Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 173 Thin Foundation_1

Chapter 173: Chapter 173 Thin Foundation_1

Zhou Shuren released Zhulan, "You rest first, I’ll get Ming Teng to run around."

Zhulan was indeed tired, her mind had been occupied all day. She waited until Zhou Shuren went out to change clothes, then lay down on the kang to rest.

When dinner was ready, Zhulan was awakened by her granddaughter calling her to eat. She suddenly realized she had slept for more than an hour. Her granddaughter, Jiang Miu, was not very big; she stood by the kang with her little hands, her voice milky, "Grandma, it’s time to eat."

Zhulan sat up and touched her granddaughter’s little bald head. The girl’s hair wasn’t good, so they shaved it bald every once in a while—not like her older granddaughters who had been growing their hair since they were little. The little girl didn’t like being touched and shook her head. Zhulan laughed and withdrew her hand to put on shoes and get off the ground.

Xue Mei bent down and picked up her daughter, "Mother, this little one came in several times. Seeing that Mother was sleeping, I wouldn’t let her speak, and she kept getting angry with me. Now she can finally speak; look how happy she is."

Jiang Miu pouted, "Mother is wrong, Grandma is not Mother, she’s Grandma."

Zhulan looked at the little girl’s serious manner of correcting a mistake and laughed out loud, "Miumiu is right, Grandma is Grandma."

The little girl was proud, looking as if she thought her mother was a bit silly.

Xue Mei was left speechless, "Mother, we shouldn’t indulge her like this."

Zhulan waved her hand, "She’s so young, even if you told her, she wouldn’t understand. Let’s go eat. By the way, how long have you been here?"

Xue Mei followed her mother, only catching up after her mother walked ahead, "We arrived just after Mother fell asleep."

The thought alone of her parents visiting the County Magistrate’s house today made her excited; she hadn’t expected her father to be so capable!

The evening meal wasn’t made anything special. Xue Mei and her husband lived closer now and were not like an out-married daughter who struggled to come home. They often came back for a meal, and making something special seemed unnecessary.

Besides, the meals at Zhulan’s home were never just thrown together; they were always quite decent.

After the meal, Xue Mei wanted to ask about her mother’s visit to the County Magistrate’s house, but one look from her father and she understood. Father was concerned that mother was tired and, cleverly helping to clear the table, quickly went home.

Zhulan went back to the room, followed by Zhou Shuren. Zhulan asked, "Can we talk about it now?"

Zhou Shuren took off his shoes and lay down on the kang; he was the most tired of all, having not rested all day, "Isn’t it the start of summer and are we entering the season of frequent rain? Our area is close to the river, and this year the command came to repair the dikes. The county needs a lot of people; the County Magistrate thinks highly of Jiang Sheng and told me that Jiang Sheng could help with record-keeping, being paid two silver taels a month, meals included, up until autumn."

Zhulan was overjoyed, "That’s great news!"

Although it interrupted his studies, Zhou Shuren explained that Jiang Sheng’s foundation was solid. Now, without the psychological pressure from the Jiang family, as long as he could steady himself by next year and if luck wasn’t particularly bad, passing the Scholar examinations should be no problem. Therefore, they weren’t worried about the time lost; earning silver was quite important.

The expenses of her eldest daughter and her husband were not small each month. The family had no land, they had to buy food every month, and had rent to pay. Sometimes, Jiang Sheng would treat someone to a meal, so an entire month’s allotment of 500 coins didn’t save much silver.

Thinking this way, the foundation of her eldest daughter’s family was truly thin. Once Jiang Sheng became a Scholar, he’d need to prepare for the civil service exam, and her grandson would grow up and need to start schooling; all these would cost a sum of money. Zhulan sighed—her eldest daughter’s family could only hope for a more comfortable financial situation once Jiang Sheng passed the Graduate level, but who knew how many years that would take.

When Zhou Shuren heard Zhulan sigh, he asked, "What are you worrying about now?"

Zhulan did the math, "I am worried about Xue Mei not having any savings. She doesn’t own an acre of land, just a house, yet each month’s expenses are plenty."

Zhou Shuren fell silent for a moment, "Next year, we’ll move to Pingzhou. Let Xue Mei and her husband move to our house with their child. They can look after the house and the land. We will provide them with their annual grain, as a payment for watching over the land and house. This is the last thing we, as parents, can do for them."

After that, other than his own reading and learning, he would not help Jiang Sheng any further. He had paved the way as much as he could; from now on, it was up to Jiang Sheng. Fortunately, Jiang Sheng had not disappointed him and had caught the eye of Dong Xing; with time, they would manage to get by.

Zhulan made the bed and said, "Alright."