Chapter 249: Chapter 249: Dominate the House Alone
249 Domination of One Family
Unfortunately, they didn’t know that with this act of discarding, they had lost several hundred to thousands of taels of silver.
It was only after the Sun Family’s flower shop gained fame that Zhou Hai heard about it while strolling in the county town. At that time, the Zhou Clan truly regretted their decision.
First, they regretted discarding the flowers, losing a fortune. Secondly, they had missed out on such a good marriage opportunity.
However, regret was useless; Zhou Meiniang had already married by then.
Compared to the Zhou Clan’s regret, the Sun Family was extremely fortunate.
After the Zhou Clan’s young lady’s engagement with the Sun Family was called off, she married the third son of the Li family in Xiaoyi Village.
Later, because Zhou Hai was a compulsive gambler who refused to change, he would constantly incur debts and then seek out his sister, Zhou Meiniang, for money.
As for Zhou Meiniang, she had truly become an extreme enabler of her brother, often using her husband’s family’s money to subsidize her good-for-nothing sibling.
Because of this, both families were thrown into chaos. When her husband’s family forbade her from using their household money to subsidize her natal family, she began to take it secretly.
As a result, her Li family in-laws wanted their son to divorce her. However, she was adept at pleasing her husband, who remained devoted to her. Her parents-in-law were nearly angered to death.
The final outcome was predictable.
When Zhao Guifen heard Sun Mei speak of this, she was incredibly relieved. Fortunately, her fifth son had suddenly come to his senses; otherwise, no matter how much money their family earned, it wouldn’t have been enough to fill the bottomless pit of the Zhou Clan. Of course, all this was a matter for later.
「 」
By the time Zhao Dong had someone inquire and received the news, the marriage arrangements between the Sun Family and the Zhou Clan had already been called off.
Seeing that the engagement was off, Sun Mei didn’t make a point of discussing it further, only mentioning it briefly when she visited Zhao Guifen at her natal home.
In essence, the Zhou Clan, because of their gambling-addicted younger son, had ruined several of Zhou Meiniang’s marriage prospects. The reason was always their attempt to get money from the prospective groom’s family to pay off Zhou Hai’s debts before any marriage took place.
The Zhou Clan also had a bad reputation in the village because they borrowed money from everyone. The villagers had been approached so often that they were wary; people would usually take a detour to avoid passing the Zhou Clan’s front door.
While Zhao Guifen was relieved not to be affianced with such a family, Zhao Zhitong was more interested in the significant change in her Younger Uncle’s attitude towards Zhou Meiniang.
So, under her relentless questioning, Sun Youcai finally relented. Pinching Zhao Zhitong’s small cheek, he said irritably, "You’re so young, why are you always prying into adult matters? What other reason could there be? I just suddenly stopped liking her, that’s all."
Zhao Zhitong shamelessly retorted, "Younger Uncle, you aren’t married, so you’re not an adult either."
Then she pressed on, "But didn’t Younger Uncle like her a lot before? You even said she was very pretty."
Sun Youcai looked helpless. "So what if she’s beautiful? She shouldn’t have targeted you with ill intentions."
Zhao Zhitong was instantly overjoyed. Shaking Sun Youcai’s arm, she exclaimed happily, "Wow, so I’m that important in Younger Uncle’s heart!"
Sun Youcai couldn’t help but chuckle. He said with playful exaggeration, "Of course! You’re my Little Lucky Star, my treasure. To become Sun Youcai’s wife, she first has to pass the test of my Little Lucky Star."
Then he asked, "So, is Younger Uncle important in your heart?"
Zhao Zhitong nodded. "Of course! Younger Uncle is very important to me too."
Sun Youcai, setting himself up for disappointment, asked again, "Am I the most important?"
"Of course~" Zhao Zhitong affirmed, nodding her small head.
Just as Sun Youcai was about to feel pleased, he saw the young girl start counting on her fingers, one by one.
"Just as important as Grandmother, Grandfather, Eldest Uncle, Eldest Aunt... all of them."
Zhao Zhitong went through everyone in the family, even mentioning their dog, Da Bao, and the piglets in the pigsty.
Sun Youcai: "..." He really had asked for that.
...
After that, Younger Uncle’s marriage prospects remained in limbo. Even after three years, there was no resolution, which greatly worried the family.
However, Younger Uncle, the one directly concerned, showed no anxiety at all. He rejected all matchmaking attempts, dedicating himself entirely to his flower fields.
Over three years, Younger Uncle’s passion for growing flowers never waned. He continuously studied and researched the book on flower and plant cultivation that Zhao Zhitong had given him.
He had already become highly skilled in grafting techniques. Furthermore, with Zhao Zhitong’s encouragement, he began researching and cultivating other types of flowers.
Now, the Sun Family’s flower fields boasted not only peonies but also chrysanthemums and roses.
Early last year, he also opened a flower shop in the county town. Every year during the peony blooming season, his shop featured rare and precious three-colored peonies.
Consequently, when the peonies were in full bloom, many enthusiasts came to admire and purchase them.
As a result, business at the shop was booming.
He poured all his energy into the flower shop and his fields, giving no thought to marriage.
While Younger Uncle’s career was thriving, Eldest Uncle was facing difficulties.
This was because, three years prior, Miaochun Hall had been shut down after issues arose with the medicine they supplied to the border forts.
In the county town, the largest remaining apothecary was Xiangfu Medicine Hall, belonging to the Niu Clan, the family of Mrs. Wang’s younger daughter’s husband.
Niu Baishun was purely a businessman, lacking a physician’s benevolent heart; his apothecary had always engaged in unscrupulous practices.
Previously, with Miaochun Hall competing with him, prices were somewhat reasonable. However, ever since Miaochun Hall closed, Niu Baishun’s greed had grown immensely.
He first waged price wars, driving all the smaller apothecaries in the county town out of business. After that, his establishment became the sole dominant force.
Not only did he sell medicinal herbs at exorbitant prices, but he also ruthlessly suppressed the prices paid to herb gatherers. The gatherers, who already had a difficult livelihood, found their situation even more challenging.
Even more pitiable were the common folk who fell ill; they simply couldn’t afford medicine.
Eldest Uncle was in a predicament because of this. If he sold medicinal herbs at the low prices Niu Baishun offered, he would make no profit at all. However, he had prior agreements with the villagers in the mountains; if he stopped buying their herbs, several villages would suffer greatly.
Just as Zhao Zhitong was listening to Eldest Uncle describe Niu Baishun as an unscrupulous merchant, someone arrived seeking medical attention.
The visitor was a woman. Upon entering, she knelt, startling the Sun Family members.
Sun Youwei quickly urged her to rise, and Eldest Aunt also hurried to help her up, saying, "Mrs. Zhang, if you’re facing difficulties, please stand and tell us properly."
The woman, however, refused to get up. She cried, "Please, I beg you, save my husband! Save my husband!"
Zhao Zhitong frowned. She recognized this person. It was Kang Clan, the wife of Zhang Jinbao from Zhang Clan Village.
Four days ago, she and her grandfather had gone to their home to treat her husband, Zhang Jinbao. In fact, she had been the one to take his pulse then.
Indeed, Zhao Zhitong had already begun to diagnose patients.
The fact that Sun Kang had allowed Zhao Zhitong to take charge of the diagnosis indicated that Zhang Jinbao’s illness wasn’t severe.
He had a slight accumulation of heat in the Triple Burner, meaning there were some minor issues with his internal organs. Zhao Zhitong had written him a prescription and instructed him to take the medicine on time and recuperate properly.
So why had Kang Clan come rushing here now, crying for help?
Puzzled, Zhao Zhitong went to ask her.
From Kang Clan’s account, Zhao Zhitong finally understood. It turned out that when Kang Clan had taken the prescription to the county town to get medicine for Zhang Jinbao, Xiangfu Medicine Hall, for some unknown reason, had suddenly made things difficult for her. They had also raised the price of the medicine so high that Kang Clan simply couldn’t afford it.