Zhulan put away the jewelry box, “I found that in ancient times, raising a daughter really cost a lot of money, especially for wealthy families. Marrying a daughter with a suitable social status would require a large dowry. Although marriage brought a lot of benefits, raising a few more daughters would really drain the family’s wealth.”

Zhou Shuren laughed, “So that’s what you were thinking about!”

Zhulan said depressedly, “How can I not want to? Look, Xuemei needs to make up for the dowry, Xuehan, Yushuang, and Yulu all need dowries. We will definitely have many granddaughters in the future. Even if the family is not divided, we will both have to pay for the dowry. Calculate how much money it will cost.”

Zhou Shuren had never done the math, so after doing the math, he gritted his teeth and said, “It seems that we will have to sell our lives to the Zhou family and earn money for the rest of our lives.”

Zhulan didn’t dare spend the money she had. She thought she had a lot of money, but after a careful calculation, there really wasn’t much. “I’d better wait for the money in my hand to produce a baby.”

Zhou Shuren was upset for a while. No wonder Zhulan didn’t want to say anything. He didn’t want to talk after he figured it out. “It was really hard to be the head of a family in ancient times.”

Zhulan sighed, “It’s really not easy to be one.”

It was much more exhausting than her managing the company!

Time flew, and in a blink of an eye, they arrived at the county town of their hometown. Zhulan and Zhou Shuren left the team and returned to the old house in Zhoujia Village.

Zhulan thought that only her daughter was at home, but unexpectedly there were so many people at home. Zhulan felt that it was a coincidence that she came back.

The carriage stopped at the gate, and Zhou Shuren helped Zhulan get out of the carriage. The people watching in the yard were stunned, obviously not expecting that Zhulan and Zhou Shuren had returned.

The Jiang family did not expect that the in-laws who were supposed to be in Pingzhou City would come back. Looking at the sullen-faced in-laws, Jiang Yong shrank his neck.

Patriarch Zhou was happy, “Shu Ren is back.”

Zhou Shuren, “It’s been a long time since we last met. How are you, uncle?”

Patriarch Zhou looked at the carriage and the escort from the corner of his eye and said with a smile, “Uncle is fine. Are you going on a long journey?”

Zhou Shuren explained: “We just came back from a long trip and happened to pass by our hometown so we thought about coming back to see my uncle and aunt. Unexpectedly, there was a surprise waiting for us when we came back!”

Zhou Shuren looked at Jiang Yong and Jiang Wang Shi with sharp eyes. These two people were not quiet.

Patriarch Zhou thought, fortunately, he came here immediately after hearing the news. He never expected that Zhou Shuren would come back at such a coincidence. Fortunately, he did not avoid dealing with the issue just because Zhou Shuren was not there, “You must be tired from the journey, let’s go in and talk.”

Zhou Shuren was indeed tired, “Please come in, Patriarch.”

Zhulan didn’t want to be watched, so she said to those who dared to enter the yard to watch the fun: “It’s getting late, I won’t see you off.”

When she was at home, no one dared to enter the yard to watch the fun, as Xuemei was still a soft-tempered person.

The onlookers stared blankly at Zhou Yang Shi’s changed look. Her dress and appearance made her look too much like the wife of a wealthy family. Plus, with the bodyguards present, they all slipped out of the yard and didn’t even dare to watch the fun outside the door.

Zhulan was very satisfied. She patted Xuemei’s hand, took out some silver bills from her purse, and handed them to the escort and the driver. “Here’s the remaining money. The extra money is for you to drink. Thank you for your hard work along the way.”

The escort took fifty taels of silver and said, “Then we’ll leave first.”

Xuemei waited until the escort and the driver left, then stared at the carriage in the yard in amazement, “Mother, why did they leave the carriage behind?”

Zhulan pointed at the family carriage and said, “Since it belongs to us, we should keep it.”

Xuemei’s heart beat faster. Two carriages, that was a lot of money. Her mother’s family must have money. She couldn’t ask if they had bought a house in the capital. She supported her mother and said, “Mom, you’ve had a hard time on the way here. Let’s go inside and sit down.”

Zhulan wanted to hear what the Jiang family was doing here, “Let’s not go back to the backyard, let’s go to the main hall.”

Xuemei lowered her voice, “Mother, it’s nothing. The Jiang family came here just to register all the Jiang family’s land under Jiang Sheng’s name. Jiang Sheng gave away four acres of land for the sake of his family’s reputation, but the Jiang family felt that it was too little and wanted to register all 16 acres of the Jiang family’s land under Jiang Sheng’s name. Jiang Sheng said that it was fine, but they would have to pay money every year. The Jiang family was not willing to do that. They didn’t want to pay a penny to register the land under their name.”

Zhulan counted the days when Jiang Sheng became a xiucai, “Your family has never been at peace!”

Xuemei nodded. “The Jiang family only came to make trouble for Jiang Sheng. They didn’t dare to do anything to me. Look, I’m fine.”

Zhulan looked at Xuemei carefully. She looked good indeed. Xuemei was already showing signs of pregnancy. Zhulan knew that they had passed by and did not go to the main hall. “Let’s go back to the house.”

Xuemei smiled and said, “Hey!”

Jiang Du was playing with Jiang Miao in the room. When they saw Zhu Lan, the two children were excited and kept calling her “Grandma, Grandma”.

Zhulan kissed them one by one, hugged her grandchildren, and said, “Children grow up so fast. It’s been such a long time since I last saw them, and they seem to have grown a lot taller.”

Xuemei tapped her daughter’s nose and said, “If you eat well, you will grow fast. Mom, you and Dad should stay with us for a few more days now that you have come back.”

Zhulan curled her lips and said, “If I stay a few more days, your sister-in-law won’t know how to cry!”

Xuemei was amused when she thought about how her sister-in-law must have suffered a lot without her mother’s protection. “She might be crying right now!”

In Pingzhou City, Li Shi was indeed crying because she was too aggrieved. She wiped her tears and said, “I want my mother, head of the family. Why hasn’t my mother come back yet?”

Boss Zhou, “.”

He also wanted to know when his father would come back. He had really had enough of being the head of the Zhou family. In these past two months, he felt like he had lost several years of his life. Look how depressed his wife was. She had lost a lot of weight. He touched his belly and found that his belly bag had disappeared.

Li Shi really missed her mother-in-law. When she was not at home, even if Zhao Shi helped her, she was afraid of facing Dong Shi. After all, she had a good sister. She felt like a housekeeper, which was so depressing.

In Zhoujia Village, Zhulan also knew why Zhou Wang Shi didn’t come. It was mainly because the Jiang family came too many times. After knowing that they would not cause trouble for Xuemei, Zhou Wang Shi stopped coming.

After a quarter of an hour, the Jiang family left in disgrace. Zhou Shuren saw off the patriarch Zhou and returned to the house.

Xuemei stood up and said, “Dad.”

Zhou Shuren sat down and said, “You have a condition, so don’t stand. Sit down and talk.”

Jiang Sheng did not receive the same treatment as a daughter-in-law. He stood obediently and lowered his head guiltily. He had failed to solve a problem several times. When his father-in-law came back and just sat down, his father was frightened. Before his father-in-law could say anything, his father promised not to come again. He felt that he was particularly useless.

Zhou Shuren was not satisfied with Jiang Sheng. Jiang Sheng was inefficient and could not take charge of things. He could only follow others. “The county magistrate accepted you, why don’t you take advantage of him? Don’t you know how to take advantage of others?”

Jiang Sheng lowered his head even more. He really didn’t think of taking advantage of the situation. He was afraid of displeasing his master. He knew that his master accepted him only for the sake of his father-in-law’s face.

Zhou Shuren guessed what Jiang Sheng was thinking as soon as he saw him lower his head. He sighed inwardly. Jiang Sheng’s life would be like this. At best, he could pass the imperial examination and live a wealthy life. In the future, his eldest daughter could only depend on his eldest grandson. “The county magistrate is supporting you. Even if you don’t take advantage of him, you represent the county magistrate’s reputation. You must be tough when you need to be tough.”

The Dong family was like a local tyrant in the local area, but Jiang Sheng was still timid. It really made people feel uncomfortable. It turned out that vision and character must be cultivated from childhood.

Jiang Sheng looked up and was stunned. He really didn’t expect this. “Dad, I know I was wrong.”

Zhou Shuren didn’t have time to teach Jiang Sheng, “Learn more from your master in the future. Just learn two points, it will be enough for you for a lifetime.”

Jiang Sheng was touched by his father-in-law’s advice, “Yes, I will definitely study hard with Master.”

Zhou Shuren instructed Jiang Sheng, “You don’t need to take down the big box on the carriage. There are two packed bags in the second carriage. You can bring them back.”

Jiang Sheng hurried out to get his things.

Xuemei lowered her head and said, “Dad, I’m sorry for worrying you.”

Zhulan comforted her daughter, “You are our daughter, and it is our duty as parents to worry about you.”

Xuemei suddenly thought, “Mom, Wang Rong, do you still remember her?”

---