Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 436 Love Poem_1

Chapter 436: Chapter 436 Love Poem_1

If Zhulan had explained earlier that her children were not responding to her letters, and now that they believed her, a real quarrel had broken out, she wouldn’t have had the energy for jokes.

Lady Li, "...."

She was the first one to come to visit mother, and mother actually teased her!

Xue Han heaved a sigh of relief, "Mother, then why were you crying?"

Zhulan, "Cough, because your father wrote a poem for mother."

She let the rest sink in for themselves.

Xue Han was stunned. The poem that moved mother must have been one that expressed deep feelings. Xue Han felt envious. If only Rongchuan would write such poems for her one day.

Zhulan had no idea how big a pit she had dug for Rongchuan, a pit that had caused Rongchuan to lose quite a bit of hair.

The Zhou family knew that Zhulan was crying out of being touched, and they were reassured.

Zhou Shuren, upon his return and finding out his wife had set a trap for him, helplessly wrote a love poem. Fortunately, he was quite skilled at writing poetry.

Zhulan, beaming with satisfaction, took it, "My demands are not high, just two poems a year is enough."

Zhou Shuren coaxed, "Alright, however many you want."

Zhulan carefully stored the poem, "When we’re old, I will compile them all together. The original versions will be buried with us, while the copied ones will become family heirlooms."

Zhou Shuren, moved, couldn’t help but laugh. If these were well-preserved, the future generations of the Zhou family would be choked with jealousy. It was a high level of showing affection indeed – force-feeding your descendants with the dog food of their ancestors’ love.

Zhulan thought it was a splendid idea and took even greater care in putting it away.

The news that Zhou Shuren had written a love poem for Zhulan spread, not because of the servants, but because of Ming Teng, a loose-lipped family member who, while visiting the Yang estate, let it slip. Once more people knew, it was no longer a secret.

The Yang estate’s servants were not as tight-lipped as those of the Zhou estate. Within a few days, even though the love poem hadn’t spread, jealousy for Zhulan had been fuelled.

The list of New Year’s gifts for the family was set, and they were sent out one after another. This year Zhulan had bought a lot of fruit, including many bananas. Some that had not yet ripened were sent to her parents’ home.

This year, father and mother’s teeth had deteriorated further, especially mother, who had lost several teeth. The soft bananas were most suitable for her.

They gave quite a few New Year’s gifts and received many in return.

Zhou eldest finally came home after being away for many days, bringing back New Year’s gifts from his hometown and from Wu Ming.

Zhou eldest’s journey was long and he arrived ahead of the expected day; he must have hurried. Zhou eldest took out the deed to the estate, "Mother, one estate is three hundred and fifty mu, and the other is three hundred and twenty mu. In total, they cost five thousand and seven hundred taels. That’s right, there’s also the capital mansion. Since it was known to be our family’s property, and we never even lived there, they said it had good feng shui and paid an extra three hundred taels for it, selling for three thousand one hundred taels."

Zhou eldest took a sip of water and continued, "Mother gave me three thousand and five hundred taels, plus the selling price of the mansion of three thousand one hundred taels, making a total of six thousand six hundred taels. The two estates cost five thousand seven hundred taels, leaving nine hundred taels. I bought twenty mu of land for the clan school and collected some mountain goods. I still have two hundred taels in hand."

Zhulan smiled, her eyes shimmering with amusement. The eldest and the second were different; the second liked bookkeeping, listing everything clearly, whereas the eldest, even if he had written it down, would still relay it by word. The eldest’s reason was, what if the account book was lost? It is safer to remember it all in his head.

Zhulan only accepted one hundred taels of silver notes. Zhou eldest asked, "Mother, there’s still one hundred taels left."

Zhulan, "You’ve had a hard journey, those one hundred taels you’ve earned."

Zhou eldest grinned, "Thank you, mother. Oh right, mother, about the stuff in the mansion, I’ve sent it all to the Wu Chun estate as you instructed."

Zhulan asked, "You’ve handled everything well; hurry back, Lady Li and the children are waiting for you!"

Zhou Shuren felt even happier than if he had received a hundred taels of silver notes for his mother’s praise and stood up joyfully. He missed Lady Li and his children too and wondered if the wailing little one at home had gotten any louder.

After Zhou Shuren had left, Zhulan looked over the gifts from the Wu family, the Dong family, their old home, and her daughter’s home. There was quite an extensive list of gifts this year, with only the Qian family’s gift missing.

In the third room, Lady Dong was inventorying the items her family had sent her. Every time her older brother went back to their old home, their mother and father would entrust him to bring things for her, mostly for her, with the remaining items for Chang Lian. After sorting through everything, Lady Dong found herself missing her parents.

Every time her parents sent her gifts, they were all worth a considerable amount of silver coin. They were deeply worried she might not be living well.

Chang Lian held Lady Dong’s hand. "Wait for me to take the provincial examination. Together we will visit home and can stay for nearly half a year. Then I will accompany you more often to your parents’ house."

Lady Dong felt a warm feeling in her heart. The affection she once felt for Chang Lian was because he was her husband, her lifelong support. She did not understand what love was but now she did understand and responded softly, "Mm."

Wu Ning was also examining the items her eldest brother had brought for her, including clothing and jewelry. Wu Ning touched the jewelry with teary eyes; her brother was afraid she would be laughed at by other Mr. Guan’s daughters. She truly wasn’t lacking in jewelry; though she didn’t have complete sets, she still had some nice pieces. Every time her aunt bought something for Xue Han, she included something for her too.

Wu Ning bit the corner of her mouth, missing her brothers.

That evening, when Zhou Shuren returned, Zhulan showed him the wild ginseng from Wu Ming. "It’s quite large and nearly a hundred years old, truly a generous gift."

It was chosen for her because she was pregnant, in case she encountered any problems during childbirth.

Zhou Shuren replied, "It’s the thought that counts."

He had just sent a letter to the old home asking Mr. Lu to purchase some, and then Wu Ming’s ginseng arrived.

Zhulan set the ginseng aside, "Wu Ming’s salary isn’t high, and his expenses are not small, plus he provides for his brother and sister. This ginseng is worth a lot of silver. It’s almost New Year’s, and Wu Ning doesn’t have a complete set of jewelry. I will have Lady Dong pick out a set for her tomorrow. Since the girl is staying with us, I can’t give her much, but I want to save some to add to her dowry."

Zhou Shuren said, "Just as you wish. Didn’t you order Jade Bracelets for Lady Li and the others? Why didn’t you give it to them?"

Zhulan said with a smile, "Consider it their New Year’s money for this year!"

Zhou Shuren thought of his eldest daughter. "What about the New Year’s money for our eldest daughter?"

Zhulan teased, "I’m surprised you remembered our eldest daughter."

Zhou Shuren, holding the clothes that were on the table, "Just one look, and it’s clear Xue Mei made these, that’s why I asked."

Zhulan glanced and realized she had forgotten to put them away. The girl knew they were not short of silver, and so she put her heart into the clothing. Every stitch was a sign of filial piety. "I have prepared everything; silver and jewelry quite a bit, and also several copied books for Jiang Sheng. Honestly, I really miss my grandchildren."

Zhulan thought to herself how much better the modern era was with airplanes, high-speed trains, and self-driving – how convenient it would be for mothers to return home. In ancient times, if one lived far away, Xue Mei would need several months for just one round trip, which was very inconvenient.

Zhou Shuren asked, "Chang Zhi didn’t return with the eldest, is he not coming back today?"

Zhulan replied, "He’s not coming back; he’s spending this New Year at the household of Minister Xu, who has the Jìnshì degree."

Zhou Shuren snorted, "He’s afraid to come back and tutor his nephews, and he probably dislikes the wasted time on the journey."

Zhulan laughed, "It’s all because you gave a good number of copied books from your collection to Minister Xu. Now that I’m not overseeing Chang Zhi, he’ll certainly read to his heart’s content at Minister Xu’s place. Until he has read everything and understood it completely, he won’t budge from there."

Zhou Shuren, "....."

So, it’s all his fault now!