Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 377: Feeling Sour Like Having Vinegar_1

Chapter 377: Chapter 377: Feeling Sour Like Having Vinegar_1

Zhou Shuren entered the house with a chill, deftly removing his shoes and climbing into bed, "The weather is truly cold, I’m frozen stiff all over, and the frostbite on my feet had just gotten a bit better, now it’s itching badly again, must have gotten frostbitten once more."

Zhulan signaled Liu Ya to fetch the foot-soaking potion, "Don’t tell me you’ve been out in the cold this whole time?"

Zhou Shuren took the hand-warmer Zhulan handed him, his hands so frostbitten they were slightly swollen. He had helped with fishing today, but thinking about how Mr. Chen and Mr. He were in an even worse state, he comforted himself a bit.

Zhou Shuren rubbed his hands, "I was the one who advocated contracting out the pond, now that it’s paying off, I naturally had to take part personally."

Zhulan looked at Zhou Shuren’s miserable state and felt so distressed she couldn’t stand it, thinking being a good official is hard, and quickly found the potion prescribed by the doctor.

Liu Ya came in carrying the footbath, and Zhulan pulled Zhou Shuren, "Soak in the potion first."

Zhou Shuren started to feel a bit better, signaled Liu Ya to leave, and found some relief as his feet soaked in the potion, "After so many years, I had almost forgotten the feeling of frostbite."

He often had frostbite in winter at the orphanage, with recurring pain every year. He had tried all sorts of methods to no avail, and only when he grew up and had some money to wear warm clothes did he gradually recover. Now, he was experiencing it again, feeling utterly frustrated.

Zhulan applied medicine on Zhou Shuren’s hands, "All the fish from the pond have been sold, you won’t need to go out again, right?"

Zhou Shuren nodded, "Yeah, in the future, apart from going to the government office, I won’t be leaving the city."

He had done everything he could, he felt he owed the people of Lizhou City no more. This year, he felt as though he had aged more than two years, too weary from the strains!

Zhou Shuren, while soaking his feet, listened to Zhulan recount the situation with Zhou’s second son and others, so Zhou Shuren could understand the current circumstances. In the end, she said, "If you have anything to say, look for them after dinner."

Zhou Shuren waved his hand, "I’m truly very tired, it’s fine if you ask them. I don’t have much to say, I’ll rest for a few days."

In the past half-year, he had worried about the common people and planned for his and Zhulan’s future. He really didn’t want to worry about Zhou’s few sons anymore. Anyway, Zhulan was no worse than him. With Zhulan in charge, he was very relaxed.

Zhulan looked at Zhou Shuren, his face full of tiredness, age doesn’t lie. Zhou’s second son and Chang Lian, no matter how hard they worked, they were still young and would recover with a little rest. But Zhou Shuren could never get back to his best state again, "If only Grandfather Lu was here."

Zhou Shuren, "Don’t think about it, the old man is too old to leave his homeland."

Zhulan was just musing. Hearing Liu Ya say that dinner was ready, there was still a whole family to face, "Let’s go, come back to rest after eating."

Zhou Shuren stood up, "Mmm."

Now that the Zhou family was all gathered, the two tables no longer had empty seats, now all filled.

Zhou Shuren, with the preventive prompt from Zhulan, saw Chang Yi and Chang Lian getting up to kneel and quickly signaled them to sit. He first looked at Mingyun and Rongchuan, and only then glanced at Zhou’s second son and Chang Lian. Ah, he was envious. Working himself half to death as their father, but those two adopted sons of his had grown portly. Even if they had thinned down a bit from all the travel, they clearly had put on quite a bit of weight. Zhou Shuren felt so frustrated he was even less willing to talk, "We’re all home now, and tonight is a reunion meal. I have nothing much to say, it’s good enough that we’re all together as a family, let’s eat."

Zhou Shuren was hungry. He had eaten at the home of a commoner at noon. Although they’d stewed fish, he felt too embarrassed to eat much, and now he just wanted to have a sip of hot chicken soup.

Zhou’s second son, seeing that Dad had started to eat with chopsticks, had his speech prepared in vain. Seeing how much thinner Dad had become, he felt an unpleasant emotion in his heart. Dad had been doing everything for the family. He promptly stood up to serve chicken soup for Dad, "Dad."

Zhou Shuren grunted, "Sit down and eat."

Zhou Lao Er felt even more sour. Now, sitting closer, he saw the weariness on his father’s face and realized that with officialdom came greater responsibility. When they were but common folk, he had longed for an upright official like Bao Zheng. He knew all too well how difficult it was to be a good official and thought about the news he’d heard that day, realizing his father had indeed been through a lot.

Aside from Zhulan, Zhou Shuren didn’t like anybody else picking food for him. He could tolerate it once or twice, but after a few more times, Zhou Shuren’s face would darken,

"Eat your own."

Zhou Lao Er withdrew his chopsticks, "...."

How could he forget that his father disliked others putting food on his plate? Well, except for his mother’s. Even the leftovers from her were happily accepted by his father. As for his sons, heh, his father didn’t even bother to hide his disdain. Look at that, the old man switched to a new bowl for his meal!

After dinner, Zhou Shuren couldn’t hold up any longer and needed to rest. Zhulan signaled that it was time to disperse, and she stood up to accompany Zhou Shuren back to their room.

Lady Zhao and Lady Dong had waited all afternoon, hoping to converse more with their mother-in-law.

It didn’t take them long to pack their luggage; most of their time was spent cajoling words out of the young maids, especially after learning how well mother-in-law treated the eldest sister-in-law, their anxiety was real.

Lady Li, wrapped in the new cloak given by her mother-in-law and yawning, was also feeling sleepy, "Head of the family, let’s go back."

Zhou Lao Da noticed his wife becoming especially fond of sleep during her pregnancy, fearful she might stumble from yawning, he carefully supported her, "Alright."

Lady Zhao’s attention turned to her sister-in-law, her heart growing even more sour. Did her sister-in-law change her cloak twice in one day? Now she’s wearing top-quality fur!

She considered herself knowledgeable, since her father-in-law became a contributed scholar, the Qian family had sent her various gifts. When he became a fifth-rank Prefectural Magistrate, the Qian family even sent top-quality furs and Silver Tael under the guise of supplementing her dowry. It was just a pity that her husband had refused them.

Although Lady Dong was an official’s daughter, she hadn’t owned many top-tier furs, feeling as if she’d swallowed a bottle of vinegar. She thought again about how the eldest brother and sister-in-law had servants following them, and how Ming Teng, though young, had a young servant of his own, making her even more envious.

Lady Li was unaware of the jealousy she had drawn, strolling back to her quarters leisurely. Today, her mother-in-law had reassured her, lightening her heart. Finally, she could sleep peacefully.

Zhulan returned to the room, and Zhou Shuren started undressing to get into bed, "Aren’t you resting yet?"

Zhulan replied, "Now that all the households are here, even if I am biased, I can’t just give servants to the eldest branch. I still have to make arrangements."

Zhou Shuren pursed his lips, unhappy, "More people, more troubles."

"Don’t think of it that way. They can also help me out a lot. I already have plans in mind; I’ll have the eldest son manage the fields and estates nearby, and let Zhou Lao Er take charge of the properties in places like Jiangnan. Given Zhou Lao Er’s shrewd mind, not many can fool him, and I would be able to rest easy."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Shuren felt some of his impatience subside, "How are you planning to arrange the servants? Aside from the fixed ones, our family doesn’t have many to spare."

Zhulan said, "I’m not planning to buy any more maids or young servants. After understanding them over the past half year, the three who volunteered to sell themselves have turned out to be good in character. These three families have also passed my tests. I’ve already had the eldest son employ them at the orchard. In the future, they can only rely on us, and I can trust them more."

Zhou Shuren knew how cautious Zhulan was. In ancient times, when their property and lives were at stake, caution was even more critical. She had anticipated all possible future scenarios, "Are you thinking of assigning the two young servants who sold themselves voluntarily to Zhou Lao Er and Chang Lian?"