Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen waited and waited, and then they saw Yang Wu driving an ox cart to the grain field with several large baskets behind the cart.
Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen were furious. They cursed Shen Lin in the threshing yard for being unfilial and not helping his uncle’s family with work even though he had an ox cart.
Yang Wu couldn’t stand it anymore and started arguing with Old Man Shen: ” Grandpa Shen, you want Shen Lin to be filial to his uncle.”
”There is no such thing as respecting one’s uncle in this world. His uncle is an elder, but he didn’t help him. Why should he be asked to help his uncle?”
Old Man Shen said disdainfully: “Why didn’t his uncle help him? His uncle is his support. Otherwise, if he were alone, anyone would dare to bully him.”
Yang Wu smiled and said, “Old man, besides you and his uncle, who else bullies him? Aren’t you the ones who bully him the most?”
Old Man Shen was so angry that he stuttered: “You are an outsider, stop interfering in our Shen family’s affairs, put down the ox cart and get out.”
Yang Wu smiled and said, “That won’t do, old man. I took over the ox and the cart from Shen Lin, so I have to give Shen Lin an explanation. If I gave you the ox and the cart, but you killed the ox and broke the cart. How should I explain this to Shen Lin?”
”Don’t feel wronged. Shen Lin gave me the ox and cart just because he wanted to repay our kindness. Last night, several of us brothers worked together to break the corn for Shen Lin, and only then did Shen Lin give me the ox cart. Let me ask you, what have you done for Shen Lin?”
”Have you ever broken corn for him, carried corn on your back, or rubbed corn for him? Let me think about it. You haven’t done anything for him. You only eat his food, take his things, and use his work, but you haven’t done anything for him. Only when you are kind can you be filial. I see that Shen Lin still respects you a little. You act like this, but Shen Lin still treats you like this. How can he be unfilial? He is obviously a filial son.”
Yang Wu shouted these words at the top of his voice like a machine gun in the grain field. He had not had much contact with Shen Lin in the past, and the Yang family was not the type to cause trouble. Although Yang Wu understood the truth, there was no need for him to say these for Shen Lin.
From yesterday to today, Yang Wu and Shen Lin helped each other. Yang Wu began to regard Shen Lin as a brother, and as his brother, he naturally had to help out.
Old Man Shen was very angry and immediately pointed at Yang Wu’s nose: “This is our Shen family’s business. You are an outsider, why are you meddling in it?”
Yang Wu said, “I also told you that from today on, Shen Lin is my brother of a different surname. He is my brother, and he is the brother of the brothers of my Yang family. If anyone dares to make things difficult for Shen Lin because he has no brothers, then they will be making things difficult for the six brothers of our Yang family. Our Yang family doesn’t have much power, but we have many people.”
Old Woman Shen stood up and said, “Shen Lin doesn’t lack brothers. Dashi, Ershi and Sanshi in our family are all Shen Lin’s brothers. Why are you joining in the fun here?”
Yang Wu smiled and said, “Grandma Shen, what you said is that Shen Lin’s cousin is worse than nothing. You can ask Shen Lin’s three cousins in this village when they have acted like brothers. Well, Grandma Shen, I won’t say anything to you. I’m busy pulling corn with the ox cart. This ox cart is rented and has to be returned at night. If I dawdle for a while, I will pull one less trip, which is a big loss.”
After Yang Wu finished speaking, he drove the ox cart away, ignoring the resentful looks from Old Woman Shen and Old Man Shen behind him.
Yang Wu said this on the grain field, and the whole village knew that Yang Wu and Shen Lin had a good relationship. Shen Lin used to be a lonely person, but after he became friends with Yang Wu, he became powerful. No matter how poor Shen Lin was, others would still be a little afraid of him.
Originally, after Shen Lin pulled the corn, he could go back to the threshing ground to rub it. However, Shen Lin thought that since he didn’t give his grandparents the ox cart in the afternoon, they would definitely not let it go, so he simply hid away.
After pulling the corn, Shen Lin returned home and called Su Wan and Shen Yaya to go to the county town.
Shen Lin locked the front and back doors of his house. The yard and walls of the Shen family were covered tightly, and no one could get in after the doors were locked.
The door of Mrs Shen’s room was also locked tightly. Shen Lin also pulled the big dog at home to the door of Shen’s room, making it impossible for a thousand men to open the door.
Mrs Shen told Shen Lin and Su Wan that they didn’t need to worry about her and just go with peace of mind. After knowing Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen for so many years, although Mrs Shen had not learned how to attack, she had already learned how to protect herself and would not let herself get hurt.
This was the first time that Shen Lin avoided Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen like this. He used to be very respectful to Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen.
Shen Lin didn’t know why he thought of going to the county town.
Perhaps it was the easy money to make in the county town that Yang Wu described yesterday that aroused his curiosity.
After he pulled the corn back, he washed his face, and asked Shen Yaya and Su Wan if they wanted to go to the county town together.
Ever since his father passed away, Shen Lin would never go to the county town unless it was necessary. In his eyes, going to the county town was just a form of entertainment, and he was the least qualified to have entertainment.
His father was gone, there was no one to cultivate the family land, and there was no son to take care of his grandparents. He had to take on all of these responsibilities.
In the past two years, he has tried his best to farm, but his income is still meager.
He tried his best to honor his grandparents, and often helped them and his uncle’s family with this and that, but in the eyes of his grandparents, he was still unfilial, and his uncle’s family never called him when they had a good meal.
Shen Lin realized that the direction he was insisting on seemed to be wrong.
On the way to the county town, Shen Lin chatted with Su Wan. He said that he also wanted to be like Yang Wu and do some work in the county town in winter.
In the village, although everyone is not rich, few people go out to do small business or work.
In today’s world, among the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, except for officials, farmers have the highest status. Going out to work or do business are both menial jobs. Village people will not go out to work to please others, and will not try to take shortcuts.
Hearing that Shen Lin’s ideas had changed, Su Wan very much agreed. Su Wan remembered that in the book, Shen Lin later opened a business that resold porcelain and cloth.
Su Wan didn’t quite understand the ins and outs of it. Shen Lin was responsible for earning money, while she was responsible for taking care of the household. She didn’t know if Shen Lin would find the same ins and outs as in his previous life.
Shen Lin said to Su Wan again: “These days, you have spent too much money in my house…”
Before Shen Lin finished speaking, Su Wan said, “Brother Shen Lin, although you didn’t spend the seven taels of silver for me, your willingness to do so is already very precious.”
Shen Lin continued, “It’s not easy for you to have a few taels of silver to live on. If you keep spending it on my family, sooner or later you will have nothing left. Don’t spend it like this in the future. If you don’t agree, I will give you three acres of my family’s land in return.”
Su Wan responded with an “Oh”. Su Wan knew that Shen Lin didn’t want to owe her anything, so she agreed to it so that Shen Lin wouldn’t feel indebted.
Shen Lin, Su Wan and Shen Yaya arrived at the county town. Shen Lin took out six coins and gave them to Su Wan: “Since we are in the county town, you and Yaya should buy some snacks too. Don’t think it’s too little.”
Su Wan was not polite. She took the six cents from Shen Lin and went to the street in Qingyun County where snacks were sold with Shen Yaya.
Shen Lin went to East Street, where furniture, plates, bowls, calligraphy and paintings were sold. East Street was not far from Songshan Academy where Wang Luosheng and Duan Jingtian studied. Shen Lin had also studied here two years ago and was a classmate of Duan Jingtian and Wang Luosheng.
~~~~~ Duan Mansion, Qingyun County.
After Su Wan left the Shen family, Duan Jingtian later found out that Su Wan had fainted on the road after leaving his home and owed money to the clinic. Therefore, the Wang family severed ties with Su Wan.
Duan Jingtian was very anxious, but he felt relieved when he heard that Su Wan had been rescued. He also heard that after Su Wan was rescued, she lived next door to the Wang family.
Duan Jingtian thought that Su Wan must like Wang Luosheng very much, otherwise she would not have stayed near the Wang family after the Wang family made such a move against her.
Duan Jingtian was heartbroken, and he lost his appetite every day, but he just buried his head in studying. Su Wan didn’t want to be a mistress, a concubine, or even a servant of the Duan family. He wanted Su Wan to stay by his side, but he had no way to do it.
Moreover, even if he relied on his wealth to get Su Wan, he could not get Su Wan’s heart. He could only work hard and surpass Wang Luosheng to make Su Wan look at him favorably.
Su Wan brought Shen Yaya to the West Street where snacks were sold. In fact, Su Wan had never been to West Street properly. Since she had some free time today, she naturally wanted to take a look at the snack street more.
There are quite a lot of food to buy in this snack street, including sesame cakes, pastries, oil cakes, red bean cakes, mung bean cakes, braised pork elbows, noodles, buns and soup.
However, this is an ancient snack street after all, and there are still many things missing compared to those in the 21st century.
Su Wan was also thinking that it was winter now and the Shen family was not busy with farming, so she had to go out and earn some money.
Although the salary of thirty-seven taels earned by the Shen family was already a huge sum, it was not okay to just sit there and eat up all the money. Moreover, if she wanted to live a good life, these thirty-something taels were far from enough.
Su Wan planned to take out two taels of silver for daily expenses, and keep the remaining thirty-five taels as a deposit to be used at the critical moment.
Therefore, even though she have some money on her now, she still have to earn more. The thirty-five taels of silver cannot be touched unless it is absolutely necessary or something very important happens.
Since we can’t start big business yet, we should start with small business. Selling food is the best way to start.
