T/N Yay back after my vacation!!!!

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren went to their and took another hot bath. They lay on the warm kang listening to the sound of rain outside and fell asleep comfortably.

Chang Lian and Dong Shi drank the thick ginger soup. They really didn’t expect that the ginger soup made by their mother was so unpalatable. The emotion they had finally felt was destroyed by their uneasiness.

Their mother was angry. They had no idea that since their mother couldn’t cook, she naturally couldn’t make good ginger soup. After a simple wash, the two of them didn’t dare to sleep and tossed and turned. They both knew that the matter was not over.

The morning after Zhulan and Zhou Shuren returned home, the atmosphere in the Zhou family was different—children were up early, playing wildly in the courtyard, while the adults went about their own tasks.

When Zhulan woke up, breakfast was already ready.

After washing up, the whole family was waiting for Zhulan and Zhou Shuren to have breakfast.

Breakfast consisted of shepherd’s purse buns, millet porridge, and pickles made by Li. Zhulan and Zhou Shuren enjoyed the simple meal very much.

Except for Chang Lian and Dong Shi, everyone at the two tables enjoyed the food.

It was Zhou Shuren who punished the eldest and second sons. Only Chang Lian and Dong Shi stood outside the gate for a while without saying anything else. This was the most torturous thing.

Chang Lian saw that his father didn’t even look at him and only talked to his eldest brother while eating. He held the chopsticks and couldn’t swallow a single bite of the millet porridge in the bowl.

Dong Shi was so frightened that she couldn’t eat. Her mother-in-law smiled a little towards her eldest sister-in-law. She either ignored her second sister-in-law and her or gave them a cold face, with her head down and her face pale.

After dinner, Zhou Shuren asked the eldest and second sons to do their own work, Rong Chuan went to the academy and asked for leave for Mingyun, and Changlian stayed.

Zhulan asked Dong Shi to clean the table herself and said to Li, “I saw you dried a lot of wild vegetables in the yard. Did you pick them outside the city?”

The Zhou family’s house was quite a distance away from the city, and it took a lot of time to go back and forth to dig wild vegetables outside the city!

Li Shi shook her head. “Mother, I bought these with money. The wild vegetables were sold very cheaply in the market. I wanted to pick them up myself at first, but it was too far to go out of the city. I thought it would be better to buy them with money. A large basket of wild vegetables in the market only costs three cents.”

Zhulan had no other intention but to ask, “Well, wild vegetables are not expensive, so buy more. This winter when we go to the capital, we can still have some green vegetables to eat. We can dry more this year.”

Li Shi was anxious, her mother was again not going to be at home, “Mom.”

Zhulan interrupted Li Shi and said with a smile, “Why are you in such a hurry? I’ll give you a promise. I’ll take you two with me, no one else.”

Li Shi grinned. Mother was going to take them to the capital. “Thank you, mother.”

“It’s getting late, let’s go to the market to buy some vegetables. Make more delicious dishes today. Mother is thinking about your cooking skills!”

Li Shi felt so confident, “Ok.”

Li Shi went out happily, she wanted to share the good news with the head of the family.

Chang Lian in the room, Zhao Shi’s face changed, and Zhao Shi’s heart was in turmoil, Mother was not going to take the second room? Her face turned pale, “Mother.”

Zhulan said calmly: “Go to the kitchen and boil some more hot water.”

Zhao Shi was becoming more and more panicked, but she didn’t dare to ask, “Yes.”

In the end, she disappointed her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law treated her well, as long as she was still the original Zhao Shi. Since she came to Pingzhou and found her mother, she had more money in her hands and could even embroider screens. She had changed a lot. Her mother had been a slave, and she had an instinctive fear of officials. The more she talked about it with her mother, the more timid she became. But in the final analysis, she was just too thoughtful and thought too much.

Zhulan waited for Zhao Shi to go out, glanced at Chang Lian who was standing obediently, then retracted her gaze and waited for Dong Shi to come back.

In the front yard, Li Shi was as happy as a bee, “Boss, boss, Mother said she will go to the capital in winter, and she will take us with her this time.”

Boss Zhou and Second Zhou were picking up horse manure at the gate when they were both stunned.

Boss Zhou quickly came back to his senses, “Really?”

Li Shi nodded, “Really? Mother said it herself. Don’t you believe her?”

Boss Zhou shook his head hurriedly. He didn’t believe his father’s words now but his mother’s. His mother was the ruthless person in the family. He grinned and said, “That’s great, but what about Mingyun?”

Li Shi thought the eldest son was stupid, “Father and mother will definitely arrange it. When have we ever worried about Mingyun’s affairs?”

Her son was the eldest grandson, and her father-in-law was going to take his son to ride horses today. Thinking of this, she seemed to dislike the head of the family. The head of the family did not hold a more important position in her father-in-law’s heart than Mingyun.

Boss Zhou, “.”

Li Shi had recovered, but she would hurt his heart at every turn. Don’t think he didn’t see the look of disgust!

Li Shi left happily with the basket of vegetables, completely unaware of the impact her words had on Second Zhou. He realized that his mother’s words were not only a sign of satisfaction for his eldest brother and his wife, but also a statement that his parents could take whoever they wanted and could separate whoever they wanted.

In the backyard, Dong Shi cleaned the kitchen and returned to the main room. Since her parents-in-law left, Dong Shi gradually stopped cleaning the kitchen. It was always her eldest and second sisters-in-law who did it. She even stopped helping to wash the vegetables.

She hadn’t cleaned up for a long time, so she was a little busy and slow.

Zhulan put down the teacup in her hand and said to Zhou Shuren, “People are here, you go first!”

Zhou Shuren looked at Chang Lian, “Since you feel that you have grown strong enough and that this family will rely on you in the future, I will give you a chance. There is no need to wait until the future. You two can separate and live your own lives. Let me see your ability and how strong your wings are. How about that?”

Chang Lian’s legs were numb from standing, but he knelt very smoothly, “Dad, I was wrong.”

Whatever he said now would be wrong, so it was better to simply admit his mistake without offering any explanation.

Zhou Shuren snorted, “I think you are right, but I overestimated you. I am not dead yet, and I am making this clear today. Even if I die, this family will not rely on you. Remember my words.”

He had never expected Chang Lian to support the family, and he had always wanted Chang Lian to carry Chang Zhi on his back. There was nothing wrong with what he said.

Chang Lian was stunned. This was the first time he heard his father say this. He had always thought that his father trained him for the future of the Zhou family. Looking into his father’s eyes, he knew that his father was telling the truth. Endless panic rose in his heart. His father really didn’t plan to keep him anymore. “Dad, Dad.”

Zhou Shuren snorted, “Shut up.”

Chang Lian quickly shut his mouth. He wanted to ask his mother for help but he didn’t dare to open his mouth. It was his mother who locked the door yesterday.

Zhulan cleared her throat. “As for our family assets, the old house is not worth much. We have 80 acres of land in our hometown and a house in Pingzhou. As for the shop, I was asked to sell it when I moved to Pingzhou. This time I went to the capital and bought three more houses, two courtyards with good locations, and one with two entrances in the south city. Your father and I are not going to share the old house with any of you. We have 80 acres of land, and each of your four brothers will have 20 acres. Your father and I don’t want it, so we will give you 20 acres of land, the house in Pingzhou, and the courtyard in the capital.”

As for the money in my hand, I’m sorry, Zhulan has no intention of sharing it.

Chang Lian shuddered. They really wanted to divide the family. “Dad, Mom, I won’t divide the family. I was wrong. I was really wrong. Dad, Mom, please don’t abandon your son.”

Dong Shi was completely stunned. Were her parents-in-law really going to divide the family? She shuddered—this couldn’t happen. It wasn’t about the family assets; if the family split up less than a year after she married into the Zhou family, it would ruin her reputation. If her parents-in-law didn’t split the family equally but separated their household, wouldn’t that imply that their household was at fault?

Dong Shi bit her lip. Her husband didn’t want to divide the family. He might blame her in the future. “Mother, it’s all my fault. I didn’t respect my sister-in-law. I was wrong. Mother, you can punish me however you want, but don’t separate us.”

(End of this chapter)

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