CH 99

Zhou Shuren couldn’t say that he was eavesdropping, so he hummed. In his memory, the original body was a really rare eldest daughter, not only in appearance but also the first daughter after the two sons. So she was different from all of their children.

In the end, he completely forgot and now he felt really guilty. The eldest daughter was angry, and he saw the eldest son-in-law’s depressed appearance. He wanted to discuss with Zhulan and wait for the second son to come back to talk carefully. Now listening to the child crying, he couldn’t wait anymore, “Tell daddy, daddy will make the decision for you.”

Seeing the eldest daughter, Zhulan was stunned, “Tell us, you have parents and brothers, we will make the decision for you.”

Xuemei burst into tears, she felt sorry for her husband and children. If it wasn’t too cold today, she would have wanted to bring the two children to have a good meal. Sobbing, she told how the sisters-in-law of Jiang’s family made trouble, and why the brothers kept silent. In the end, she was very wronged, “At the beginning, my parents-in-law insisted on studying, and my brothers agreed. Now the family has no money because of studying, and the anger is all vented on us. It seems that we are a heinous couple. Dad, I feel sorry for your wàisūn and wàisūnnǚ, this year I have no money in my hands, and the two children have not had enough to eat.”

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren’s faces turned black, they really didn’t expect their daughter and grandchildren to be tortured. Both of them are shrewd people and they also understood people’s hearts the most. When hopes were shattered, the eldest daughter’s family had become the object for the Jiang family to vent their frustration. And the more the eldest daughter and her husband backed down, the more Jiang’s family thought that they were doing the right thing, and the more oppressive they became.

Zhulan’s face darkened, “I used to think that your parents-in-law are sensible, but now I realize that these two are confused. Knowing that the other rooms in the family have a lot of resentment, they can’t hold it back and they are frightened. They have this illusion that if you two suffer, the other rooms will let go of the grievances. They hope this way the family and everything will be prosperous. They need to wake up to reality.”

Zhulan was really angry, the second child only saw that the couple had lost weight and did not know what happened. She and Zhou Shuren knew that the couple would have to face some anger but did not dream that they will be tortured. The inaction of the Old couple of the Jiang family showed they were more interested in maintaining the peace of the family over their youngest son and his family. They knew it was not their son-in-law’s fault, and they were not complaining about Jiang Sheng’s failure to live up to expectations.

When Zhou Shuren heard that his three-year-old wàisūn was half-fed and that his one-year-old wàisūnnǚ had never eaten eggs since birth; and now that the eldest daughter had no milk to feed, and the little girl was eating soup made of coarse corn, he became worried. The couple was here, and the two children don’t know what they were facing in Jiang’s house!

Zhou Shuren frowned as he went down to the ground and said, “You and Jiang Sheng don’t go back today. I will go to Jiang’s house with your mother to pick up the two children in a while. You will celebrate the New Year here this year.”

Zhulan raised her face, and her heart woke up, thinking about the two children, “It’s cold outside and the children can’t bear it. You ask someone to go to the Patriarch’s house to borrow a bullock cart with a shed. I’ll get you a quilt and I’ll leave when you come back.”

Zhou Shuren said, “Yes, prepare something to eat, the two children must not have eaten anything.”

Zhulan nodded and pulled out two old quilts, took out the old cotton-padded jacket, then put on her shoes and went to the granary to get some digestible snacks. She called Li shi to boil hot water for the two children to drink. She didn’t expect the Jiang family to prepare hot water for the children to drink.

Xuemei didn’t have a chance to speak until her mother was ready. She said, “Mother, we can’t celebrate the New Year here.”

She knew that her parent’s concern for her and her children was well-intentioned, but they were causing great embarrassment to the Jiang family. How would she and her husband get along with her in-laws in the future? Moreover, her husband was preparing to take the imperial examination, and the tarnished reputation of being unfilial would have a significant impact on him.

As soon as Zhou Shuren spoke, Zhulan knew that he had a plan. Understanding her daughter’s concerns, she comforted her, “Don’t worry, your father knows what he’s doing. It wasn’t just a momentary impulse. We will personally go and meet them to clarify everything. Don’t worry about it, and you should go take care of Jiang Sheng since he has been drinking quite a bit!”

Xuemei was a little silly, she had the impression that her mother was impulsive, and her father was stubborn but successful. But she was a little dazed after hearing what her mother said. Hasn’t she been home for too long? Parents have changed a bit, the mother was no longer impulsive, and the father has thought of everything. She felt warm in her heart seeing everything her parents were doing for her.

Changlian and Changzhi came back first, and Jiang Sheng rested in Changlian’s house.

Zhulan said to Changzhi: “Your elder sister’s family is celebrating the New Year at home, Rong Chuan will move over to live with you for a while. When your elder sister’s family returns, Rong Chuan will move back to his own room. You, the older brother, will take care of him.”

There was no other way. Well, Changlian didn’t like Rong Chuan from the bottom of his heart, and she didn’t feel at ease with these two living together.

Changzhi frowned, he was afraid that people would disturb his study. But seeing her eldest sister’s frail appearance, she must have been suffering in her in-law’s house, “Well, I’ll help Rong Chuan move it here.”

Zhulan smiled, “Okay Son, you’re so good.”

Changzhi blushed, “Mother, I’m an adult now.”

“Yes, yes, you’re an adult now, good son.”

Changzhi, “…”

He was obviously shy, but he was very happy in his heart.

Rong Chuan was careful, “Auntie, I’ll add some firewood to make the house warmer.”

Zhulan smiled, “Okay, you’re all good kids.”

Changlian felt bad, and he also wanted to be praised by his mother, “Mother, I will see if there are unused quilts in the house and I will move them to the eldest sister.”

Zhulan curled her mouth, “Okay, Changlian has a heart, and you all are good boys.”

Changlian’s ears turned red, and this feeling was not bad.

Zhou Shuren came back and asked the second child to get up and go together. The eldest drank a lot today and didn’t wake up, but the second child had to take care of Zhao shi, so he stopped before he became drunk.

Zhulan spread a quilt in the car to avoid the bumps and blocked the place where the car shed had any gap. Finally wrapped the lid of the jar of hot water tightly to prevent it from getting cold, and set off when everything was ready.

It took about an hour and a half to go back and forth from Zhoujia village to Wangjia village in winter. Zhulan’s family hurried on their way, fearing that it would be dark when they got back. During such winter nights, beasts often came down from the mountain. So, traveling after dark was the most dangerous.

Second Zhou kept pushing the bull. The bullock cart belonged to the Patriarch’s family. Zhou’s cow had been pregnant for more than two hundred days, and her belly was getting bigger and bigger. She couldn’t pull the cart anymore. Several times when the Zhou family went out, they borrowed cattle from the Patriarch’s family.

Because they hurried, it took only half an hour to arrive at Wangjia Village. Jiang’s family settled later in this village, so their house was located on the outskirts of the village, but it was only a few steps into the village.

The gate of Jiang’s house was open. Zhou Shuren got out of the car first, carefully helped the bamboo orchid down, and asked the second child to take care of the cow. He then entered the yard. As soon as he entered the yard, he heard the sound of crying.

T/N Woo hoo will reach 100 chapters today!!! And the next chapter, Zhulan is her savage best!! BTW how cute are the boys competing with each other for their mother’s attention.