The Shao Family's Old Master had three children. Shao Yunduan was not born as the eldest one.
His grandparents had already passed away, and Old Master Shao as well as his three brothers were already separated from the family.
Shao Yunduan's father was called Shao Dakun, and his mother was addressed as Ms. Fang.
His elder brother was called Shao Yunlian, the eldest son amongst all the siblings. Shao Yunlian's wife was called Ms. Xu and they had a boy and a girl together. Shao Yunlian's son, namely Shao Yunduan's nephew, was called Shao Junyan. He was six years old and his niece Shao Qing was only three years old.
Shao Yunduan had named both his nephew and niece, which pleased the children's parents completely. They believed that their children's names sounded better than those of other children in the village.
Also, if the children were named by a person who could read, then it would mean a good beginning, which might bring in more auspiciousness.
Shao Yunguang was the second brother, and he was yet to get married.
But the reason why Shao Yunduan, who ranked the fifth in the family, got married first was only because he saved Qiao Xuan who fell into the water, and that basically hastened the wedding to take place – to keep the girl's reputation clean.
Shao Yunhuai was the fourth brother, ranking the seventh in all the siblings. He had a twin sister called Shao Taotao, who was only 13 years old this year.
The Old Master's second child was called Shao Dalou, and his wife was addressed as Ms. Niu.
They had two sons and one girl together, namely Shao Yunshan, who ranked second among all the siblings, and Shao Yunqiao who ranked fourth.
Shao Yunshan married Ms. Zhang and they had one son and daughter together, namely Shao Juan and Shao Xianwen. Shao Yunqiao was not yet married and he was seeking a proper suitor at the moment.
Their daughter Shao Meiling was only 15 years old this year.
Shao Dashi, who was the Old Master's third child, married a woman called Ms. Ma.
Their eldest daughter, Shao Meizhi was already married whilst the younger daughter Shao Xiaozhi was just three months younger than Shao Taotao.
Their son Shao Yunjiang was 15 years old, ranking sixth among all the siblings. He was yet to get married and was studying in the county.
At this moment, Qiao Xuan only got to meet the eldest family, whilst the second and third families would arrive by evening for a family-reunion dinner, when they would all meet.
Qiao Xuan bore everyone present in mind. Luckily for her, not many people were there yet.
The Shao Family were very curious and nervous about this well-born daughter-in-law of theirs, and they looked quite ashamed too. Her in-laws looked as if they were trying hard to press down their anxiety.
Qiao Xuan greeted them politely and said with a smile, "Dad, Mom!"
That put the burden off their shoulders totally.
Good, good! This daughter-in-law had a nice temper!
Shao Yunduan, who knew what Qiao Xuan was like in the past, let out a sigh of relief as well. This woman was not going to make a fuss here, and was even behaving better than he had anticipated. Had she really thought everything through?
There were not so many complicated rules in farmers' families, so all was done after the daughter-in-law served the tea and met each of the family members.
Ms. Fang, her mother-in-law, passed on some auspicious and encouraging words, before everyone was dismissed and went down to their own business.
Qiao Xuan thought for a while and followed Ms. Fang directly.
In this era, it was very important to get a good impression from the mother-in-law.
As long as the mother-in-law stood by the daughter-in-law's side, she would have a firm status at home. Otherwise, there would be endless trouble and problems coming onto her unexpectedly.
The Shao Family were sizing her up on the sly when she served them tea. So did she!.
Moreover, she paid extra attention to her mother-in-law, who was the key.
As far as Qiao Xuan could tell, her mother-in-law was generally a nice woman, which made it much easier for her to carry out her own plan.
"Mom…" Qiao Xuan caught up with Ms. Fang, showing a nice smile and looking rather obedient. "Please, tell me what I should do, and teach me if I am not familiar with anything."
"Oh…" Ms. Fang smiled brightly and looked at Qiao Xuan with a friendly gaze. "It is okay. Just take good care of your husband, so that he can concentrate on studies. You don't have to worry about family affairs."
She was the daughter of the County Magistrate! It was absolutely normal for her to stay away from housework, which was taken care of by someone else in the family. It did not have to be her concern.
Ms. Fang was already very happy when she saw her behaving so obediently. She was not going to make her do any housework!
Qiao Xuan was very surprised, but started to chuckle inwardly. It was a smart decision of hers to have made such a move.
She insisted on showing how willing she was to learn to do housework, which pleased Ms. Fang, who became increasingly glad and turned even more determined to let her take a rest instead.
Qiao Xuan, who failed to persuade Ms. Fang, gave up eventually.