When Second Aunt Lian came home from work in the evening, Lian Rong would recount to her what had happened during the day in vivid detail. Looking at Wang's eyes, which were swollen like walnuts, but still staring at the second wife like a black-eyed chicken, he felt even more annoyed. He wanted to find Old Lady Lian to clarify things, but she was very impatient and her face looked gloomy. Aunt Lian had no choice but to go back to her room and whisper in her husband's ear.
"Look at your eldest sister-in-law, what she does. She just can't stand seeing our family doing well." Second Aunt Lian looked at her husband's face and said gently, "We are all family, and we all have the surname Lian. It's not impossible for us to help your eldest brother."
Fearing that her husband would ask her to move out of the first wife's house, Second Aunt Lian said, "But that's not the way it is! You have to beg someone in a proper way, right? If she had lowered her head and said a few soft words to me, and compensated me for the handkerchief she had thrown into the pigsty before, I would have tried my best to let bygones be bygones, and at least take care of the children in the first wife's house. But what did she do? We owe her something? She even holds a grudge against me even though we didn't help her! She went to Ou'er's room to steal things. This was Ou'er's work, but Qing'er did it herself. If it was the noble's work - you know, Qing'er has repeatedly warned that no one is allowed to steal a sweet potato or a fingernail of meat from the workshop, otherwise they will be driven out and never hired again. The noble's biggest taboo is that the people who do the work are not clean. Isn't she trying to make our Ou'er lose his job?"
Lian Lao Er lay on the kang with his back facing up, not saying a word. He is an honest man, and Lian Shi takes after his temperament, while Lian Rong is like Second Aunt Lian, lively, aggressive and talkative. But this honest guy has been feeling uneasy lately.
The situation of their family is different from that of old Shen's family. Old Man Shen and Old Lady Shen were biased from the beginning, but the Lian family was not like this at the beginning. The two brothers had the same parents, and just as their parents married a girl for the eldest brother, they also married a girl for him. This is what should be done, but compared with other families in the village, especially the Shen family, the second child is particularly grateful to his parents and feels that his parents treat him very well.
Although the Lian family relied more on the eldest son in the past, they did not treat him unfairly in other matters. Even though Lian Bao usually eats and wears much better than Lian Rong and Lian Qiao, who can blame him for being a boy? Lian Shi also ate well when he was a child. His parents did not favor the eldest son over the eldest daughter, but treated all the younger sons equally. Wang was able to give birth to two boys, but their second branch didn't, so what else is there to say.
In the final analysis, it may be that there was no one with outstanding achievements in the two rooms before, and everyone's abilities and living standards have always been similar, and there is nothing to rely on. How come now that his family is wealthy and can earn money, his parents have changed?
Lian Lao Er didn't want to face the fact that his parents were partial to him, so he could only blame everything on Wang. Even as Second Aunt Lian was still nagging him about the grievances the children had suffered, Second Lian rolled over and said in a muffled voice, "So what? Even if she is a bad woman, she has lived with my eldest brother for so many years and has given birth to so many children. Now we are all grandparents, can we still let mother divorce her and let my eldest brother marry another wife? Just bear with it, and go back to the county to buy some big locks, and lock the doors and windows when no one is in the house, just to keep away from her."
Hearing that her husband also had many opinions about Wang, Second Aunt Lian was somewhat happy. She bravely said, "I don't want your elder brother to divorce his wife. The couple may have a very good relationship. I would be the bad guy who ruins their relationship. I am just thinking... can we separate the family?"
"What?!" Lian Lao Er almost jumped up from the kang, his tone was very unfriendly.
"Let's live with our parents! Don't give all the money and houses to the first wife, and don't let the first wife support our parents in the future!" Second Aunt Lian quickly told her the plan she had been thinking about for a long time. She knew that she couldn't get rid of the eldest wife's family without spending a lot of money. But she would rather give up these small profits than be sucked dry by the first wife for the rest of her life!
After hearing her say this, the second brother calmed down a little, but still frowned and said, "No matter what, we can't split up. People in the village split up families only when the elderly die. If we say we want to split up now, wouldn't that mean our parents... No, this won't work. If we tell anyone about this, the villagers will break our spines."
Aunt Lian was a little disappointed, but it was also expected. She knew that dividing the family property was not a trivial matter and it would be difficult to convince her husband with just a few words, so she was not discouraged by being rejected this time. At least the second brother's reaction was not very strong. He was probably moved but still concerned about filial piety and the rules of the village. After thinking for a while, she said, "We can talk about the division of the family later, but we can't continue like this. We are children, there is nothing to say. I love the child I gave birth to... Ou'er is about to get married, and the money he earns from Qing'er, no matter how much, should be kept for him as a dowry in the future."
This means that even the money earned from the lotus root will not be given to the public. Their second wife is going to start saving for her own money!
Lian Lao Er struggled internally, but finally nodded: "That's it... How much money can Ou Ge'er, a little boy, make? There's no need to tell mother about this."
Seeing that he agreed, Second Aunt Lian happily agreed. First choose Ou Ge'er, and then slowly choose Lian Shi, Yu Ge'er and other grandchildren. Once they can save up some private money and don't hand it over to the public treasury, except that they still live in the same courtyard, it will not be much different from dividing the family. "Then I'll go to the county town in a couple of days to buy some big locks."
If you have saved money at home, you will need the lock even more!
The next day, Second Aunt Lian went to Old Lady Lian to ask for money to buy a lock. Because Wang went to Lian Ou's room to steal things the day before, the old lady Lian gave the money despite being extremely reluctant. When the heavy lock was hung on the door of the west wing and a small lock was hung on the window, Wang almost bit her teeth off. Wasn't this a slap in her face?
She went to see Old Lady Lian with a whimper, but was scolded in return. Now Old Lady Lian was extremely annoyed with her. Many things in the family were caused by Wang's jealousy. If this continued, the second branch would be alienated!
The old lady secretly hated herself in her heart, wondering how she could have been so blind to marry such a troublemaker! But then she thought that the person she really liked was Shen Lingzhi, and she could only sigh deeply for a long while.
After more than a month of recuperation, Shen Zhigao's injuries were finally mostly healed. Fortunately, he was not hit in the vital parts, only his hamstring was pierced. Now his left leg is a little out of control, and he can barely walk with the help of a wooden stick.
Over the past month, the Shen family has had a very difficult time! Shen Zhiwei died, Zhao Aiye was married to the other side of the mountain by her parents' family, and Old Man Shen became paralyzed. Li Jiaofeng's mind is on her children every day, and she only takes care of him when she has time. Mrs. Shen had to serve Old Man Shen and also deal with Shen Zhuang who was looking for trouble from time to time. The family's land has long been barren due to lack of care, with grass growing in clumps. It's unclear where to find food for the next season.
As soon as Shen Zhigao was able to get out of bed, his mother urged him to go to the county town: "Go and ask your eldest sister to come back and help for a few days. My old arms and legs really can't bear it anymore." There was no one in the family who could work like a slave, and she finally became a real slave. Although Li Jiaofeng was still there, firstly, Li Jiaofeng didn't listen to her, and secondly, how could a daughter-in-law serve her father-in-law closely? She has to do the dirty and tiring work! "Ask your eldest sister to bring some more money. Our family is running out of food."
Shen Zhigao said sullenly: “Last time Qiangzi was sick, he borrowed money from his elder sister, and his elder sister said she had no money…” If Shen Lingzhi hadn’t refused to pay, they wouldn’t have sold Shen Xiaojuan, and there wouldn’t have been a lot of things later. Thinking about it now, Shen Zhiwei still has a little resentment towards Shen Lingzhi.
"How can they be the same? Qiangzi is just her nephew, and this is her biological father!" Mrs. Shen yelled. When Shen Zhigao heard this, he thought it made some sense, so he asked Li Jiaofeng to borrow a car from the village chief's house and head to the county town - his current legs and feet couldn't walk to the county town!
However, when they arrived at the county town and found Shen Lingzhi's home, they knocked on the door for a long time but no one opened it. At first, Shen Zhigao thought that Shen Lingzhi wanted to avoid him, but as time went on, he could not hear any sound from inside even when he put his ear to the door, and he gradually became panicked. After hesitating for a moment, he knocked on the door next door.
"You mean the home of old man Wang at the back?" Wang is the surname of Shen Lingzhi's husband. Shen Zhigao nodded repeatedly: "Excuse me, are their family members out? When will they be back?"
The neighbor looked at Shen Zhigao and said, "He won't be back."
Shen Zhigao was confused: "Why didn't they come back? Where did they go?"
"Who are you to his family?" The neighbor questioned Shen Zhigao and learned that he was Shen Lingzhi's younger brother who came to seek refuge with his sister - if he said he came to seek refuge, who couldn't see that he was here to beg for money? The neighbor's eyes showed a trace of contempt, but he still said patiently: "Old man Wang passed away at the beginning of the month, and his wife sold this yard and moved away with their three children. We don't know where they moved to."
Shen Zhigao was in a daze for a long time before he recalled that when he asked Shen Lingzhi to borrow money but was rejected, Shen Lingzhi complained to him that her husband was sick and all the money was spent on medicine, so she really had no money to lend to them.
But how could he take Shen Lingzhi’s affairs to heart? He only wanted to squeeze the last drop of blood from this sister, and only wanted to get into Shen Lingzhi's pocket to take out the last penny!
But now Shen Lingzhi just ran away! His family has run out of rice and grain, can't borrow money, and can't find Shen Lingzhi to go back to work. What should their family do!
From afar, Shen Qing at the entrance of the alley watched Shen Zhigao squatting in front of the courtyard gate and crying loudly, pounding on the door from time to time, looking very unwilling. The neighbors were frightened by his appearance and went back to their homes and closed the door tightly.
Shen Qing didn't expect to meet Shen Zhigao here. After that night, he never saw the Shen family again. At this moment, Shen Qing tilted his head and whispered to the man with the golden teeth: "Forget it, I won't look at this house anymore."
The man with the gold tooth was also puzzled: "Where did a madman come from to block the door?"
Shen Qing didn't say that he knew Shen Zhigao. He even just found out that this house actually belonged to Shen Lingzhi. The man with the golden tooth just told him that he had recently acquired a small courtyard at a very good price, and it had a particularly good omen: the boy in the family had passed the imperial examination and became a student at a very young age. Although the old man had died, his mother planned to sell the yard and move him to a place near the academy in the city to study. He should learn well for a few years, hoping that he could pass the imperial examination and become a scholar after he was done with filial piety.
Many people are asking about this house. Although it is just a small courtyard, who wouldn’t want to have a taste of the bookish atmosphere? Being a Tongsheng is considered good in Anping County. If I lived in this house, I would be able to have a Tongsheng myself...
Shen Qing was happy to hear that the children of this aunt whom he had never met were promising. He hated and loathed the Shen family, but not Shen Lingzhi, whom he had never met. Shen Lingzhi, like him, was a victim of the old Shen family.
But he didn't buy the house. If Shen Zhigao came to his door and made a scene again, and found out that he was the one who bought the house, it would be another trouble.
However, because of Shen Lingzhi, Shen Qing remembered something and asked the Jin Ya Ren, "Does Brother Jin know any other Ya Ren in this city?"
The alarm bells in the Jin Ya people's hearts rang loudly. What does this mean? Does Mr. Shen think that his business is not comprehensive enough and wants to contact a few more people? But when Shen Qing asked him about it, he still answered modestly: "I can't say I know them well. Some of them I'm not very close to, but there are some in the city that I know and recognize."
Colleagues are enemies, and enemies are also acquaintances.
Shen Qing thought for a moment and described it from memory: "It was a woman, about 40 years old. There was a black mole as big as a soybean on the lower right side of her lip. She was followed by a few young men as her henchmen."
The person with the golden teeth really knew this person: “It sounds like Aunt Cheng from the south of the city, how come Mr. Shen knows her?”
Shen Qing shook his head: “She went to Lantang Village not long ago and bought a little girl named Shen Xiaojuan.”
Your surname is Shen, so does that mean you are related to Master Shen? The man with the golden teeth looked at Shen Qing's face and said kindly, "Do you want me to help you find that little girl?"
"No need." Shen Qing flatly refused. After hesitating for a while, he took out a small piece of silver from his arms and handed it to the man with the golden teeth, saying, "If you can talk to that Aunt Cheng, please tell her not to sell the girl to a dirty place. As for the rest, it doesn't matter."
The man with the gold tooth pushed the small piece of silver back and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Shen. Aunt Cheng is quite particular about what she does. The girls she buys are either sold to wealthy families as maids, or sold to poor people as wives, or given to middle-class families as concubines. She never works as a prostitute in a brothel."
Only then did Shen Qing breathe a sigh of relief. Shen Xiaojuan used to be quite hateful, but after all, she was just a little girl, not even ten years old. No matter how bad one's behavior is, it is limited and is also influenced by one's parents. Shen Qing has done his utmost to take care of this. Since Aunt Cheng doesn't get involved in prostitution in brothels, how her future life will be depends on her own luck.
Since the house was not purchased, Shen Qing went back to the Flowered Sausage Shop with the Gold Tooth Man. The people of Gold Teeth quite like these fried foods and place their orders with great familiarity.
Now that the weather is getting warmer, business is a little worse than before, but the shop selling sweet soup next door is doing much better. Ruyi said with envy, "When summer comes, there will probably be even fewer people eating fried skewers. Everyone wants to eat iced drinks, which is where we make money. We used to make iced drinks in the Tongpan Mansion. Sugar water is easy to make, but ice is hard to make. We have to chisel ice the previous year and store it in the ice cellar so that we can use it the next year."
Shen Qing suddenly realized: "Do we have an ice cellar in our house? If not, let's ask someone to dig one for us." He had a ready-made ice-making machine, Ge Bingbing, which could be used all year round without wasting electricity. He could ask Ge Bingbing to make ice and then put it into the space and bring it over.
The next door sells sweet soup, so it would be inappropriate for them to sell sweet soup and compete with the next door for business, but it would also be nice if they could cooperate with them. Ruyi can just do the details.
As the two were talking, they heard someone calling him, "Mr. Shen."
Shen Qing looked back and saw that it was the county magistrate's son again. He looked around Lin Ning, but only saw Zao Ge'er, not the county magistrate's brother, so he smiled and asked, "Why didn't that brother come?"
He has already said that as long as Lin Xiangcao comes, the meal will be free.
Lin Ning: “…” It turns out that she has taken a liking to his uncle. He smiled with mixed feelings: "My uncle doesn't like to go out recently, he's at home."
Shen Qing nodded: "See if there is anything he likes to eat, just take some back, it's my treat."
Lin Ning: "...Okay." He paused and said, "Then I'll choose it first and come get it later. Let's go next door to buy a headband first."
When the seasons change, you always have to change into new clothes, and the new clothes need to be matched with new headwear. There happened to be a Cuihua shop next to the Kaihua sausage shop. Lin Ning often came there to eat and look around. He found the food there to be very good and occasionally found some interesting things.
Speaking of Cuihua shop, Shen Qing also wanted to go there. When he was dressed as a man, it was sometimes inconvenient for him to enter the store, so he could only walk around the door. It would be more convenient if he was with Lin Ning at this moment, so he said, "It just so happens that I also want to buy some things, let's go together."
Lin Ning was stunned, thinking of the two sedan chairs, and asked hesitantly: "Are you buying it for your family?"
"Hmm? Hmm," Shen Qing said without thinking, "I bought it for my brothers and sisters at home."
He planned to buy some knots, or decorations with knots on them, and take them back to Ou Ge'er. Maybe Ou Ge'er would be inspired and make some new styles of things.
Lin Ning was very happy to hear this. So they were really his younger brothers and sisters? In this way, even if he doesn't like me, it is very likely that I can be with my uncle and we can become a family!
Lin Ning went to the next door with Shen Qing in high spirits. There were indeed more things in the store. Lin Ning wanted to talk more with Shen Qing and introduce them to him. She also asked what styles his younger brothers and sisters liked. Shen Qing didn't understand much at first, but he was happy to chat with Lin Ning more, as it would help him open the Cuihua shop in the future.
They each picked out some of their favorites. Shen Qing bought a few braided headbands and a few purses with knots on the ends. There are also silk ribbons and fan covers woven with silk threads and decorated with beads.
Lin Ning chose a small wooden comb and bought a small round brass mirror. Zao Ge'er chose a scarf to wrap his hair.
Shen Qing took the account directly. On the one hand, he wanted to make friends with the county magistrate's brother. Who knows when he might be useful? This is also a personal connection. Not everyone can happen to save the county magistrate's brother. Shen Qing plans to seize this connection. Secondly, it was to thank Lin Ning for introducing the Cuihua shop to him. He took another look at the brass round mirror in Lin Ning's hand, then took out a small mercury round mirror: "This is for you."
He bought this at the small commodity wholesale market. This round mirror is extremely small and is usually given to customers as a gift by small jewelry or cosmetics shops. It has a thin layer of iron sheet on the outside with various cartoon patterns printed on it, and looks very cheap and simple. Shen Qing asked Tang Wenjie to remove all the iron sheets for him, leaving only the mercury lens itself. He planned to find some craftsmen to make a batch of wooden dressing boxes after the Cuihua shop was opened, and the small round mirror could be embedded in it.
At this time, he took out a piece and gave it to Lin Ning. This one is much clearer than the bronze mirror chosen by Lin Ning.
Lin Ning: “!!!” He stared at the mercury lens with wide eyes. He had never seen such a mirror before. It's just that the appearance is a bit rough.
Shen Qing touched his nose and said, "You can find a craftsman to see if it can be embedded in the handle. It was like this when I bought it, and there was no time for processing."
However, Lin Ning was not only shocked by the mirror itself: "You, you, you...you gave this to me?"
A small mirror like this doesn’t look cheap! Just checking the accounts can only mean that Shen Qing is rich and generous. What does it mean to give him such an expensive gift on his own? !
Who do you like? The villain in Lin Ning's heart was biting the handkerchief frantically. He was feeling conflicted, wondering whether he should ask directly: these country guys are so bold and unrestrained, unlike the city guys who are shy and timid. So he just asked directly what was wrong!
However, before he could open his mouth, seven or eight people suddenly rushed out of Cuihua Shop, led by Miao Qiuduo, who pointed at Shen Qing and said, "He is not Mr. Shen at all, he is a fake, a country boy! He is my sister's biological brother!"
Lin Ning was very sensitive to the word "country boy", there was nothing he could do about it. After his father entered officialdom, he, his mother, and his uncle sometimes had to socialize with other officials' families, and sometimes people would laugh at him behind his back. He can think of himself as such, but others cannot call him that! Lin Ning glared at him for a long while before realizing that the other person was not talking about him.
Who else is around him? Surprised and doubtful, he twisted his neck stiffly and looked at Mr. Shen beside him.
Half of Shen Qing's face was hidden in the shadows, and his expression could not be seen clearly. Another person came out beside Miao Qiuduo. He was a clerk from Cuihua Shop. On the day when Kaihuachang Shop opened, he followed the shopkeeper to his door to present a gift. At that time, Shen Qing only asked the shopkeeper Xiao Miao to entertain him and had no contact with him personally.
"I said you looked familiar." The clerk sneered, "I said that, the tall guy never appeared in the county again, and no one knew where he went. Who would have thought that he would disguise himself as a man and pretend to be Mr. Shen... Young man, you are really brave!"
Who do you think this person is? It turned out that it was Shen Qing's first time to come to the county town. He took some silver jewelry to the pawnshop to pawn it. Later, he followed the order of the counter master and tracked the clerk who had been following Shen Qing for a while. Previously, Jin Ya Ren and Shen Qing said that the owner behind Cuihua Shop had some background, so he didn't think much of Shen Qing as a landlord. It turned out that he was a member of the same family as the pawnshop.
The jewelry that Shen Qing pawned were later sold in the capital for a good price. However, they had always wanted to find that guy and find out where he got the things, but they had never seen him again. As time went by, he gradually forgot about it. The same went for Shen Qing. Last time the guy came to his door with gifts when he opened the business, he didn't recognize him.
It was only after Miao Qiuduo stepped forward that Master Shen and the ragged young man were linked together.
Shen Qing looked coldly at the people who appeared. Miao Qiuduo and her husband, the pawnshop clerk and the pawnbroker who had frightened him at the time, the owner of Cuihua shop, and two men he did not recognize. Among them, only the pawnshop clerk was of the same age as him, the others were all in their forties or fifties. Being forty or fifty years old is nothing in modern times, but at that time, they were considered old.
The noise was a little loud, and people from the two neighboring shops came over to watch the fun. The man with the golden tooth was eating flower intestines in Shen Qing's shop, and now he looked stunned. Ruyi, Mudan and others were also dumbfounded, only Shopkeeper Xiaomiao and Tieshan immediately stepped forward and stood behind Shen Qing.
However, Shen Qing looked unconcerned and glanced at Shopkeeper Xiao Miao: "Everyone has run out. Who will watch the shop? You go back." He glanced at Shopkeeper Xiao Miao's tiny arms and legs. With such a scholar's physique, how could he protect him?
Shopkeeper Xiaomiao: ...Do you have a conscience?
Shen Qing looked at Ruyi again, and Ruyi immediately ran back to the house. Shen Qing rubbed his fingers, and unseen by others, a little bit of spiritual spring water flowed out from his fingertips. Shen Qing used this spiritual spring water to wipe off the concealer between his eyebrows bit by bit, revealing his now brightly colored mole.
Lin Ning and Zao Ge'er were both dumbfounded.
Shen Qing smiled at those people and said, "Yes, I am a brother, so what? I broke the law? It's none of your business."
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