After dinner, Zhulan was ready to rest. After washing up, she fell asleep in a daze. She opened her eyes when she felt someone beside her. She saw Zhou Shuren had just finished washing up and was about to come up to sleep. “You’re back.”

Zhou Shuren had a headache. It wasn’t because he drank too much, but because he had been listening to a lot of nice things all day and his ears were buzzing. His head was also particularly painful because of the noise. “Go to sleep. I’m going to sleep too.”

Zhulan was used to holding Zhou Shuren while sleeping. After Zhou Shuren lay down, she hugged his waist and fell asleep again in a daze.

Zhou Shuren chuckled. Zhulan had been sleeping restlessly just now, but now that he was back, she finally felt at ease. This trust and reliance made him feel no pain no matter how hard he worked. He hugged Zhulan tightly, kissed her forehead, and said softly, “Good night, wife.”

The next morning, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren woke up. Neither of them planned to get up. They were really tired yesterday. Zhulan said, “There won’t be too few people today.”

Zhou Shuren said, “After we finish these few days, we will go back to our hometown. I have 200 acres of land under my name that is tax-free. I want to buy another 20 acres to make a total of 100 acres. Then, we can buy another 20 acres of dry land and give it to the clan school for free as a subsidy for the clan school’s writing brushes, ink, and paper.”

Zhulan understood Zhou Shuren’s intention. As the first successful candidate in the imperial examination in the clan in recent years, the Zhou family would need more support from clan members in the future. Moreover, Zhou Shuren also wanted to gather members of the Zhou clan. Originally, the interests of the clan members were intertwined. In the future, it would be much safer to trust clan members than outsiders when employing people.

Zhou Shuren’s giving free land to the clan school was the second step to winning over the clan members. The first step was to gain goodwill within the clan over the past two years.

Zhulan asked, “What about the remaining eighty acres of land?”

Zhou Shuren said, “I originally wanted to give it to the Yang family. I mentioned it to my father-in-law, but he refused to agree and even scolded me. He said that the Yang family doesn’t lack the money from taxes and that the Yang family will get better and better in the future, so I don’t need to worry about it.”

Zhulan was jealous of her original self. She really had a good father and a good mother. “Dad was also thinking about us. He was afraid of trouble in the future.”

Zhou Shuren nodded, “So I’m not going to give the remaining eighty acres of land to anyone in my clan, or to the Li family. I plan to keep the eighty acres of land and buy some land near the capital so that I can have more food in the future.”

Zhulan stretched lazily and said, “From what you said, you are not going to accept the land that is offered to you?”

Zhou Shuren nodded, “If our family didn’t have any relationship with the Jiang family and Xu Jinshi, I would have accepted it because I am confident that I can control the people who give gifts. But now I can’t. A large part of the gifts are for the Jiang family and Xu Jinshi, and I can’t check them one by one. It’s better not to accept any of them.”

Zhulan smiled and said, “As if I don’t know you. It’s because you dislike trouble that you didn’t accept it.”

This person also wanted to relax and not be so tired. In the past two years, Zhou Shuren really worked hard. Everything the Zhou family has now was earned by Zhou Shuren. He succeeded in the imperial examination, and the fate of the Zhou family was completely changed.

Zhulan felt sorry for Zhou Shuren. “No matter what you want to do, I will support you. I will take care of the financial matters in the future, and you won’t have to worry about the family anymore.”

Zhou Shuren rested his forehead against Zhulan’s, “From now on, the money in the family will be handed over to you, my lady.”

Zhulan kissed Zhou Shuren’s lips and said, “Please build the platform for me soon. Don’t worry, I’ll be there for you in the future.”

Zhou Shuren felt that the atmosphere was very good and was about to make some moves when Boss Zhou knocked on the door, “Dad, the second uncle of the Patriarch’s family wants to leave now.”

Zhou Shuren, “.”

He felt that he and Boss Zhou were in conflict and that Boss Zhou was more annoying than a light bulb!

Even though Zhou Shuren cursed in his heart, he had to accept his fate, but his face was particularly gloomy.

Outside the door, Boss Zhou shrank his neck. He didn’t want to call his father, but his second uncle refused to eat breakfast and insisted on leaving. He was also desperate. He just hoped that his father would forgive him because it was not easy for him to be the boss!

Zhou Shuren opened the door and glared at Boss Zhou, but Boss Zhou kept his head down, like an ostrich.

Zhou Shuren, “.”

Awesome, the boss actually used this trick to deal with him!

Zhulan followed behind him and laughed in her heart, saying, “You said the boss did something wrong, right?” The boss really did nothing wrong. No matter how angry Zhou Shuren was, he could only glare at him. As a result, Boss Zhou was also afraid. Now he didn’t even dare to look at Zhou Shuren’s face. Well, Zhou Shuren just sulked by himself.

In the end, Zhou Shuren failed to keep the Patriarch’s second son. The Patriarch’s second son had found a convoy and he remembered to hurry back home, so he stayed one more day yesterday.

Zhulan hurriedly packed some clothes and pastries to take with him.

The Zhou family had just finished breakfast when the Qian family came to congratulate them. Qian Shengbao brought not only several sons but also several grandchildren. The gifts from the Qian family were expensive. Probably because they felt that they had offended the Zhou family last time and discovered that Zhou Shuren had greater potential, Qian Shengbao made up his mind to bring an antique vase.

Zhulan didn’t know the price, but she knew it was not cheap from the satisfied look on Zhou Shuren’s face.

Qian Shengbao didn’t dare to play tricks this time. He said flatteringly, “Congratulations on your success in the imperial examination. I should have come to congratulate you yesterday, but when I thought there would be a lot of people coming to congratulate you, I waited until today. Please don’t blame me, qīnjiā.”

Zhou Shuren glanced at the antique vase and didn’t blame him at all. Oh, he had liked this vase the last time he visited the Qian family. Well, that’s not quite right; he actually thought all the antiques displayed at the Qian family’s place were quite nice. “What the in-laws said is irrelevant. Please, have a seat.”

Qian Shengbao’s mouth twitched. If he had known that his in-laws would be so easy to please if he gave them antiques, he would have given them to him long ago. He had gotten a lot of antiques from the Yun family back then. It was because the merchant family was rich, especially the Yun family who started out by making vases. The amount accumulated over several generations was really a lot.

Qian Shengbao felt a sense of reflection. He truly didn’t believe that Zhou Xiucai would succeed in the local examination. He thought that even if Zhou Xiucai did succeed, it would take several attempts, and he didn’t expect Zhou Xiucai to achieve this distinction at such an age. He thought he would never see it in his lifetime. Unexpectedly, Zhou Xiucai succeeded in one attempt and even came in second place. Moreover, his age was also quite respectable. With Zhou Xiucai’s cunning and methods, the Zhou family’s greatest potential lay with him!

Qian Shengbao pushed his grandchildren and said, “Why don’t you go see Grandpa Zhou?”

Zhou Shuren, “.”

His good mood suddenly diminished significantly. He had mostly responded to Zhou Xiucai, and aside from his own grandson, he rarely heard anyone call him ‘Grandpa.’ Hmm, he was clearly still quite young!

Zhulan felt disheartened as well. She said to Fang Shi, “Qīnjiā mǔ, please come in.”

Fang Shi finally let go of the worry she had been carrying all the way. Her qīnjiā mǔ came to the front yard to pick her up, which was already a great honor for her. She didn’t dare to tell the Master what happened last time after she went back, and she was nervous this time. Her qīnjiā mǔ had become a juren’s wife, and she couldn’t help wondering if she would be looked down upon even more. Fortunately, her qīnjiā mǔ gave her enough face, and she and her son could live a better life in the Qian family. “Please after you, qīnjiā mǔ.”

Zhulan and Fang Shi arrived at the backyard. Zhao Shi had already put on her makeup and came out. Seeing that her mother-in-law didn’t give her mother a cold look and was smiling, Zhao Shi exhaled and walked forward with a smile, “Mom, I’ll go make some tea.”

Zhulan thought that Zhao Shi was indeed thoughtful, but she also had her merits. A son never dislikes his mother’s ugliness. Fang Shi used to be a servant, and even though Dong Shi despised her, Zhao Shi never despised her own mother. She never stopped Fang Shi from coming to the Zhou family, and even though the Zhou family’s status had changed, Zhao Shi still cared about her own mother. Not everyone had this kind of filial piety.

You know, when a person’s identity changes, his mentality will definitely change more or less. She had warned Zhao Shi, and she knew where the problem lay. Zhao Shi had never blamed her mother but had been constantly changing herself. Look at the look of concern on her face when she was concerned about Fang Shi just now, and there was more smile in Zhulan’s eyes.

No one was perfect. Everyone had his or her own flaws, more or less. She had quite a few of her own!

Zhao Shi came in with some tea and served some snacks. Zhulan didn’t want to drink any more tea as she had drunk a lot yesterday.

Today, Zhulan not only brought Dong Shi to entertain the female relatives but also brought Li Shi. With the help of two daughters-in-law, Zhulan felt a lot more relaxed.

Today’s guests included landowners, some scholars, but most of them were still merchants.

(End of this chapter)

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