Time Travel: Remarrying a Little Wolf Dog

Seeing that it was getting late, Grandpa He ordered He An to drive the family's ox cart to take Su's mother and Su Erlang back home.

Su's mother refused for a while, but Grandpa He made the final decision, "It's only right for you to go to your mother-in-law and brother-in-law. It's getting late, and we will be worried if you go back and walk at night."

Grandmother He also advised, "That's right, my dear, just rest assured and let Ah An take you back. The ox cart is fast and it saves you the trouble of walking."

Seeing that the man was insistent, Su's mother finally compromised and went back to tell Su Yan, "Your grandparents are really great people. You must get along well with them and visit them more often. I think if you can learn half of your grandmother's skills, I won't have to worry about you anymore."

Su Yan nodded to show that she understood.

He An waited until the mother and daughter said goodbye before he drove the ox cart out of the city.

When we came back, it was almost dark. Fortunately, it was summer, with long days and short nights.

It was getting dark late, otherwise we might not be able to get back before the city gates closed.

Nothing happened that night. The next day, after dinner, Su Yan went to organize the things that Su's mother brought yesterday.

The walnuts were very big. Su Yan used the leg of a stool to crack one open and tasted it. It tasted very good, and even had a sweet taste, with the unique fruity wood aroma of nuts.

It can be seen that the mushrooms were carefully dried. Each one is very clean and not shriveled. I guess they have been screened at home.

The remaining hawthorns and mushrooms were of good quality, and there were more than ten rabbit skins, which were also well nitrated.

Su Yan thought about it, went to get her own scale to weigh some walnuts and hawthorns, and wrote down the numbers.

Then I selected two smoother and better-looking rabbit fur skins and put them aside, and sorted the rest and placed them on the wooden table.

She took the things she had picked out and prepared to visit Grandpa and Grandma He. Before leaving, she told He An, "If anyone comes, remember to introduce these things to them. These are all authentic mountain products. Most people want to buy them but can't find them anywhere. I just took out some walnuts and hawthorns, and also picked out two furs. Put them in the account, and then it will be considered as our purchase."

"These good things are not common. I'll give some to my grandparents to try."

He An smiled at Su Yan as if he had married a treasure, nodded repeatedly in agreement, and told her to go without worry.

Su Yan saw him staring at her blankly and smiling with a happy expression on his face, "Why are you grinning like an idiot?"

He An said bluntly: "I laugh because I have good taste and I married a good wife."

Su Yan rolled her eyes at him and said, "Alright, alright, stop trying to fool me. Just watch over here. I'm leaving now."

When they arrived at the old house, the doorman saw that it was her and led her in directly.

Grandmother He lived in the main house in the east courtyard. Su Yan had been there several times and knew the way there.

A small pond was dug in the yard, water was brought in, and a small rockery was built with large stones.

This is the season when flowers bloom. There are mountains, water, flowers and grass, which add some vitality to the yard.

Grandmother He was sitting in the house counting the accounts. The summer harvest had passed, and the rent from the tenants had just been collected yesterday. Add to that all the big and small expenses of the family during the summer, and Grandmother He was having a headache.

When he heard the servant report that the Fourth Young Madam had arrived, he quickly asked someone to come in.

Su Yan came in and bowed to Grandmother He and said hello. Grandmother He told her not to be polite and to sit next to her.

The maidservant moved the drum stool and placed it next to Grandmother He, and Su Yan walked over and sat down.

Grandmother He took Su Yan's hand and asked affectionately, "Have you eaten yet?"

Su Yan replied: "I have eaten."

He explained the reason for his trip, "My mother brought some mountain products from my uncle's family yesterday. I took a look today. They are good things and rare. I brought some for Grandpa and you to try. There are also two rabbit fur skins. I think they are in good condition. I want to give them to Cuilan who is by your side to make you a pair of rabbit fur gloves. They are perfect for winter."

Seeing that her granddaughter-in-law was thinking about being filial to her, Grandmother He smiled even more sincerely. At this time, she teased her granddaughter affectionately as if she were talking to her own granddaughter, "You are a smart girl. I'm afraid you have already set your eyes on Cuilan's craftsmanship. What do you call this? You are offering gifts to Buddha through borrowing flowers!" She laughed out loud.

Su Yan knew that Grandmother He was joking, so she also joked with herself: "Grandmother, you misunderstood me. If I had half of Cuilan's skills, no, one-third of her skills, I would never let Cuilan steal my limelight. But wasn't this the handkerchief Cuilan embroidered for you last time? With someone like her by your side, how dare I show off my skills in front of an expert?"

"Just give it to Cuilan and let her do it."

Grandmother He smiled and nodded her head from a distance: "You, you, are very sharp-tongued." Although she said that, her expression did not show that she minded at all.

Cuilan also joined in the fun: "It is an honor for me that the Fourth Young Madam appreciates my craftsmanship. I must have put in a lot of effort to make it so that it will be the only one for our old lady when she takes it out in the winter."

Grandmother He said, "I am so old now, why would I compare myself with others?"

Cuilan said: "It's not a competition of craftsmanship, it's a competition of filial piety! When you lead the way like this, every old lady out there will envy your granddaughter-in-law for being so filial and thinking of you all the time!"

At her age, she doesn’t compare food and drink, or even whether her children and grandchildren are successful. She only compares one thing - how filial they are to her.

Imagining the envious expressions of the older sisters when they saw her rabbit fur gloves, Grandma He couldn't stop smiling.

The few of them joked and laughed, making Grandmother He laugh heartily.

After the laughter, Cuilan personally took down the things Su Yan brought.

Only then did Su Yan notice the booklet on the table. She asked casually, "Grandma, what are you busy with?"

Grandmother He said, "I'll sort out the accounts after the rent is collected."

My happy mood was replaced by annoyance: "I am old and useless, and it is getting more and more difficult to manage the accounts every year."

Su Yan leaned forward to take a look. It was covered with densely packed words. She wanted to recognize them, but when she looked closely, she could not recognize many of them.

Only then did she remember that ancient characters were all in traditional Chinese, which she could not recognize.

She was semi-illiterate in ancient times.

The reason why I say half is because some traditional Chinese characters can be distinguished by guessing, but others with great changes between simplified and traditional Chinese cannot be distinguished.

She felt a little ashamed that she had been in ancient times for so long but had never thought of taking the initiative to learn literacy.

Fortunately I remembered it today, otherwise I don’t know when I would remember it.

Studying in ancient times was an expensive task, but if she only wanted to learn to read and write, it shouldn't be that difficult.

The teacher is both far away and close at hand, so how can he learn to read?

But let's not talk about it for now. Grandmother He is so worried. Although she is illiterate, she has no problem with arithmetic and can help Grandmother He with the math.

She thought so and told Grandmother He. Grandmother He was a little surprised and wanted to ask her granddaughter-in-law if she had learned it before.

But when he thought about his granddaughter-in-law's family, asking this would sound like saying that she came from a poor family, so he just agreed with a smile.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s good or not. She is already very pleased that her granddaughter-in-law has this intention.

You can also take this opportunity to teach your granddaughter-in-law how to manage the household. No one in her family knows how to do it, so her husband's family will be responsible for teaching her.

The young couple's life will be better from now on.

Thinking of this, she said nothing more, picked up the account book and handed it to Su Yan carefully: "······In our county, tenants generally pay 40% of the rent, and they take 60%. The taxes of the government office are also paid by the owner, who takes out 10%. Therefore, the real income we get every year is 30%. Our family's land is all good land, some of which was passed down from our ancestors, and some was purchased by your grandfather when he was young. We have also bought some land here and there over the years, but not much. In a good year, one acre of land can yield 300 to 400 kilograms, and in a bad year, it may only be 100 to 200 kilograms."

"We collect the rent in the three days of summer harvest in June. After a few days of counting, we will send people to take the tax grain to the government office. Because your seventh uncle is in our clan, the people in the government office are quite polite to us, and we take less tributes."

"Of course, we can't always collect all the rent. When something bad happens to a tenant's family," Grandmother He pointed to a few words in the account book that looked like a name, "This is Li Laoshuan's family. This year, his son went up the mountain to chop firewood and accidentally fell down. He has to rely on the summer harvest to save his life."