Chapter 8

A year later, Lan Jiu, who was engaged to Ning Zheng, was warmly welcomed at Ning Zheng's house. The ceremony was held with the bride's grandfather and parents as witnesses, as well as the villagers who came to enjoy the wedding. They knew that Ning Xuanyuan's family was never stingy with food, so they brought a small amount of money as a gift for the bride and groom according to tradition. Even though Ning Xuanyuan had already said that he would not accept gifts or money, he was disappointed when the villagers said that it was a tradition that they had passed down. Ning Xuanyuan then let the servants accept it for his grandson later. Lan Jiu, who initially did not want to get married, became greedy when she saw how big the house was, so she put on a good front for everyone to see. She thought that she would definitely be able to sit comfortably as a wife in this house, but she did not know that soon her grandfather, her husband's only relative, would pass away. Ning Zheng himself was also very happy. His wife was not as ugly as he had thought. She seemed to be a gentle and considerate person. Ning Zheng really fell for her.

Ning Xuanyuan saw that the two of them got along well and was relieved. At least if anything happened to him, he could rest assured that the two of them would still have a good relationship. He didn't know if he would even be able to see his great-grandson or not. Because he had forced himself a lot in the past few years. Now, he knew that his body might not have much time left.

Fortunately, Ning Xuanyuan was still able to heal himself. He started to hope to raise his great-grandson who was about to be born in a few months. It could be said that his grandson really did a good job as a husband. Ning Zheng also knew that his grandfather wanted to see his great-grandson, so he often encouraged his grandfather to stay and help him take care of the child.

As for Lan Jiu who was pregnant, she didn't dare to do anything while Ning Xuanyuan was still around. She knew that her husband was really infatuated with her. She just waited until her husband's grandfather passed away. She would take care of the business in this house herself, telling her husband that he was tired of growing herbs. She also wanted to help him with the work in the house.

Ning Zheng looked at his pregnant wife and saw that there wasn't much work to do in the house. He alone could take care of her, so he didn’t say anything to her. He still remembered his grandfather’s warning not to trust anyone too much, even if that person was his wife.

Lan Jiu saw that her husband didn’t say anything, so she didn’t dare to urge him any further. She knew that even though her husband was infatuated with her, he was also very smart. He probably didn’t think she was trustworthy. Lan Jiu could only wait for the day she would become the owner of this big house.

After Lan Jiu gave birth, Ning Xuanyuan felt more encouraged. Now that he had a great-grandson to raise, he had something to motivate him to live a little longer. When Lan Jiu gave birth to his second child, Ning Xuanyuan was even happier to have such great-grandsons.

Lan Jiu saw that her grandfather-in-law seemed to like children, so she endured giving birth to the children in the hope of getting some of the family’s wealth. She had heard that when her brother married a daughter-in-law from the Protection Bureau, there were ten boxes of dowry, but at her wedding, there wasn’t even a single box. The matchmaker only gave him a few taels of silver and a few folds of cloth. She was jealous of her sister-in-law whom she had never seen before. She wondered why her husband did not give her the same as his sister-in-law. She could not tell if all of his assets had been lost because of this. Even though she was living well and having servants, she was still not satisfied. Until one day, she asked her husband about this. Her husband asked her how she knew and why she asked him. It was his brother’s assets. He only had the money he saved from selling herbs. If she wanted anything, she just told him. He would have a servant buy it for her. But he would handle the matters in this household. From that day on, when Ning Zheng’s wife asked him about his assets, he knew that his wife was not as good as his elder brother’s wife. She was really greedy for his assets. Fortunately, his grandfather had warned him beforehand. So, he did not tell her anything. Ning Zheng’s aloofness made Lan Jiu notice. She could only feel sorry that she had asked him and made him distance himself from her. Until she was pregnant with her third child, Ning Zheng took good care of her as usual. But he still kept a distance between her and him. Lan Jiu thought this child was useless. Even when she was pregnant, her husband did not pay much attention to her. Ning Xuan Yuan was busy raising his two grandsons. So he did not care about his daughter-in-law and grandson. Lan Jiu was getting more and more upset all day because her son did not help her have a better relationship with her husband. She did not even want to give birth to this child. To her surprise, Lan Jiu, who was walking around the house to check the situation, tripped and fell from her large belly and gave birth prematurely. That day, she almost died with her son. If her husband had not brought a doctor in time, this made Lan Jiu even angrier and hated the child in her womb even more. Ning Zheng did not know that his wife would have such thoughts. He hurriedly followed the doctor until she safely gave birth to another son. He thought that the Ning family would have many successors by now, so he put the idea of having children with his wife on hold. He was afraid that if he made a mistake, she would get pregnant again. The income he earned from selling herbs was definitely not enough to support everyone. Ning Zheng's changed behavior displeased Lan Jiu. She kept scolding her ignorant third son as a bad omen, causing her and her husband to drift apart even further. When Ning Xuan Yuan heard this, he taught his daughter-in-law to love her own son instead of just being selfish. He compared her to other families' daughters-in-law, causing her to lose face in front of all the servants.