The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 450 - 439: Compliant Donkey

Chapter 450: Chapter 439: Compliant Donkey

After dividing the money, Ms. Qian took a silver ingot worth five taels out of her cloth bag and handed it to Zhou Xi, "This is the silver you lent to Four when he got married earlier. I’m paying it back now."

Zhou Xi received it with a smile, "Thank you, Mother."

Ms. Qian looked at her with satisfaction, "Tomorrow is Dragon Boat Festival, and we have taken in such a big sum of money this year. You and your sisters-in-law should go to town, have a look around, and buy some bright and fresh fabric so that Third can teach you how to tailor clothes afterward."

Upon hearing that they were going to town, all the daughters-in-law couldn’t help but glance at their own husbands. Junior Ms. Qian directly bumped into Zhou Dalang, and Ms. Fang pinched Zhou SiLang.

Before Zhou SiLang could speak up, Zhou Dalang had already asked first, "Mother, are we all going to town tomorrow?"

Old Zhou looked towards his wife.

Ms. Qian first looked at Manbao, "Manbao, do you want to go tomorrow?"

Manbao’s reply came with a touch of disappointment, "The teacher said there’s no holiday for Dragon Boat Festival."

Ms. Qian nodded, "Then I won’t go either, you all go."

The children cheered, and smiles brightened the faces of the daughters-in-law.

Ms. Qian smiled, "The ones from Third’s and Four’s households should leave your children at home. It’s not good for such young children to catch a cold if they are taken out."

Ms. Qian gestured towards Ms. He.

Ms. He immediately handed over the child she was holding to her mother-in-law.

Ms. Qian smiled, "Children are not allowed to leave the village before they turn one year old."

All the daughters-in-law of the Zhou Family knew this rule, even Ms. Fang knew about it, because when she had just finished her month of confinement, she wanted to hold her child and visit her maternal home, but Ms. Qian didn’t let her go, saying that if she truly wanted to visit her maternal home, then Zhou Si could take her. However, they had to leave early and return early, and the child could not be brought out of the village.

Not only could the child not be taken out of the village, but even within the village, certain places further away were off-limits before the hundredth day after birth.

Especially behind the house, where there was a hill. During the busy farming period not long ago, Ms. He was mixing chicken feed with Fifth in her back, but as there was no one else at home, she just let the chickens cluck without taking them to the rear house.

If she were to go, she would have to leave Fifth inside the house or with someone to look after him.

According to Ms. Qian, evil spirits existed in distant places outside, and while adults could clear the grounds, young children could not come into contact with these evil spirits.

This was the child-rearing wisdom that had been passed down in the Qian Family for many years.

Old Zhou, who had been sitting glumly to one side, was then addressed by his wife, "Why don’t you accompany the children to town and take a look around?"

Old Zhou replied discontentedly, "No! What’s there for me to do in town?"

Ms. Qian replied helplessly, "Go and buy two suits of cloth for me. The weather is getting hotter by the day, so buy some fabric to make clothes for me, and buy two suits for yourself as well. Moreover, get some hair ribbons for Manbao; this child never ties her hair by herself."

Old Zhou’s mood lifted again, and he asked, "What color do you want?"

"What color can I wear now? Just choose something, and buy me some thread too..."

Old Zhou, listening carefully, jotted everything down, then took a silver ingot from Ms. Qian’s hand. Looking at the silver ingot, he asked, "Why bring silver for such a small purchase?"

"Did you forget? Our cow is still bought on credit. It would be best if you went to the town and tried to pay off the debt," she said.

Manbao immediately said, "Mother, let me pay for it."

Before Ms. Qian could reply, Old Zhou interjected, "No need, no need. The cow is for the family’s use; how can we make you pay for it?"

Old Zhou was feeling particularly confident with his words, "We’re not short on money at home. Keep your five taels of silver for yourself. You’ll need it in the future for books or for buying writing materials. By the way, Manbao, are you still using the books Senior Brother Zhuang copied for you? We might as well buy them ourselves..."

"No need," Manbao flatly refused, "The teacher said he likes copying books for me because for every book he copies for me, I have to pay with two books, which he can then give to two other people."

"Are people still buying books from Senior Brother Zhuang now?"

"Yes, now that there isn’t much work to do in the fields, after our morning lessons, the teacher would have us go to the classroom, and there would be former Senior Brothers coming to sit in on the class."

Sometimes when no one else came, Senior Brother Zhuang would move the class back to the small courtyard after it ended, but sometimes the classroom was quite cool, and he was too lazy to move back and forth, so he would ask them to bring the tea set from the small courtyard to the classroom.

Ever since Senior Brother Zhuang started teaching only the three of them, he relaxed a lot and liked to teach while drinking tea.

Old Zhou, listening to this, felt that Senior Brother Zhuang was really a good person, especially because he insisted on teaching even during a festival like Dragon Boat Festival.

Therefore, Old Zhou looked towards his wife and asked, "Should we buy some extra gifts for Senior Brother Zhuang from town? Just sending eggs seems..."

After contemplating, Ms. Qian said, "Now, all of Senior Brother Zhuang’s clothes are made by the Bai Family; we can’t make anything better. But no one makes his shoes or socks. How about you buy some quality material and we’ll make him a few pairs of shoes and socks back home?"

Ms. Qian mused with a smile, "Especially shoes. Didn’t Manbao say that recently Senior Brother Zhuang liked to teach them out in the fields? Walking around out there, the shoes wear out quickly. The soles need to be made thick and sturdy for comfortable walking."

Now that Old Zhou had money, he was slightly more generous and nodded, "All right, I’ll go buy them for you."

And so, the matter was settled.

Ms. Qian tidied up the leftover silver ingots and told everyone to disperse.

Old Zhou helped Ms. Qian put the silver ingots in another bamboo box and then hid it under the bed.

But every night, he couldn’t help peering under the bed before sleep.

Seeing this amused Ms. Qian, who said, "Rest assured, thieves dare not come to our house, and mice can’t drag away the silver. Sleep well, someone from my maternal home is coming tomorrow."

Eldest Uncle Qian had said he would visit the next day, and sure enough, he arrived once again.

But today they entered the village in broad daylight, quite openly. They arrived just as the villagers had finished their morning meal and the weather wasn’t too hot, making the village very lively.

Some were hoeing and planting or weeding in the vegetable gardens, while a long queue formed at the riverbank of those washing clothes. With the Qian Family members carrying sacks and buckets into the village, all the old and young villagers could see them.

As they passed by the riverbank, the daughters-in-law from Qian Family Village, or those related to Qian Family Village’s people, would even greet them. Their eyes then flitted across the buckets and sacks the visitors carried, hardly concealing their curiosity.

Didn’t they just come yesterday? Why are they here again today?

This time, the Qian Family was here to see the children and didn’t hide anything, confidently displaying the meat they carried in their hands, the flour in their sacks, and the eggs in their baskets for everyone to see.

The original plan was for Eldest Aunt Qian to come over with the Second and Third Aunts, at most bringing along a few daughters-in-law or children. But last night, Eldest Uncle Qian felt a little uneasy and had some matters to discuss with Old Zhou, so he decided to come along.

When Third Uncle Qian saw his elder brother going to Qili Village, he immediately expressed that he would go too.