NOVPUB
Chapter 194: Chapter 187 Can’t Hold Back Uncle Shen
Shen Yunfang finished cooking the pig food on the mountain and had dug up quite a lot of wild vegetables. Noticing it was about time, she carried a full basket of wild greens back home.
Now that there were outsiders in the house, she had to put on an act.
Upon arriving home, there was no one in either the front or back yard. She walked into the east room and saw Qiu Shuping and her daughter lying side by side on the bed, chatting away.
"You’re back," Qiu Shuping said as she saw her daughter-in-law return and sat up from the bed, "Must be tired, come sit and rest a bit."
Shen Yunfei became instantly alert upon hearing this. Something was off; when had her mother-in-law ever been so caring? There must be some ulterior motive.
"I can’t afford to. Once the gong for knocking off work sounds, I have to head to my job. I already took leave for the afternoon; if I’m late again, people will start talking." She calculated that if she completed the month’s work, her earned work points would just about cover the grain needed. Besides, she didn’t like spending time with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law; going out to work was better.
As for Shen Yunfei going out to work to earn work points, Qiu Shuping and her daughter had nothing to say about it; if their daughter-in-law could earn a bit more, they too would benefit from it later on.
"Sister-in-law, aren’t you having dinner?" Li Xianghe suddenly remembered about eating.
"I will, but there’s not enough time. I’ll just grab a bite to get by." Shen Yunfang checked her watch. She reckoned that after feeding the chickens and ducks, there wouldn’t be much time left.
Usually, she would return home around this time and would directly take out hot food to eat from her space. But now, with outsiders at home, she couldn’t do that and could only reheat some of the leftover food from noon to get by.
"Ah, sister-in-law, you can’t just get by with your current health. Better make some proper food to eat well instead. It doesn’t matter if you go to work a bit late; after all, your uncle is the team leader," Li Xianghe flattered her quickly, hoping that her sister-in-law would finish cooking before going to work. Shen Yunfei was known for her cooking skills and willingness to use good ingredients, so she really enjoyed the meals prepared by her.
Moreover, if her sister-in-law just grabbed a bite and left, she would have to cook dinner herself. Normally, she was the cook at home. Now that she has come to her brother’s place, she should be considered a guest - how could she still be expected to cook?
At that moment, she remembered she was an outsider, although she didn’t consider herself one while rummaging through the house during the day.
Hearing her words, Shen Yunfang laughed and replied, "Gaijiatun is different from Taoshu Village; there are so many people surnamed Shen here that eight out of ten pulled out at random would be relatives. If all non-outsiders decided to work whenever they wanted, then my granduncle wouldn’t be able to do his job. I am his niece, and I cannot be the one to hold him back."
After stating her case, Li Xianghe’s expression soured.
"Xianghe, if you don’t want to cook, I can do it after I get back from work. As long as you don’t mind being very hungry," Shen Yunfang said.
Shen Yunfei didn’t want to entangle herself further with them, and after a few more words, she went out to get to work.
When she got to the backyard, she opened the back door and banged on an old iron basin. In no time, over a hundred chickens flapped and flew back, a rather impressive sight.
Qiu Shuping and her daughter, curious from the noise, came out to look and were startled by so many hens. "Yunfang, are all these raised by you?"
"Yes," Shen Yunfang said as she swiftly opened the gate, allowing the hens to return, then poured the prepared chicken feed into several bowls, so the chicks could have a feast.
She then scooped the cooked pig food that had already been prepared in the yard into a bucket, carried it to the pigpen, and with a good heave, poured the feed into the stone trough.
Then she grabbed her own woven basket that she had carried back and added some fodder to the sheep pen.
Ignoring the mother and daughter who just stood by and did not offer help, Shen Yunfang wandered into the kitchen. Looking at the leftover food on the stove from lunch, she really did not feel like eating. After thinking it over, she decided it was best to wait until no one was around and eat something by herself later. So she neither reheated the food nor did she eat, just warmed some water to wash her hands and face. After telling her mother-in-law—who was still in the backyard watching the chicken coop—that she was leaving, she went to her labor.
Today she started her work rather early, and many villagers were still not done with their work in the fields, so when they saw her, they all asked about her mother-in-law’s visit to the house.
Shen Yunfang just nodded and gave perfunctory replies while she inwardly marveled at how quickly gossip spread in the countryside, even without telephones or cell phones.
From afar, Shen Yeqing saw his niece approaching, so he walked to the edge of the thatched pavilion with his hands clasped behind his back and waited for her.
"Your mother-in-law left? What did she come for?"
"She hasn’t left. She said she wanted to help with the harvest and insisted on staying at our place. I couldn’t get her to leave, so they had to stay," Shen Yunfang said with resignation.
Shen Yeqing furrowed his brows in concern. What was the Li Family up to? He certainly did not believe that the Li Family’s old woman and her young girl came simply to help his niece.
There were households in the village that summoned relatives and friends to aid with the harvest due to their sparse manpower. But those people usually brought robust workers who stayed for a day or two and then went back home, since everyone had an abundance of work to do. What then, was the Li Family’s intention in sending two women to help?
Seeing her uncle fretting, Shen Yunfang reassured him, "Uncle, don’t worry about why they’re here. After all, we don’t have anything in our house worthy of their attention. If they want to stay, there’s nothing I can do, so just let them be. It’s just about adding one more ladle of water."
She had already planned to keep the meals at home to a modest standard for the next few days, cooking nothing more than what other families had. She definitely couldn’t cook more delicious food than necessary, lest they think they had found paradise and refused to leave.
"Alright, as long as you are aware, that’s fine," Shen Yeqing nodded. He really couldn’t meddle in the situation. Even after the family division, Qiu Shuping was Yunfang’s mother-in-law, and there was no rationale for sending her away after she came. "I think I’ll ask your aunt to prepare a couple of nice dishes tomorrow, invite your mother-in-law and the young girl over for a meal at our place, and let your aunt have a good chat with them." Maybe that way they’d disclose their actual intentions.
"Please, don’t. If they get used to special treatment and think we’re too welcoming, then I’ll never be able to send them away," Shen Yunfang quickly objected.
If they were self-aware people, a treat for a meal or two wouldn’t be a big problem, but knowing her mother-in-law, it was better to forget it.
"Uncle, you really don’t need to do anything. Just pretend you don’t know about any of this," Shen Yunfang quickly urged her uncle to dismiss the idea.
Though Shen Yeqing found Yunfang’s concerns a bit exaggerated, he still nodded and agreed with her point of view. At that time, everyone’s circumstances were tight, and it was virtually impossible to prepare fancy dishes at home.
After seeing off her uncle, Shen Yunfang carefully looked around and listened intently to ensure no one was nearby. Confident she was alone, she ducked into the pavilion and took out a bowl of rice from her space, served a dish of stewed green beans, another dish of chicken stewed with mushrooms, and began her dinner.
While she was eating, her ears twitched at the sound of approaching footsteps, someone running towards the pavilion. She hastily collected the bowls and dishes onto her space, took out a cup of water, and drank and gargled a few mouthfuls. Then the footsteps had already reached the entrance of the pavilion.
Indeed, it was Ergouzi and a few of his friends coming to find her. They hadn’t traded sparrows at noon, so the kids brought her wild vegetables in the evening as they had promised.
Helpless, Shen Yunfang picked up her slingshot, waiting for a flock of sparrows to give the kids a few shots. Otherwise, they would all be on the verge of tears.
