"Qingtan, are there really no corpses in the fire?"

“Miss, there really isn’t any. I’ve searched the place thoroughly these past two days, but I haven’t found any body. Even if the body was burned, there should still be bones, right? There’s no trace of a body at all.”

At this moment, Qingtan also felt a little regretful. She should have knocked this kind of person unconscious and thrown him into the fire, watched him burn to death, and then left.

She was worried about her mistress, so she quickly returned to her side.

If they don't cause trouble now, they'll cause more trouble later.

"Stop looking. I don't think he can pull any more tricks. Let's go to Chenjia Village and ask if he's gone back."

"good."

Qingtan went to Chenjia Village herself, but Chen Lang did not return. Even his parents did not know where he had gone.

Shen Danru guessed that someone might have rescued him from the fire that day.

Since there were no clues, she had no choice but to give up for the time being.

###

The Shen family has been living in a state of anxiety these past few days. Originally, Shen Dazhuang and Shen Wan were planning to visit Shen Cheng at his housewarming party to upset him and make things difficult for him.

He's just a bastard, why should he be living a better and better life?

No matter how angry the Shen family was, they couldn't possibly drive them out in front of the whole village.

They also treated their whole family to another meal, thinking it would be a waste not to eat it. They heard that the banquet would also feature their braised dishes, which were highly praised throughout Sifang Town, but unfortunately, they hadn't tried them yet.

As long as they go there and apologize to Shen Cheng first, they can be sure that Shen Cheng won't kick them out.

As for Chen, ever since her hand was chopped off in the river, she has been traumatized and is afraid of the Shen family, especially Shen Danru. She avoids them whenever she sees them and dares not approach them.

But she didn't go. Instead, she told her two sons to bring her some good food when they came back, as the family hadn't had any meat in a long time. The eighty taels of silver she earned from selling Xiaohua had also been spent on treating Shenhe's illness.

Even if she doesn't eat, her fourth son, Chenhe, is still recovering from his injuries at home. If he doesn't eat something good to nourish himself, his injuries will heal more slowly.

"Mother, don't worry, I will definitely bring more meat and vegetables when I come back, so that you and Fourth Brother can also have a good meal."

Just as Shen Dazhuang and Shen Wan led the Shen family to the door of the new house, they ran into Old Madam Jiang from the town. Young Master Jiang and Miss Jiang had come to deliver congratulatory gifts, accompanied by a group of attendants. They were so frightened that they quickly returned home.

Chen asked, "Why did you come back so quickly?"

Shen Wan took a breath and said, "Mother, don't mention it. Shen Cheng is not simple now. It seems that he has climbed up to the Jiang family in town. As soon as we arrived at the gate, we saw the Jiang family carrying two carts of congratulatory gifts. We can't afford to offend those people."

"Isn't that perfect? ​​Let those important people see their true colors, and maybe they'll stop paying attention to them."

Shen Wan said, "Mother, you were in the wrong first. We are not in the right. If the important people find out and want to avenge them, we will be the ones who suffer."

Upon hearing this, Chen realized it made sense and shut up.

But Shen Wan felt uneasy. Not long after, he inquired with the villagers he was on good terms with and learned that Shen Cheng was actually the relative that Old Madam Jiang had been searching for for many years. However, no one in the village knew exactly who the relative was.

"Mother, Mother, something terrible has happened! Second Brother, no, that Shen Cheng is a relative of the Jiang family! We're in deep trouble now!"

"Impossible. If he is a relative of Old Madam Jiang, why did he beg me for food when he saw me? Why didn't that woman take the child and go directly to find her relatives?"

"I don't know. Let me inquire about it further. Maybe they made a mistake."

After it was confirmed that Shen Cheng was indeed the relative the Jiang family was looking for, Madam Chen was terrified and lived in constant fear that the Jiang family would settle scores with her later.

"Dazhuang, hurry to the town academy to find Shuer and make him study hard. He must pass the imperial examination this autumn."

Presumably, if Shu'er passes the imperial examination and becomes a scholar, the Jiang family will give him some face.

Chen and Shen Dazhuang had the same idea. Chen also wanted to go to town to see Yushu, tell him what had happened at home, and see if he could help. After all, many of his classmates were from powerful families in Sifang Town, and the Jiang family would probably give him some face.

###

What Shen Cheng didn't expect was that his original surname was also Shen, and that his father was the famous General Shen Shi.

This made him feel inferior. Sometimes he wondered if he, a mere country farmer, would disgrace his father, or if his father would not want to acknowledge him.

Seeing that her father had lost his appetite and hadn't been eating or drinking for the past two days, Shen Danru immediately understood what was on his mind and advised him:

“Father, even if you achieve nothing, Grandfather will not blame you. He will be too happy to care for you, how could he possibly despise you?”

Seeing that her father still looked worried, she thought for a moment and said:

“Father, there are also achievements in farming. I read about methods for improving wasteland in a book. Just wait for me to make a series of plans, and I will make sure you achieve great things before you see Grandfather, so that Grandfather can be proud of you.”

Shen Cheng stared wide-eyed in disbelief and asked, "Ru'er, you really aren't lying to your father? Do you really have a way to improve the wasteland?"

He nodded deeply.

Shen Cheng still couldn't believe it. Improving wasteland was no easy feat. Even if he had seen the methods in books, putting them into practice would definitely be much more difficult. Otherwise, someone would have already done it.

Sifang Town is close to the river, and there is a lot of wasteland, saline-alkali land and sandy land nearby. As a result, the grain produced in the town is not enough to eat every year. Fortunately, a small dock was built in the town, and many families with little land and many people went to the dock to carry heavy loads.

Because there were many workers carrying heavy loads, the price was very low, which is why Shen Yu'an couldn't earn much money carrying loads at the dock at that time.

If Ru'er can truly succeed in improving the saline-alkali land, it would be a great thing for the country and its people.

The father and daughter were discussing methods to improve wasteland and how much land to buy when guests arrived.

"Miss, the shop owners from the town who used to run the business are here. They want to continue ordering our braised meat. Shall we meet them?"

"Get rid of them."

Shen Danru was somewhat indignant. At the time, these people were afraid of the thugs in town, and they said they didn't want the braised food, almost causing her to lose it.

If she hadn't treated the whole village to a feast, the meat would have gone bad.

But then she thought, "It would be a fool not to make money," and she couldn't turn down money.

"Wait, Qingtan, please come in."

"yes."

A moment later, more than a dozen people entered the house with smiles on their faces, carrying things in their hands. Among them were two women, presumably the proprietresses.

"Mr. Shen, you didn't even inform me about your housewarming banquet a couple of days ago. We would have liked to come and join in the fun. We've brought a small gift, and we hope you won't find it offensive."

Someone took the lead, and the other shop owners, as if they were all shrewd, chimed in, "Yes, Mr. Shen, this is what we prepared in our shop. You must accept it."

"It's a small gift but a big token of our appreciation. We hope Mr. Shen will accept it."

"Yeah yeah."

...

Shen Danru looked up at them, and that glance made them feel a little uneasy.