The Daily Life of a Down-on-Hard-Life Medicine Girl Supporting Her Family

Chapter 289

The next few days will be spent preparing for the Spring Festival.

Zhu Lingling has taken over the management of the household affairs, and this is the first time she has handled the arrangement of New Year's gifts, so she specifically consulted her mother-in-law.

Madam Xu frowned as she looked at the New Year's gifts being sent to the Li residence.

"In the early years in the capital, the Li family's New Year's gifts were indeed given in these quantities. Now that the old lady has passed away, let's not talk about how people forget each other after they've left. In short, the first generation is close, the second generation is distant, and the third and fourth generations don't recognize each other."

The fact that Madam Li had come to propose marriage completely disgusted Madam Xu.

She knew that her relationship with the Li family had come to an end, but they still had to maintain appearances.

Just like the gifts that Madam Li brought when she visited, claiming that the Xiao family was short of supplies after returning to the capital and that she wanted to help them in their time of need, the gifts she brought were all rather shabby. In the end, Madam Zhu gave them all to the servants.

Therefore, the New Year's gift sent to the Li family did not need to be so formal.

The Xu family made the decision to reduce the amount of precious items by one-third.

"Send this to the Li residence."

"Yes, mother."

The New Year's gifts from the Xu, Xu, and Huang families were all the same.

Zhu Lingling reduced the scale of the gifts she gave to the Zhu family, mainly because it was her maternal family; as a junior, she didn't want to overshadow her elders.

"Add the New Year's gifts that the Li family reduced to the Zhu family's estate."

"Mother?"

"Add it."

"Yes, mother."

Zhu Lingling instantly understood that her mother was giving the Zhu family a high regard.

Indeed, Zhu Haodong and Chunyan have already expressed their intentions, and everything is ready except for Zhu Haodong's high school entrance exam.

At this moment, the teacher is giving his last lecture at the academy.

"The next period is a break. I hope you won't slack off on your studies during this break. After all, the exams will start after the Lantern Festival. This year's special exam is earlier than usual, so you need to maintain a high level of focus and absolutely cannot relax. If you relax even a little, your energy and spirit will dissipate..."

The teacher spoke earnestly and patiently, and the students were extremely respectful.

"Your disciple will respectfully follow your teachings."

Say goodbye, sir, and go your separate ways.

"Brother Zhao, Brother Zhu, Chun Ning has a request that I should ask of you."

"Speaking?"

"The other classmates are fine, but I think the three of us are of one mind and each has our own strengths. If you don't mind, I would like to invite you two brothers to my residence for a gathering. We can review our lessons together and fill in any gaps in our knowledge. What do you say?"

"A great idea, but wouldn't it be too inconvenient?"

Zhao Minglang and Zhu Haodong spoke in unison.

“No disturbance, my courtyard is quite quiet,” Chun Ning said. “Of course, if it is convenient for you two brothers, Chun Ning is also welcome to visit your residence.”

"I think we should go to the Xiao residence instead?"

The image of that figure immediately flashed into Zhu Haodong's mind, and he blurted it out.

After she finished speaking, her face felt slightly hot.

He's... well, he's just overthinking. Just seeing her face can ease his lovesickness.

Zhao Minglang was completely unaware that Zhu Haodong had chosen the Xiao family for other reasons. He was older than both Zhu and Xiao, and since they both agreed, he didn't object.

"Then Chun Ning will await the arrival of my two elder brothers at the manor tomorrow."

"Okay, we'll be on time, just like we are at school."

"it is good."

Chun Ning returned to the mansion and reported to her elder sister-in-law, Zhu Shi, that two people would be coming to the mansion to study the next day.

"Alright, I'll have the cook prepare it tomorrow. But do either of you gentlemen have any dietary restrictions?" They're about to take their exams, so we can't afford to cause any trouble.

After asking the question, Zhu realized that although Zhu Haodong was her half-brother, she knew nothing about him.

I felt very ashamed.

"Neither of the two young masters has any dietary restrictions, and they are both easy to get along with. However, Brother Zhu likes to eat fish, while Brother Zhao likes to eat mutton."

Chun Ning observed very carefully.

"Okay, I'll have the kitchen prepare it."

Madam Zhu then asked Chun Ning what kind of tea and pastries she wanted to be served.
"Eldest sister-in-law, you can do whatever you want, it's all fine."

"Okay, I see."

Watching Chun Ning's retreating figure as she returned to the courtyard, Madam Zhu was still filled with emotion.

The Xiao family has three branches. The two brothers in the eldest branch are not outstanding. Her husband was just a minor clerk in the government office. He lost his job after being implicated. After returning from the northern desert, the men of the Xiao family are almost all in a state of recuperation.

They suffered too much hardship in the northern desert, and it would take them at least six months to a year to recover.

Therefore, although the male members of the Xiao family all returned to the capital, they did not regain any of their vitality.

Chun Ning, from the second wife's family, grew up in Changzhou. Looking at it now, he still has a bright future.

The second wife also had a daughter named Chunnuan, who was also a shrewd money-maker.

Of course, the eldest son's family has Chunyu, but Chunyu is, after all, the wife of a general, and she is often mindful of her status and doesn't have the same connections as Chunnuan.

Thinking of the warmth of spring, Zhu still misses it very much.

If it weren't for her holding things together, how could the more than ten women and children of the Xiao family have waited until the day they could return to the capital?

In Changzhou, Chunnuan is reading a letter from Zhao Minghua to her family.

"Another day of missing my wife..."

With a slight upturn of her lips, she knew that this person would become somewhat improper as he wrote his family letter.

Zhao Minghua reported on the shops he operated in the capital. The reason he reported on everything in such detail was because they had a prenuptial agreement that Xiao Chunnuan would have a share in all of Zhao Minghua's businesses.

"My wife, I look forward to your arrival in the capital soon."

Spring is here...it seems like everyone wants to go back to Beijing.

Her family, her husband, and her best friend Qiuyan are in the capital... She misses them so much.

Mrs. Zhou, Mrs. Zhao, also received a letter from her son.

"He really knows how to slack off; he only wrote one page in total," Zhou said. "I reckon the letter to Nuannuan must have been at least ten pages long."

"Not quite, but it's at least five pages long." The old woman joked, "The Third Young Master truly dotes on the Third Young Mistress."

"That boy is so lucky. If I were a man, I would spoil him even more if I could marry such a wife," Zhou said with emotion. "Tell me, how come my son is so fortunate? He actually married Nuannuan..."

Thinking back to that girl who almost married into the powerful Xiao family, I felt a chill run down my spine.

Fortunately, the third brother has better judgment than I do.

Although that girl was the eldest daughter of the Xiao family, she was inferior to Nuannuan in every way.

True ladies of noble birth and truly talented people never become famous early on.

Spreading their reputation early is simply a way to find a good family to marry into; this is a common tactic used by wealthy families.

Now only her second son is unmarried. Yes, her third son wrote that her second son also has a girl he likes.

I just don't know which company it belongs to, or what it looks like.

I just hope he has the same good taste as the third brother and finds someone with good character.

After all, it's a good thing to marry a virtuous wife, as a virtuous wife brings prosperity to three generations. If you marry a troublemaker, three generations will never have peace!

"Madam, the old master has arrived." Madam Zhou hurriedly put down her letter to greet her father-in-law, but she wondered what important matter the old master had come to discuss at this time.