Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!

Chapter 252: Chapter 252 Planning for Children_1

Zhulan stuffed the coins from her purse into Xue Mei’s hands, ”This money isn’t meant for you all directly, even though the family’s sixty mu of land has been given to people from Li Family Village to help till, the twenty mu of land in Zhou Family Village still needs your supervision to hire help. Plus, with a total of eighty mu of land, forty mu of paddy fields, the rice seedlings need to be grown in advance. Seedlings for planting the forty mu of paddy fields will also require quite a number of helpers. These are all the expenses for hiring help.”

The seeds were those reserved from their own crops, and when the paddy fields they bought later increased beyond expectation, they were topped off from Zhou Family Village.

The sixty mu of land that was hired out for tilling, the seeds were also provided by Zhulan’s own family,

Xue Mei poured out the coins from her purse, and although they weren’t whole silver ingots, they were all pieces of broken silver. A glance was enough to estimate how much the silver amounted to, ”Mother, hiring help wouldn’t cost five or six taels of silver, this is too much.”

Zhulan indeed wanted to use the pretext of hiring help to give her daughter a little extra, although she did not explicitly state this, ”Have you forgotten that we also need to hire help for the autumn harvest? I’ve told you, hiring help isn’t cheap. Now, hurry up and put away all the silver.”

”Mother.”

Seeing Xue Mei not moving to take the money, Zhulan personally took action and after packing the silver, handed it to Xue Mei, ”When Jiang Sheng goes to take the imperial examinations, you should take the kids and stay in Prefecture City for a while, get to know your mother’s family there.”

Xue Mei was moved. If her mother hadn’t mentioned it, she would never have thought of going to Prefecture City. Now that her mother brought it up, she wanted to go. It wasn’t just about acknowledging her mother’s family; she also hoped that her son and daughter could broaden their horizons and see the world. She didn’t envy her sister’s life, like that of a young lady, but she hoped her daughter could be like her sister—worldly, polite, not confined to the small scope of the village, fixated on a plot of land, ”When it’s time, if we end up staying long, I hope you won’t send me away, Mother.”

Zhulan glared at her, ”What nonsense are you talking about? How could a mother send away her own daughter? You can stay as long as you like.”

Having her mother’s word was enough for Xue Mei, who after all was a married woman. With her mother now having three daughters-in-law, she shouldn’t be a nuisance and add to her mother’s troubles.

At noon, after Xue Mei had prepared lunch and they had eaten, Zhulan and Zhou Shuren returned to Li Family Village.

Today, it was Zhou Shuren who drove the ox cart. On the way back, leaning against Zhou Shuren, Zhulan said: ”I forgot something, what do you plan to do with our ox?”

Zhou Shuren, driving the ox cart, replied, ”The ox cart and ox will be considered part of Xue Mei’s additional dowry. You’ve already given both daughters-in-law bracelets as supplements. It’s not too much to give the ox cart and ox to Xue Mei as part of her dowry.”

Zhulan had not thought about including the ox; she was only preoccupied with providing more for Xue Mei’s use and giving her some extra silver, because she was preparing to save up for next year’s dowry supplements.

With a smile in her eyes, Zhulan realized that aunque Zhou Shuren didn’t say much, he was touched by Xue Mei’s filial piety over the past year and was concerned about his daughter being bullied after they departed!

Looking at the well-kept cow, Zhulan smiled and said, ”Our family raised this cow, and it’s a female that reared a calf this year. A calf alone is worth quite a bit of silver. This is a good addition to the dowry. ”

Zhou Shuren felt the same and chuckled. He was experiencing some of the feelings of being a father.

On the day before their departure, Xue Mei’s family came over to stay the night to see them off. Zhulan and Zhou Shuren made all the necessary preparations and gave their instructions. The next morning, the carriage heading to Prefecture City arrived early.

Only after watching her parents board the carriage did Xue Mei realize something was amiss. It seemed like her parents had no intention of taking the family ox and ox cart with them to Prefecture City. Considering her elder sister-in-law’s family, it didn’t seem like the responsibility had been handed over to the Li family either.

Xue Mei hurried forward, ”Mother, the ox and the ox cart, aren’t you taking them with you?”

Zhulan opened the carriage curtain and smiled, ”I was planning to wait until we set off before telling you, but since you’ve noticed, there’s no need to wait. The ox and ox cart are part of the dowry your father and I have added for you.”

Xue Mei’s eyes widened in surprise; she hadn’t expected her parents to give her the ox and ox cart as part of her dowry. Her parents’ affairs were going well, and there would certainly be people envious of her, trying to sow discord by saying that despite her family buying a large house and lands, they hadn’t given her anything.

She was well aware that these were just jealous barbs aimed to prick her heart, yet she knew very well that her parents had consistently provided for her throughout the year. She already had several pieces of jewelry, and she had always been content. Moreover, she had her own considerations; she actually hoped her parents wouldn’t give her more.

Because she understood that only if she appeared to be at a disadvantage at home would her parents pay her more attention and care more about Jiang Zhu and Jiang Miu. Expecting her in-laws to lend a helping hand was out of the question—they were decent enough not to be a drag. In the future, her children would still need to rely on their maternal grandparents. Her little scheming was also for the sake of her children.

Therefore, she truly wasn’t jealous or envious. But unexpectedly, her parents decided to give her the ox and ox cart as part of her dowry. She wanted to refuse, but with guests present for the farewell, she couldn’t argue with her mother in front of strangers. Moreover, by refusing, she was afraid it might seem to others as if she wanted more, so she could only accept the gesture.

Zhulan waved to Xue Mei, ”Take care of yourself.”

Xue Mei, ”....”

She saw the pride in her mother’s eyes—Mother knew she wouldn’t want them, which is why she waited until departure to offer the ox and cart!

Once the carriage began to move, Zhulan finally lowered the curtains. Inside the carriage, there were not only Zhulan and Zhou Shuren but also Xue Han. Although the luggage had been sent to Pingzhou in advance and five carriages had been hired, Chang Zhi was in one carriage with Rongchuan and Mingyun, the eldest couple with Ming Teng and Yu Lu in another, Lady Zhao with Yushuang and Ming Rui, and the last one was for the newlyweds. Despite only the newlyweds being in the car, there wasn’t much space left, as Lady Dong’s valuables took up most of the carriage.

As for the second son, he stayed in Pingzhou to watch over the house.

The snow had not yet thawed, and because of last year’s heavy snowfall, the road was well-compacted with snow, making the journey to Pingzhou much smoother, sparing Zhulan much hardship.

The carriage was fast, and it arrived before nightfall. Zhou Shuren’s second brother had been waiting in the front courtyard. As soon as the eldest brother knocked on the door, the second brother swiftly opened it.

Zhou Shuren got out of the carriage, and his second brother came up saying, ”Father, I’ve lit fires in all the rooms. They’re warmed up, and I’ve also prepared the meals. Mrs. Wu helped with the cooking.”

Zhou Shuren was very assured with his second son’s handling of affairs, ”Good, go and help with moving the belongings.”

Zhou’s second son, ”Yes.”

Zhou Shuren helped Zhulan out of the carriage. As Zhulan flexed her legs, she realized she would be living in Pingzhou from now on, feeling very different from her last visit. Once Xue Han stepped down, Zhulan led her into the courtyard first.

The family was together in one courtyard again, which Zhulan still found somewhat unsettling, having grown accustomed to quiet winters.

The rooms had already been allocated, just like in the old house, with each family assigned to a separate room. Chang Lian and Chang Zhi would go to the front courtyard for reading, as there was a study specifically set aside there.

Chang Zhi and Rongchuan no longer stayed in the back courtyard; they had moved to the front courtyard.

There were still several rooms vacant in the front courtyard, reserved for clan relatives when they came for examinations.

After a simple settling in, everyone came to the main hall of the main house for dinner. There were two tables filled with dishes, eight courses cooked by Lady Wu from the Li family, all of which were her specialties. The most eye-catching dish at the table was the bok choy soup.

Zhou’s second son said, ”I bought a bunch when I went out for groceries and meat this morning.”

It was so expensive he didn’t dare to buy more; one bunch for the soup was enough. If it weren’t for the thought that Mother would definitely like it, he wouldn’t have bought it, knowing his own nature.

The Zhou family were never short of meat, but they craved vegetables, especially after running out of dried vegetables. Out of the seven meat dishes, plenty were left over, but two large pots of bok choy soup were cleaned out completely.

Lady Li spread her hands, ”Bok choy is tasty but just too expensive. Mother, why don’t we grow some ourselves at home?”

A few stalks of bok choy cost twenty coins—outrageously priced. Prefecture City really is different; bok choy here is twice as expensive as in the county.

Zhulan was more than happy for Lady Li to take on such an endeavor. In Pingzhou, where Lady Li was unfamiliar with everything, it might be best if she kept herself busy with such tasks. Zhulan didn’t expect Lady Li to grow enough for the family to have a full supply, just enough for making soup would do. ”Then I’ll leave it to you.”

Lady Li, ”....”

She didn’t mean herself, she was hoping all three daughters-in-law would participate together. She wanted to have the chance to give some directions to her sisters-in-law as well.