Tianliangyuan

Chapter 211 Xu Chuan, the One Being Targeted

Many people visit relatives at the end of the year. Even if some relatives are poor, they are still considered proper relatives because they are within the five degrees of kinship. Even if Xu Han and Wang Ruolan are unavailable, Zhang Shi has to take the initiative to entertain them.

Xie Zheng and Xu Zhaozhao have been meeting quite frequently lately. Although they are engaged, they should still be mindful of the impact.

So Wang Ruolan simply asked Zhang to mentor Xu Zhaozhao, ostensibly to teach her, and Xu Zhaozhao couldn't object.

Today, Xu Zhaozhao is to receive a relative of the Xu family who is within five degrees of kinship.

Xu Chuan's grandfather and Xu Zhaozhao's grandfather were brothers, which means that Xu Chuan's father and Xu Han were cousins.

Therefore, if we consider seniority, Xu Chuan's relationship with the Marquis's family is quite close.

However, Xu Chuan's father died early, and his mother was frail and sickly for many years. Xu Chuan also had an older brother who died of illness.

Therefore, when it came to Xu Chuan, the burden naturally became much heavier.

Xu Chuan got married early and is now a father. By age, he is older than Xu Junting.

However, their branch of the family had shown signs of decline since Xu Chuan's father's time, and now they were so poor that they needed help from relatives to make ends meet.

Xu Chuan rarely visited the Marquis's residence, mainly because he was afraid people would think he was there to ask for money.

Life goes on, but a man's pride is something he can't easily let go of.

Today, Xu Chuan brought his wife and children to deliver New Year's gifts, and also mentioned that he would kowtow to the old lady as a way of wishing her an early New Year.

The old lady hadn't been feeling well lately, so Xu Chuan simply kowtowed to her in the courtyard with his wife and children before being invited to the front hall to talk.

Xu Chuan was a junior, so Wang Ruolan didn't need to personally entertain him. After Zhang Shi and Xu Zhaozhao had tea and snacks prepared, they only kept a few trusted maids and dismissed the rest, so as not to make Xu Chuan and his family feel uncomfortable.

“Brother, your timing is unfortunate. Father has been summoned to the palace by the Emperor for a meeting, and the other young masters are also busy with their duties and not at home. It is not that we are being negligent.”

Xu Chuan was dressed in a clean blue robe, and there were obvious frostbite marks on his ears. He was actually a little reserved in front of the women.

"You flatter me, Madam. It was my own fault for coming here without properly inquiring. I hope I didn't ruin any important matters at your residence."

Madam Zhang frowned slightly: "Brother, you're wrong. We're all real relatives, and it's proper for us to visit each other often. Why should we ask before visiting our own relatives? I know you're a wise man, but I'm just a woman and can't explain all that. It's more appropriate for my sister-in-law and nephew to visit more often."

Xu Chuan's wife came from a humble background, and this was only her second visit to the Marquis's residence since her marriage, as well as the first time she had met this young and beautiful heir's wife.

Xu Zhaozhao remembered this cousin, but she really didn't recognize this sister-in-law.

“My sister-in-law is right. Brother, you should go and do your own thing, but your sister-in-law and nephew should visit more often. Otherwise, the relatives will become estranged. Speaking of myself, if it weren’t for my brother here, I wouldn’t even know that this is my cousin’s wife.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Chuan's eyes flickered slightly: "It's my fault. It's just that she has to take care of the child and her mother, so she rarely has free time."

Xu Zhaozhao waved to the side: "Dingxiang, I remember there's still a bottle of Qi-replenishing pills left. Go get them and have your brother take them to your aunt."

"Yes, ma'am."

Xu Chuan's expression changed slightly: "How can this be allowed?"

Xu Zhaozhao looked at him with clear eyes: "Why can't I do this? I'm a junior, and it's almost New Year's. I'll just take this Qi-boosting pill to show my respect to my aunt. Besides, you've come all this way, which saves me from having to make another trip. Come to think of it, I'm just being lazy."

Madam Zhang laughed and said, "That's right. This girl is afraid of the cold. In winter, she hardly goes out. She wishes she could stay indoors all day by the fire. You should be understanding and not let her go out and get cold."

After some lighthearted banter, Xu Chuan and his wife felt less uneasy.

Xu Chuan's mother, to put it bluntly, suffered from years of overwork. She didn't seem to have any serious illnesses, just a constant stream of minor ailments.

I coughed for a while today, and after a few days of recovery, I might experience back and leg pain again. These are all old ailments. This Qi-boosting pill is actually a nourishing supplement, and using it appropriately will certainly be beneficial.

After Xu Zhaozhao handed the Qi-boosting pill to her cousin-in-law, she then coaxed her cousin-in-law to eat some pastries.

When they left, Zhang specially arranged for a carriage to take them back.

In the freezing cold, a horse-drawn carriage would always be warmer.

Xu Chuan and his family of three only discovered two more boxes inside the carriage after boarding it.

Upon arrival, the servant carried the two boxes down as well.

"This box contains some toys and shoes that our young master received from relatives. However, our young master is still too young, and some of the colors are not to our young mistress's liking, so we specially packed them out for this young man. Please don't find them offensive, sir."

Xu Chuan practically bowed to them, saying, "Not at all!"

"This box contains a token of our young lady's goodwill. She said she was impolite for not being able to come and pay her respects to her elders for the New Year. Please forgive her, Madam."

"Don't dare!"

After the people from the Marquis's residence left, Xu Chuan and his wife opened the box and looked inside, and were naturally quite moved.

Many members of the Xu clan remained in the capital, and their lives were far better than those of the Xu Chuan family.

But even his own uncle's family didn't treat them with the same care as the Marquis's family.

Xu Chuan understood that whether people said it was an old item or that the young mistress didn't like it, it was just an excuse to prevent them from accepting it.

Since Xu Zhaozhao's gift was explicitly stated as a tribute to her elders, Xu Chuan couldn't very well return it; that would be inappropriate.

Actually, the contents of the box weren't very valuable. There were a few rabbit fur hand warmers, two cotton cloaks, and at the bottom were six strings of coins. There was also a string of coins that looked small, but when Xu Chuan's wife picked it up and counted them, there were exactly sixty-six coins.

Xu Chuan smiled wryly: "Zhao Zhao put thought into this; she chose the auspicious meaning of 'sixes bring good fortune.'"

Xu Chuan's wife wiped her eyes with her sleeve: "Husband, let's pack all these things away."

"Well, put it away."

Xu Chuan was neither good at studying nor at martial arts, so now he could only work as an accountant in the Xu family's shop.

Because he was young and hadn't been doing this job for very long, his wages weren't very high.

In fact, even this job was thanks to the Marquis's mansion. Last year, his mother fell seriously ill again, and he had no choice but to beg the Marquis's mansion for some money. He didn't want to take it for nothing, so he came up with the idea of ​​finding a job.

What Xu Chuan didn't know was that after just this one meeting, Xu Zhaozhao had already set her sights on him.