CHAPTER 46
Shen Lin worked very efficiently and quickly got the stove lit.
Su Wan and Shen Yaya used a wet cloth to wipe the dust off the furniture in the house. After being away for so many days, a layer of dust had accumulated on the furniture.
After Shen Lin lit the stove, he took the vegetables and meat he had bought when passing through Qingyun County to the kitchen. He first filled a vat with water, then cut the meat into slices and washed and cut the vegetables.
When they were in Qingzhou Prefecture, the owner of Xiankelai treated Shen Lin and Su Wan to a hotpot meal. In Qingyun County and Qingshi Village, there was no such food as hotpot.
Winter is a good time to eat hotpot. After eating it, your whole body will feel warm, a thin layer of sweat will appear on your forehead, and you will feel comfortable all over.
When passing by Qingyun County, Su Wan asked Shen Lin, Shen Yaya, and Mrs. Shen if they wanted to eat hotpot in the evening. Shen Yaya was naturally very eager to eat it. She could now remember the delicious taste of the hotpot she had in Qingzhou Prefecture.
Shen Yaya was a little confused. “But there are no pots for sale in Qingyun County, and we don’t have a pot for making hotpots at home.”
Su Wan said, “You don’t have to use that kind of pot to eat. What’s important about food is the seasoning and ingredients. It doesn’t matter what kind of pot you use.”
Shen Lin told Su Wan that it was too cold outside and told her that he could go downstairs to buy whatever she needed. Su Wan and Shen Yaya just had to wait in the car.
Just as Su Wan was about to give money to Shen Lin, Shen Lin had already gotten out of the car and gone to the stall selling vegetables and meat.
Shen Lin originally intended to spend all his family wealth to take Mrs. Shen to see a doctor, but he never expected that the treatment only cost ninety cents. Shen Lin still had some spare money, so naturally he didn’t want to use Su Wan’s.
Shen Lin got out of the car for a short while and bought all the ingredients.
At present, Shen Lin has already packed all the ingredients.
Su Wan took out the Shen family’s small pot and placed it on the stove, then used several seasonings and Chinese medicine to make a clear soup. In this dynasty, there is spicy soup, but Su Wan considered Mrs. Shen’s health and made a pot of clear soup. The Shen family also had the bone soup base that Su Wan had prepared before. In order to facilitate preservation, Su Wan added a lot of salt to it. Now that it was added to the pot, there was no need to add salt, and the taste was just salty and sweet.
While preparing the soup, Su Wan asked Shen Lin to create a hole in the middle of an unused broken table at home that was slightly larger than the stove.
Shen Lin immediately understood Su Wan’s intention, and then he sawed a hole in the table in the warehouse according to Su Wan’s request. Then Shen Lin put the table above the stove. In this way, he had a pot in the middle.
Shen Lin took a few stools and placed them in front of the makeshift hot pot table, while Su Wan brought the vegetables and cut meat that Shen Lin had washed to the table.
Su Wan also prepared the dipping sauce for the hot pot, so the Shen family and Su Wan happily gathered around the pot and started eating.
Su Wan originally planned to do Malatang business in the county town. If she wanted to do Malatang, she had to solve the problem of stoves, pots, tables, chairs, and benches. At this time, this simple hot pot table gave Su Wan inspiration.
Originally, she had thought about finding a carpenter and a blacksmith to make a few special tables, but now it seems that waste can be fully utilized.
It is a simple matter to collect some waste tables and stoves, as those have low prices, and it doesn’t cost much at all.
Although Su Wan has a lot of money on hand now, she doesn’t want to squander it. She wants to buy a house and land in the county town in the future. If necessary, she also wants to support Shen Lin in doing business. This little money cannot be squandered.
The pot was bubbling and emitting steam. The soup and sauce prepared by Su Wan were very delicious. Mrs. Shen and Shen Yaya ate a little more than usual and kept sweating all over.
Su Wan also took out the sour plum soup she bought in the county town. She had deliberately put some of it outside to cool, and the rest was warmed by the stove. She poured the iced one for her and Shen Lin to drink, and poured the warm one for Shen Shi and Shen Yaya to drink.
Eating the hotpot and drinking the sweet and sour plum soup makes people feel comfortable and happy.
While eating, Su Wan told Shen Lin that she wanted to go to Qingyun County to do food business. However, Shen Lin told Su Wan that he had decided to join the ship as a seaman in a few days, so Su Wan didn’t need to work so hard.
Su Wan is a girl after all, and the weather is getting colder day by day. Why should Su Wan go out and suffer that hardship?
Su Wan still insisted on going, and she told Shen Lin that her hobby was to make money. Shen Lin didn’t say anything.
After finishing their meal, Shen Lin and Su Wan went to the kitchen to clean up the dishes. Shen Lin then told Su Wan that the reason he wanted to go out to sea was that he couldn’t bear to see Su Wan working so hard.
He wanted to go to sea, not only because he wanted his mother and sister to live a good life, but also because he didn’t want Su Wan to suffer so much.
Su Wan said as she wiped the stove, “But what kind of identity would Big Brother Shen have to use to not want me to work so hard? Big Brother Shen and I are not related at all.”
Shen Lin stopped washing the dishes. In the dim light of the stove, he looked at Su Wan and said, “Su Wan, if I can earn some money and come back safely from this voyage, let’s get engaged.”
Su Wan was stunned for a moment, a little surprised. These days, Shen Lin had always treated her politely and never showed any love for her. Many times, Su Wan suspected that Shen Lin only treated her as a sister and did not like her. Su Wan was also very worried in her heart.
Though in the eyes of the people in Qingshi Village, Shen Lin and Su Wan have had an inseparable and complicated relationship since the day Shen Lin went to Qingyun County to pick up Su Wan. In the eyes of the people in Qingyun County, the reason why Shen Lin went to pick up Su Wan was because he was too poor and no girl wanted to marry him. Naturally, he went to pick up Su Wan with the intention of finding a wife.
However, in Shen Lin and Su Wan’s daily interactions, neither of them ever mentioned this.
Su Wan came to the Shen family to marry Shen Lin. After listening to Shen Lin’s words about engagement, Su Wan said, “Since you said you wanted to get engaged, why did you want to wait for you to come back from the sea? You might make a lot of money and deny what you said.”
What Su Wan said was true. According to the information Shen Lin had heard, one could earn thirty or forty taels of silver for a trip to the sea, but that was just the wages. Many sailors would go out to sea to buy some rare food items from the southern countries and then sell them back in their own country. Many of them made a lot of money. However, in this business, some made a lot of money and some made less, and of course there were also unlucky people who lost money.
Shen Lin lowered his head and continued to wash the bowl in his hands. “I am penniless now. I either need to make a lot of money or build a successful career. Otherwise, how can I be worthy of you?”
Su Wan knew what was in Shen Lin’s mind, so she just said, “After you go out to sea, it’s inevitable that you won’t be back for a month or two. During this time, it’s inevitable that Wang Luosheng will come to bother me. I guess without me working for the Wang family, the Wang family would have collapsed long ago. Who knows, they might even bring up the child bride issue. How can a girl like me resist? If I’m already engaged, the Wang family won’t be able to stir up trouble no matter how much they want to.”
After listening to Su Wan’s words, Shen Lin washed the dishes while thinking. After washing the dishes, Shen Lin went straight to Mrs. Shen’s room and discussed with Mrs. Shen until late at night.
In the middle, Shen Yaya’s happy voice came from the main room.
After Su Wan finished her work, she went straight back to her room. Today, Shen Lin told her about the engagement, which was also what Su Wan hoped for. If the marriage with Shen Lin could be settled, or if they could get married earlier, the two of them could fight side by side earlier.
The next morning, Su Wan got up and made breakfast. Everything was normal.
After finishing the meal, Mrs. Shen called Su Wan over, and Shen Lin left the house.
Mrs. Shen said to Su Wan, “Wan Wan, I have something to tell you today. You are the best girl in Qingshi Village and even in Qingyun County. You should be married to a rich or noble family. However, I really like you so much that I am shameless enough to propose marriage to you for my Lin’er.”
In fact, from the day Su Wan moved into the Shen family, there had been numerous connections between Su Wan and Shen Lin. At that time, in the eyes of others, the two were already engaged, but Mrs. Shen did not neglect Su Wan or ignore etiquette because of this.
Mrs. Shen said again, “You are a girl who has the ability to make money. The wealth of our Shen family is nothing compared to what you have earned. These are the house deeds and land deeds of our Shen family. We have nothing to offer. Now we are using these to propose to you.”
As Mrs. Shen said this, she handed a few pieces of paper covered with words to Su Wan. This was all the Shen family’s belongings.
In this world, no family would spend all their belongings to propose to a girl.
Yesterday, Shen Lin told Mrs. Shen that he wanted to get engaged to Su Wan. In fact, Mrs. Shen had been thinking about this for a long time, but she was sick at that time and felt that she was a burden and could not help the children. Now, Mrs. Shen can clearly feel that her legs and body are getting better day by day, so she has the confidence to say this to Su Wan.
Su Wan nodded and said to Mrs. Shen, “Aunt, I am willing, but the house deed and land deed… You take it back; I don’t need it.”
Su Wan pushed the house deed and land deed back. Mrs. Shen was delighted and pushed them back again. “Our family is poor now, but we must have the proper etiquette.”
Mrs. Shen and Su Wan talked for a while in the house. Mrs. Shen handed the house deeds and land deeds of the Shen family to Su Wan. Su Wan didn’t want to accept them at first, but then she thought that if she accepted the house deeds and land deeds, they would be her property.
Even if I marry Shen Lin in the future, this will be my property and have nothing to do with the Shen family.
In this way, these things naturally have nothing to do with Shen Lin’s grandparents and Shen Lin’s uncle. In this way, Old Man Shen and Old Woman Shen will never be able to plunder Shen Lin again. After all, all of Shen Lin’s fortune belongs to them.
Su Wan also openly told Mrs. Shen about her thoughts. Mrs. Shen smiled and nodded at Su Wan. She gave all these things to Su Wan, and there was actually this meaning in it. These days of getting along, Mrs. Shen was very relieved and trusted Su Wan.
Su Wan agreed to this marriage. Since Su Wan had no parents, she could make all the decisions on the matter.
Shen Lin entered the house, wrote an engagement letter, and wrote the house deed and land deed on the betrothal gift list and gave it to Su Wan.
The two of them wrote down their own birth dates and exchanged them, which officially confirmed their engagement.
T/N:- I have completed the translation of this novel. If you want to read all the chapters in one go, you can purchase them on my Ko-fi shop (as some of my readers were asking if i had advance chapter thing). Those who want to read it all at once can unlock them. And for those who do not want to purchase, you all can read it for free on this site, but i wont be posting all the chapters at once. They will be posted 4-6 parts per week i.e ( 3 chapters per week )
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