CH 78

Zhu Lan felt that if she didn’t scold Li Shi, Li Shi wouldn’t know who she was anymore. Li Shi was always a big-mouthed person and wanted everyone in the village to know about their family going to the southern region. Zhulan didn’t want the village to know that Zhou Shuren has gone to the Jiangnan region. “Shut up! Look at how arrogant you are. If you dare to mention that your father went to the southern region, watch how I’ll deal with you. What are you standing there for? Go back to your room immediately.”

After her brain fever calmed down, she remembered that grandma had told her that no one should tell know about their family going south of the Yangtze River. She was so excited just now that she almost walked out to announce this! So she called weakly, “Mother.”

Zhulan said with a cold face, “Mother. What mother, hurry back to the house.”

Li Shi stuffed the meat to her mother-in-law and went back to the house in a hurry, closed the door, and patted her chest. In the past, when her mother-in-law was angry, she was just afraid of her scolding. But now she was scared; when her mother-in-law was angry, her eyes were so cold! She leaned against the door and shivered, telling herself over and over again that she must keep her mouth shut in the future!

Zhu Lan was satisfied. She became the vice general manager for nothing. She was a parachuted employee (1) in the company, and being young and just graduated, nobody was convinced by her. However, she had put in a lot of effort. Over time, she stopped smiling and had a strong presence when her face was expressionless. That came in handy now to completely intimidated Li Shi.

Zhulan weighed the mutton in her hand. Mutton was a good thing. It was eaten by privileged and wealthy families. The mutton that weighs more than a catty can only be boiled. Put the mutton away to warm up when the weather gets colder.

Speaking of which, Zhulan has been around for some time in ancient times, and mutton was really hard to buy. There was no mutton sold in the market, and sheep farmers in nearby villages will not kill and sell them. They were sent directly to restaurants or wealthy families in the county. Whole sheep were more valuable to sell, and mutton was a good thing to replenish the body in winter, which showed that it was precious.

Zhu Lan had the desire to buy some mutton to eat, but she didn’t dare to buy a whole one. Not only was it expensive, costing several taels of silver, but it was also too conspicuous, which went against her survival principle. Buying freshly slaughtered meat was also not feasible as she didn’t have any connections. Thinking about mutton led her to think about beef. In ancient times, it was not allowed to privately slaughter cattle, making it even more difficult to eat beef compared to mutton. Unless she became part of the privileged class with policies and countermeasures in place, it was a pity that Zhu Lan’s family was currently ordinary citizens, where even a slight mistake could result in severe consequences.

Early the next morning, the roads to the villages were cleared. Zhulan packed the prepared pork and a jar of kimchi pickled by Li Shi and asked the boss to send it to her natal home. She also asked him to ask if they could buy freshly slaughtered mutton there.

After pondering over mutton all night, Zhu Lan’s craving for hot pot grew stronger. The more she thought about it, the more she longed for the modern days when she could eat whatever she wanted. After cursing Zhou Shuren a few times, she became even more fixated on getting some mutton and could only rely on luck and her natal family.

Zhu Lan was delighted when Eldest Zhou returned home after lunch. She saw the long-awaited mutton, including lamb chops and meat, totaling over ten kilograms. “Boss, what’s the story behind this?” she asked.

Zhou blushed, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Every time I go to Grandfather’s house, he always lectures me. But this time, Grandpa heard that you were looking for mutton, so he went out and brought back a sheep, and killed it immediately when he came back. There was not much mutton, even the bones and meat less than fifty catties. Grandpa divided it into four portions. This is mother’s portion.”

It was still Grandpa who loved Mother the most.

Zhulan, “…”

Zhu Lan truly had no intention of relying on her parents for financial support. She was genuinely touched by her parent’s love for her. In the end, she decided that in the future, she would refrain from burdening her parents except by giving gifts. After all, she had her own pride as well.

Zhulan signaled Li to take it to the kitchen to change the knife and looked at other gifts in return. Dad sent a rabbit again, a fat rabbit that was killed, and some jujubes. Zhulan was moved by her parents for being so kind to her. She decided that when Zhou Shuren comes back, the New Year’s gift must be thicker, and it would be better to let his parents stop subsidizing her.

On the second day, Zhulan planned to go shopping in the county, and this time she brought Li Shi with her. She was really afraid that Li Shi wouldn’t be able to keep her mouth shut, so she might as well take her with her and go out to gain more knowledge, so as not to be petty and embarrassing in the future.

The winter roads were even more difficult to traverse. It took Zhu Lan nearly an hour to reach the county, which normally would have taken only around 30 minutes. She had the foresight to bring a thick scarf to cover her face, but while her face remained unharmed, her body was freezing cold.

Zhulan made up her mind to buy more. She didn’t plan to go out in winter in ancient times but stay at home comfortably. She didn’t want to feel the cold wind like a knife in ancient times.

Zhulan first went to buy brushes and papers for her two sons and then bought a brush for Rong Chuan. Currently, Rong Chuan was using the old brushes of her two sons, and the brushes had lost most of their hair and were not good for practicing calligraphy well.

Then she went to the grocery store to buy salt and other seasonings. Ancient salt was impure and expensive, and the ancient salt merchants were the richest.

When the purchase was almost done, Li Shi chimed in, “Mother, I want to go to the jewelry store.”

Zhulan stared at Li Shi, “Why do you want to go to the jewelry store?”