Chapter 24: The innocent girl who was deceived 6 Shen...
Shen Anan sat on the small bench in front, Qiao Yin sat behind her, her slender fingers running through her hair, her slender wrists dazzlingly white.
She looked focused, carefully braiding the little girl's hair into loose pigtails. This scene of peaceful and tranquil life had Shen Xiannian mesmerized.
When Qiao Yin was about to look up, she hurriedly looked away and started cooking. When Qiao Yin turned her head away, Chen Yan slowly raised his head again, glancing at her from time to time.
Qiao Yin had always heard that Chen Xiannian was very poor. When he treated her to braised pork last time, she thought it was because of some happy event in Chen Xiannian's family that he rarely cooked pork, and that he probably only had it a few times a year.
So when she came, she planned to eat less during the days she stayed at the Shen family's and not take too much advantage of others.
Unexpectedly, Shen Xiannian made two more meat dishes today, one braised fish, one stir-fried pork with peppers, and one stir-fried wild vegetables and carrots with eggs. Qiao Yin had never eaten like this before in the city.
Chen Xiannian is also willing to use oil and salt, so all the dishes are colorful, fragrant and delicious, even the wild vegetables picked from the mountains are crisp, tender and refreshing.
Qiao Yin was a little surprised, thinking that Shen's mother and Shen Xiannian had taken out all the good things in the house just to entertain her. She felt touched and apologetic.
She wanted to say that she didn't need to do this next time, but she didn't know how to say it. After hesitating for a long time, she finally swallowed her words.
She thought to herself that this would be the only meal they would have, and tomorrow they would have something more ordinary. After all, who could afford to eat meat like this every day?
At worst, next time I go to the market in the city, I can buy some more snacks, fabrics and other good things to give to Shen's mother and Shen An'an. I can't take advantage of them for nothing.
In fact, what Qiao Yin thought was not wrong. Although Chen Xiannian was rich and well-connected and often brought back meat, he usually kept a low profile and would not make such a sumptuous meal with fish, meat, and eggs. He only had them during the Chinese New Year.
You can tell from Shen Anan's reaction—she couldn't stop eating since the dishes were served.
Mother Shen looked at the dishes on the table, glanced at Shen Xiannian, sighed secretly, said nothing, but enthusiastically told Qiao Yin to eat more:
"Xiao Qiao, eat more meat. You look so thin."
Qiao Yin actually loves spicy food. The spicy and spicy pork dish suits her taste very well. She took several extra bites, and her mouth turned red from eating. Her eyes were also sparkling from the water stains.
But she was too embarrassed to keep picking up food, so after taking a few bites with her chopsticks, she stopped and started eating the vegetables.
But the stir-fried vegetables were delicious too.
Unexpectedly, Shen Xiannian noticed it and suddenly scooped two large spoonfuls of fried pork with peppers with a large iron spoon and covered her rice with it. Facing her puzzled eyes, he said confidently:
"We don't like spicy food at home. Please help us solve it and don't waste it."
Mother Shen also noticed that Qiao Yin liked that dish, and said with a smile: "Xiao Qiao, don't be polite to us. Eat more of what you like. Eat more and you will grow better."
"Yeah, eat more and grow some weight. Otherwise, you won't even be able to pull out a few blades of grass. How embarrassing."
He was enjoying his meal when he started to talk nonsense again, but Qiao Yin was used to it and remained calm.
Instead, Shen's mother glared at him: "What are you talking about? Girls are naturally weak. Like you, you only grow taller but not smarter."
Shen Anan chuckled and said, “Brother has no brains.”
Shen Xiannian's face darkened, and for a moment he was not sure whether this little girl was really stupid or just pretending to be stupid.
Qiao Yin couldn't help laughing and smiled with her lips pursed.
Shen Xiannian looked at the three women smiling with curved eyebrows, touched his nose, snorted lightly, and then laughed along.
The room that Shen's mother gave to Qiao Yin was on the far left, next to Shen Xiannian's room. Shen Anan had always slept in the same room with Shen's mother.
After dinner, Shen Xiannian boiled water for them to take a bath. After they all returned to the house, he rinsed himself with cold water in the yard.
Qiao Yin came out to use the restroom and happened to see this scene. Shen Xiannian had his back to her, wearing loose black shorts and bare upper body, and was scooping water with a gourd ladle and pouring it over himself.
The water flowed down his lean and powerful muscles. His wheat-colored arms and shoulder blades were stretched into beautiful lines as he raised his hands. He shook his wet black hair, and a few drops of water splashed out, gurgling and disappearing into the ground.
Qiao Yin's cheeks were hot and she should have avoided it, but for some reason, she couldn't move her feet.
Everyone likes to appreciate beautiful things, and Qiao Yin is no exception.
And Shen Xiannian has a very good figure, with broad shoulders, a back that seems to contain vigorous and surging power, and a waist that is just the right narrowness. Especially at this moment when he is slightly sideways, his delicate abdominal muscles are faintly visible. They are not overly exaggerated as those gained through intensive training, but rather thin and refreshing.
Qiao Yin looked again and again until Shen Xiannian turned around and saw her, and her pupils shrank immediately.
Although it was common for men in the countryside to go shirtless, and Shen Xiannian often took showers with his upper body naked at home, he felt very uncomfortable facing Qiao Yin at this moment. His face was like a cooked duck, red and hot. He used a towel to cover himself - although he couldn't cover anything.
"You...why did you come out? Did you need to go to the bathroom?"
"Oh, I need to go to the bathroom."
Qiao Yin pretended to be calm, but her heart was actually pounding.
"But I'm not in a big hurry. Take a shower first, and I'll be out later."
Shen Xiannian saw her close the door expressionlessly, with a look of being used to it and calm.
Shen Xiannian lowered his head and looked at it. Was he making a fuss out of nothing?
But he saw that Qiao Yin's face and ears were also red!
Shen Xiannian quickly finished his shower, put on his clothes, and walked to Qiao Yin's door and whispered, "I'm done, go to the bathroom."
After a few seconds, a "OK" was heard from the room.
Shen Xiannian stood at the door for a while, thinking about the rosy tips of the ears he had just seen, then looked towards the closed door and suddenly smiled.
He had taken off his clothes before when he was working in the fields and it was too hot. At that time, many girls would glance at him with red faces. Instead of feeling proud, he felt very annoyed.
But this time... thinking of the red face and ears of the person in the room, he put his fist to his lips and smiled. After a while, he shook his head and left with the clothes he wanted to wash.
He was afraid that if Qiao Yin came out and saw that he hadn't left yet, she would be too embarrassed to face anyone.
…
It can be said that the days Qiao Yin lived in the Shen family were the most comfortable days she had lived since coming to the countryside. Not only did she eat well, but she also had no worries.
Especially after chatting with Xu Suyuan and several other female educated youth who had a good relationship with her, she realized how good the Shen family was.
The educated youth who lived in other villagers' homes would encounter all kinds of troubles. Not having enough to eat would be one thing, after all, few families had enough to eat in those days, but some people always wanted to take advantage of them.
The stingiest family would hide their eggs and other things from the educated youth living at home, but they wanted him to share his own snacks and candies. How could this be justified?
Some difficult old ladies would take possession of something good that they had when they saw it.
"My mother had someone buy my scarf at a department store. I was reluctant to use it myself, but when I got home from work, it was left around the neck of Mrs. Liu's granddaughter. It was even covered in mud. I was so heartbroken."
The female educated youth living in Old Lady Liu's house complained:
"I asked them to compensate me, but Old Lady Liu said it was just a silk scarf, how much could it be worth? I ate so much food at their house, and they couldn't even bear to give me a silk scarf. But it's not like we didn't pay for grain. She made it sound like I was eating and drinking for free."
"Yeah, and the Peng family at the west end of the village is the same way. They're too son-centric and value their grandsons more than anything else, while treating their granddaughters like straw. I can't stand it. I gave a cookie to a little girl, and they pointed at me and asked why I didn't give it to a boy. I can give my things to whoever I want, and what right do they have to control me?!"
Several people were talking to each other and complaining, obviously they were very angry.
But no matter how angry I am, there is nothing I can do. The educated youth site will take another month or so to be built. Now I have to endure all the dissatisfaction I have as I am living under someone else's roof.
Some people saw that Qiao Yin had been silent and asked her about the Shen family. When they heard Qiao Yin say that the Shen family treated her very well, they were envious.
But then I thought, the Shen family is easy to get along with, and Aunt Shen is also kind, but they are poor, and they probably eat even worse, so I didn't feel envious for a moment.
But looking at Qiao Yin, she seemed to have gained some weight compared to when she went to the countryside. She was skinny before, but now, although she is still thin, she has a curvy figure and looks good. No matter how you look at her, she doesn't look like she has suffered any hardship.
It's really strange, how can someone gain weight after going to the countryside? Could it be that Qiao Yin's family secretly gave her good things?
Qiao Yin didn't know what they were thinking. She just felt that she was very lucky. Not long after going to the countryside, she became a teacher. Not only was it easy, but she also got work points. She also met the Shen Xiannian family, who were easy to get along with. It was much better than living under someone else's roof in the city.
During this period, she ate breakfast made by Chen Xiannian during the day, ate at school at noon, came back in the evening to teach An An to recognize words, and then played with her for a while. When she came back, it was dark and Chen Xiannian would go to the school to pick her up with a flashlight.
As for the food, it was even better than what she had in the city. Shen Xiannian always got all kinds of precious things from somewhere, besides meat, there were also snacks like malted milk, and he often fed her with them.
At first, he avoided her when he went to the black market, but later, he seemed to know that Qiao Yin had no objection to his going to the black market, so he became open and honest.
No reward without merit, every time she wanted to refuse, Shen Xiannian used various reasons to make her eat his food and accept his kindness.
Even if Qiao Yin was slow to react, she could sense the specialness of Shen Xiannian's feelings towards her. He was too nice to her, for no reason. Why would he be so nice to her? She had heard that he disliked educated youth.
Qiao Yin had some guesses in her mind, but she didn't know if what she thought was right.
But when she thought about it carefully, Shen Xiannian's attitude towards him was no different from before, and he always laughed at her with that rude look. She felt that she might be wrong.
Perhaps Comrade Shen Xiannian is just such a person with a cold exterior but a warm heart? Perhaps I am just being too sentimental.
Although Qiao Yin thought so, she was not as comfortable as before when getting along with Shen Xiannian.
After eating so many delicious things from Chen Xiannian, she felt embarrassed. After thinking about it, she decided to give Chen Xiannian 10 yuan every month as food expenses.
At that time, 10 yuan was definitely a lot for the villagers of Green Water Bay. Qiao Yin's entire family property was only 200 yuan. She felt distressed when she took it out, but she couldn't take advantage of others just because the Shen family was well-off.
Shen Xiannian refused to take it, but Qiao Yin was firm in her attitude, and acted as if she would not eat the food he cooked if she didn't accept it. Shen Xiannian reluctantly accepted 5 yuan from her, but he refused to take the rest.
"Five yuan is enough. You eat like a chicken pecking at rice. How much can you eat? It's the amount you need. I won't charge you more."
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The author has something to say: I will update a little earlier on the weekend [come on]
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