Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 383 Different from Expectations_1

Chapter 383: Chapter 383 Different from Expectations_1

Zhou Eldest stood aside, "Mother, Jingzhou City is really bustling."

Zhulan turned her head, "You don’t need to accompany me, you should go out and take a look around as well."

Zhou Eldest shook his head, father had said that he and Second Brother couldn’t both be away, at least one of them must stay by mother’s side.

Zhulan, "...."

Outside, Zhou Shuren’s words were the most effective!

For lunch, Zhulan ordered a table of local specialties. The tastes of Jiangnan were light, Zhulan liked shrimp and specifically ordered it, right, and also crabs, although it was past the season for eating crabs, they were still available for sale.

Zhou Eldest finished eating. Although it was troublesome to eat crabs, the taste was really good. After eating two, he had already mastered the skill of eating crabs, "Mother, let’s buy some and take them home for father to try, shall we?"

Zhulan, "By the time we get home, they’ll be dead, and if they’re dead, they can’t be eaten."

Zhou Second said, "Mother, wouldn’t it work if we froze them?"

Zhulan maintained a smile. This wasn’t modern times where we could seal and freeze; in ancient times, it really wouldn’t work. Zhulan said, "Didn’t you mention there were dried shrimp and dried fish in the market? Those we could indeed buy some to take home."

Zhou Second realized that mother was not relenting, and he thought it made sense. On the return trip, they would still be in the south for the first few days, and the crabs would die and spoil before they could be frozen, "Mother, I’ll listen to you."

Zhulan had finished eating, "I’m going back to rest. In the afternoon, I’ll go out for a stroll as well. Second, you and Steward Ding go to the broker and inquire about the estates and the land."

Zhou Second glanced at his elder brother, suppressing the joy in his heart he quickly complied, "Yes."

Although mother didn’t explicitly say, after leaving the house, on the whole journey mother had him and Steward Ding do the work. He guessed in his heart that if he and Steward Ding were in charge of inquiring now, it was the same as telling him directly that he would be responsible for the properties abroad in the future.

Zhulan glanced at Zhou Second. Even if she let Zhou Second be responsible, she would not let him have full authority. Too clever people were not good either. The Zhou family’s status changed for less than a year and Zhou Second out of necessity to prove himself did not dare to falsify accounts, but once he was accustomed to the status and had properties to manage, she really did not trust Zhou Second. Zhou Second’s confidence was growing, and his courage would only increase.

Especially since Zhou Second’s son was still too young, Zhou Second currently depended on himself. It was inevitable that he might be bold enough to falsify accounts.

Zhulan did not want to test human nature. To save herself from worries, she might as well cut it off at the root. Zhulan’s smile deepened as she looked at Zhou Second then glanced at Zhou Eldest, who was eating crabs with his head bowed, before she turned around and returned to the room upstairs.

Steward Ding bowed his head, Zhou Second was clever but wasn’t enough for the master and mistress to see through. He had realized half a year ago that the best thing to do in front of the master and mistress was not to play tricks. The Eldest might not be clever, but the master and mistress truly liked him.

He had gone through the process of selling properties and did not want to struggle anymore. He just wanted to do a good job. After all, as long as the work was done earnestly and obediently, the mistress was good to them, the servants.

And he was satisfied with what he had now, who in Lizhou City didn’t greet him with a respectful "Steward Ding"?

Zhou Eldest saw Zhou Second glance at him, he truly wasn’t jealous, in fact, he was afraid of the responsibility of managing properties abroad. After understanding this, he just wanted to stay with father and mother, to be a filial son, he really didn’t want anything else.

In the afternoon, after resting well, Zhulan took Zhou Eldest and Liu Ya out shopping. It was not often she came to the south, and Zhulan had long been thinking about the embroidery of Jiangnan, especially the double-sided embroidery.

Zhulan had brought ten thousand taels of silver on this trip out. At the division of accounts, she had kept seven thousand taels for herself and took all of it with her this time. Originally, the Zhou family’s account had five thousand six hundred taels, after expenses, there were one thousand eight hundred taels left. Selling watermelons and apples brought in more income, and after deducting expenses, there were a total of five thousand taels on the book. Zhulan brought three thousand taels, leaving two thousand taels at home.

Zhulan had made up her mind to purchase two estates, one in her name and the other in Zhou Shuren’s name.

In the embroidery shop, Zhulan coveted the double-sided embroidered screen. It’s truly covetable but the price is quite touching - a floor-standing double-sided embroidered screen costs thousands of taels, and the screens that had caught Zhulan’s eye started at one hundred taels each.

Zhulan, gritting her teeth against the pain of spending, bought two small screens, and some fans and handkerchiefs, spending more than three hundred taels of silver in the embroidery shop.

Zhou Laoda sucked in his breath continuously; this was really too costly, "Mother, aren’t we buying too much?"

Zhulan replied, "Not too much, I’ve only saved dowries for your older and younger sister, I haven’t even started saving for Yushuang and Yu Lu!"

Zhulan no longer kept Zhou Laoda in the dark about ordinary matters, telling him when appropriate. Now by telling him directly, she was also showing her trust in Zhou Laoda, letting him know she had saved a dowry for Xue Mei. Although she did not need to tell her sons, it was also a sign of trust in Zhou Laoda.

Upon hearing this news, Zhou Laoda’s first reaction was to grin foolishly; even though their parents were strict with them, they still cared for them. They were even supplementing the dowry of his sister who had already married. His second reaction was that he had a daughter too, and he couldn’t rely on his parents when his daughter got married. He and Lady Li needed to prepare some things as well. He calculated in his mind that he and Lady Li only had enough silver to buy a few screens for their daughter.

Zhulan then went to the fabric shop to buy some cloth, and after that, she went to the grain shop to buy lotus seeds, barley, and other items.

All the items were sent to the inn, packed in boxes and ready to be taken home when it was time to leave.

As for some dried fish and shrimp, those could be bought when it was time to leave.

Zhulan returned to the inn, where Zhou Laoda and Steward Ding had also come back. Zhulan sat down to rest for a moment before asking, "Did you get all the information?"

Zhou Laoda replied, "There are estates available, but none of them are very large. The largest is less than two hundred mu, and the smallest is a hundred mu. Also, there is no contiguous land; it’s all scattered plots of a few mu each."

Zhou Laoda asked, "The broker’s information should be connected, did you ask around the nearby prefecture city?"

Zhou Laoda nodded, "I did, what I understand is the situation of the estates in the entire Jingzhou, but as for the land, it’s just the situation near Jingzhou city."

Zhulan asked, "Did you ask about the prices?"

Zhou Laoda took a sharp breath, "Mother, the land prices in the south are higher than in the north because they can grow two crops a year here. Dry land is ten taels of silver per mu, paddy field is fourteen taels per mu. The largest estate with two hundred mu of land, including the homestead and houses for tenants, is two thousand three hundred taels. The smallest estate with one hundred mu is one thousand three hundred taels."

Zhulan wanted to buy a large estate of at least four hundred mu, as larger estates had more stable returns, whereas smaller ones had more variable incomes.

Zhulan didn’t want to go further south, where the population was denser and the estates would only get smaller. Of course, there were some remote areas in the south, but the roads were difficult to navigate, making transportation a hassle if she bought land there. It was better to stay in Jingzhou city, where the transportation was convenient and the land was fertile.

She could look for a large estate in the north in the future, where the population was less dense.

Zhou Laoda asked, "Mother, shall we go have a look tomorrow?"

Zhulan said, "Yes, go and arrange for a broker, and we will set out early tomorrow morning. Don’t bother with the smaller estates; we’ll look at a few that are around two hundred mu."

Zhou Laoda, "Alright!"

Zhulan thought to herself, although reality did not meet her expectations, it would still be good if they could make a purchase.