Zhou Shuren held Zhulan’s hand and said, “Don’t worry about it.”

“I don’t want to worry about it, but I can’t help thinking about it!”

She completely regarded herself as her original self. She was concerned about several children. Even though Changzhi had someone to take care of him and she didn’t have to worry about him, she sometimes wondered if Changzhi was staying up late reading again.

Zhou Shuren never thought about it. Even though he cared a lot about his children, he still didn’t worry about them. Three of his sons had started families and one had a master to take care of him. He really didn’t worry about them!

Zhulan was worried about her family, and Changyi and the others were also worried about Zhulan and Zhou Shuren.

It rained a lot in Lijia Village, but fortunately, the autumn harvest in Lijia Village started early and the harvest was almost done. The snow plums were about to come out.

Zhao Shi and Xuemei chatted, “I wonder if my parents have arrived in the capital.”

Xuemei patted her little son in her arms and said, “It rained heavily a few days ago, so the roads must be difficult to travel on. I guess they haven’t arrived yet.”

Since Zhao Shi started living on her own, she has been worrying a lot. This time, she had no time to think about anything else. She had to take care of her Eldest Sister during her confinement every day, and also worry about her husband’s autumn harvest. What gave her the most headache was thinking about what to cook for three meals a day.

In the past, these were all what the eldest sǎo thought about. She was only responsible for helping out, and since her mother-in-law was taking care of the household, she really didn’t have to worry about anything.

Now she was always worrying. It had been less than a month and she felt exhausted. Everyone said that they had a good life and wanted to be the boss of the family, but she didn’t care. She was tired of worrying after only a few days.

Zhao Shi looked at the children who had grown twice as big as she did on the kang and took a deep breath. She still had something else to worry about. “It’s almost time for you to leave the confinement period. Where do you think we should hold the full-month banquet?”

No matter where it was done, she would be the one who worried about it.

Xuemei also felt a little uncomfortable. She felt at ease during her confinement period when her mother was at home. After her mother left, her second sǎo was also good to her, but she felt uncomfortable. “It’s already a big trouble for my second sǎo. Let’s do it at the old house.”

Zhao Shi was calculating in her mind how many tables to set up. She really missed the days when she didn’t have to worry about anything and could think about anything.

In Pingzhou City, Chang Lian returned from Jiang Mansion. Dong Shi came out to greet him, “You’re back. What did our jiěfū want you to do?”

Chang Lian was very happy, “My jiěfū said that he will return to Beijing next year and has already packed his luggage.”

Dong Shi said, “Then can we also go to the capital to reunite with our parents?”

Chang Lian was silent. “My jiěfū will be able to leave in April next year. My sister and the children will leave first.”

Dong Shi heard it would still take a long time, she realized that by the time her jiěfū returned to the capital, her father-in-law would have already made a decision.

Chang Lian washed his hands and said, “I’ll write a letter to Dad and let him know.”

Dong Shi said, “Father and Mother should be arriving in the capital soon!”

Chang Lian nodded, “It should be there soon.”

His father left him in Pingzhou City, and he became the son of a juren family. With the identity of his jiěfū, since his father left, all eyes were focused on him. He found it really difficult to cope with the situation, and he almost got into trouble several times. Only then did he deeply understand that in the eyes of the old fox, he was not even a little fox. In the eyes of the old fox, he was just a chick that could fall into a trap at any time.

Now he missed the days under his father’s wings very much. With his father’s advice, he didn’t have to be so cautious all the time. He missed his father and mother.

Time flew, and Zhulan and Zhou Shuren finally arrived in the capital.

Zhao Bo arrived in the capital and left his address before leaving the convoy. Zhulan lived in the second courtyard this time. The merchant’s courtyard was exquisite and the furniture was left behind during the negotiation, so she just had to move in with her luggage.

Zhulan had never considered living in or renovating the other two courtyards. When she would sell them, she was going to sell them for their location.

Many merchants were living in South City, and there were also officials living here, but their official positions were not high, and they usually moved away when they were promoted. Even if the houses in South City were exquisite and spacious, officials were unwilling to stay. The class boundaries were very clear.

Six carriages stopped in front of the house. The gate was still locked. Zhulan opened the gate. The yard had not been lived in for several months and a lot of weeds had grown.

Boss Zhou directed people to bring in the luggage.

Zhulan took the key and opened the doors of each room one by one. Fortunately, there was not much dust accumulated in the house.

Xuehan hugged her niece Yulu and said, “Mom, the courtyard in the capital is so exquisite.”

Compared with the houses in Pingzhou, the houses in the capital instantly looked like old houses in the countryside. Xuehan looked at the corridors and the rockery in the yard, and felt that the capital was really great and the houses were all different.

Zhulan laughed. She was still a child after all. “That’s because you haven’t seen our other two courtyards. Not all courtyards are so exquisite.”

Since Xuehan entered the capital, she had been looking outside through the gap in the car curtain. The capital was very prosperous, and the restaurants were more magnificent than those in Pingzhou. However, she noticed the key point in her mother’s words, “Mom, do we have two other courtyards?”

Zhulan smiled and said, “Yes, there are two more courtyards. Your third brother also knows about it, but he didn’t dare to tell anyone. However, Mother is going to sell them.”

Xuehan hugged her niece tightly. Her family actually had so much money! Two houses in the capital!

Zhulan said to Xuehan, “Put Yulu down first, and take Jingzhe with you to clean up your own room.”

Xuhan put Yumu down and said, “Mom, I’m going out.”

“Ok.”

A quarter of an hour later, Zhou Shuren came back after finishing arranging the front yard. Zhou Shuren said, “It’s getting dark now, let’s just eat a bite today.”

Zhulan said, “Luckily I remembered that there was no firewood in the house, so I picked up some on the way here. Otherwise, we wouldn’t even have enough firewood to burn.”

Zhou Shuren said, “Buy more firewood tomorrow. Winter is coming soon, so buy some more and keep them for later use.”

Zhulan said, “There are a lot of things to buy. Let’s write a list after dinner.”

Zhou Shuren sighed, “The capital is not like Pingzhou where I have people I know to look after me. When I leave in the future, I will need someone to look after my house in the capital.”

Zhulan nodded, “Yes.”

At night, they had the food they brought back from Pingzhou. There was no meat, just a few wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger.

There wasn’t much firewood, so taking a shower was impossible. They unpacked their luggage and went to bed early.

The next morning, living in the South City also had its advantages. There were many shops and it was very lively in the morning. Li Shi didn’t have to cook in the morning and could just go out with the silver to buy buns.

Boss Zhou and Li Shi went out together. Zhulan waited for a long time but no one showed up. She became a little worried. “Could these two people be lost?”

“When have they ever lost their way?”

Zhulan frowned and estimated the time, “They should have come back a long time ago!”

(End of this chapter)

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