Chapter 29 She must be trying to get close to me (three in one)…
Since Mother Shen was bedridden, Shen Lin was in charge of all matters at home. Mother Shen naturally agreed to what Shen Lin said, and she also liked Su Wan.
Mother Shen said again, “I was wondering why I heard so much noise outside in the afternoon. So this is what happened. Wanwan, don’t be sad. Although the Shen family is poor, we can still give you a good meal. Although I can’t get out of bed or work, I won’t let you suffer. You can rest assured and stay here.”
Mother Shen has a good temper and has always had a good impression of Su Wan.
Su Wan told Mother Shen a lot of interesting things about the county town in her room. In the meantime, Shen Lin went out to fetch water from the jar, cooked a pot of simple porridge, and brought out two plates of pickles.
The Shen family’s dining table was in Mother Shen’s room. Shen Lin moved the table in front of Mother Shen’s kang so that the other people could sit at the same table with her to eat.
Su Wan was chatting happily with Mother Shen and didn’t notice that Shen Lin went to cook.
When the meal was served on the table, Su Wan realized that Shen Lin had just gone to cook.
Su Wan then realized that she was so happy to come to the Shen family because she had severed ties with the Wang family. She forgot the time while chatting with Mother Shen and did not even notice that Shen Lin went to cook porridge.
Looking at Shen Lin who brought the meal over, Su Wan felt a little uncomfortable.
Besides the fact that he was poor and unfilial, there was another important reason why the people in this village looked down on Shen Lin, and that was that Shen Lin cooked. People said that a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen, and that men are superior to women. Even in this small village, women cook in every household. If a man cooks, he is considered a coward and incompetent.
Although Shen Lin had to cook for his own reasons, Mother Shen was bedridden and only had enough strength to get up and go to the toilet, she could not do anything else. Shen Yaya was only five and a half years old, and could cook a few simple meals, but she was not even as tall as the stove, and it was too dangerous for her to pick up a spoon and cook in front of the stove.
There were very young children in the village who were scalded by cooking, so Shen Lin didn’t let Shen Yaya cook.
So Shen Lin often cooked. Many young men in the village who were about the same age as Shen Lin laughed at Shen Lin for being a coward.
These people can only see the surface, but they don’t see how much Shen Lin has taken on as a man behind the scenes.
Shen Lin set the table and Su Wan blamed herself: “Look at me, I was just busy talking here and didn’t help Brother Shen Lin.”
MotherShen said, “Good girl, you don’t have to be so restrained here. Fan Lin’er is used to cooking every day. I am useless anyway, so only he can do it .”
Mother Shen used to be a great cook, but since she fell ill, she has been unable to cook anything.
Su Wan hurriedly pulled Mother Shen’s hand and said, “Aunt, please stop saying that. Besides, you will definitely get better in the future. When you get better, you will be able to cook like before.”
Mother Shen smiled and said that she would definitely get better and cook for everyone, but Mother Shen knew that this was just Su Wan’s words of comfort.
Su Wan, Shen Lin and Shen’s family started eating. The Shen family’s meal was very simple, just wild vegetable porridge.
Shen Yaya picked wild vegetables from the mountains, and she had to eat rice sparingly. The eggs at home had to be sold.
Mother Shen had to take medicine all year round, and most of the money Shen Lin earned was spent on buying medicine for Mother Shen, so the Shen family lived in such poverty.
People from ordinary families simply cannot afford to get sick, and if they do, they will lose everything.
Su Wan thought to herself that Shen Lin had been buying medicine for the Mother Shen without any regrets, but such a filial person was accused of being unfilial.
Speaking of which, Shen Lin’s grandparents were really not good people.
After Shen Lin’s father passed away, Shen Lin’s grandparents wanted to seize all of Shen Lin’s family property and drove the orphan and widow out.
Shen Lin gave all the money his father earned to Old Man Shen and Old Madam Shen, but the two were still not satisfied and still wanted Shen Lin’s house.
When Shen Lin refused to give it, Shen Grandparents and Shen Lin’s uncle’s family labelled Shen Lin as unfilial to his grandparents.
Seventy percent of the money Shen Lin earned was used to pay for Mother Shen’s medicine, and the remaining thirty percent was given to Shen Grandparents as a filial gift.
Shen Lin’s uncle’s family always took things from Shen Grandparents , and never gave any honor to them but they still favoured their eldest son.
Su Wan ate the pickled vegetable porridge made by Shen Lin with the pickled vegetables. After eating, Su Wan quickly cleaned up the dishes and took them to wash. Shen Yaya also hurriedly followed her. Usually, it was Shen Yaya who washed the dishes.
Su Wan naturally didn’t let Shen Yaya do these things. She just let Shen Yaya stay beside her and talk to her.
Su Wan and Shen Yaya went out. Mother Shen pointed to a cabinet on the kang and said to Shen Lin, “Take out the new bedding in the cabinet and spread it for Su Wan in the east wing.”
Shen Lin took out a new bedding from the cabinet. It had a cotton lining, a brocade cover, and the quilt was a beautiful pink color.
The quilts that the Shen family used to cover themselves with were all tattered. These were the belongings purchased by the Shen Lin family when they were wealthy. Later, when Shen’s mother was seriously ill, all the things in the house were pawned or sold, and some were even looted by their grandparents. As a result, the family only had one complete set of bedding left.
Shen Lin took out the quilt, but did not take it away first. Instead, he took the rag and broom and went to the east wing.
The east wing of the Shen family was used to store sundries. Shen Lin first moved out some of the sundries in the house.
Shen Yaya went to get a basin of water, and Shen Lin washed the rag in the basin. Then he wiped the walls and the bed boards of the room, swept the room, washed the floor again, and waited for the floor to dry before bringing the new bedding over.
After washing the dishes, Su Wan and Shen Yaya also came to the east wing. Shen Lin cleaned the east wing for Su Wan very well.
Shen Yaya said generously: “Sister Su Wan, you can live in this room and use this bed and quilt from now on. No one in my family has used this bed and quilt before.”
Su Wan took a look at the material of the quilt. It was indeed good material. She thought it must have been purchased when Shen Lin’s family was still wealthy. Now, this was probably the only good quilt in Shen Lin’s family.
Shen Lin said to Su Wan, “You can live in this room for now. You and Yaya can share the basin for washing your face. When I come back from work tomorrow, I will see if there is any furniture missing in your room and I will make you a few more pieces.”
Su Wan looked at Shen Lin with a smile and did not refuse: “Brother Shen, sorry for the trouble.”
Shen Lin added: “Sister Su Wan, For staying in my house you can give me some rent money.”
Shen Yaya was anxious: “Brother, how can you ask Sister Su Wan for rent money? You are a bad guy, you can’t ask for it.”
Su Wan looked at Shen Lin: “Then Brother Shen, how much rent should I give you?”
Shen Lin’s face showed no emotion, he simply replied: “Six cents.”
Shen Lin wanted to cut off his relationship with her. Su Wan had no relationship with the Shen family. If she lived in the Shen family for no reason, others would definitely talk about the relationship between Shen Lin and Su Wan. If the Shen family collected rent from Su Wan, then they would have a reason to live under the same roof.
Su Wan naturally understood Shen Lin’s intentions.
He didn’t want her reputation to be affected.
However, in Su Wan’s eyes, Shen Lin’s behavior was unnecessary. Both Shen Lin and herself were of marriageable age, and even if they were tenants, people would inevitably gossip about them.
When they were at the Wang family, everyone in the village knew that Wang Luosheng didn’t like talking to Su Wan. Everyone thought that Su Wan was not worthy of Wang Luosheng, so they naturally wouldn’t think of Su Wan and Wang Luosheng as a couple. Moreover, the Wang family personally clarified the relationship between Wang Luosheng and Su Wan, so there was no need to worry too much about the rumors about Wang Luosheng and Su Wan.
However, in the days to come, there will definitely be a lot of interactions between me and Shen Lin, and there will definitely be people gossiping about me.
Su Wan had no intention of taking the rumor to heart at all, but since Shen Lin wanted to do this, Su Wan would not refuse.
Su Wan said, “Okay, I’ll give you six cents.” Then, Su Wan took out six cents from her sleeve and handed it to Shen Lin.
Shen Yaya stared blankly at her brother and Su Wan, somewhat puzzled. Even though she was only six years old, she knew that six cents were not enough to buy two buns, so what did her brother want the rent money for?
Shen Lin took the six cents from Su Wan’s hand and said, “Tell me if you need anything.” After that, he returned to the room opposite to Su Wan’s room.
Shen Yaya really wanted to sleep in the east wing with Su Wan, but she still had to serve tea and water to Mother Shen at night, so she could only reluctantly return to the main room and sleep with Mother Shen.
The east wing had been cleaned by Shen Lin. The room was empty except for a simple small wooden bed with a brand new quilt and a brocade pillow embroidered with lotus flowers, which was a very good thing.
Su Wan thought to herself: Shen Lin is only charging six cents for rent, which is a huge loss.
Although the room was empty, Su Wan did not feel lonely. Shen Lin was in the room opposite. She had completely left the Wang family. From now on, she no longer had to worry about those ungrateful people.
Those who live with her are all worth their efforts.
Early the next morning, Su Wan was awakened by the sound of sawing wood in the yard.
Su Wan opened the door and looked into the yard.
At some point several thick tree trunks appeared in the yard, and Shen Lin was sawing them into boards.
Su Wan didn’t ask Shen Lin what he was doing. Su Wan went to find Shen Yaya’s basin, washed up, changed into work clothes, and went to Shen’s kitchen.
There were only a few sweet potatoes and some rice in the Shen family’s kitchen. There was also a vegetable garden behind the Shen family’s yard, and Su Wan went to the vegetable garden to pick vegetables.
Early in the morning, Wang Luosheng came to the backyard to pour water. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.
Wang Luosheng turned around and saw the person in Shen family’s garden clearly. He rubbed his eyes with his sleeves in disbelief.
Am I not awake yet and my eyes are blurry? Why does the person in the garden opposite look so much like Su Wan?
Yesterday, when Wang Luosheng came home from school, he learned that his mother had already distanced herself from Su Wan in public, and that Su Wan would no longer have any relationship with the Wang family.
Wang Luosheng also heard that Shen Lin from next door followed that guy to find Su Wan. At that time, Wang Luosheng was still laughing in his heart. This Shen Lin could only pick up people he didn’t want.
Thinking back to the past, Shen Lin was better at studying than me, but now he is inferior to me in every way and can only pick up people that I don’t want.
However, even if it was someone he didn’t want, she would definitely not follow him back. Not to mention that Shen Lin didn’t have seven taels of silver to bring Su Wan back, even if Shen Lin had seven taels of silver, Su Wan would definitely not follow him back.
Wang Luosheng knew how much Su Wan liked him. Su Wan wanted to marry him very much. If she went home with another man halfway through, she would definitely never have the chance to be with him again.
That’s why Su Wan would not follow Shen Lin.
But at this time Wang Luosheng saw Su Wan in the Shen family’s garden.
Even though he didn’t like Su Wan, Wang Luosheng felt betrayed. A surge of anger surged in Wang Luosheng’s heart.
But then, Wang Luosheng thought of another possibility. Yesterday, his mother publicly severed all ties between her and the Wang family, so she could never return to the Wang family again.
If this is the case, she will not be able to see me every day. Only when she lives next door to his house can she see me every day like before.
Su Wan must have had this in mind when she came back with Shen Lin.
Su Wan has always valued me and tried every means to get close to me. When he was at Wang’s house, Su Wan would get close to me by making me wash my face and tidying my room. After going to Duan’s house, Su Wan would use the method of sending me midnight snacks to get close to me.
Now that the Wang family has severed ties with her, Su Wan uses the method of living next door to the Wang family to get close to her.
Su Wan’s behavior made Wang Luosheng look down on Su Wan.
Su Wan was still bending over picking vegetables in the Shen family’s vegetable garden, and did not notice that Wang Luosheng, who was standing in the backyard of the Wang family, saw her.
The Shen family was very poor. The rice in the house was almost gone, and there was some cornmeal of very poor quality. In addition to the remaining rice and cornmeal, there were wild vegetables dug by Shen Yaya from the forest in the kitchen. In addition, there were eggs in the basket.
The Shen family’s eggs are not for eating, but for selling. Fortunately, there is a vegetable garden in the backyard of the Shen family, otherwise the Shen family would have to live on wild vegetables.
The vegetable garden in the backyard was planted with vegetables such as loofah, eggplant, cucumber, and persimmon. They looked just okay, but far inferior to what Su Wan had grown before at the Wang family.
Shen Lin has to work in the fields every day and has no time to water the vegetable garden. It is actually not easy for the Shen family’s vegetables to grow like this.
Su Wan picked loofah and cucumber from the yard.
After picking the vegetables, Su Wan carried the basket back to the Shen family’s kitchen and started making breakfast.
From beginning to end, Su Wan never even glanced at the Wang family’s vegetable garden.
Wang Luosheng saw Su Wan carrying a basket of vegetables and walking around to the front yard of the Shen family, and guessed that Su Wan was going to make breakfast for the Shen family.
Wang Luosheng thought to himself that Su Wan had no skills and could only cook for anyone she lived in. But at the same time, Wang Luosheng felt a little uncomfortable because, by rights, Su Wan should serve the Wang family.
This time when Su Wan cooked for the Shen family, Wang Luosheng felt that his family had suffered a loss. He always felt as if the Shen family owed his family something.
Su Wan came to the Shen family’s kitchen, planning to use the existing ingredients in the Shen family to cook rice porridge and loofah and egg pancakes for breakfast.
It is simple to cook white porridge. Just wash the rice, add water and cook it in a pot.
Egg pancakes are also very simple to make. Su Wan beat five eggs, stirred them with chopsticks, then added cornmeal and loofah shreds, water and salt, and stirred into a paste.
During this time, Shen Yaya also got up. After washing her face, she came over to help Su Wan with carrying firewood and making a fire.
They were both making breakfast, but Su Wan found it much easier to make breakfast at the Shen’s than at the Wang’s.
