Chapter 219 - 219 Mommy and Daddy Sleep in Separate Rooms
Many people commented that he was such a great student and that he would likely place highly on the provincial exam. Once the exam was done, he would have earned himself the title of a provincial elite! Ah, no, if he scores well on the provincial exam, he will be taking the imperial exam in the Capital City. Then he will officially become an important member of the bureaucracy.
Because of this potential, many people did their best to talk Xie Yunjin up and flatter him.
Xie Yunjin came today to earn face for the Lu family. Therefore, he didn’t act at all impatient toward these people. Occasionally, he would even flatter back. This made the leaders view him highly and thought of him as both good-looking, well-spoken, and basically perfect.
!!
Even though Xie Yunjin didn’t drink, the leaders didn’t blame him and allowed him to drink tea instead.
While the men chatted, the women’s table got boisterous.
The first and second aunts loved the four little ones the more they looked at them. They wished they were their sons.
The second aunt’s daughter, Taozi, didn’t think much of it. She wished she had a brother.
Huzi’s little face, however, drowned in despair. Sadly, nobody at the table acknowledged him and he wanted to cry.
His mother threw daggers with her gaze to tell him that if he cried, she could beat him to death.
Huzi didn’t dare to cry. Lately, he’s been beaten up a few times and he’s learned that crying didn’t work. So he no longer cried and only glared at the four little ones.
The first and second aunts then cheered Lu Jiao with tea in replacement of alcohol, “Thank you, little sister, for thinking of us and helping us. We’ve handled things poorly in the past and we apologize. I hope you will forgive us.”
They then drank the tea. Lu Jiao mindlessly waved her hand, “We’re family. I don’t mind.”
It was because they really didn’t do anything bad to her. Because she taught them how to make tofu, the entire family was so appreciative of her. Lu Jiao felt that this proved them to be grateful people.
Lady Tian watched all this and was more than content. She continued to get the four little ones, Huzi, and Taozi more food. Everything that’s happening now was truly wonderful. She felt like marrying Lu Danian back then was the right decision. If she didn’t marry him, she wouldn’t have her three sons and her daughter. Mostly her daughter. If she married someone else, then she wouldn’t have Jiaojiao.
Lady Tian smiled at her daughter and her eyes gleamed with happiness.
At the men’s table, the Leaders got up to cheer Lu Jiao with alcohol.
“Jiaojiao, you’re a great kid. Not only are you a doctor, but you also taught everyone how to harvest herbs and I heard that you’re teaching people leech keeping? You’re so capable. Don’t forget about us in the future!”
Lu Jiao glanced at the leaders and slightly grinned. She didn’t answer.
She didn’t have a good view of the Apricot Flower Villagers. There was that old couple who stirred up trouble at her home. Then today, that couple blocked her oxcart and cursed at her. Yet everyone in the village only watched and nobody stepped up to help.
This meant the villagers weren’t very good people. Lu Jiao was in no mood to acknowledge these kinds of people.
Lu Jiao didn’t answer. An old woman sitting nearby pushed her. This old woman was the original host’s grandma.
“Jiaojiao, the leaders are talking to you. Hurry up and answer them. Tell them you’ll teach us how to keep leeches too. We heard leech keeping can make a lot of money.”
Lu Jiao’s face dropped right away as she glared at the old woman. Who did that grandma think she was?
“It’s not even for certain if the leeches will survive. If something went wrong, who will take responsibility?”
Lu Jiao’s tone wasn’t kind. The grandma’s expression turned unfriendly.
Lady Tian angrily said to grandma Lu, “Mom, if you’re done eating, you can go home and rest.”
Lady Tian didn’t get along with her mother-in-law because she didn’t like Lady Tian much. Before, she wanted her older son to marry her in-law’s niece but her son ended up marrying Lady Tian.
In the end, her younger son married the niece and grandma Lu now lived with her younger son’s family.
Grandma Lu was about to get angry and explode on Lady Tian when Lu Jiao interrupted, “Grandma, are you drunk?”
Her face was cold as she stared. Grandma Lu was a little scared of the look on Lu Jiao’s face. Then, when she remembered who Lu Jiao’s husband was, Grandma Lu shut up.
Lu Jiao turned back to the leaders, “There are lots of risks involved with leech keeping. I don’t think you’re able to take responsibility for any failures.”
The leaders felt like they lost face but didn’t dare to get angry. They went back to their seats, suppressing their rage.
The atmosphere wasn’t as great after and dinner ended soon after. Lu Danian walked the guests out.
When it was just the Lu family left, Lady Tian unleashed, “Every day, she thinks about how to squeeze money out of other people. Something’s wrong with her.”
She was naturally referring to grandma Lu. The aunts cleaned up quietly and didn’t comment. Their mother-in-law hated her mother-in-law. The two of them were nemesis.
The aunts knew, however, that that old woman wasn’t nice and preferred her younger son.
She lived with her younger son yet asked this family to contribute. Other than food, she always asked for money by saying that she was sick and needed to see a doctor.
Now that the family was making money selling tofu, she would get “sick” every other day. Thankfully, Lady Lu was tough enough to say no and set that grandma straight.
Lu Jiao pulled on Lady Tian’s hand and comforted, “Mom, don’t be mad. Just ignore her.”
Lady Tian finally felt a little better. Since it was late, she went to boil water for the family to wash up with.
After bathing, it was late. Lady Tian rushed them to go to sleep.
Lu Jiao was faced with a challenge. How do they sleep tonight? Back at home, Xie Yunjin took two children and slept in one room. She took the other two and slept in the other room. How do they arrange their sleeping situation tonight?
Lu Jiao decided to take two of the boys and sleep in the original host’s old room. Xie Yunjin can take the other two boys and sleep in Lu Gui’s room. As for Lu Gui, he could find somewhere in the village to sleep. It was his village and he naturally could find a spot.
Before Lu Jiao could speak, Lady Tian hugged the four little ones, “Babies, how about two of you guys sleep with me and your grandpa tonight? The other two can sleep with your little uncle.”
The four little ones declined. The Fourth Born grabbed onto Lu Jiao, “Grandma, I don’t want to sleep with you. I want to sleep with mommy.”
Lady Tian’s eyes flickered. Back in the Xie family, her daughter and her son-in-law slept apart. That was not good.
Lady Tian picked up the Fourth Born and soothed, “Fourth Born, sleep with me so your mom and dad can share a room.”
Lu Jiao’s face fell into shock and she subconsciously looked behind her. Xie Yunjin was in the corner and coldly stared at her.
Lu Jiao snapped her head back to tell Lady Tian that sleeping together was not necessary when the Fourth Born shouted, “Grandma, my mommy and daddy don’t sleep in the same room. They sleep in separate rooms.”