Chapter 48 Shamelessness
Shengyuan?
Xu Jinnian's brows relaxed, and he praised without the slightest hint of reluctance: "This name is excellent!"
Sheng An raised an eyebrow slightly: "Don't you think 'Xu Yuan' would be a more suitable name?"
Xu Jinnian glanced at his wife, pretending to ponder, "Hmm, it does seem quite suitable. How about we name it Xu Garden?"
Sheng An glared: "The house was given to me by the Ding family, and I have the right to name it. It will be called Sheng Garden!"
Xu Jinnian feigned ignorance: "Since An'an has already made up her mind, why do you say that Xu Garden is more suitable?"
Before Sheng An could speak, he suddenly realized something: "An An is testing me, thinking I might mind?"
Sheng An didn't answer, but bluntly asked, "Do you have a problem with naming it Sheng Garden?"
Xu Jinnian said helplessly, "You said it yourself, this is your house, you can name it whatever you want, why would I have any objections?"
He felt that An'an was working so hard, and he could only blame himself for his limited abilities, which prevented him from helping her.
Sheng An was very satisfied with this answer and patted his shoulder generously: "I said before that I would take care of you. I will cook for you and you can spend the money that this house earns in the future."
As long as you behave and don't cause trouble.
Xu Jinnian was both amused and exasperated: "Does this count as living off a woman?"
Sheng An raised her chin: "What do you think?"
Xu Jinnian thought about it seriously: "No."
Sheng An became interested: "Why doesn't that count?"
Xu Jinnian held her hand, the warmth of his palm overpowering the stuffy air: "Husband and wife are one, supporting each other. An'an earns money to support me, which is in accordance with ethics and morality."
He would have the same idea if he were to earn money to support An'an.
Sheng An's lips twitched. She really didn't expect this man to be so good at talking nonsense, even bringing up ethical principles and moral norms.
However, these words also reveal that he does not have a hypocritical male chauvinism and will not feel jealous or inferior because she earns money to support the family.
He is a mentally healthy and normal man.
With no objections, the name of the house was decided. Sheng An pointed to several places on the blueprints and discussed them with Xu Jinnian:
"I plan to open a door here for our own family to come and go easily; then block up these passages to prevent people from accidentally wandering in; this place can be used to build a platform that overlooks the entire courtyard and offers a view of the lake outside..."
During the discussion, Xu Jinnian offered several good suggestions: "Let's move these stones to the lotus pond to expand this play area, and plant a row of bamboo here..."
Sheng An marked each point on the sketch to facilitate communication with the bricklayers later.
After some discussion, the sketch was nearly perfected, with almost nothing else needing to be modified.
However, the workload is considerable, and if we want to complete it within a month, we'll need to hire several more workers.
Fortunately, Sheng An had two thousand taels of silver notes, enough to renovate the entire courtyard in one go.
On the way back, the family was in an even better mood than when they arrived.
In particular, Grandpa and Grandma Sheng have made up their minds to stay in the city and sell wontons, and are discussing with great interest how to deal with the few acres of farmland in the village.
Grandma Sheng felt that those few acres of land were not very fertile, so she decided to sell them directly to save time and effort.
Grandpa Sheng believed that one should return to one's roots and that leaving behind a few acres of land was a way out, so he advocated renting it out to villagers.
Both sides had their own reasons, and neither could convince the other.
In the end, Sheng An suggested, "Let's rent it to the villagers first, and collect a percentage of the grain each year. If we stop growing it altogether in the future, we can sell it."
Grandpa and Grandma Sheng exchanged a glance and agreed with their granddaughter's suggestion: "Let's do as An'an says."
In the following days, apart from Xu Jinnian and Grandma Sheng, the other three became extremely busy.
Sheng An was busy perfecting the blueprints, Xu Chenglin was busy contacting reliable bricklayers, and Grandpa Sheng went back to the village to arrange the rental of his farmland.
The news that the Sheng family was renting out their four mu of land quickly spread throughout Huai Shu Village, and many families with little land and insufficient food came to their door.
After much consideration, Grandpa Sheng decided to rent his land to a couple in the village who owned no land and made a living by doing odd jobs.
The couple are honest people who are skilled at cultivating the land, so there's no need to worry about them ruining the good land.
Out of consideration for the villagers, Grandpa Sheng only collected 25% of the grain as rent each year, which was half a percent less than the rent collected by the small landlord in the neighboring village.
The couple were very grateful and gave Grandpa Sheng some of their best eggs.
Kong Dazhuang, having somehow heard the news, rushed to the Sheng family and confronted Grandpa Sheng, demanding, "I'm An'an's biological father! Why won't you rent the land to me at a lower price?"
Upon hearing this, Grandpa Sheng immediately cursed, "My Sheng family's land can be rented to whomever we want. It has nothing to do with you, you surnamed Kong. Go cool off where you came from and get lost!"
Kong Dazhuang, however, resorted to shamelessness: "I don't care. If you don't rent the land to me, I'll go to the Xu family and find that unfilial daughter, and make her support me in my old age!"
If those two old bastards can stay in the city and be supported by that unfilial daughter, then so can he, their own father!
Didn't you see that this old geezer has gained a lot of weight in just one month since he went to the city?
It's obvious at a glance that the old geezer is living a very comfortable life in the city.
"You shameless beast!"
Grandpa Sheng was so angry that his chest felt tight. He pointed at Kong Dazhuang and cursed, "You never raised An'an for a single day, and you're no longer a member of the Sheng family. You think you can rely on An'an to support you in your old age? No way!"
After saying that, he grabbed a shovel from the corner and shoveled it at Kong Dazhu's neck: "An'an is my lifeline. If you dare to lay a finger on her, I'll fight you to the death!"
Seeing the gleaming blade of the shovel aimed straight at his neck, Kong Dazhu was so terrified he wet himself and ran outside, yelling, "Murder! Murder! That old bastard from the Sheng family has killed someone—"
It's true that he's younger and stronger than Grandpa Sheng, but Grandpa Sheng has weapons, and he dares not fight him head-on with his bare hands.
Hearing the commotion, the nearby villagers rushed out to see what was happening.
Seeing Grandpa Sheng chasing after Kong Dazhu with a shovel and cursing, they quickly understood the reason for Grandpa Sheng's anger, and they all cursed Kong Dazhu for deserving it.
You idiot who abandoned your own daughter and raised someone else's child, how dare you expect your married daughter to support you in your old age?
The fact that the old man didn't shovel your head off is because he showed mercy.
Despite their thoughts, the villagers were worried that someone might die, so they quickly stepped forward to stop Grandpa Sheng: "Grandpa, your grandson-in-law is an educated man, you must not act impulsively."
"Yes, yes, An'an still needs your support, grandpa. Just treat what that guy surnamed Kong is saying as bullshit; nobody will listen to his nonsense."
Grandpa Sheng gripped the shovel tightly, tears streaming down his face: "An'an is so pitiful. She lost her mother when she was little, and her own father didn't care about her. She finally grew up and married into a kind family, but someone already has designs on her..."
The villagers comforted her, saying, "You'll have to endure hardship first, but the good days are yet to come. You and your aunt are now enjoying life in the city, aren't you?"
At this point, the villagers felt a pang of sadness.
Who would have thought that An Yatou would marry into such a good family? It hasn't been long, and she's already brought her grandparents to her husband's house to enjoy a comfortable life.
Why don't their daughters/granddaughters have this ability?
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