The Yang family helped Shen Lin a lot, and Shen Lin was worried that he had no way to repay them. He had too many things to do, so how could he spare the time to help the Yang family and give them back? The help from the Yang family was indeed more valuable than the meat slices, and the meat slices were not his, but Su Wan’s.
Shen Lin thought that Su Wan had spent money to buy food again, and was about to ask Su Wan not to do this, but Su Wan said, “We had fish at home tonight. Yaya and I caught the fish in the river. We spent ten cents on tofu. If you really think this is inappropriate, you can give me ten cents.”
Shen Lin: “…”
He could still squeeze out ten cents, but it was not enough. These things made Shen Lin fully realize the weakness of his own power. His power was too weak. Not only could he not protect the important people, he could not even repay the kindness owed to others.
After calculating, she told Shen Lin that the fish could not be kept alive and had to be cooked. If cooked, it must be eaten today. She asked him to invite the Yang family. If not, just wait for the remaining fish to go bad.
Su Wan made two dishes, one was fish stewed with tofu, and the other was spicy fish fillet. Of course, the spicy fish fillet also contained tofu. The five big fish and twenty small fish were certainly not enough for so many people, but the tofu was enough.
( fish stewed with tofu)
( spicy fish fillet)
Su Wan also picked some vegetable leaves from the Shen family’s vegetable garden, mixed them with eight plates of cold dishes, and steamed several large pumpkins. In this way, everyone would be full.
In fact, the key to inviting people to dinner is the thought. Even if the food is simple, as long as the thought is there, it will make people feel warm.
When it was time to finish work in the evening, Shen Lin came over with the six brothers of the Yang family.
Su Wan asked Shen Lin: ” what about
Grandpa Yang , Grandma Yang and the wives of the eldest brother, second brother, and third brother?”
Shen Lin said: “I called them all, but Grandpa Yang, Grandma Yang and the sisters-in-law insisted on not coming.”
Su Wan understood this in her mind. The Yang family was an upright family. There were many brothers in the Yang family and they had a lot to eat. The old man and Mrs. Yang didn’t want to cause trouble for the host family if they didn’t come.
In fact, the Yang family has many brothers, and they usually help each other, so they don’t have the energy to help other villagers. Therefore, no one has ever invited the Yang brothers to dinner. Besides, if all the brothers come over, how much food will they have to eat?
In fact, Shen Lin invited the brothers to come over for dinner so that they could feel respected. On weekdays in the village, since they had many brothers, no one bullied them, but few people respected them either. Having many brothers meant that every brother was poor.
The brothers of the Yang family entered the main hall of the Shen family and saw two pots of fish and three jars of wine on the table.
Shen Lin thought that Su Wan had paid for the wine, and was worried that the customer had already seen it, so it would be a mistake to remove the wine. However, if he didn’t remove the wine, he would be spending Su Wan’s money again.
Su Wan naturally saw through Shen Lin’s worries and told Shen Lin that this was the wine she had brewed before and buried underground, and she dug it out in the afternoon.
Su Wan thought that Shen Lin would think that the wine belonged to the Wang family, so she explained that the wine was made from millet she picked up from the fields in the village and had nothing to do with the Wang family.
Shen Lin felt a little relieved.
The Yang brothers were eating the spicy fish fillets made by Su Wan. Apart from the fried pork fillets made by Su Wan today, they had not eaten meat for a long time, so they all enjoyed the meal very much.
There were also three jars of wine to add to the fun.
Su Wan also made a pot of non-spicy stewed fish with tofu for Mrs Shen, Shen Yaya and the two old people of the Yang family. When the Yang brother Shen lin were eating and drinking, Shen Yaya had already brought the stewed fish with tofu to old man Yang and old woman Yang.
Of course, Shen Yaya gave the fish to Old Man Yang and Old Woman Yang quietly, for fear that their grandparents would find out and make a fuss.
Of course, this meal also belongs to Su Wan. Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen have no right to ask what Su Wan does with it. However, Shen Yaya is still a little afraid of her grandparents.
In fact, Old Man Shen had already heard that Shen Lin invited the Yang brothers to dinner, but Old Man Shen knew that this meal had nothing to do with Shen Lin. It was obvious that he knew Shen Lin was eating well but he couldn’t. Old Man Shen felt a breath stuck in his heart, unable to lift it up or swallow it.
Old woman Shen kept nagging Old Man Shen about why he didn’t put down the slices of meat that Shen Lin brought over. Old Man Shen was so upset that he directly threw the bowl of wild vegetable porridge.
Old Woman Shen was heartbroken, but then she thought, luckily she brought the bowl back from Shen Lin’s house yesterday, so she could make up for it and the family would not suffer any loss.
The brothers of the Yang families were happy with Shen Lin after drinking, so they opened their hearts and started talking. The brothers of the Yang family all thought that their families had always seen it, and Shen Lin was not an unfilial person. If you talk about it carefully, it is the eldest brother Shen who always takes money from old man Shen, and that is the real unfilial person.
Shen Lin has always been taciturn, but today he repeatedly thanked the Yang brothers for their help. The Yang brothers were also very happy to hear Shen Lin’s gratitude.
Yang Wu, who was a little drunk, put his arm around Shen Lin’s shoulders and said to him, “Shen Lin, I’ve actually seen that no man in Qingshi Village can compare to you. Even Wang Luosheng, who passed the imperial examination, can’t compare to you. But you, you have a problem. You can’t think straight.”
“Don’t you think about it? Your grandparents are just short of peeling your skin off and drinking your blood, but you still indulge them and are respectful to them in your heart.”
“If you ask me, no matter what you do, they will say you are unfilial, so you might as well just take on the reputation of being unfilial and stop caring about them from now on.”
“As for you, earn some money and take good care of your mother’s illness. No one in this world would dare to accuse you of being unfilial.”
Shen Lin also listened carefully to Yang Wu’s words.
Yang Wu couldn’t stop talking after drinking too much, and said, “I see, you are a good kid, you should follow me in the future, let’s do some small business, it will make more money than farming.”
“Don’t think that I look like I have no money on weekdays. That’s just a trick I use. Everyone knows that you can make money by doing business, so everyone goes to do business. How can I still not make money?”
“Don’t look at my brothers. They are stupid. They always think that I make money today and will lose it tomorrow. So No one wants to follow me.”
“I think you are a good kid. If you are smart, you can follow me. We can work together to earn money and marry a wife.”
“Everyone thinks we are too poor to marry, but we want to marry the best wife in the village so that they can see her.”
Su Wan went in and out, so naturally she heard what Yang Wu said. Originally, Su Wan thought that the Yang brothers were people worth making friends with, so she invited the family to dinner, also with the intention of making friends with them.
In ancient times, if a population was not large, one would inevitably be bullied. Uncle Shen’s family were considered good people even if they did not bully Shen Lin, let alone help Shen Lin.
Having a brother or friend can not only be of great help, but also save you a lot of trouble.
Now that Yang Wu has invited Shen Lin to do business with him, it is an extra good thing.
After listening to Yang Wu’s words, Shen Lin did not make any comment yet on what Yang Wu said about Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen, but he was concerned about what Yang Wu said about doing small business.
Shen Lin said that he and Yang Wu would go out to take a look after the autumn harvest.
With just the meager income from farming, he will never be able to cure his mother’s illness.
However, Yang Wu said that he wanted to take Shen Lin out as soon as possible after the autumn harvest. So, Yang Wu stood up shakily and told his brothers that Shen Lin was a kind man and that from now on he would also be the brothers with the Yang family. As older brothers, they should help their younger brothers.
In fact, although the brothers of the Yang family sometimes say that Yang Wu is not reliable, Yang Wu’s words still carry a lot of weight among the brothers. Yang Wu can earn money and help the brothers a lot. In fact, the brothers all value what Yang Wu says.
Moreover, the brothers of the Yang family have always thought that Shen Lin is a good person. After working and eating together today, their relationship has become even closer.
Yang Wu wanted to treat Shen Lin as a brother, and the Yang brothers also said that Shen Lin would be their brother from now on. No one would dare to bully Shen Lin anymore, especially that Shen San, who relied on his few cronies and always said some sarcastic words in front of Shen Lin. It would never happen again in the future.
Yang Wu called on a few of his brothers, and while they were still energetic after drinking, they went to help Shen Lin’s family harvest corn overnight.
The brothers all enjoyed the meal, and besides, Shen Lin really made them happy.
Several brothers waved their arms and rushed out.
Yang Wu said: “Today is the 16th day of the lunar year, and the moon is so bright. It’s like a lantern for us. The time, the place and the people are all right. Let’s go and do it.”
After saying that, he picked up the backpack and went out.
Shen Lin followed him out the door. He also put aside his usual reluctance to trouble others. In the future, he must work hard and repay the Yang brothers and, of course, Su Wan.
Even though Su Wan did many things without considering his opinion, he could see that Su Wan was doing it for his own good, and he knew best how people treated him well.
As soon as several people walked out of the door, Su Wan called them to stop. She said to them, “Brothers Yang, Brother Shen Lin, if you go to the fields to work, then put down your backpacks. Just break the corn and put it in the fields. Don’t carry it back and forth. It takes too much effort to carry corn. You won’t be able to work tomorrow.”
Naturally, Shen Lin didn’t want the Yang brothers to work too hard, so he said that just breaking the corn would be a great help to him and they didn’t need to carry it.
Several brothers of the Yang family insisted on carrying the backpacks, but Su Wan and Shen Lin forcibly took off their backpacks.
Well, carrying corn is time-consuming and laborious, but breaking corn is so easy, like a piece of cake.
The Yang brothers and Shen Lin went to Shen Lin’s field at night. They worked together and harvested all the corns of Shen Lin’s several acres.
Although it was still a bit chilly in the autumn night, the seven men were sweating profusely from working hard.
As expected, there is strength in numbers. It usually takes several days to pick all the corn, but now it only takes two or three hours.
Plus, since there’s no need to carry the corn back and forth, the corn can be picked even faster.
Su Wan came over with a pot of ginger tea and a pot of warm rice soup and gave them to the people who were picking corn. After a short rest, they helped Shen Lin carry the corn to the threshing floor.
Su Wan and Shen Lin said repeatedly that they had already helped a lot by breaking the corn. If they continued to carry the corn, it would affect their own work tomorrow.
Su Wan and Shen Lin refused firmly, so the brothers of the Yang family no longer insisted and went home to sleep. It was strange that they usually felt exhausted after work, but today they did not feel tired after work. Moreover, farm work was boring on weekdays, but today they felt very happy, even happier than going to the county town to listen to opera.
Although they still felt very energetic, they fell asleep very quickly when they got home. When they woke up early the next morning, they were able to get up even after being busy until midnight the night before. They were even more energetic than usual, which did not affect their work today at all.
The Yang brothers attributed it all to yesterday’s wine and dinner.
Early in the morning, Old Man Yang and Old Woman Yang told their sons that Shen Yaya had sent them stewed fish yesterday. The brothers of the Yang family then felt that it was not a wrong thing to help Shen Lin.
Shen Lin got up early in the morning and didn’t feel tired at all. In fact, he had not slept all night.
He truly felt what brothers should be like. Shen Lin even thought carefully about the term “kindness from above and filial piety from below” for an entire night.
The corn picked by the Yang brothers was piled up in the field, and Shen Lin carried them to the threshing ground in baskets.
Some villagers discovered that all the corn in Shen Lin’s family had been picked. They were surprised as to what happened. When they saw Shen Lin carrying the corn in the threshing yard, they asked him what happened. Only then did they realize that it was the Yang brothers who helped Shen Lin pick all the corn.
Originally, in this village, Shen Lin was always the last one to finish his farm work. But this time, he was about to finish first, and several people felt unhappy.
Shen San was jealous of how beautiful Su Wan had become after Shen Lin got to know her. He wanted to make Shen Lin unhappy, so he said, “You said that Su Wan you brought back was really useless. Not only did she spend money lavishly, but she also didn’t even come out to help you carry corn. You really picked up a good-for-nothing.”
“I thought you could find a wife, but now it seems that if Su Wan becomes your wife, your family will be able to beg for food in the county town.”
Shen Lin looked at Shen San sternly.
At the same time, the brothers of the Yang family in the grain field, Yang Da, Yang San and Yang Wu, had come over and stood behind Shen Lin, and it was obvious that they were going to help Shen Lin deal with Shen San.
Shen Lin clenched his fists, and the brothers of the Yang family also watched with eager eyes.
Shen San’s legs were shaking a little.
“Brothers of the Yang family, Brother Shen.” Just at this moment, Su Wan’s voice came over.
Several people turned around at the same time.
At the entrance to the valley, Su Wan was driving an ox cart, slowly coming towards here.
After Su Wan finished her breakfast in the morning, he went to a nearby village and rented a cow and a cart from a family that owned one for fifteen cents.
Cows are very precious things in the village. As the old saying goes, thirty acres of land, a cow, a wife, children, and a warm bed, this is the fairy-tale life of the country people.
The reason why it is a life like that of a god is that most people cannot reach this standard. There are few families who own thirty acres of land, and even fewer who own a cow.
In a village, only one or two families have cows, and in some villages there are no families with cows at all.
There was a family with cattle in Qingshi Village, their surname was Chen. However, this family was very proud and never took the previous owner and Shen Lin seriously. Su Wan didn’t want the Chen family to take all the money, so she rented the cattle from the neighboring village.
The villagers looked at Su Wan in disbelief. Su Wan actually got an ox cart.
Yang Wu asked Su Wan, “Sister Su Wan, did you borrow the ox cart from the Chen family?”
Su Wan answered from afar that she rented the cart from a neighboring village.
The villagers in the threshing ground were all astonished. Su Wan, as expected, had made some money in the county and was spending it lavishly, even hiring an ox cart.
Farmers all know that oxcarts save effort, but renting an oxcart costs money. Carrying the goods yourself only takes some effort but doesn’t cost any money.
It’s obvious that Su Wan is not the kind of girl who knows how to live.
When they got home last night, everyone talked about Su Wan. Su Wan used to wear tattered clothes, but now she has become so beautiful. This completely overturned everyone’s perception.
The person who was always looked down upon suddenly changed his appearance and became a little out of reach. This inevitably made people feel uncomfortable. The women in each family also found faults with Su Wan. Su Wan looked glamorous on the outside, but she was not good at managing the household. She must not know how to cook. The fried meat slices she made yesterday did not require any cooking skills. Just fry the meat in oil. Even a fool could do that. But the fried meat slices were really a waste.
She had just wasted everything yesterday, and today she started wasting again, even hiring an ox cart.
Su Wan drove the ox cart to Shen Lin and said to him, “Brother Shen, don’t carry the corn in a basket, use the ox cart…”
A load of corn that a person would need to carry ten times can be pulled by an oxcart in one go.
