Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 110 Plan_1

Chapter 110: Chapter 110 Plan_1

Zhulan had just come back to her senses when the children arrived to pay their New Year’s respects. Zhulan and Zhou Shuren gestured to Zhou Laoda to get the basket with the red envelopes ready. The children entered the hall; the first group was quite sizable, twenty youngsters from the Clan Leader’s and several other elders’ families.

After each child paid their respects, Zhulan gave out a red envelope with a piece of candy. When the children’s fingers touched the copper coin inside, they were overjoyed. They hopped and skipped away to continue paying visits.

It wasn’t just children from within the clan who came to pay New Year’s respects that morning; many from the village did as well, including all of the Zheng family’s next door. With the Lunar New Year celebrations, there was no differential treatment; red envelopes were given to all visitors. Fortunately, there was enough candy to go around. Zhulan’s household distributed over a hundred red envelopes; the turnout of children was impressive.

Zhulan’s face stiffened from smiling too much. She had long forgotten the words of her little daughter, and sitting for such a long time had made her back sore. After lunch, no more visitors would come, so she could lie down and rest until evening.

On the second day of the New Year, the daughters returned to their maternal homes. Zhulan and Zhou Shuren accompanied Zhou Laoda back to the Yang family, and the eldest son’s family returned to the Li family. The Zhou family’s lunch was passable with Zhao Shi cooking, though it wasn’t as delicious as Lady Li’s and much better than Xue Mei’s.

After the second day, they began to visit one another, paying respects to several elders within the clan. There was never a dull moment, and by the end of the rounds, they had probably gained at least two kilograms each.

There was an unpleasant minor incident in the middle. Zhulan’s family had included copper coins in the red envelopes, but Zhu Shi squabbled over Xue Han’s New Year’s money. Cognizant of the Clan Leader’s warning, Zhu Shi didn’t come in person but sent her daughter instead. Knowing she didn’t show up, Zhulan realized she couldn’t shield Rongchuan from everything. Matters of the Zhang family had to be handled by Rongchuan himself.

Fortunately, Rongchuan was no fool and didn’t give anything away. Instead, he handed all his New Year’s money to Xue Han. Zhulan and Zhou Shuren commented with approval, "So young and already knows to hand over his silver coins. Not bad, not bad."

In the blink of an eye, it was the seventh day, the day the Jiang family would divide their estate. In the morning, Zhulan took out white flour to make noodles. Eating noodles on the seventh day, Renri, was said to lengthen one’s life. After the meal, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren accompanied their daughter back to the Jiang family. The task of driving the cart shifted to the eldest son.

The children had not been brought along as the house had not had a fire in it for a long time. On the first day of the division, it was best to wait until everything was in order to spare the children any suffering.

When Zhulan’s family arrived at the Jiangs’, Jiang Yong had already summoned the Lizheng and the Jiang family elders, with everything ready for Jiang Sheng and his wife.

The Lizheng wasn’t keen on mediating domestic affairs, and the Jiang family elders, who were astute, did not scold Jiang Sheng. The property division document was copied verbatim as Zhou Shuren had directed. Jiang Sheng had no objections and promptly signed and affixed his thumbprint. Of the three copies of the division document, Zhou Shuren held onto one.

Zhulan had thought only Jiang Sheng would be separated from the family, but to her surprise, the entire Jiang family was divided. The elderly couple would live with the eldest son of the Jiang family. Jiang Sheng, a copyist, had to pay ten taels of silver, and as he had already copied two books, he was able to produce the ten taels right away. The Jiang family distributed their silver as well.

The Jiang’s didn’t leave much grain, having converted most of it into silver coins. Jiang Sheng didn’t receive any fine grains but got a hundred jin of cornmeal instead. Furthermore, each family unit received a share of bowls and dishes enough for four people; as there was no land, there was no need to divide the farming tools. Jiang Sheng also did not get any poultry, essentially leaving him with just a thatched house to live in and a hundred jin of food.

There was no feast to celebrate the Jiang family division. Jiang’s mother completely resented Jiang Sheng now. Even a gentle person like her enjoyed the feeling of being in charge, and now that she couldn’t play that role, she didn’t even glance at Jiang Sheng after the division. Jiang Yong, however, was somewhat warmer, still hopeful that Jiang Sheng might pass the scholar exam and obtain a tax exemption for the family’s land. He hadn’t written off Jiang Sheng completely.

Zhulan led her daughter back to the house. "The room has a kang stove for cooking; it’s just lacking firewood. I’ll have your elder brother buy a cartload. As for food, your village is close to the county seat; I will accompany you to town to buy everything that’s missing," she said.

Xue Mei chuckled dryly but didn’t move. "Mother," she began.

Zhulan asked, "If there’s anything you find it hard to say, just tell your mother."