Chapter 14: Mom Su
Although there was a verbal agreement to give those silvers a month of freedom, Su Luo had already made preparations to recruit them and planned to bring my mother back first. After all, I am now a rich man in name only, so there is no reason for me to be someone else's nanny.
So Su Luo appealed to Zhou Chongwen's emotions and reason, and finally persuaded him to give her another 20 copper coins as round-trip fare to go to Zhuxian Town to pick up her mother. They took a horse-drawn carriage, and Zhou Chongwen was afraid of accidents, so he insisted on sitting with her and paying for the fare himself.
Su Luo really needed his company, because Zhou Chongwen often came to the town to set up a stall and had delivered things to Aunt Su on behalf of Su Luo several times, so he was very familiar with the place.
Su Luo was nervous all the way. After all, the person she would face was not Su Yi, who believed in everything, nor her gentleman neighbor Zhou Chongwen. Instead, she would face her mother who was related to her by blood.
What if she was exposed? Could she still make up stories to a mother and get away with it? If not, how could she comfort a mother who had lost her daughter?
Just as she was thinking about it, she felt someone was looking at her. She turned her head and met Zhou Chongwen's eyes.
Zhou Si's eyes were very bright, giving people a refreshing feeling whenever they were seen. At this moment, he was next to Su Luo, his body swaying slightly as the carriage moved forward, and he smiled at Su Luo, "As long as you talk less, you will look like Su Luo."
Su Luo felt a little embarrassed. This guy actually saw through what she was thinking. She turned her head away angrily and heard him say, "Don't insist or quibble. Be more submissive in front of Aunt Su..."
"I know!" Su Luo couldn't help but turned around and yelled, "You're so long-winded!"
Zhou Chongwen looked at her with a smile in his eyes. Su Luo pursed her lips and nodded randomly, "Okay, okay, I got it."
Having said that, Su Luo was even more nervous than before. From the moment she got off the carriage to the way to Li Fuhu's house, she kept clenching her fists to cheer herself up, and tried her best to tell herself to be gentle when facing her "mother". This was a big problem for her, because when she faced that person in another time and space, she never knew what gentleness meant.
Su Luo was waiting outside the back door of Li Fuhu's house, watching Zhou Chongwen go forward and knock on the door. The door opened, and a face appeared. The face looked no more than 40 years old, gentle and beautiful, with traces of the delicate beauty of a beautiful girl next door.
Aunt Su. Su Luo was a little surprised to hear Zhou Chongwen call her that. She had forgotten that most women in this era married early, and there were very few women like her who were still unmarried at the age of 20.
Is this her mother? Su Luo tried to find the shadow of that person in that face. After searching for a long time, she met Su's eyes and finally felt a sense of familiarity. That person often looked at her like this, with warmth, expectation, and comfort and care that she had never noticed.
"Did anything happen at home?"
She heard Su ask her this.
Su Luo quickly shook her head, "No, I..." She hesitated for a long time, not knowing what to say. She secretly glanced at Zhou Chongwen, received the encouragement in his eyes, and carefully called out "Mom".
Fortunately it was “Niang”. If she had called her “Ma”, Su Luo would definitely not have been able to say it. She rarely called her mother this word after she grew up.
Su smiled gently, holding Su Luo's hand and looking at it over and over again. Her eyes became red as she looked at it. Su Luo knew that her hands bore the most glorious marks of labor, so she quickly pulled her hand away and said with a smile, "Don't feel bad. If you give me another thousand taels, I would rather have so many blisters again."
After a bunch of words, Su looked at her with a puzzled look. Su Luo became nervous again, but she saw Su smiled at Zhou Chongwen, "Mr. Zhou's Mandarin is really good. I can't hear Xiao Luo's accent at all."
Su Luo breathed a sigh of relief, stood behind Su and winked at Zhou Chongwen to show that he had passed the test.
Zhou Chongwen's mouth curled up slightly, but he quickly held it back. Su then turned around and asked Su Luo, "What do you mean by one thousand taels?"
Su Luo omitted the premise of burying the bowl, and only said that she wanted to reclaim the wasteland, and ended up digging up treasure. After she finished speaking, she saw Zhou Chongwen's expression was strange, and he obviously didn't believe her words of going up the mountain to reclaim the land. She glared at him, and then told Su about the gentleman's agreement with Zhou Chongwen, hoping that the old lady would stand on her side and face the outside world together.
Unexpectedly, Su said: "Mr. Zhou is right, you should abide by this agreement."
Su Luo was depressed. In fact, she understood that the agreement between Zhou Chongwen and her had nothing to do with the length of time. It was just a formal determination to show that he was not really greedy for money. Fortunately, this happened in the Ming Dynasty. If it was four hundred years later, he would have been regarded as an advanced model. Everyone would give you flowers and applause on the surface, but turn around and say that this guy is actually a fool.
Although Su Luo failed in her search for an ally, she had no complaints. She just asked Su Shi to go home with her, spend a month of silence together, and then share a petty bourgeoisie life.
However, Su unexpectedly refused, the reason for her refusal was that she had signed a ten-year contract with the wealthy Li family and it was only the third year.
This contract is different from a buyout. Usually, the contract only involves some heavy work, and the easy tasks of serving the master are not given to them. The salary is low, and there is no care for retirement. It makes sense that if the buyer wants to buy out, he should buy out those in their teens, who have high utilization value. There is no reason to buy those in their thirties.
Su Luo said that you have worked here for ten years but only earned twelve taels of silver. Can't we just give up the money? If we return the salary of the past three years to them, they will definitely agree.
Su still disagreed, and said that if the unexpected money was found by someone, our family would be left with no money again, and we would also lose our jobs, leaving us with nothing.
"Then, before the owner comes looking for us, we can make money with the money!" Su Luo said confidently, "With the capital, are you still worried about not having income?"
Su still didn't agree and kept shaking her head. Su Luo had no other choice but to look at Zhou Chongwen for help. Unexpectedly, he turned to Su's side and advised her to respect other people's decisions.
At this time, Su pulled Su Luo aside and said, "I am fine here, but I am worried about you and Xiao Yi. Fortunately, Mr. Zhou is taking care of you. I am relieved."
Not sure if it was an illusion, but Su Luo always felt that her mother was not overly happy about the one thousand taels that came flying in. Of course, she was happy, because she then said to Su Luo: "If the silver is really ownerless, don't spend it carelessly. Keep some for Xiao Yi to get married in the future, and the rest for your dowry." After that, she sighed, "Mother knows that you don't want to be someone's concubine. With this dowry, it should be no problem for you to be the main wife. In fact, if Mr. Zhou didn't have Miss Xie in his heart, she would be a very good candidate."
Su Luo was sweating profusely. She was unable to persuade Su in the end. Seeing Su's gentle and determined back entering the back door of the rich man Li's house, she intuitively thought that her mother did not leave the Li family for other reasons, not just because the contract was not completed. What kind of power could make people ignore the power of money and be willing to work hard? She, a vulgar person, might never figure it out in her lifetime.
