Chapter 33 She really isn't old at all.
When the two came downstairs, Shen Qing was sitting at the door reading a book. Zhuang Meiying brought out two bowls of cassava syrup from the kitchen, one for her daughter and the other for Bai Zhenzhen.
Shen Qing put down her book, scooped up a piece of the boiled, sticky cassava and put it in her mouth. She smiled and said to Bai Zhenzhen, "Second sister-in-law, you should try this. My mom's sweet soup is the best."
"These are all from our own land. Why don't you try them and see if you like them?" Zhuang Meiying was always worried that the things from her hometown weren't presentable enough. It wasn't until she saw Bai Zhenzhen scoop a spoonful of sugar water and put it to her lips that she slowly smiled.
After tasting it, Bai Zhenzhen thought it was indeed good, "Sweet but not cloying, delicious."
Zhuang Meiying immediately smiled and replied, "Then drink more, there's still some in the pot."
After saying that, I remembered it was almost dinner time, so I told her not to drink too much. We still have a lot of cassava from our own garden, and I'll cook it for her tomorrow if she likes it.
When Shen Huai'an brought Shen Qing back this time, he did not tell his family the reason directly. Zhuang Meiying and Uncle Shen both thought that she was coming back on a normal weekend holiday.
This was Shen Qing's own request. She didn't actually care about the rumors; it was just that the school was worried about the negative impact and specifically asked her to avoid the situation. She felt that she hadn't been affected much, so she didn't want her parents to worry anymore.
Uncle Shen and Zhuang Meiying are both honest and hardworking farmers who have hardly ever left the village in their lives. Letting them know would only cause them more trouble, so it's better to just let them be happy.
That evening, Zhuang Meiying prepared a sumptuous dinner. Uncle Shen had specially caught fish from the pond and made chopped chili fish head and tofu fish soup. There were also free-range chickens raised by Shen's eldest brother in the orchard on the mountain. Whether boiled or stir-fried, they were all very delicious.
My older brother and sister-in-law have been married for over six years. They have a son and a daughter. Their son is over five years old, and their daughter is just over one year old and has only recently learned to walk.
My eldest son's nickname is Xuxu. He was so happy to receive snacks from my beautiful second aunt this morning that he kept circling around her. He even ran outside to pick a bunch of wildflowers for her. He's quite the little rascal at such a young age.
After dinner, Zhuang Meiying used dried mugwort to fumigate the yard. The family sat on the dam listening to the radio and chatting, with several fresh pomelos on the table.
Uncle Shen and Brother Shen didn't talk much. They didn't know how to communicate with Bai Zhenzhen, so they just sat there and listened. It was mainly Sister-in-law and Zhuang Meiying who were talking, with Shen Qing occasionally interjecting.
Shen Huai'an didn't say much. He picked up a pomelo and started peeling it. He gave some of the peeled pomelo flesh to Bai Zhenzhen and some to his younger sister.
As Shen Qing ate the pomelo that her second brother had peeled, she said, "My mom said that this pomelo tree is the same age as my second brother. It has been growing for a long time, so it tastes especially sweet."
Upon hearing this, Bai Zhenzhen tasted another piece of pomelo, glanced at the man beside her with a smile, and added, "No wonder it's an old tree that's almost thirty years old; the pomelos it produces are indeed sweet."
The emphasis of her statement was on the word "old." Bai Zhenzhen was twenty-three years old this year, while Shen Huai'an was four years older than her, already twenty-seven, and indeed approaching thirty.
Shen Huai'an understood what she meant, but didn't react much. He raised an eyebrow slightly and placed a peeled pomelo in her hand, saying, "Eat more if you like it. It's not a waste of this old tree to have you like it."
"..." I wonder if it was a tree or a person who grew up in vain.
Shen Qing, standing to the side, didn't catch the underlying tension in their conversation. She only noticed how close her second brother and sister-in-law were, and how much gentler her second brother spoke in front of his sister-in-law.
“Zhenzhen, you like pomelos, so let Dazhi go pick some more tomorrow. Take a lot with you when you go back; there are plenty on the trees at home.” Hearing this, the sister-in-law, who was holding her daughter, immediately made the arrangements.
Zhuang Meiying added, "We have not only pomelos at home, but also bananas, mangoes, and papayas. In the summer, I also dried longans and lychees. Take some with you when you leave."
Her mother-in-law and sister-in-law were so hospitable that Bai Zhenzhen didn't have time to argue with Shen Huai'an. She quickly said, "No need. Let's keep the fruit at home to sell for money."
On the way back, Shen Qing told her a lot about her family. Zhuang Meiying and Uncle Shen relied on their land and orchards on the mountain to make money all year round. In the past two years, Brother Shen has also gradually made money by raising chickens in the orchard. Overall, the Shen family's conditions are indeed not comparable to the Bai family's, but they are still quite good in the village.
The Shen family members were not the kind of people who were unambitious and only wanted to leech off Shen Huai'an, who was successful and able to settle down in the city. On the contrary, in order not to be a burden to him, they were all working hard to earn money and wanted to work together to make their family better.
Therefore, Bai Zhenzhen didn't want them to prepare too much. These things weren't difficult for her, but they were a source of income for the Shen family.
Sister-in-law Shen is straightforward and speaks her mind directly: "Every family in the village has fruit trees. Who would buy these things? They're worthless. It's better for you to take them and eat them than for them to rot in the ground."
Only after she finished speaking did she realize that what she said was a bit harsh. She was stunned, holding her sleeping daughter in her arms, and wanted to explain but didn't know how to say it.
Having spent a long time with her eldest daughter-in-law, Zhuang Meiying knew what she was thinking, so she chimed in, "Take some with you to eat in the city, so you won't have to spend money to buy it."
Bai Zhenzhen didn't seem to mind what Sister-in-law Shen said, but asked with some confusion, "If no one in the countryside buys them, why not sell them in the city?"
Although she was taken care of by Aunt Wang and didn't know much about the prices in Pengcheng, she knew that the fruits from the Shen family were quite good in both appearance and taste, and that someone in the city would definitely buy them.
At this moment, Brother Shen scratched his head and said, "It's too troublesome to go from the countryside to the city. The roads are bad and cars can't pass when it rains. Buyers in the city don't like to come here. It's not easy for us to carry our things to the city. We don't even earn enough to cover the round-trip fare."
In fact, last year, Shen Huai'an had mentioned to his family that they could help him buy a four-wheeled truck. However, his second uncle refused, saying that the mountain roads were difficult to navigate and the truck would not be of much use, and he didn't want Shen to waste his money.
They also want to sell their fruit in the city, but they don't have the means.
The orchard on Shenjia Mountain has hundreds of fruit trees, including longan and lychee. Every year after the fruit trees bear fruit and ripen, the village cadres have to contact buyers from outside to pick them up. When the weather is good, everything goes smoothly. But if the weather is bad, the buyers' trucks can't get in, and manual transport is too slow, so the fruit just rots on the trees, and basically a year's work is wasted.
Because of this, many people in the village cut down the fruit trees on the mountain. The lower slopes were converted into terraced fields for crops, while the higher slopes, where there was no other option, were planted with ordinary trees, which would be cut into firewood once they grew.
Ultimately, the most important thing is the road. If the road is bad, the fruit you grow won't sell, and it's all for nothing.
If Bai Zhenzhen could think of these things, the village cadres could naturally think of them too. They also wanted to repair the road, but the village itself didn't have the money to do so, and they didn't know when the national policy would be implemented, so they were stuck in a dead end.
However, this amount of money is nothing to Bai Zhenzhen. She usually spends thousands of yuan on a new dress, and any necklace in her walk-in closet is worth several thousand yuan. Repairing a road is a simple matter for her.
Before coming, she thought that if the Shen family didn't like her, she would be willing to spend money to improve her relationship with the Shen Huai'an family. Unexpectedly, she received a warm welcome without doing anything. This made Bai Zhenzhen happy and she wanted to do something for them.
Bai Chuxiong had always told her not to assume that others should treat her well just because her family was rich. Bai Zhenzhen hadn't really listened to him before, but now she was trying to change slowly.
She planned to help the Shen family build a road out of the mountains. Moreover, once the road was built, it would not only help the Shen family. Bai Zhenzhen felt that this could be considered doing a good deed, and she hoped that the merit she accumulated would be returned to her father.
The family sat in the courtyard. Villagers from the same village passed by the door from time to time. When they saw the car parked on the dam in front of the Shen family's house, they would come over to ask. They were even more curious to see Shen Huai'an returning with his wife from the city. Before long, a lot of people came to the door to watch the excitement.
After washing up in the evening, Bai Zhenzhen returned to her room and told Shen Huai'an about her thoughts.
“Building roads is a good thing that benefits the village, of course I support you, but can I hear your reasons for suddenly wanting to build roads?” Shen Huai’an stepped forward and hugged her, vaguely guessing what was going on. He felt quite complicated and wanted to hear her say it herself.
Bai Zhenzhen sat on his lap and swung her legs, saying casually, "Once the road is repaired, your fruit will be able to be sold in the city. Also, I don't want to walk uphill next time I come back."
She didn't say anything like "it's all for you and your family," but Shen Huai'an felt his heart melt completely after hearing it.
"Hey, don't just listen to me and that's it. I only want to pay money, I don't want to ask this person or that person. Why don't you do these trivial things for me?" Bai Zhenzhen told him this so that he could help her run errands. She wanted to do good deeds, not cause trouble for herself.
Although I could ask someone to help me make the contact when I get back, why not use the people who are already there?
“Okay, leave all of this to me,” Shen Huai’an agreed, gently squeezing her waist with his large hand, then looking up at her and suddenly asking, “Zhenzhen, do you think I’m old?”
Bai Zhenzhen's waist went limp from his grip, but she still retorted, "When did I say you were old?"
“I’m four years older than you, I’m definitely getting old,” he said, but his hand on her waist gradually moved upwards. Shen Huai’an lowered his head slightly, his black hair obscuring his eyes and brows. He sighed softly, “I don’t have any particular hobbies. Will Zhenzhen find it boring to be with me, that we have nothing to talk about?”
"Hmm, how, how could this be..." Bai Zhenzhen's eyes darted around for a moment, and the hand on his shoulder tightened slightly.
She used to think that Shen Huai'an was cold and dull, and that the two of them couldn't get along at all. But now that they've actually spent time together, she realizes what his true nature is.
In this situation, she had no mind to think about whether he was bored or not, and as for whether they had anything to say, Shen Huai'an didn't give her a chance to speak.
The night outside was cool, and the sounds of insects chirping and birds singing filled the fields and treetops. Finally, with red eyes, Bai Zhenzhen sincerely admitted it.
Shen Huai'an is not old; he is not old at all.
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