Chapter 122 Past Events
Wan Laosi brought Shen Jinyuan into the main room.
Old Mrs. Wan was already sitting in the upper seat and had ordered Liu to bring some tea.
As soon as Shen Jinyuan entered, he saw an old lady with gray hair and a headband sitting in the upper seat, looking at him with a pair of scrutinizing eyes.
"Junior Shen Jinyuan greets the old lady." Shen Jinyuan bowed to Old Lady Wan without bending down. After the ceremony, he stood where he was.
Old Mrs. Wan nodded and raised her hand to make a invitation gesture.
"Master Shen, please sit down. My son is a bit rude and abrupt. Please forgive me. I don't know who you are to the Shen family? Why are you inquiring about the Shen family?"
Old Mrs. Wan did not immediately reveal Shen's whereabouts, but she had to make sure that this person would not hurt Shen again. After all, Shen's life was already miserable enough and she could not withstand a second injury.
Shen Jinyuan could not see any expression on Old Lady Wan's face. Her face looked indifferent and it was impossible to tell whether she was happy or angry.
Shen Jinyuan pondered in his heart before saying, "Madam, I am here to find out the whereabouts of my eldest sister, Shen. Please tell me everything you know. When I went to the next door just now, I didn't find any useful information. Besides, the male owner of their family is not at home, so it is not convenient for me to go in and find out."
Old Mrs. Wan lowered her eyes, but there was a gleam of light in them. If this man was really Shen's brother, then Shen could be said to have finally gotten his reward after all the suffering.
"But I heard that Shen's family is gone, and I haven't heard that she has a brother. How can I believe what you said?"
Shen Jinyuan didn't expect that he was just trying to find out the whereabouts of his eldest sister, but it would be so bumpy, and he felt a little annoyed.
Old Lady Wan observed Shen Jinyuan's expression and continued, "Don't blame me for being nagging. It's because Shen has suffered too much and I don't want her to be hurt by others. To tell you the truth, Shen is now living in my house to recuperate, but I won't let you see Shen before I figure out the cause and effect."
After hearing what Old Lady Wan said, Shen Jinyuan stood up suddenly, his voice unconsciously carrying a hint of urgency.
"What? My eldest sister has suffered a lot? Isn't she the eldest daughter-in-law of the Shen family? Why is she recuperating in your house, old lady? What is going on?"
Shen Jinyuan had a bad feeling in his heart that his eldest sister's condition should be more serious than he thought. At the same time, the more he listened, the more confused he became. His eldest sister should have been at her husband's house, so why was she at her husband's neighbor's house?
The doubts and anxiety in his heart made Shen Jinyuan feel uneasy.
Old Mrs. Wan had been observing Shen Jinyuan. Seeing that the expression on Shen Jinyuan's face did not seem to be a disguise, she felt relieved. However, out of caution, and because their family was now responsible for taking care of Shen, they had the responsibility to inquire about Shen Jinyuan's background. Otherwise, if something happened to Shen, their family would not be able to explain to the village chief.
"This... uh... Mr. Shen, right?"
Old Lady Wan looked at Shen Jinyuan and asked.
Shen Jinyuan nodded in agreement with anxiety in his eyes.
"Mr. Shen, please be patient and sit down for a while. Although Shen is recovering at my house, she is not in the house at this moment. My two sons and daughter-in-law sent her to the town to see a doctor early in the morning. I estimate that she will not be back until after lunch. This period of time is enough for us to figure out the relationship between you and Shen."
Old Lady Wan was also afraid of misunderstandings, so she quickly explained Shen's current situation. If this Mr. Shen was really Shen's brother, then Shen's hard work would finally pay off.
Although Shen Jinyuan was very anxious, he heard that Shen had gone to the town to see a doctor and he wanted to rush there immediately, but he wanted to find out more why Shen had ended up in such a situation.
“Madam, I am Shen Jinyuan, and I am not a biological brother to my elder sister. I am an orphan who almost starved to death and was later picked up by my elder sister.
There are only three of us in my eldest sister's family: my parents and my eldest sister. The family is happy and harmonious. Later, my parents took pity on me and took me in, and also paid for my education.
Ten years later, when I grew up, I prepared to go to Beijing to take the exam, but I encountered some things on the way and was delayed.
So I worked outside to make a living and study at the same time, but the letters I wrote home never received a response. Now that I have finally achieved something, I want to come back to bring my parents and elder sister to enjoy a good life.
But when I returned to the village, I was told that my parents had passed away and my eldest sister had married. As soon as I heard about my eldest sister, I rushed here, but I was still too late and did not see her. "
As Shen Jinyuan spoke, a look of loss and regret appeared on his face.
Old Mrs. Wan was delighted. She had never thought that Shen actually had a brother who was still studying. If Old Mrs. Shen knew this news, would she be so angry that she died?
However, Old Lady Shen took a look at Shen Jinyuan. Seeing his current attire and demeanor, his achievements should not be low, right? Thinking of this, Old Lady Wan couldn't sit still. What if he was an official? Wouldn't she be offended?
"Old Four, go and see where your wife has taken the tea. Use that beautiful cup to brew our good tea and quench Mr. Shen's thirst. She has come all the way here to look for her relatives during the New Year. It shows that she is a person who knows how to repay kindness."
Yesterday, Qiu came to our house and gave Old Mrs. Wan a jar of tea, which is just right for us.
Wan Laosi responded and ran out quickly.
Old Mrs. Wan first sighed heavily, then wiped away her non-existent tears and began to talk about Shen's experience.
"Master Shen, you came at the right time. You don't know how pitiful Shen is. I have lived to such an old age and have fled famine twice and been exiled once. I have seen too many separations and deaths, but they all died happily. How could Shen be tortured by her husband's family and still live tenaciously? Even an old woman like me admires her tenacious character.
To be honest, my family just moved into this village. If you had asked about any other family today, I would not be familiar with them. But since you were asking about the Shen family that was hit by the old plague, I know them very well.
Your sister, Shen, married into the Shen family for less than a month when her husband died in an accident and her mother-in-law was also paralyzed unexpectedly. So old lady Shen called Shen a jinx, a husband-killer, and an unlucky person. She also spread a bad reputation about Shen throughout the whole village.
Shen has been taking care of her paralyzed mother-in-law for ten years, taking care of everything at home and outside. But that's not enough, anyone in the family can take Shen's anger out on her. Didn't you see that when I changed her clothes yesterday, her body was covered with new and old wounds, without a single intact place?
My old wife's eyes were red when she saw him. There was not a pound of flesh on his body. He was just skin and bones. He was so thin that he looked unrecognizable.
That’s not the end. A few days ago, Shen was beaten half to death by their family. She wanted to escape, but was dragged back by them. She was left at home for a few days and no one took care of her. Last night, it was obvious that she was exhaling more than breathing in, so in order to save money on a coffin, they threw a living person into the cemetery.
Tell me, how can there be such a black-hearted mother-in-law in this world? The cemetery is full of crows, wild dogs and wolves. If this person is thrown in, will there be a piece of bone left the next day? "
"Oh! What a sin! Fortunately, my family slept late last night, and my eldest son has good hearing. He heard the noise coming from next door and came out to see. He saw them carrying Shen out.
My sons thought something was wrong, so they followed them quietly. As a result, we saw those people dumped your eldest sister in the cemetery and left. My eldest son and the others had left, so we went to check and found that the person was still breathing. So my brothers decided to take the person to the village chief's house.
Although we are exiles, we have never killed anyone or set any fire to anyone. We are kind-hearted people at heart and we cannot just stand by and watch someone die.
After the village chief learned about this, he forced the Shen family to either pay money to cure Shen or divorce her and give her two taels of silver, and he would find someone to take care of her.
The Shen family didn't want to take care of Shen anymore, so they wrote a divorce letter and gave her two taels of silver. But it was New Year's Day, so who would be willing to accept a person who was about to die? But I felt sorry for Shen, so I took the initiative to take care of her. I asked them to send Shen to the town to see a doctor early this morning."
Old Lady Wan sighed as she spoke. Shen Jinyuan, who had heard the whole process, felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave, but the anger in his heart almost burned him.
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