Tianliangyuan

Chapter 209 Annual Gift

In the twelfth lunar month, people from different prefectures would exchange New Year's gifts, and the amount of the gifts would vary depending on the relationship between them.

Xu Zhaozhao didn't care about these things, but Wang Ruolan considered that she would be getting married next year, so she wanted to involve her as well, so she took her by her side and taught her personally.

"If they are relatives, then of course we should differentiate between close and distant relatives. But when it comes to the New Year's gifts we prepare for your uncles, we shouldn't differentiate between close and distant relatives. No matter which uncle it is, we should treat them all the same. Logically speaking, whatever we prepare for your uncles, we should also prepare the same amount for your aunt."

"But you know your aunt, she's stingy and always stirring up trouble. Your second aunt and I don't like her, but there's nothing we can do; she's your aunt, after all. We can't treat her poorly with New Year's gifts, but we also can't treat her the same as your uncles."

This explanation actually helped Xu Zhaozhao understand some social etiquette.

We should act according to etiquette, but we cannot ignore the facts.

"In addition, the New Year's gifts prepared for your two sisters-in-law's families should also be of the same quality. Our family cannot show favoritism in this regard. This matter was originally arranged by your eldest sister-in-law. After I looked at it, I felt that it was a bit too light, so I added two fox furs and some medicinal herbs to each of them."

After looking at the list, Xu Zhaozhao went to look at the corresponding items.

As the matriarch, she naturally cannot be careless about such matters and must see them with her own eyes to be at ease. This is not only to avoid being misled by her subordinates, but also to demonstrate how much she values ​​this matter.

Doesn't this look a bit messy?

Xu Zhaozhao nodded, and seeing that it didn't specify which family it was for, she looked completely bewildered.

“This is to be sent to your grandmother’s family home. According to seniority, you should call her great-aunt.”

Xu Zhaozhao's eyes widened as if she had heard something incredible.

Great-aunt?

Does she have such a relative?

How come she doesn't know?

When Wang Ruolan saw her reaction, she knew that this child really had a bad memory.

“Your great-aunt also lived in the capital for a few years, but then something happened in her family, so she returned to her hometown with her husband’s family.”

Xu Zhaozhao nodded, but actually had no recollection of it at all.

After all, a prominent family like the Xu family receives far too many relatives every year.

Those who came to Xu Zhaozhao's side had all been screened several times.

To put it bluntly, relatives beyond five degrees of kinship like Liu Qi's wife, Xu, were generally not allowed to enter the inner quarters of the Marquis's residence.

The fact that the Marquis's residence was willing to invite us into the front hall for tea is already a great honor.

Most of the time, these relatives would not see Xu Han and Wang Ruolan; at most, they would be received by the housekeeper.

There are also some relatives who, although not beyond the fifth degree of kinship, are not really related. Several families come together to give New Year's gifts and pay New Year's greetings. At most, Xu Jun'an or Zhang Shi will come out to receive them briefly, and they will return a gift, and that's it.

Among the Xu clan, only some elders or very close cousins ​​had the opportunity to meet Xu Han and Wang Ruolan.

After all, people of their status have a lot of important guests to entertain. If they had to do everything themselves, they would never have a moment's rest.

My great-aunt is actually my maternal grandmother's side of the family, and she also has many other relatives and elders.

Wang Ruolan had already prepared New Year's gifts for everyone. Although they weren't particularly expensive, they were impeccable.

There are also rules and customs regarding exchanging gifts among relatives.

If you put your heart into it, then the New Year's gifts you give or the gifts you give back will be exactly what the other family needs, which is considered to have touched their heart.

If you don't take it seriously and just give a perfunctory gift, it's just following the crowd and any gift will do. This way, no one can find fault with it, but people can tell at a glance whether you are close to someone or not.

There's a lot more to it than meets the eye!

Xu Zhaozhao was forced to start sorting out these family relationships, some of which involved several twists and turns, all in an attempt to force her way into the Marquis's household. Xu Zhaozhao was speechless.

"That's just how the world is. When you're rich, even distant relatives come to visit; when you're poor, no one cares even in the bustling city. Although these are all poor relatives who came from afar, our Marquis's family is large and powerful, so we should try to build good relationships with them. For relatives like these, nothing is better than giving them some money in return."

But we have to be careful. If we were to send over several strings of copper coins, they might think we're throwing money at them. So your sister-in-law prepared only the necessities of an ordinary household, such as rice, cloth, and some ordinary paper.”

Xu Zhaozhao nodded, indicating that she had learned something.

Some of my poor relatives are indeed struggling to make ends meet, eating only two meals a day, and I'm afraid they won't be able to survive for a year.

Therefore, Zhang specially prepared some fine rice and flour for them, which was very necessary in an emergency.

As for the cloth, the cloth prepared for these relatives is all ordinary cotton and linen, so that the other party can use it to make clothes without worrying that it is too expensive and they cannot afford it, or that they feel indebted to the Marquis's mansion and will be embarrassed to continue their relationship in the future.

There's definitely a lot to learn about this.

"I'm showing you around these things because I'm thinking that you'll eventually marry into the Xie family, and sooner or later this will happen. Even if you don't manage the household affairs of the Xie family, you'll still need to maintain some social connections."

"My daughter knows."

The Sun family's New Year's gifts arrived first, and Xu Lin herself came over.

Wang Ruolan, along with her two daughters-in-law and daughter, entertained her.

"Besides bringing New Year's gifts, I have another favor to ask of my niece."

Xu Zhaozhao raised an eyebrow. This time, she was going straight to the point, not planning on beating around the bush.

“My cousin-in-law, Jiang, is gone. Her niece had previously joined the Duke of Su's mansion, and recently she came to me for help, saying that she couldn't make ends meet. The Jiang family originally relied on the Duke's mansion, but ever since Baiguoyuan started producing various wines, the Jiang family's winemaking business has become difficult.”

Because of this, Jiang Wanwan's life in the mansion was difficult. The Jiang family came to me for help; they're all relatives, and I couldn't just stand by and watch the child suffer.

Xu Zhaozhao sneered inwardly, "If you want to interfere, then go ahead and interfere!"

You don't have the ability yourself, so you think you can use your relatives as a powerful figurehead and get the Marquis's mansion to take the lead? How can you be so clever?

“Aunt, we can’t get involved in the affairs of the Duke of Su’s mansion. The case of Young Master Liu having his leg broken and one eye destroyed is still not closed. We should naturally stay away at this time. Why are you getting involved?”

Wang Ruolan smiled and said, "Yes, Zhaozhao is right. As for Jiang Wanwan, since she is already Liu's concubine, there is no way to change that. What's the use of begging you? If the Jiang family cares about their daughter, let them go and beg the Duke. They can just spend some money to get Jiang Wanwan free."