Zhou Shuren entered the house, shivering with cold. He quickly took off his shoes, climbed onto the kang (heated brick bed), and snuggled into the quilt. “This weather is so cold! I’m completely frozen. The frostbite on my feet had finally healed a little, but now it’s itchy and uncomfortable. It must have gotten frostbite again.” Zhulan gestured for Liu Ya to fetch the foot bath medicine. “Don’t tell me you’ve been outside freezing the whole time?”

Zhou Shuren took the hand warmer Zhulan handed him. His hands were red and swollen from the cold. He had helped catch fish today, but thinking of the even more miserable state of Lord Chen and Lord He, he felt a little better.

Zhou Shuren rubbed his hands. “I advocated leasing out the pond. Now that we’ve harvested, I naturally want to participate personally.”

Zhulan felt sorry for Zhou Shuren’s miserable appearance, thinking that being a good official was difficult. She quickly found the medicine prescribed by the doctor.

Liu Ya came in carrying a foot basin. Zhulan pulled Zhou Shuren along. “Soak your feet in the medicine first.”

Zhou Shuren felt a little better and gestured for Liu Ya to leave. His feet felt more comfortable in the medicine. “It’s been so many years, I almost forgot what frostbite felt like.”

He often got frostbite in the orphanage during the winter, and it would recur every year, causing him great pain. He tried all sorts of methods, but nothing worked. It wasn’t until he grew up and had some money to wear warm clothes that his feet slowly healed. Now he’d experienced it again, and it was heartbreaking.

Zhulan held Zhou Shuren’s hand, holding the medicine. “The fish in the pond have all been sold; you don’t need to go out anymore, right?”

Zhou Shuren nodded. “Yes, from now on, I won’t leave the city except to go to the yamen.”

He had done everything he could, and he had done right by the people of Lizhou City. This year, he felt like he had aged more than two years; he had worked too hard!

While Zhou Shuren soaked his feet, Zhulan told him about Second Zhou and the others, letting him understand the situation. Finally, she said, “If you have any questions, ask them after dinner.”

Zhou Shuren waved his hand. “I’m really tired. You can ask them. I don’t have anything to say. I’ll rest for a while.” For the past six months, he had been worrying about the people and scheming for his and Zhulan’s lives. He really didn’t want to worry about the Zhou family’s sons anymore. Anyway, Zhulan was no less capable than him. With Zhulan in charge, he felt very at ease.

Zhulan looked at Zhou Shuren’s tired face. Age doesn’t lie. No matter how hard Second Zhou and Chang Lian worked, their bodies were still young, and they could recover with rest. But Zhou Shuren could never get back to his best condition. “If only Grandpa Lü were here.”

Zhou Shuren said, “Don’t think about it. Grandpa is too old to leave his hometown.”

Zhulan was just thinking about it. Hearing Liu Ya say that the food was on the table and that there was still a whole family to meet, she said, “Let’s go. Come back and rest after we eat.”

Zhou Shuren stood up. “Okay.”

Now the Zhou family was all there, and both tables were full.

Having been warned by Zhulan, Zhou Shuren quickly gestured for Changyi and Changlian to sit down when they stood up to kneel. He glanced at Mingyun and Rongchuan first, then at Second Zhou and Changlian. He was jealous. He, the father, had worked himself to the bone, while his two adopted sons had become quite plump. Even though they had lost weight from the journey, they were still noticeably heavier. Zhou Shuren felt a pang of sadness and didn’t want to speak. “We’re home now. Today is a family reunion dinner. I don’t have much to say. It’s good that the family is together. Let’s eat.” Zhou Shuren was hungry.

He had eaten lunch at a local family’s house; although it was stewed fish, he was too embarrassed to eat much. Now he just wanted a bowl of hot chicken soup.

Seeing his father pick up his chopsticks to eat, Second Zhou realized he had prepared a lot of things to say but was disappointed. Seeing how thin his father had become, he felt a pang of sadness. His father had done everything for the family. He quickly stood up and served his father chicken soup. “Dad”, Zhou Shuren hummed in response, “Sit down and eat.”

Second Zhou felt even more heartbroken. Getting closer, he saw the weariness on his father’s face and realized that his father’s new position brought greater responsibility. Even when they were ordinary people, he had always hoped for a just and upright official. He knew all too well how difficult it was to be a good official. Thinking of the news he’d gathered today, he knew his father had truly worked hard.

Zhou Shuren, except for Zhulan, didn’t like anyone putting food on his plate. He tolerated it once or twice, but after a while, Zhou Shuren’s face darkened.

“Eat your own food,” he said to Second Zhou, putting away his chopsticks.

He had forgotten that his father didn’t like anyone putting food on his plate. Well, besides what his mother put on his plate, his father ate whatever she left behind. As for his sons, well, his father’s disdain was undisguised. Look, the old man was eating from a new bowl!

After dinner, Zhou Shuren couldn’t take it anymore and wanted to go back to rest. Zhulan gestured for everyone to leave, and she got up and went back to her room with Zhou Shuren.

Zhao Shi and Dong Shi had been waiting all afternoon, hoping to talk to their mother-in-law as much as possible.

They didn’t spend much time unpacking their luggage; most of the time was spent getting information out of the young maid, especially after learning how good their mother-in-law was to their sister-in-law. They were genuinely anxious.

Li Shi, wrapped in the new cloak her mother-in-law had given her, yawned. She was sleepy too. “Husband, let’s go back!”

Boss Zhou, noticing his wife’s tendency to sleep a lot while pregnant, carefully supported her, afraid she might fall while yawning. “Okay.”

Zhao Shi’s attention shifted to her sister-in-law, feeling even more envious. Had her sister-in-law changed cloaks twice in one day? Now she was wearing top-quality fur!

She was well-informed; ever since her father-in-law passed the imperial examination, the Qian family had given her many gifts. When her father-in-law became a fifth-rank prefect, the Qian family even gave her fur and silver under the guise of supplementing her dowry, though her husband had refused.

Dong Shi, even as the daughter of an official, had never owned many top-quality furs. She felt incredibly jealous. Thinking about how her elder brother and sister-in-law both had servants and how even a young man like Ming Teng had a servant, Dong Shi felt even more envious.

Li Shi did not realize she had stirred up jealousy. She slowly made her way back to her courtyard. Today, her mother-in-law had reassured her, and she felt much more at ease. She could finally get a good night’s sleep.

Zhulan returned to her room. Zhou Shuren took off his clothes and climbed onto the kang. “Aren’t you going to rest yet?”

Zhulan said, “Now that all the households are complete, even if I show favoritism, I can’t assign servants only to the eldest branch. I still need to make arrangements for everyone.”

Zhou Shuren pressed his lips together, displeased. “The more people there are, the more trouble there is.”

“Don’t think like that. They can help me a lot with their arrival. I’ve already planned it out. From now on, the eldest son will manage the farmland and estates near our home, and the second son will be in charge of the businesses in Jiangnan and other places. Second Zhou is cunning and not many people can fool him, so I can feel more at ease.”

Hearing this, Zhou Shuren’s impatience subsided a bit. “How do you plan to arrange the servants? Apart from the permanent staff, we don’t have many servants that we can move around.”

Zhulan said, “I don’t plan to buy any more maids or servants. After more than half a year of getting to know them, the three servants and maids who voluntarily sold themselves are of good character. I’ve also tested these three families, and I’ve already had the eldest son hire them to work in the orchard. From now on, they can only rely on us, so I can trust them more.”

Zhou Shuren knew that Zhulan was cautious, especially in ancient times when people’s lives and property were at stake. She had considered all possible future scenarios. “You want to divide the two servants who voluntarily sold themselves between the second son and Changlian?”

(End of this chapter)

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