Li Shi had long been irritated by Sun Shi. Ever since Sun Shi’s family came into money, they had changed. Not only did they flaunt their wealth by parading around the village, but they also dared to look down on her. Every time they saw her, they expressed various forms of disdain. This time, she thought, “If someone dares to marry her, it’s those nearby rascals who marry her, all because Fourth Wang’s family has money!”
Zhulan recalled the scenes where she met Fourth Wang several times. Every time she saw him, he was dressed differently. It seemed like he was afraid that people wouldn’t know he had money. Sun Shi also changed her jewelry frequently. If it weren’t for Shi Gongzi coming by every so often to bring gifts, Fourth Wang’s family would have attracted thieves a long time ago. “What was Fourth Wang’s reaction when you saw him?”
Li Shi shook her head. She hadn’t seen that. If it weren’t for running into Wang’s daughter-in-law, she wouldn’t even have known who was left in their family. “No, but there’s a trustworthy woman who went to Fourth Wang’s house to see what’s going on. Mom, should I go inquire as well?”
Zhulan didn’t want to have anything to do with Fourth Wang’s family and stopped Li Shi Shi from stirring up hatred. “No, tomorrow is your grandpa’s and grandma’s birthday. You go back and pack your clothes for tomorrow. Don’t be in a hurry then.”
Although Li Shi was thinking of gossip, she had changed very much recently. So she suppressed curiosity, “I will go back and take out the clothes I will wear tomorrow.”
In the afternoon, Zhulan could hear the excitement of the Wang family without asking, although she could not hear it clearly, she was still in a trance. After hearing Wang Ru’s threat, the fuss stopped for a while.
After all, Li Shi could not resist going out for a walk and soon came back, sharing the commotion she saw, “Fourth Fourth Wang was so furious that he beat up Wang Ru. The couple also took away the jewelry in Wang Ru’s bedroom. They were all robbed, and there was a commotion just now. This girl Wang Ru is really powerful. I think she wants to live alone as a female household!”
Zhao Shi teased her son, “Fourth Wang must have returned the jewelry, he can’t do without Wang Ru, a cash cow.”
Li Shi felt bad because her younger siblings always hit the mark, so she felt depressed about why she couldn’t keep up with her younger siblings. Li Shi said duly: “Yes, not only did he return everything, but he also beat Wang Zhang Shi. Wang Ru said that their family tree was no longer in the genealogy, and Wang Zhang Shi was no longer their grandmother. She only went all out because they didn’t hold back!”
Zhulan thought to herself, Wang Ru might be too happy. Anyway, she doesn’t like her brother. What does his future have to do with her? Just cross it out. Instead, it crosses out the shackles. She had been holding back the cruel move for almost a year. Angry, she had long wanted to deal with Wang Zhang Shi, but the female household was a daydream.
In the new dynasty, it wasn’t easy to establish a female-headed household. There were strict regulations. Unmarried women had to prove they had no living grandparents or parents to be considered. As the eldest sister, one had to establish a female-headed household. For married women, if they became widows, they could establish a female-headed household. The reason for such strict rules was that female-headed households had reduced land taxes. They only had to pay one and a half percent of tax for each acre of land and her son was exempted from military service, among other benefits. However, if a woman remarried, her female-headed household status would be revoked, and the policy would no longer apply.
Therefore, the two widows in Zhoujiacun who had both set up female households, had no intention of remarrying. Even if they didn’t have men, the reduced land tax in a year was a large amount of income. As long as they were not lazy, they could still save some money in a year and help their son’s education.
Zhulan really liked this policy, which properly protected weak women.
Because of the strict conditions, Wang Ru’s idea was in vain.
Early the next morning, there were many Zhou family members, so they borrowed the ox cart from the patriarch’s family. The two ox carts were full of people, and there was no one at home to look after the house. Zhou Shuren asked the patriarch, who took Zhou Wang and his eldest son to help look after the house. The Zhou family had a lot of stuff, it was impossible to leave it alone without anyone looking at it.
This time the whole Zhou family went out, and it was rare that no one was missing.
It took Zhulan and Zhou Shuren half a year to tell her parents by giving actual gifts that she really didn’t need the subsidy, so the couple stopped replying with heavy gifts.
Zhulan’s parents held a grand birthday celebration for the first time when they both reached a milestone age. Since they had quite many children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren, there were already many family members. In addition to close friends who came to congratulate them, even if they didn’t bring their entire families, they would bring a son or two. Furthermore, there were in-laws and relatives from the village. The Yang family not only had tables set up in their courtyard but also extended the celebration outside of their yard due to the large number of guests.
There were only six people cooking in the makeshift stove shed, not counting the kitchen, and the aroma of meat filled the yard and spread throughout the village.
The Zhulan family’s oxcart was tied up, and Zhulan and Zhou Shuren took their children into the main house.
The eldest son of the Yang family welcomed them, saying, “Sister and brother-in-law, you’ve arrived. We’ll be paying our respects shortly, just waiting for your whole family to join us.”
Zhulan said, “It rained heavily last night, otherwise the oxcart would have arrived early.”
This was despite the family leaving early in the morning, but unfortunately, it still took a long time on the road.
Eldest Yang, “Mom was still talking about you when I got up in the morning. The road is indeed not easy to travel.”
Zhulan couldn’t help but think it wasn’t just a challenging path but also filled with many muddy patches. They had to walk down a certain stretch of the road, and luckily, she was wearing black shoes; otherwise, her shoes would have been covered in mud spots. It was quite a messy journey.
There were so many people in the main room. Even the children had gone out, and the younger relatives in the room were all standing!
Li Shi had long been irritated by Sun Shi. Ever since Sun Shi’s family came into money, they had changed. Not only did they flaunt their wealth by parading around the village, but they also dared to look down on her. Every time they saw her, they expressed various forms of disdain. This time, she thought, “If someone dares to marry her, it’s those nearby rascals who marry her, all because Fourth Wang’s family has money!”
Zhulan recalled the scenes where she met Fourth Wang several times. Every time she saw him, he was dressed differently. It seemed like he was afraid that people wouldn’t know he had money. Sun Shi also changed her jewelry frequently. If it weren’t for Shi Gongzi coming by every so often to bring gifts, Fourth Wang’s family would have attracted thieves a long time ago. “What was Fourth Wang’s reaction when you saw him?”
Li Shi shook her head. She hadn’t seen that. If it weren’t for running into Wang’s daughter-in-law, she wouldn’t even have known who was left in their family. “No, but there’s a trustworthy woman who went to Fourth Wang’s house to see what’s going on. Mom, should I go inquire as well?”
Zhulan didn’t want to have anything to do with Fourth Wang’s family and stopped Li Shi Shi from stirring up hatred. “No, tomorrow is your grandpa’s and grandma’s birthday. You go back and pack your clothes for tomorrow. Don’t be in a hurry then.”
Although Li Shi was thinking of gossip, she had changed very much recently. So she suppressed curiosity, “I will go back and take out the clothes I will wear tomorrow.”
In the afternoon, Zhulan could hear the excitement of the Wang family without asking, although she could not hear it clearly, she was still in a trance. After hearing Wang Ru’s threat, the fuss stopped for a while.
After all, Li Shi could not resist going out for a walk and soon came back, sharing the commotion she saw, “Fourth Fourth Wang was so furious that he beat up Wang Ru. The couple also took away the jewelry in Wang Ru’s bedroom. They were all robbed, and there was a commotion just now. This girl Wang Ru is really powerful. I think she wants to live alone as a female household!”
Zhao Shi teased her son, “Fourth Wang must have returned the jewelry, he can’t do without Wang Ru, a cash cow.”
Li Shi felt bad because her younger siblings always hit the mark, so she felt depressed about why she couldn’t keep up with her younger siblings. Li Shi said duly: “Yes, not only did he return everything, but he also beat Wang Zhang Shi. Wang Ru said that their family tree was no longer in the genealogy, and Wang Zhang Shi was no longer their grandmother. She only went all out because they didn’t hold back!”
Zhulan thought to herself, Wang Ru might be too happy. Anyway, she doesn’t like her brother. What does his future have to do with her? Just cross it out. Instead, it crosses out the shackles. She had been holding back the cruel move for almost a year. Angry, she had long wanted to deal with Wang Zhang Shi, but the female household was a daydream.
In the new dynasty, it wasn’t easy to establish a female-headed household. There were strict regulations. Unmarried women had to prove they had no living grandparents or parents to be considered. As the eldest sister, one had to establish a female-headed household. For married women, if they became widows, they could establish a female-headed household. The reason for such strict rules was that female-headed households had reduced land taxes. They only had to pay one and a half percent of tax for each acre of land and her son was exempted from military service, among other benefits. However, if a woman remarried, her female-headed household status would be revoked, and the policy would no longer apply.
Therefore, the two widows in Zhoujiacun who had both set up female households, had no intention of remarrying. Even if they didn’t have men, the reduced land tax in a year was a large amount of income. As long as they were not lazy, they could still save some money in a year and help their son’s education.
Zhulan really liked this policy, which properly protected weak women.
Because of the strict conditions, Wang Ru’s idea was in vain.
Early the next morning, there were many Zhou family members, so they borrowed the ox cart from the patriarch’s family. The two ox carts were full of people, and there was no one at home to look after the house. Zhou Shuren asked the patriarch, who took Zhou Wang and his eldest son to help look after the house. The Zhou family had a lot of stuff, it was impossible to leave it alone without anyone looking at it.
This time the whole Zhou family went out, and it was rare that no one was missing.
It took Zhulan and Zhou Shuren half a year to tell her parents by giving actual gifts that she really didn’t need the subsidy, so the couple stopped replying with heavy gifts.
Zhulan’s parents held a grand birthday celebration for the first time when they both reached a milestone age. Since they had quite many children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren, there were already many family members. In addition to close friends who came to congratulate them, even if they didn’t bring their entire families, they would bring a son or two. Furthermore, there were in-laws and relatives from the village. The Yang family not only had tables set up in their courtyard but also extended the celebration outside of their yard due to the large number of guests.
There were only six people cooking in the makeshift stove shed, not counting the kitchen, and the aroma of meat filled the yard and spread throughout the village.
The Zhulan family’s oxcart was tied up, and Zhulan and Zhou Shuren took their children into the main house.
The eldest son of the Yang family welcomed them, saying, “Sister and brother-in-law, you’ve arrived. We’ll be paying our respects shortly, just waiting for your whole family to join us.”
Zhulan said, “It rained heavily last night, otherwise the oxcart would have arrived early.”
This was despite the family leaving early in the morning, but unfortunately, it still took a long time on the road.
Eldest Yang, “Mom was still talking about you when I got up in the morning. The road is indeed not easy to travel.”
Zhulan couldn’t help but think it wasn’t just a challenging path but also filled with many muddy patches. They had to walk down a certain stretch of the road, and luckily, she was wearing black shoes; otherwise, her shoes would have been covered in mud spots. It was quite a messy journey.
There were so many people in the main room. Even the children had gone out, and the younger relatives in the room were all standing!
