NOVPUB
Chapter 126: Chapter 120 Shen Family 205
Two people had been waiting at the entrance of the Shen Family’s home for a good part of the day, but no one from the Shen Family came out to invite them inside.
As each household began to emit the smoke of cooking fires, and the two were so hungry that their stomachs grumbled, Fang Chengjian was annoyed but still had to comfort Shen Yunxiu.
Shen Yunxiu looked at Fang Chengjian swaying on his feet and bit her lip before saying, "Let’s go. We’ll find a place to eat."
Fang Chengjian was truly hungry. Since he had been released from the commune that morning, he hadn’t stopped for anything on his way to Gaijiatun. Up until now, he had missed two meals and could truly say he was so hungry that his stomach was stuck to his back. However, at this crucial time, he couldn’t be the first to show weakness; otherwise, the Shen Family would look down on him even more.
Luckily, Shen Yunxiu was the one who brought up the issue. He went along with it, "Where should we go then?"
Shen Yunxiu’s eyes flickered. She had seen Shen Yunfang get off work and go past her house. At the time, she gave her a hard stare, refusing to be made a laughingstock. Going to her house to eat was giving her face, so she couldn’t say anything about being hung out to dry.
"Just follow me. My dad is the production team leader. There’s no way I can’t find a place to eat in Gaijiatun," Shen Yunxiu said haughtily.
As the two walked further and further away, Shen Ninglin climbed up from the window and shouted, "Granny, Granny, my aunt and that man have left."
Mrs. Shen shot up from the kang bed when she heard this, "Left? Where did they go?"
"They went north, looks like they’re heading for the mountains," Ning Lin said, scratching his head in confusion.
"My goodness, what are they up to?" Mrs. Shen was concerned and promptly got up, intending to chase after them.
"You stay put. If you dare to chase after them, you and your daughter can get lost. My Shen Family doesn’t abide by such disgraceful behavior," Mr. Shen said with a dark expression.
Mrs. Shen stopped in her tracks and flung herself back onto the kang, "I’m done worrying. It’s just blind concern. Isn’t it because I’m afraid those two will wander around and embarrass us? If others see, who will they laugh at? It’s still you, the one who acts as both the father and the team leader!"
Mr. Shen had no retort and just grimly stared at the smoke.
Seeing his reaction, Mrs. Shen knew she had struck a nerve and quickly rose to her feet again; but this time, rather than going after them herself, she yelled, "Zhijie, Zhiwen, where on earth have you two died off to? Normally you’re always circling around underfoot, but now when you’re needed, you’re nowhere to be found. Hurry up and get over here." Her words weren’t only directed at her sons but mainly meant for her daughters-in-law to hear.
As soon as she finished speaking, shouts came from the other room, "Shen Zhijie, you good-for-nothing, everyone else would be eager to stay far from such a shameful situation, yet here you are, foolishly rushing in. Can’t you be a little smarter, huh?"
After the scolding, crying sounds followed from the same room, "Boo hoo, you tricked me! If I had known your family had such shameless people, I would never have married you. Your eldest son is almost at the age to discuss marriage, and if we can’t find a good family because of this, I won’t let it rest!"
Mrs. Shen next door, hearing her daughter-in-law’s insinuations, trembled with anger, feeling as though the world had turned upside down. She turned to look at her old man, whose forehead wrinkles could crush a fly, but he showed no response.
What was there to say? The daughter-in-law was right. Even their own girl couldn’t marry into such a family; it would be too embarrassing.
In the end, it was Mr. Shen who, trembling, called out to his grandson, "Ning Lin, go see what your aunt is up to."
"Alright." Ning Lin, always eager to please, happily ran off to see.
Meanwhile, Shen Yunxiu led Fang Chengjian toward the edge of the village, directly towards Shen Yunfang’s home. Before they even reached the house, the scent of meat wafted towards them, making Chengjian unconsciously sniff the air.
After finishing work, Shen Yunfang had started cooking.
She raised pigs on the hillside, initially capturing ten piglets. Each month, she took the opportunity to go to the market and gradually brought back another ten pigs.
By this month, the pigs raised earlier had almost reached 130 pounds, and after this point, they wouldn’t fatten up as quickly, so Shen Yunfang had started slaughtering them sporadically, of course. For the sake of sustainable development, she kept two sows to continue raising.
Fearing that the bloody smell might attract wild animals from the mountains, she would always take the pigs down the mountain to skin and butcher them. Today, she had just slaughtered a pig, and since it wasn’t that fat, she couldn’t resist making a pot of braised pork. Little did she expect that it would lure two hungry wolves into her home.
After Shen Yunfang put the meat to stew in the kitchen, she went to the backyard to butcher the pig. She didn’t plan on selling these cuts right away, as they wouldn’t fetch a good price, and she was afraid that suddenly having so much meat would arouse suspicion. Even Dashuan’s family didn’t know that she was raising pigs and farming in the mountains. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Dashuan’s family, she just felt that such matters were safer the fewer people knew, so she didn’t mention it.
As she was busy with this, she heard the courtyard door being knocked on loudly.
She quickly hid anything incriminating in her space, washed her hands at the well, and then went to open the front door. She assumed it was Dashuan’s wife.
To her surprise, upon opening the door, she indeed saw Shen Yunxiu with her head held high and a man standing beside her whom she did not recognize.
"What’s the matter?" Shen Yunfang blocked the doorway and glanced at the man, figuring he must be the rumored "educated youth," also known as Shen Yunxiu’s adulterous lover. But she couldn’t fathom why at this time Shen Yunxiu would bring her adulterous lover to her house.
"Humph, can’t one visit if there’s no issue?" Shen Yunxiu retorted defiantly.
Fang Chengjian on the side coughed into his hand, truly frightened by Shen Yunxiu’s sharp tongue. If she offended someone again, he might be too famished to move.
"I brought your brother-in-law to check on you, thinking that we’ll all be family sooner or later, and it’s better to get acquainted sooner rather than later," said Shen Yunxiu awkwardly.
Shen Yunfang blinked her large eyes in surprise and asked, "The old man agreed?" Such a major decision, and she hadn’t heard anything about it.
"Cough cough, isn’t it just a matter of time? My dad just can’t get his head around it yet." Now it was Shen Yunxiu’s turn to cough, "I smelled your cooking. That’s perfect; my brother-in-law and I won’t go back. We’ll just make do with a bite here." She said, attempting to push past Shen Yunfang into the yard.
This cousin was being impolite, keeping them standing at the door for so long without inviting them in.
"Hey, wait, wait, I’m sorry, cousin, but I’m alone at home, and suddenly you bring a strange man with you—I can’t let you in. With only the two of us, I’d never be able to explain it if someone saw, with a hundred mouths," Shen Yunfang said. When she mentioned being alone with a man, her crafty glance flitted from Shen Yunxiu to Fang Chengjian and back again, leaving no doubt about who she was referring to.
Shen Yunfang didn’t give Shen Yunxiu a chance to explode with anger, but instead took a step back, slammed the courtyard door shut right in front of them.
Then she called out from inside the yard, "Cousin, once the old man acknowledges this, and you hold a banquet, I’ll definitely attend."
Shen Yunxiu kicked and pounded on the closed door, "You shameless thing, open the door for me, you dare shut me out, you’ve got some nerve, just you wait, you’ll pay for this."
"Enough," Fang Chengjian shouted, having had his fill of Shen Yunxiu’s tantrums.
Shen Yunxiu froze at his shout, her eyes reddening, "You yelled at me."
Fang Chengjian took a deep breath, trying to soften his expression before he coaxed, "Xiu, I wasn’t shouting at you. I was frustrated with myself for making you see the whims of others because of me. Please stop, it breaks my heart to see you like this."
"Wu wu wu, Chengjian..." Shen Yunxiu cried pitifully, covering her mouth.
Shen Yunfang was eavesdropping behind the door, silently giving this future brother-in-law a thumbs up. He was quite the character, managing to tell such outrageous lies so convincingly... ugh, it was disgusting, and someone actually fell for it. She was truly impressed.
She could already foresee her naive cousin being taken for a ride by deceivers in the future.
The two were almost wailing at the door of Shen Yunfang’s home when Shen Ninglin came bouncing over, "Auntie, grandpa says it’s time for you to come home, stop making a spectacle of yourselves out here."
