CH 112

The reason Zhulan and Zhou Shuren made for going to Pingzhou was that they were going there to meet a friend Zhou Shuren had made on his last journey. The day before Zhou Shuren left, he greeted the Patriarch and requested him to keep an eye on his house.

Before Zhulan left, she called the eldest couple over and beat them again, “Boss, your father and I are not at home, you have to take care of the house, and the family will be left to you.”

Boss Zhou was a little scared when he was made in charge of the house for the first time. A little excited again, “Mother, I will take good care of the family.”

Zhulan stared at Li Shi, “I’m not at home, if your skin is loose, I will definitely tighten it for you when I come back. Most importantly, control your mouth. If it’s not good, take care of your own feet, remember?”

Li Shi was worried because her dìmèi1 got the charge of food, and then her mother-in-law lectured her again. Even with all her courage, she didn’t dare to speak up, saying, “Mother, I will definitely be honest.”

Zhulan sent the eldest couple away and checked that nothing was missing from the luggage. She and Zhou Shuren took 1,210 taels of silver and a dozen taels of broken silver. She was afraid that it would not be enough, so she sewed up a piece of clothing in the inner pocket. Then she kept a pearl necklace and a pair of jade bracelets hidden in it, which will be pawned no matter whether there was enough money or not in Pingzhou.

When the carriage arrived, the children didn’t know that nǎinǎi2 and yéyé3 were going out. The eldest grandson Mingyun looked on eagerly. Fortunately, Zhulan didn’t agree rationally, and waved her hand, “When nǎinǎi comes back, she will bring you gifts, so you must be obedient at home.”

A child cried when she saw her nǎinǎi get into the car. Zhulan signaled the driver to leave quickly. After leaving the village, Zhulan dared to open the curtain and look back. She was relieved to confirm that the child did not follow, “I don’t know. Will the children be beaten when they are noisy?”

Zhou Shuren glanced at Zhulan sideways, “When did you see them being beaten? Don’t underestimate them just because they don’t seem to have a sense of propriety.”

Zhulan fell silent, lost in her thoughts. She realized that she was becoming more down-to-earth and increasingly prone to worrying about things.

Xuehan couldn’t be more excited, it was the first time she went out in her lifetime. She most liked to lie down near the carriage window to look outside.

The carriage first went to the county to wait for the convoy, and then the convoy departed from the county on time. Pingzhou was not far from the county, within four hours in winter and three hours in summer.

There were a lot of people traveling to and from Pingzhou every day, most of the convoys were merchants, and the rest were visiting friends in Pingzhou for the New Year.

Zhulan suffered a lot in the journey, and she lost her heart complaining about the bumped wheels without shock absorption. She didn’t realize at all that she slowly changed from leaning on Zhou Shuren to Zhou Shuren hugging her.

Xuehan also stopped looking outside, as everything was covered in snow. Due to the urgency of the journey, there were few opportunities to pause, let alone communicate or talk. In the latter half of the journey, Xuehan felt drowsy and drifted off.

By the time they arrived in Pingzhou, it was dark. Zhou Shuren presented the road guides4 in front of the city gate. After passing through, he separated from the convoy and signaled the master to take him to the inn.

The ancient inns were indeed very different from what Zhulan had seen in TV dramas. Zhulan chose a relatively decent one—a second-class room for which she paid one hundred and fifty wens for a night. However, upon entering the room, she found the bedding to be dirty. No wonder wealthy people would bring their own bedding when traveling, sometimes even filling multiple carts with luggage. Zhulan thought she was already quite down-to-earth, so she accepted the dirty bedding. She called the attendant over and paid an additional one hundred wen to exchange it for two clean cotton quilts.

The quilts were finally delivered, leaving Zhulan speechless. She asked the attendant why he wasn’t leaving, only to find out that he was actually waiting for her to pay extra money for the quilt exchange. Zhulan couldn’t help but feel exasperated at the situation.

Zhou Shuren requested hot water and a cloth, then looked at Zhulan, who was changing the quilt cover and said, “It seems I was right to have you bring the quilt covers. These are all lessons I’ve learned from my previous trips.”

Zhulan didn’t say much, just nodded, “En.”

When the hot water came, Zhulan wiped the bed boards, tables, and chairs twice, and only when they were clean did Zhulan feel comfortable.

Zhou Shuren asked, “What do you want to eat tonight, I’ll go down and order.”

Zhulan felt very uncomfortable in the carriage so she didn’t eat at noon. And since coming into the inn, she was busy cleaning. She was already hungry, and she didn’t plan to treat herself badly when she came out, “Order two signature dishes, the staple food is noodles, let’s warm up our body. By the way, come back with a pot of hot water.”

Zhou Shuren, “Okay.”

Dinner was eaten in the room, Zhou Shuren ordered roast chicken, a stir-fried dish, and three bowls of shredded pork noodles All three of them had good appetites, and they finished their meal cleanly and completely.

Going to bed at night, Zhulan felt a little uncomfortable. The bed was not big, and her daughter was too old to sleep in the middle. It was safe for a family to live in one room in a strange place. Xuehan wanted to live in the innermost place, so Zhulan was caught in the middle.

Xuehan was happy to sleep with her mother, happily changed clothes, and lay down, while Zhulan stared at the two quilts, feeling a little uncomfortable even sharing the same quilt with her daughter.

Zhou Shuren was in a good mood, and when Zhulan lay down, he blew on the oil lamp and lay down on the bed with the corners of his mouth curled up.5 The bed was quite small.

Zhulan was lying on her side as if she was in Zhou Shuren’s arms, her face was a little hot. Though she was very familiar with him after a few months of getting along, she had never been intimate before. Xuehan fell asleep right after she lay down, she was tired from traveling all day. Zhulan thought about this and that and fell asleep soon.

Early the next morning, Zhulan was so dazed that she didn’t dare to move, her eyes widened. How did she get into Zhou Shuren’s quilt?