CH 96

Zhou Shuren recalled carefully, “Is there?”

Zhulan balanced herself; it’s not that she is heartless. Look, Zhou Shuren didn’t remember either, “Our eldest daughter, Zhou Xuemei!”

Zhou Shuren was dumbfounded, and patted his head, “If you hadn’t mentioned her, I really forgot about her.”

Zhulan laughed, “It’s not your fault for forgetting about her. Besides the time when I just arrived and thought about her briefly as a child in the family, the next time I remembered her was when I was counting the gifts from Jiangnan. I haven’t thought about her at all in my daily life.”

Zhou Shuren frowned, “In ancient times, it was not easy for a married woman to return to her natal home. In my memory, Xuemei came back last time in July.”

Zhulan felt very guilty, she and Zhou Shuren occupied the bodies of the original couple, but they forgot about the eldest daughter of the couple, “Fortunately, the original body has a good eye for choosing a husband for a daughter. Xuemei’s mother-in-law is sensible, and Xuemei’s husband is the youngest son of the Jiang family, and she is a little more partial to him. Xuemei hasn’t experienced much hardship and is living a relatively decent life.”

Otherwise, if Xuemei didn’t live a good life and they had forgotten about her, they could have felt really bad.

Zhou Shuren recalled: “In my memory, the eldest son-in-law Jiang Sheng was admitted to Tongsheng (1) last year, and he didn’t pass the Yuànshì (2) examination this year. He is 22 this year, three years older than Xuemei, and they got married when he was 19.”

Zhulan nodded, “Yes, he is twenty-two. In the memory of the original body, Jiang Sheng was good to Xuemei.”

Zhou Shuren held the book and tapped his hands, “In the memory of the original body, Jiang Sheng’s talent is not bad, but it’s a pity that his family background is not good, and he doesn’t read enough. If there is no good teacher, if there is no Zhou family’s book, Jiang Sheng will have a hard time passing the test.”

Zhulan sighed, Jiang Sheng is the representative of the poor family, “Jiang’s family in Wangjia Village has had few relatives for several generations, and there is no clan. He can only rely on himself. When Jiang Sheng got married, he fell in love with Xuemei early and valued Zhou Shuren and the Zhou family’s books, otherwise, he would not have waited until he was twenty to get married.”

Jiang Sheng’s parents really took care of their son!

Who made compulsory education impossible in ancient times? It was difficult for poor students to study, and their education level was limited. Unlike the children of aristocratic families who have had no shortage of resources since childhood. If the elders in the family come from the imperial examinations, it meant that their education started under a Jinshi. (3) The advantages were directly opened. Scholars in their teens were not uncommon among aristocratic and rich families. The scholars in their twenties were mostly from poor families and they progressed because they were all geniuses.

Seeing that Zhulan was distracted again, Zhou Shuren shook the book to attract Zhulan’s attention and said, “My in-laws do have foresight, but according to the current situation, it is difficult to be a scholar. The hopes of the entire Jiang family are placed on Jiang Sheng. Jiang’s family also has quite a few sons, and Jiang Sheng’s two senior brothers will not be able to wait any longer. As the saying goes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. I think the Jiang family’s conflicts are not small.”

Zhulan knew Zhou Shuren’s analysis was not wrong. So she sighed and thought of the jewelry that Zhou Shuren brought back for the girls. She sat up and said: “You forgot to bring jewelry for the eldest daughter last time, and I also forgot to give her some jewelry and just kept some fans for her. Look at the wàisūnnǚ, she is more than one year old. Let’s give the rest of the set of jewelry to our wàisūnnǚ!”(4)

Zhou Shuren appeared somewhat uncomfortable. He had truly forgotten about their eldest daughter completely. “Our eldest daughter must have endured quite a bit of teasing from several of her sǎozi (5) in the Jiang family. I remember we had a pair of silver earrings during our last inventory check. Let’s find them and give them to our eldest daughter. Let’s make this year’s New Year’s gift more substantial, including some practical items for the Jiang family along with a separate one for our eldest daughter.”

Zhulan pondered for a moment. “Our eldest daughter and her in-laws have limited land in the Jiang family, and they prioritize Jiang Sheng’s education. They must be reluctant to spend too much on food and clothing. Let’s buy some more pork and add more rice so that they can have a good meal during the New Year. Our daughter and her children can also have a bit more to eat. Let’s have our second son inform Xuemei about the engagement of Xuehan and Rong Chuan in two days and send the gifts over at the same time.”

Zhulan didn’t dare to take more action. She only had the memories of the original owner and hadn’t personally met her son-in-law yet. In any case, she trusted her own judgment more. At least she would think about how to make amends after she had personally met him.

Zhou Shuren, “Yes.”