Pei Yao, who was enjoying her meal, looked up and met Shen Yu's gaze at the courtyard gate. Pei Yao paused in her gnawing on the bone and blurted out to Shen Yu, "Is there something you need?"
Pei Yao's words successfully attracted the attention of the other people who were eating. They followed Pei Yao's gaze and saw Shen Yu standing at the door.
Shen Yu held up the medicine packet in his hand and looked at Pei Yao, replying, "My mother prepared some tonic herbs for me to bring to Uncle Pei."
Pei Yao continued holding the bone without saying a word, but Yunniang reacted first, putting down her bowl and going over.
"Xiao Yu, you haven't eaten yet, have you? Let's eat together." Yun Niang made room for Shen Yu, and Pei Yichen went to get a clean bowl and handed it to Shen Yu.
Pei Yao looked at Shen Yu, thinking he would refuse, or that he had already eaten. After all, Shen Yu had come a few days ago, which also happened to be around mealtime.
When Yunniang called him to eat, Shen Yu refused without thinking, using the excuse that he had already eaten.
As a result, when Pei Yao went out to digest her meal and passed by the Shen family's courtyard, she happened to see Shen Yu eating small bites of food from a bowl.
Shen Yu took the bowl from Pei Yichen and said, "I arrived in a hurry and haven't eaten yet. Thank you for your hospitality, Auntie."
Then they began to eat with great contentment. Yunniang and the others all liked Shen Yu quite a bit. Not only was he handsome, but he also had a very good temperament and had been exceptionally steady since childhood.
When Shen Yu was in school, he was one of the top young masters in Kyoto.
There was a saying among the Kyoto aristocratic circles back then: "Look at Shen Yu..."
The same teachings from Confucius, and look at yourself...
These two sentences are the nightmares of so many children's childhoods.
Every mischievous boy in Kyoto grits their teeth at the mere mention of Shen Yu's name...
If it weren't for the family tragedy, with Shen Yu's talent and intelligence, he would probably have had a very promising future.
Shen Yu took a bite of the red snapper that Yunniang had picked up for him and was instantly amazed. He then ate the seaweed strips that Chen Fang had picked up for him, which were also quite good.
Although Shen Yu is not a talkative person, he has a sweet tongue and is good-looking.
Almost everyone at the table liked Shen Yu very much, and even Pei Yichen greatly admired this Brother Shen.
Perhaps the only ones who have a lukewarm feeling towards Shen Yu are Pei Yao and Pei Erlang.
Pei Yao wasn't very familiar with Shen Yu to begin with.
Pei Erlang couldn't explain why he didn't like Shen Yu. Actually, it wasn't that he disliked him; he used to really like the Shen family lad.
But lately, it seems that this young man from the Shen family always finds various excuses to come to his house, and he has also noticed several times that this young man from the Shen family likes to stare at his eldest daughter.
It was probably around that time that Pei Erlang started to dislike Shen Yu...
Shen Yu glanced at Pei Yao, who was in a daze, and said, "Did you make this dish? It's really good."
Pei Yao looked at him; Shen Yu's smile was faint, as if it were a fake smile.
“Yeah, if it’s delicious, eat more.” Pei Yao replied with a forced smile.
Then, the next second, he pulled it back and continued eating with his head down.
Pei Yao was thinking that when the tide went out later, she could go to the beach to take a look and also collect some seaweed from Black Bay.
Recently, the tide has been going out at night, so when it's time to go beachcombing, the villagers gather at the end of the village road to wait for each other to go together.
After finishing her meal, Pei Yao quickly packed her things and set off. Yun Niang and Pei Erlang stayed home to prepare goods for Deyun Restaurant the next day, while Pei Yao went to the beach with Pei Dalang's family.
Pei Yao knew almost all the villagers on the road, but there were a few unfamiliar faces. She didn't recognize them, but they looked somewhat familiar.
Li Juhua from Aunt Fang's house spotted Pei Yao at a glance and walked towards her, waving her hands: "Little Yao, Little Yao, what brings you to the beach today?"
Li Juhua is a very outgoing person, and she immediately took Pei Yao's arm in a very familiar manner.
Pei Yao glanced at her and smiled, "There's not much chores at home today, so I'll take the opportunity to collect some seafood. It's been a while since I've gone out to go beachcombing."
"That's great. The shrimp at the beach are plump lately. We can catch a few and cook them. They're so fresh and sweet." Li Juhua thought of the shrimp she caught yesterday. Her mother cooked them for her, and they tasted delicious.
Pei Yao nodded. Remembering the unfamiliar faces she had just seen, she whispered to Juhua, "Sister Juhua, why are there so many people in the village that I don't recognize?"
Aunt Fang, Li Juhua's mother, was the most well-informed person. She was always the first to know about any disturbances, quarrels, or fights in the village.
So when Pei Yao asked, Li Juhua replied, "They all came back recently..."
Pei Yao learned some news from Li Juhua: because the Pei family was now collecting seafood in the village, more people were going to the beach to collect seafood.
Even many of the villagers who had left to work elsewhere in search of a better life have recently started to return.
The first to return were the men from Aunt Fang's family, followed by several other men from other families who had gone out to work. After all, they were all uneducated farm men who were only used as laborers when they went out.
Even if you work yourself to the bone all day, you can't earn much money.
So they all listened to their families and returned home.
Who doesn't want their family to be reunited...
"You have no idea how much better life has become for the people in our village since your family came here. At least we can eat pork occasionally now, which was something we couldn't have before, not even during the New Year."
Li Juhua felt that the Pei family was a great blessing bestowed upon their village by heaven.
Since the Pei family arrived, people can go to the sea to collect seafood and sell it to them, or go up the mountain to pick lychees and thunderfruits and sell them to them.
Even the elderly, who are unable to go up the mountain or down to the sea, can go to the Niu family to help make bamboo cups. In short, the people in the village can now live a slightly better life by relying on their own hands.
Even Li Juhua's mother bought meat twice this month when she went to the market in town. Although the amount of meat was not much each time, she was very satisfied. In the past, she would never have dared to dream of eating pork twice a month.
But now, as long as she goes up the mountain with her mother every day to pick more lychees, her mother will occasionally cook her an egg to help her recover.
Pei Yao parted ways with Li Juhua when they arrived at the beach, as her family had to go to Black Bay to pick seaweed.
The Pei family has been busy lately and hasn't come to pick seaweed for a while, so Pei Yao and the others are quite adept at this task.
Only Pei Dalang had never done this before, and was somewhat confused at first.
Fortunately, he was smart. He understood immediately after Chen Fang explained it once and helped cut the seaweed. The whole family worked together and it was quick. Soon, the ropes were full of seaweed.
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