be given to her daughter in the future, and she could only watch and not wear it, she felt sad!

Zhulan coughed, and Li Shi was really sad. She comforted Li Shi and said, “Wait for Mother to find you a jade bracelet that you can wear in the future.”

At worst, when she has money in the future, she could just buy the material and make something Li Shi could wear!

Li Shi’s eyes lit up. My mother-in-law is still the best. “Mother.”

Zhulan wanted to touch Li Shi’s head, and she couldn’t bear to bully her anymore. “Okay, go buy some groceries!”

Li Shi responded crisply, “Ok!”

Zhulan curled her lips, she was happy again!

Fang Shi was stunned. Was this how the Zhou family’s mother-in-law and daughter-in-law got along? Didn’t Li Shi think that her mother-in-law was coaxing her? She actually believed it and was so happy!

She didn’t believe that Yang Shi could find it. If the Zhou family was wealthy, she would believe it, but the Zhou family was just a family of scholars with some wealth. Seeing her daughter believe it, she smiled in her heart. Why did she bother about these things? The better her daughter’s in-laws were, the happier she would be!

Afterward, Zhao Shi brought in a few more children, and Fang Shi gave them a gift of one or two taels of silver.

Zhulan’s mouth twitched. She felt that the Zhou family’s fortune had always been prosperous!

At noon, to give the Zhou family face, Li Shi used all her skills. There were twelve dishes on the table, all made by Li. Although she used the mutton sent by the Qian family, Li Shi’s cooking skills were good and the Qian family was very satisfied with the meal.

After the meal, the Qian family left. Zhulan asked, “Did Qian Shengbao come here for his sūnzi? Does he also want to study in the academy?”

(End of this chapter)

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Footnote

1. Grandson from son
2. A scholarly person, basically a literate person