Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 204: Down-to-Earth_1

Chapter 204: Chapter 204: Down-to-Earth_1

Zhulan rubbed her lower back, feeling tired after not helping out for a long time, "What is it?"

Lady Li pulled out two silver taels, "Mother, when I was the last to close the main gate just now, Zhang Sanni from the neighboring courtyard ran out to stop me and asked about who visited our home today. She even gave me two silver taels!"

Zhulan saw that Lady Li had accepted the silver, "Did you tell her?"

Lady Li chuckled, "Sooner or later they will find out, might as well exchange some information for silver. I just said it was Mr. Yao’s son and didn’t mention anything else."

Zhulan thought to herself that Lady Li was getting quite shrewd, "The silver you earned is yours to keep. You’ve also worked hard all morning, you should go back and rest."

Clutching the silver, Lady Li offered symbolically, "Mother, I would like to present this silver to you as a token of my filial piety."

Zhulan, "....."

If you’re showing filial piety, don’t clutch the silver in your palm like that. Zhulan saw no sign of it from Lady Li’s grasp.

Seeing that her mother-in-law didn’t respond, Lady Li was taken aback, as this was not what she had expected. Shouldn’t her mother-in-law have told her to keep it? Perhaps she lost the two silver taels because she spoke out of turn. Even breathing felt painful now. She weakly called out, "Mother."

Zhulan couldn’t resist tapping Lady Li’s forehead, feeling itching in her hand, "Keep your little schemes to yourself. If there’s a next time, I will really take the silver. Now off you go, just looking at you vexes me."

Lady Li quickly pocketed the silver, her breathing easing at once, and ran off like a wisp of smoke. She dared not do it again, having almost lost the silver.

Next door, Wang Ru’s heart twisted like hemp rope. Suppressing the panic inside, she sent Zhang Sanni out, waiting until there was no one else in the room. Then she began pacing in circles on the floor. She didn’t understand where things had gone wrong. The male lead appeared much too early; if she wasn’t mistaken, he should have met Zhou Xuehan when she was ten years old. What exactly was going on?

In a fit of rage, Wang Ru threw a vase to the ground. It was all Shi Qing’s fault—everything. If not for her, she wouldn’t be trapped in this yard, which now felt no different from jail. She loathed that Zhang Sanni, taken in by the Zhou family, had become her watcher. She thought she had escaped Shi Qing, only to end up serving herself on a platter.

Just thinking of how Shi Qing greedily exploited her mind made it hard for her to breathe. She had seen Shi Qing’s ruthlessness, and now she didn’t even dare to flee. Who knew if Shi Qing had bought informants in the village? She was now completely confined by Shi Qing, and she didn’t dare consider what would become of her once everything in her mind was drained!

The male lead was supposed to be her lifeline, yet he had become connected to the Zhou family. She was driven mad with jealousy. She was supposed to be the leading lady after transmigrating, so why wasn’t she relocated to the Zhou family? Why couldn’t she have a sweet and coddled life?

Every time Wang Ru thought of the County Magistrate’s carriage picking up Zhou Xuehan to go to town, jealousy tore at her heart and caused unbearable pain. In Pingzhou, she couldn’t even dream of meeting Mr. Guan’s daughter, let alone daughters from the Shang family. Zhou Xuehan’s starting point was as Mr. Guan’s daughter, and Wang Ru could not accept a lifetime imprisoned as Shi Qing’s pet!

Outside the door, Wang Xin asked somewhat anxiously, "What’s wrong with our little sister?"

Wang Rong’s eyes were filled with scorn; as the eldest sister, she had brought this upon herself, and Wang Rong knew that all too well. The humiliation didn’t seem to have made her any humbler. "How would I know? If you’re so concerned, go in and ask yourself."

Wang Xin pursed her lips. She was not afraid of her youngest sister but instead feared her second sister, feeling as though Wang Rong saw through everything. She dared not make a sound or provoke Wang Rong, and said quietly with her head down, "The little sister is upset; I’d better not go in."

With a snort of derision, Wang Rong walked away. If she weren’t so young, she would have left long ago. She just needed to wait a little longer.

Zhulan was unaware of the Wang family’s situation, and even if she had known, it wouldn’t have mattered to her. She was busy looking through the gifts sent by Yao Zheyu.

All eight gift boxes were opened, some dazzling her eyes. Zhulan exclaimed, "The male lead really knows how to give a grounded gift. Just look at the weight of this gold bangle; it’s almost like something a nouveau riche would have. And these gold hairpins dazzle so much they hurt my eyes. Even the inkstone is so gaudy with gold and silver, lacking the refined and understated quality of those you bought in Jiangnan."

Zhou Shuren twitched the corner of his mouth. He hadn’t expected Yao Zhe Yu to be so down-to-earth. The gifts given were too direct and too vulgar, which was quite different from what he had imagined, "Perhaps the male protagonist thinks we are from a peasant family and haven’t seen anything good, so nothing seems as blatant as vulgar gold and silver."

Zhulan burst out laughing, "After seeing the gifts, I remembered Yao Zhe Yu’s accessories. His jade pendants are all edged with gold, and even his hairpins are gold-trimmed. I think this must be Yao Zhe Yu’s aesthetic. Didn’t you say he was brought up by the Old Marquis? The Old Marquis is a military general who loves gold and silver. It might be that he influenced Yao Zhe Yu’s preferences from a young age!"

However, if this really is the male protagonist’s taste, we can only say it follows the aesthetic of the military general Old Marquis. If it’s all an act, that’s quite scheming!

Zhou Shuren took the gold bangle from Zhulan’s hand. Yes, it was certainly heavy in the hand, "This could be melted down to make three sets of hollow jewelry."

Zhulan gathered everything together, "When we get to Pingzhou, I’ll have it all melted down. These two heavy gold bangles weigh half a jin. Wearing them out would be embarrassing!"

Zhou Shuren looked at the inkstone in front of him; it was too vulgar. Although he wasn’t fond of tea, he had some taste, "Let’s keep this at the bottom of the chest!"

Zhulan snickered. Zhou Shuren wouldn’t use it anyway. Her tone was full of disdain. However, the gold jewelry alone weighed a jin. Converted into silver, that’s one hundred taels, "The Hou Residence is wealthy. If Yao Zhe Yu brings such heavy gifts every time he visits, he is welcome to use our house as an excuse to get close to the neighbors anytime."

Zhou Shuren pinched Zhulan’s nose, "Wishful thinking. It’s only the first time such heavy gifts are given. It won’t be so good next time."

Zhulan couldn’t help but think it was such a pity. A hundred taels in just one day. This money was actually brought by Wang Ru, totally unexpected.

Zhulan woke from her nap in the afternoon to the scent of something delicious. She sat up and sniffed in the direction of the kitchen, "What is Lady Li cooking in the kitchen?"

Zhou Shuren hadn’t slept. He was tormented by the lingering aroma, "I don’t know, it smells oddly nice."

Zhulan put on her shoes and got down onto the floor. Opening the door, she sniffed again—the smell of bone soup. When she reached the kitchen, she saw Lady Li adjusting the filling. Zhulan asked, "Are we making wontons for dinner?"

Lady Li shook her head, "Mother, this is the filling for mooncakes. I thought about making bone soup and using it to adjust the filling. The flavor must be great. Would you like to try some?"

Zhulan had eaten her fair share of mooncakes; salted egg yolk, mixed nuts, red bean paste, and others. But she was completely clueless about cooking and really didn’t know how to prepare the filling. It smelled oddly delicious, and it should taste good. She took a bite and her eyes lit up. It was sweet without being cloying, and the taste of the bone soup was indiscernible, creating a balanced flavor, "It’s good."

Lady Li was overjoyed. Her mother-in-law’s cooking back at home wasn’t great, but she was a good eater. Her mother-in-law approving meant her filling was a success, "This is the sweet kind. There is also a meat filling. Mother, do you want wontons or bone soup noodles for tonight?"

Zhulan was a bit torn; she wanted to eat both, "Let’s use bone soup as a base, bone soup wonton noodles."

Lady Li, "....."

Mother-in-law will be mother-in-law, mixing everything together to eat.

The Zhou family had many men, so a lot of wontons had to be prepared. Zhulan disliked the trouble of making wontons. Most of what they made turned out to be noodles, but the whole family found them especially delicious.

Time flew by, and a week passed in a blink of an eye. The weather had long since cleared up, and indeed, as Zhou Shuren had said, the temperature had dropped a considerable amount. Zhulan’s comfortable days had come.

At the same time, Yao Zhe Yu proved in practice that he really did visit the Zhou family often, coming twice in just one week. The whole village knew about Zhulan’s distinguished visitor.

The only thing that surprised Zhulan was that Wang Ru unexpectedly hadn’t encountered him outside. Sometimes you really can’t stop from mumbling to yourself. Just as Zhulan finished muttering, Wang Ru took action.