Xiao Zhao: "...Don't you think what you just said is contradictory?"
"Is it contradictory? No, I don't think so!" Shen Yanming smiled. "I just think that people should have the courage to fight against fate. However, they should also recognize their own abilities."
There's a saying, "If the King of Hell wants you to leave at midnight, he won't keep you until dawn." Sometimes I feel that fate is predetermined.
While you can try to change things, you can't necessarily defy fate.
There's a saying, "A loss may turn out to be a blessing in disguise," so there's no need to be timid; just do what you want to do. What you perceive as a weakness might become your core competency in the next moment.
Shen Yanming's words were a wake-up call for Xiao Zhao. Before, he had only complained and resigned himself to his fate, never considering the issues from these perspectives. Today, he truly felt that "a single conversation with a wise man is worth more than ten years of study."
He smiled and nodded, expressing his deep gratitude to Shen Yanming.
"When I get back, I'll ask my mom to arrange a blind date for me," Xiao Zhao said with a smile.
Shen Yanming nodded: "Choose carefully!"
The two walked for another two hours before finally arriving at Xianshui Village. Xiao Zhao and Shen Yanming went to Sister Yan's house to familiarize themselves with the place. "You wait here, I'll come over with some things in a bit."
"Sure, I only have a little over 100 jin of dried goods here. Don't bring too much when you come."
Xiao Zhao waved his hand to indicate that he understood, and then went home.
Shen Yanming pushed open the courtyard gate and saw Yan Qiumin looking at him with surprise: "Oh, you're back. Have you eaten yet?"
"Not yet, Sister Yan, where's my wife?" Shen Yanming asked with a smile.
“He’s inside.” Yan Qiumin had just finished speaking when An’an and Nuannuan asked in their little voices, “Is that Daddy?”
Then they came running out, each grabbing one of Shen Yanming's legs: "Daddy, you're finally back! I missed you so much!"
Old Shen suddenly felt that his son and daughter were being a bit obsequious, but he actually quite enjoyed it.
He bent down and picked up the two children, asking them questions like, "What did you do yesterday?", "Did you eat well?", and "Did you listen to Mommy?" as he walked towards the room.
When Bi Qiaoan saw that he had returned, she quickly took Nuannuan from him and asked him in detail about his experiences over the past day and night.
Shen Yanming walked to the bedside, sat down, and briefly recounted his experience of traveling at night and encountering the cargo ship.
"I'm super tired right now. I've been out for almost twenty hours and haven't slept a wink. I've eaten two or three pieces of bread and drunk a glass of milk. Except for resting for an hour or two at the beach this morning, I've been walking the whole time."
"My legs are almost worn out. If it weren't for... well, I probably wouldn't have been able to keep going." Shen Yanming winked, making Bi Qiaoan burst out laughing.
"You still dare to talk? You're really reckless! Think about it, if you hadn't been lucky, you might not have been able to come back at all." Bi Qiaoan didn't say it explicitly, but the whole family understood what she was implying.
Just then, Yan Qiumin came over. She called out from afar, "Xiao Shen, Xiao Bi, I've come to bring you food."
Bi Qiaoan quickly went out to greet her and helped her carry the soup bowl that was a bit difficult to lift.
"It's all leftovers from lunch. I heated it up. Please don't mind." Yan Qiumin said a little embarrassed.
Shen Yanming looked at it and found that there was a complete meal with rice and dishes, and it had been specially served and just reheated.
He smiled and said, "How could I complain? It's so complete. Thank you so much, Sister Yan."
"No need to thank me, no need to thank me. Xiao Bi gave me a big bag of rice yesterday, enough for our family to eat for a long time." Yan Qiumin said with a smile, also worried that Shen Yanming would not know and would throw a tantrum when he got back.
To everyone's surprise, Shen Yanming smiled and said, "It's only right. You've taken such good care of the mother and her two children, so consider this little bit of rice as a token of our appreciation."
Bi Qiaoan went over and took Yan Qiumin's arm: "Sister Yan, I told you my husband wouldn't blame me, but you didn't believe me! He's a well-known henpecked husband in our area."
Bi Qiaoan deliberately exaggerated to see Shen Yanming's reaction. However, Old Shen remained smiling, neither nodding in agreement nor shaking his head in denial.
Seeing the young couple so sweet and affectionate, Yan Qiumin smiled and said, "It's good that you're not angry. I was just worried about affecting your relationship. In that case, I'll head back now. Xiao Shen, have a good rest after your meal. If you need anything, just call me."
"Okay, thank you, Sister Yan." Shen Yanming smiled as he saw the person out before picking up his bowl and wolfing down his food.
But before he finished eating, he heard someone calling his name from outside the courtyard. Shen Yanming put down his chopsticks and went outside.
"You came pretty fast!"
"Yes, my home is very close by. I'll go back, pack my things, and come over."
Have you eaten yet?
"Not yet, I'll eat it when I get home."
Shen Yanming smiled and said, "I'm just staying here temporarily. Otherwise, I would have taken you home for dinner."
Xiao Zhao didn't care at all: "It's okay. My mom knew I was coming back today, so she prepared a big meal for me. If I don't go home for dinner, wouldn't I be letting her down?"
Shen Yanming nodded, opened the trunk, and took out the dried goods: "Here, take a look at the quality of these things, are you satisfied?"
Xiao Zhao stepped forward to inspect them carefully and saw that everything was very dry and hadn't become moldy or spoiled. He nodded and said, "Not bad, very good. By the way, you can also take a look at my goods."
Xiao Zhao put his bag in the trunk and opened it to show Shen Yanming. Old Shen held his breath the moment the bag was opened, because it smelled so fishy.
"This is the first batch we dried at sea this time, so it's quite dry. I was worried that it might spoil on the way since you live far away, so I gave you the freshest ones. But you can't put it in the car, it's too stuffy and doesn't ventilate. Why don't you put it indoors and pack it up when you leave?"
Shen Yanming smiled and thanked him, "Okay, I'll take it to Sister Yan's house first, and then put it in the car when I leave."
"Well, this way we won't have to worry about it getting spoiled." Xiao Zhao said with a smile, "By the way, how heavy is all this dried goods? I don't have a scale at home, so I just took a rough estimate."
Shen Yanming calculated what he had given away and what he wanted to keep, and then said with a smile, "It's only about a hundred pounds. I don't have a scale here. How about I go ask around the neighborhood if anyone has one?"
Xiao Zhao thought about it and felt it was too much trouble. He lifted Shen Yanming's bag of mountain goods and then his own bag of seafood, and decided that it was about right: "Let's do it this way. More would be a loss, less would be a gain."
Shen Yanming had no objection to this; after all, he didn't care about the quantity of the items.
He nodded and added some chestnuts to Xiao Zhao's plate: "Go back and cook them yourself."
Then he took out a small medicine box he had prepared for the journey: "Here, this was prescribed by a very prestigious old traditional Chinese medicine doctor in our area. It works very well. I wrote down the usage and the symptoms it is for on a piece of paper. I hope you will never need to use it."
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