By the time Chu Yi washed the chamber pot and filled the hot water and returned to the room, Shen Luzhu had already dressed himself and Zheng Zheng and was clearing away the bedding on the kang.
As soon as Chu Yi put down the basin in his hand, his wife stuffed a cloth bag into his arms, raised her eyebrows slightly and asked, "Birthday gift?"
Shen Luzhu nodded happily: "Well, open it and take a look."
Inside the cloth bag was a men's moon-white satin gown with a layer of lining on the inside, which felt soft and warm. In addition, there was a pair of men's shoes and socks with fine and smooth stitching. Chu Yi knew it at a glance. My wife made it herself.
"How come I don't know when A-Zhu did it?"
"Since my birthday, every time you go out or when you are not in the room, I will sew a few stitches. Finally, it will be ready by the end of September. Put it on and see if it fits you."
On Shen Luzhu's birthday in early August, Chu Yi gave his wife a jewelry box that he made by himself. It was made of fine rosewood and had a light woody fragrance. The box was divided into four layers. After opening them all, it looked like The stairs are generally well-proportioned, and the bottom of the box is as big as half a dressing table. Chu Yi has carved many patterns on the inside and outside, which are exquisite and beautiful.
Chu Yi put all his wife's original things on the first floor, and collected a lot of fresh things to fill the second floor. On the day he gave it to Shen Luzhu, he said that he would help her fill the entire box in the future. , and when it is full, I will make a larger and newer jewelry box for her.
Shen Luzhu liked this birthday gift very much. The main reason was that it was made by Chu Yi himself, just like the peach wood hairpin that Chu Yi gave her when they first met. No matter how many more she got later, it became more expensive and novel. The jewelry, that wooden hairpin is her favorite.
From that time on, Shen Luzhu secretly thought about what kind of birthday gift to give Chu Yi. He thought that since he became pregnant with Zhengzheng, he seemed to have never made clothes for Chu Yi, so he often took advantage of the opportunity. When Chu Yi was away, he quietly made clothes, shoes and socks.
Chu Yi naturally liked the clothes made by his wife. He hurriedly took off his clothes and tried them on one by one: "It fits very well. I like it very much. Thank you, my A-Zhu."
Shen Luzhu stepped forward and helped Chu Yi adjust his gown: "You're so handsome. Why don't you just wear it today instead of changing it?"
"I have work to do later, so it's time to get dirty."
"It doesn't matter, just wash it when it's dirty. Besides, my Ayi is the birthday girl today, so there's no reason to let the birthday girl do the work."
Chu Yi tapped his wife's forehead in a funny way and refused no longer.
Breakfast is still the custom for celebrating birthdays, a bowl of fragrant longevity noodles made by Shen Luzhu himself, plus two red wedding eggs.
In the middle of the morning, three or five relatives and friends came to the door one after another. The men set up a bonfire in the middle of the yard near the main room, preparing to barbecue later.
The women gathered in the kitchen to prepare the ingredients for hot pot and roasted meat. With the strength of the crowd, they had everything ready in a short while. Seeing that it was still early for dinner, they gathered in the west wing and In two places in the main room, people were chatting and playing cards.
Every time Uncle Chu saw such a lively scene at home, he would subconsciously compare it to before the separation. Every time he saw the children laughing, he felt that the separation was the right thing to do.
After a day of fun, everyone ate roasted meat and hot pot, clinked glasses with Chu Yi and said some auspicious birthday wishes. They dispersed one after another until sunset.
After Chu Yi's birthday, the paper money shop in front of Chu's house became busy again the next day. The heat of the Winter Clothes Festival didn't subside until around mid-October. It was at this time that the Lu family in the county town The trustee sent news that they planned to go to the Yu family to reason on the 25th of October.
The young couple smiled at each other after hearing this. October 20th was Chu Li's birthday. Originally, they were a little worried, fearing that the day when the Lu family would attack the Yu family would coincide with Chu Li's birthday. But now they just missed it, so they can feel at ease. Getting ready for Chu Li’s birthday.
Ever since Shen Luzhu married into the Chu family, the Chu family had developed the habit of celebrating birthdays. It turned out that Mr. and Mrs. Chu couldn't stand it, so Shen Luzhu ignored them and quietly gave birth to Chu Yi brothers and his third uncle. and xiuxiu
, even if it can’t be done with much fanfare, there is always a bowl of longevity noodles, a few happy eggs, and a sumptuous birthday meal.
After the separation of the families, without the annoying nagging and obstruction, the Chu family's birthdays are now becoming more and more grand and lively. Not only that, but also the cousin's family next door, the Cui family and the Jiang family are also starting to celebrate. I started to learn from others.
Early in the morning on the 25th, the young couple, plus Chu Ping, who insisted on joining in the fun, set off in an oxcart. The man who came to report the news did not mention when the Lu family planned to launch an attack. The young couple was afraid that the Lu family would be playing tricks on them, so in line with the purpose of rushing early rather than late, they thought that if they got too early, they would go to the street and look at the shops. The ox-cart drove all the way into the county town and entered the city gate. Go straight to the Lu family on Changqing Street.
But even so, when the three of them arrived in front of Lu's house, they were still a little late. At this time, many people had gathered in front of Lu's house to watch the fun. Not only that, there were also officials from the Yamen. It was somewhat different from the method given by Shen Luzhu at the beginning. The three of them quietly came to the front and asked the people around them about the ins and outs of today's matter.
"Auntie, what's going on? Why are there still officials here? But there's a case?"
The lady in question turned her head and looked at the three of them. Seeing Shen Luzhu's unfamiliar face dressed as a woman, she asked, "You guys look a bit unfamiliar, isn't my wife from the county?"
Seeing Shen Luzhu nodding, he explained: "Then it's no wonder you don't know about these two houses. The two houses belong to the old couple. The conflicts between them and the Yu family who rented the shop have been resolved. It's been a long time, I don't know how many times I've made trouble, and I've been to the government twice, but I haven't made anything famous. This started again this morning. The Lu family ran to the Yamen Gate early in the morning. , waiting for the official to come on duty, they shouted that they wanted to report the crime, but people followed, and they just said that they wanted to terminate the lease of the shop in advance and asked the Yu family to move out. "
The young couple were a little confused when they heard this. They didn't understand why the Lu family was doing this. Chu Ping complained directly: "What kind of case is this?"
"Well, I don't know what the Lu family is thinking. They have to go to the Yamen Gate to report a case like this!"
At this time, the old lady of the Lu family who was being watched suddenly noticed the three people in the crowd, and hurriedly pulled Lu Abo, who was still talking to the official, and wondered why these three people were here so early!
Lu Abo was also shocked, thinking that his plan might not come true?
He and his wife had originally planned to settle the matter earlier today, just to go through the motions. It didn't matter what the Yu family's reaction was, as long as they tried it according to the Chu family's method, and it didn't work in the end. In this way, they could sell their east courtyard as they originally thought, without affecting the future sale of the shop in the west courtyard at a good price.
But they were afraid that the Chu family would refuse to perform the contract on the grounds that they had not seen it, so they thought of a way to call an official from the Yamen to testify. Thinking that with an official serving as a witness, the Chu family would not be able to say that they did not follow the plan properly.
Now it seems that if I had known that they would not have come to see the official official, they shouted louder, thanking the neighbors for their testimony. Now, in order to wait for the official official to be on duty, the time was delayed, and unexpectedly, the Chu family's I've dragged him here too, so I'd better not work harder now. I'm afraid it won't work if we really have to fight with the Yu family.
After winking at the old lady, Lu Abo continued to talk to the officials and said, "Sir, it's really not my family who is trying to trick you, but you know that the Yu family is always looking for life and death. At my age, I have really suffered a lot. I couldn't help it, just because I was afraid that something would really happen, so I called the officials here, don't blame me, don't blame me!"
The official was also exhausted. Fortunately, the two of them had no other official duties today. For the sake of the wallet that Ruabo had just stuffed, they reluctantly stayed: "Okay, if you have anything to do, tell me immediately. , we can’t stay with you for too long!”
Lu Abo nodded and responded: "Yes, yes! It belongs to the Yu family. The lease between us is about to expire. My family does not plan to rent to you anymore. Your family should find a shop and move as soon as possible."
The Yu family got up early this morning and were about to clean up and open the shop when they heard a banging on the door. They hurriedly opened the door and saw the Lu family and their officials standing outside their door.
I'm a little confused. I've already gone to the Yamen twice. Why don't the Lu family give up?
Mrs. Liu was about to roll up her sleeves and have a good chat with the Lu family, but her posture was already on display, but the Lu family had a very negotiable tone and asked if it was possible to terminate the contract early.
That attitude is good, just like if they say "no", the Lu family will immediately go home.
Therefore, the three members of the Yu family, who originally thought that the Lu family would not cause any trouble today, kept holding their shoulders and leaning in front of their shop to watch the excitement. They even had the time to gather together and study. If the Lu family insisted on moving out, , there are still so many years of lease, how much money should be extorted from him.
Suddenly, when she heard what Lu Abo said, "The lease is about to expire, I told them to find a shop and move out." Liu almost thought that she had failed to obey, and asked casually: "What did you say?"
Maybe Liu's usually unruly and domineering image was too deeply rooted in people's hearts. An ordinary question sounded like a question to everyone, and it seemed to be a prelude to a quarrel in Ruabena.
I saw him clearing his throat, straightening his back and repeating: "I said your family should quickly find a shop and move out. The lease is about to expire, and our family will no longer rent to you!"
Mrs. Liu heard it clearly this time. She raised her voice several times in an instant. She rolled up her sleeves and pointed at Lu Abo and cursed: "You old fool, you are so confused! Why don't you cause trouble if you don't have a clear mind?" You go to your own home and come to my house to take advantage! The ten-year lease signed is still early, how can it be that it is about to expire!"
