Chapter 30
Shen Jin and his two younger brothers were standing outside the thatched cottage. The siblings Shen An, who were originally clearing land behind the cottage, were now blocking the door of their own house with alert looks on their faces.
Although Shen Jin is one year younger than Chen An, he is taller and more solid than Chen An. However, he is standing in a lower position and is not here to fight. He feels that he is very confident and is here to reason with Chen An and Chen Ning, so he is looking up to argue with the two of them.
"You are not doing this right. You have been eating at my house for so many years. Why is it not okay for us to just eat a couple of your crumbs?"
Shen Jin felt extremely aggrieved. For three days, the day before yesterday, yesterday and this morning, he had almost rolled out of the mud on their home's floor, and his mother hadn't agreed to go to the market to buy meat to make fried dough sticks for him.
Thinking about the fragrance he smelled the day before yesterday, he was so greedy that he couldn't resist it at that time. After a few days, he tried every way but still couldn't eat it, and he was even more greedy and anxious.
That's why I thought of trying it here with Chen Ning. What if Chen Ning still has it, right?
Unexpectedly, Shen An and Shen Ning refused to give them anything, and they were guarding against the three brothers as if they were thieves. As soon as the door was closed, the brother and sister blocked the door.
Shen Jin, who was originally unsure whether there was any oil residue left from Shen Ning, now felt that there was definitely some.
Seeing Shen An's face tense and silent, he turned his eyes and tried to think about what Shen An and Shen Ning had eaten from his family's lard last time. He pushed back the time when his mother made lard again and again, and then his eyes lit up and his momentum became stronger: "At the beginning of the year, at the beginning of the year, my mother made lard. That time, my mother used a small bowl to bring you hot lard. You each got three pieces. Do you dare not admit it?"
Shen An looked a little cold, his lips tightly pursed.
It was not long after the news of their eldest brother's death came back that time. He and his sister cried every day. Uncle and Aunt felt guilty and treated them much better than before.
But the brother and sister did not touch the three pieces of oil residue, and neither of them could eat them. Aunt San brought them back the same way.
Shen An was unwilling to say.
He didn't say anything, so Shen Jin felt that he was right: "You don't have anything to say, right? Look, just this time, you guys ate six pieces of my food, and you gave us two pieces each, which is exactly six pieces. We're even, right?"
Chen Ning's cheeks bulged again and again, and finally he couldn't bear it anymore, and retorted: "Who is even with you, who owes you, before the division of the family, it was originally our family, and we didn't eat yours, my eldest brother also farmed."
Shen Jin choked.
My eldest cousin not only farms, but also hunts.
Although he was young, he had heard a lot of rumors in the village, saying that his eldest cousin was pushed out by his father and died on the battlefield because he served in the military for his father.
Shen Jin's fingertips trembled and suddenly got stuck.
The child doesn’t understand too many things, but he knows in his heart that he has done something wrong, so he knows to avoid it subconsciously.
"Let's not talk about before and after the separation. A while ago after the separation, didn't you often come to my house to ask for food? You just gave me a few pieces of oil residue, what's wrong with that?"
Shen Yin and Shen Tie had also been craving for it for a few days. Children have short memories and would forget about things they couldn't eat in a blink of an eye because of the distraction. But the older Shen Jin had been thinking about it all the time. As soon as they forgot, Shen Jin and his mother made a fuss, and then the two little brothers remembered.
After being reminded like this over and over again, the two younger brothers became very greedy, and when they heard their third brother say he was coming to get the lard residue, they hurriedly followed him. However, they found out that their third brother couldn't get any of it despite talking for a long time.
Shen Yin was so greedy that he almost cried, his mouth was puffed with grievance, and he continued with his third brother's words: "Sister, my mother gave you vegetable porridge a few days ago."
Chen Tie leaned against his fourth brother, sucking his fingers, drooling. He was only five years old and didn't understand anything. He only knew that his sister would agree to whatever he said in the past. He looked at Chen Ning eagerly: "Sister, I want to eat oil residue."
Shen Ning could still fight back against Shen Jin, but he didn't know what to do with his two little cousins who were about to cry.
Shen Jin felt that his brother Shen Yin was talking about Shen Ning's weakness, and said proudly: "That's right, he was eating the food my mother gave him a few days ago."
It would have been fine if he didn't say anything, but as soon as he opened his mouth, a single sentence made Shen Ning, who had just softened, even more angry.
The little girl said angrily, "Two tablespoons. Third Aunt knows that we are out of food, not even bran. For two days, she only gave us two tablespoons of vegetable porridge. It was all soup, and you could even count the rice grains. It was mixed into the soup of boiled wild vegetables. There was no rice to be found among the three of us."
Thinking of the days that happened a while ago, Shen Ning's eyes suddenly turned red: "My sister-in-law almost starved to death."
"My second brother went to the door in the middle of the night to ask for food, and your parents heard it but pretended not to hear it!"
"We were still so young, why did Uncle San separate us out? We have no fields or land."
The more the little girl spoke, the more she felt aggrieved. Her tears rolled down her cheeks. She started crying first, and as she cried she spoke incoherently, calling him "Third Uncle" one moment and "your parents" the next.
Finally, he glanced at Shen Jin angrily and said, "You still say that my second brother is a beggar, I won't give you any oil residue to eat! Don't even think about it!"
Shen Jin was confused, but Shen Yin and Shen Tie didn't know who started it and burst into tears.
One cried, and the other howled too.
The birds in the mountains were frightened by the two children's deafening cries and fled, flapping their wings.
Shen Ning, who still had tears on her face, was stunned for a moment, and her tears stopped flowing out.
No matter how harsh her words were, among the children of the Shen family's generation, except for the eldest brother who was able to do farm work a long time ago, she and her second brother were the oldest. Before being separated, the two little cousins, including the little cousin Shen Tian who was too young to come out, were actually raised by her and her second brother.
When Shen Ning was six years old, he would chase after Shen Yin and Shen Tie, who were two or three years old, with a spoon to feed them.
How could a nine-year-old girl have any resentment towards her two tiny cousins?
Big and small, tearful eyes facing tearful eyes.
The two little ones were still howling with their eyes closed, and the older one was already confused from crying.
Shen Jin was also dumbfounded.
Shen An looked at the scene speechlessly, not knowing how the situation could have turned out like this in just a few words.
He looked at his sister first, and when he saw that Shen Ning had stopped crying, he said to his two little cousins, “Stop crying.”
“Ahhh…”
“Wow wow wow…”
Who can listen to him?
The third brother and the eldest sister started arguing, and it was such a fierce argument.
The lard residue you’ve been thinking about for three days is now confirmed to be gone, so why aren’t you crying?
I'm so sad.
Shen An's forehead twitched, and he raised his voice: "Shen Yin, Shen Tie, if you want to eat oil residue, shut up immediately and stop howling."
There is silence in the forest.
The two little ones opened their wet eyelashes. The youngest one, Chen Tie, choked because of crying. He hiccupped and looked at his second cousin. He hiccupped again. Then he realized what was happening and covered his mouth with his two black hands.
Shen An: …
"Want to eat some greasy residue?"
The two little ones nodded frantically, and next to them was Shen Jin who nodded even more happily.
Shen Ning was so anxious that she hurriedly pulled her second brother's sleeve: "Second brother, the eldest sister-in-law hasn't eaten a few pieces yet."
Shen An patted his sister's hand soothingly, then turned to Shen Yin and said, "If you want to eat oil residue, see the piece of land behind my house, help me open it up. If you do a good job, I will give you each a piece in the evening."
The two little brothers' eyes were still wet, tears were still hanging on their faces, and they looked confused: "How to open up the wasteland?"
One is six years old, the other is five years old. Do you expect them to understand how to open up new land?
Shen An really intended to teach them.
He waved and led the two younger ones to follow him to the back of the house. He didn't give them any hoes, but only took the bamboo sticks that they used before and taught them to dig up the mud, dig out the stones and pile them up, and also get out the grass roots.
He even took his small stone hoe and took the two children to see the land they had cultivated: "This is what the cultivated land looks like. There is only soil, no stones or grass roots. Only when it is cultivated like this can you plant things."
The two little brothers were happy: "Brother, I can do it!"
This is just playing in the mud.
They play every day.
But the second brother required them to pick up stones and grass roots outside.
The two brothers took the bamboo sticks and went to dig mud at the place where Chen An had just taught them.
Shen Jin didn't have any bamboo sticks, so he looked for a wooden stick nearby to support his hands. No matter how fiercely Shen Ning glared at him, he said that his second brother didn't ask him to work and he couldn't hear a word. He just ran to his two younger brothers and started working together.
Shen Ning was so angry that her mouth pouted and she glared at her second brother.
Chen An hadn't seen his sister's expression so rich in a long time. He subconsciously wanted to pinch her puffy cheeks, but when he saw his hands were covered in mud, he took them back awkwardly and whispered in Chen Ning's ear, "Let them be quiet in exchange for the three pieces of oil residue to help open up the wasteland. When my sister-in-law comes back, she will be less tired. We have to catch up with the farming season to plant vegetables."
Most importantly, he lowered his voice a little: "Think about Aunt San's cupboard."
The cabinet where Li hid the food was locked, so no matter how she hid it, Shen Jin would always be able to find the food and eat it.
Of course, Shen Jin would not take other people's things. The key point is that they grew up together. Did Shen Jin treat their home as someone else's?
Shen An was afraid that he might make a mistake, so Shen Jin went straight into the house.
Their house is not locked now.
The family makes magical tofu every day, and there are too many traces left behind. No one is allowed to enter the house, not even a child like Shen Jin.
If Uncle and Auntie are keeping their eyes on someone, they will figure out the secret sooner or later if they ask them a few more times.
Shen Ning's eyes suddenly widened, and he turned to look at Shen Jin, who was pulled by Shen An: "It's not that he will definitely do this, but instead of wasting time on defense, it's better to make him have no time and no mind to do anything else. After two days, they will all feel that the grease is gone, and they will naturally stop."
Shen Ning was still not very happy. It was not that she was unhappy to give food to Shen Yin and Shen Tie. The two little cousins helped her with the work and she gave them food. It was not for free, but she would not have to watch them cry. It was not that she could not accept it.
She just didn't want to give it to Shen Jin.
But she thought about the secret recipe of her sister-in-law's family, and then she thought about how her sister-in-law had to go so far to set up the stall every day and come back to work on the land. At night, she was so tired that she didn't want to move after lying in bed, and she had to get up in the middle of the night to make tofu.
Shen Ning stopped talking. She pouted and went back to the area behind the house to reclaim the wasteland. Shen Jin saw the brother and sister mumbling something and kept staring at them. Now Shen Ning saw them clearly.
Shen Ning snorted, picked up his small stone hoe and went to open up the wasteland. After hoeing twice and looking at Shen Jin's progress, Shen Ning said with a dark face: "Don't think that my second brother will give you food if you play in the mud all day. If you don't open up enough, I won't give you anything."
Shen Jin, who was really ready to play in the mud for a day, froze. This time he finally stopped pretending to be deaf and dumb. He looked up at Shen Ning, gave up, and turned to ask Shen An: "Shen An, how much do you have to drive to give me oil residue?"
Shen An was not polite either. He took a branch and marked out a two-foot square area for Shen Jin.
"It's useless to dig shallowly in this area. We need to dig at least one foot deep and clear out all the rocks and grass roots inside."
He gestured to Shen Jin with the branch in his hand.
One foot in the Da Gan Dynasty was about thirty centimeters in later generations, so the area marked by Shen An was probably more than half a square.
Don't think it's small. The mountain soil is too dry and compact, and the rocks and grass roots under the soil are tangled and very difficult to clean. The size that Chen An has marked is the size that he can only open after a busy day.
If he can do it, Shen Jin can certainly do it too.
As for the two little cousins, they didn't ask, and Shen An turned a blind eye and said nothing.
Shen Jin looked at the lines Chen An had drawn for him, and then at the length of the branches Chen An had measured. He had never worked in the fields, and had no idea how difficult it was to open up wasteland. Shen Jin only cared about one thing: "Will I get oil residue after I'm done?"
Shen An had made his promise, so he naturally wouldn't go back on his word: "I've checked it and it's passed. There are no stones or grass roots, and the soil is loose. I'll give you a piece of oil residue."
Shen Jin was excited: "Okay! You keep your word, I'll go back for a while and come right back!"
He turned around and ran down the mountain.
Shen Yin and Shen Tie were puzzled when they saw their third brother running away, but the two kids had work to do this time, and they would have some oil residue to eat after finishing the work, so they didn't care where their third brother was doing, and just stuck their butts out and dug the ground with bamboo sticks.
Chen Ning didn't care. It was better for him to leave. However, from what he said before leaving, it didn't seem like he was going to give up eating the oil residue and leave.
Sure enough, Shen Jin came back not long after, carrying a small hoe from their family on his shoulder.
It was not the fake hoe in the hands of Shen An and Shen Ning, which was made of stone and was not easy to exert force, but a real iron hoe, the kind with a small pointed hoe.
Shen Jin was quite proud: "Look, I'm definitely the first one to eat the oil residue today!"
The corner of Shen An's mouth twitched, and he moved Shen Yin and Shen Tie to a place far away from Shen Jin. He looked at Shen Jin again and said, "Be careful not to hurt your feet. Let me make it clear first, if you get hurt, I won't cover the medical expenses."
Shen Ning burst out laughing.
Shen Jin used his hoe to dig down and almost made a mistake. He was so angry that his eyes widened: "Who are you looking down on?"
Indeed, there is no kid in the mountains who doesn’t know how to play this, it’s just a difference in strength and technique.
Shen An stopped talking and got busy with his own business. The wasteland he cleared was located next to the house, so he could keep an eye on Shen Jin while also being able to watch over his own door.
At noon, when Sang Luo and Qin Fangniang came back from the path into the mountains, they saw five children, big and small, standing or squatting, working hard to dig the land beside and behind the thatched hut, holding hoes, stone hoes, and bamboo splinters in their hands.
Sang Luo: ???
Qin Fangniang, who helped carry the bucket over, was also stunned.
Chen An, who was standing at the side of the house clearing the land, was the first to see his sister-in-law coming back. He called out "sister-in-law", put down his stone hoe and ran over quickly to help with unloading the things. His reaction was so quick.
The next person who trotted over was Shen Ning, and then the three brothers from the third branch of the Shen family who heard the noise and followed Shen Ning to the side of the house and looked over here.
Sang Luo looked at the three of them, from tallest to shortest, and they all shrank back in an instant.
Sang Luo looked at the three brothers Shen Jin in the distance, raised her chin towards them, and asked Shen An, "What are you doing?"
Chen An was a little embarrassed and nervous, and whispered: "They wanted to eat the oil residue and cried at the door. I simply asked them to work and exchange the oil residue with me."
After saying that, he looked at Sang Luo carefully and said, "I didn't give them much. I just promised them one piece each."
Sang Luo was happy to hear this: "Okay, just be careful not to bump into anything and get hurt. The sun is too strong right now and there is no shade. Don't do it for now, or you'll get a heat stroke later."
Chen An knew that his sister-in-law had no problem with his way of doing things, and grinned: "I know, let them go back first, and come back in the afternoon when it's not so hot."
He helped Sang Luo and Qin Fangniang move the things under the eaves, but did not open the door to put them inside.
Even if the people who followed them were from the Chen family who were nice to them.
He was busy running around, and did everything very naturally. At least Qin Fangniang didn't think much about it at all.
She took the small piece of Hu cake wrapped in lotus leaf from the bucket, said goodbye to Sang Luo, hurried down the mountain path and returned to the village.
When Chen An saw Qin Fangniang leave, he asked his sister-in-law to wash her face and hands quickly, and quietly told Chen Ning to pay attention to some things and the door of the house, and then he went to the three brothers Shen Jin.
Shen Jin was a little nervous and pulled Shen An: "The matter of taking the oil residue still counts, right?"
In his opinion, such precious things are reserved for adults.
When Sang Luo was not at home, he dared to ask Shen An and Shen Ning for it. When Sang Luo came back, the situation immediately changed.
He realized belatedly that could Shen An's promise still count?
It has to be said that this is not just Shen Jin’s perception, it is the common perception of most children.
Chen An was also nervous when he heard Sang Luo's question just now. The sister-in-law said that the food would be given to him and his sister, but it was just oil residue, and they were not going to eat it themselves, but give it to others.
Then, it turned out that his sister-in-law was the best sister-in-law.
Shen An, who was always a bit precocious, also felt a surge of pride in his heart. He glanced at Shen Jin and said, "Of course it counts. My sister-in-law treats me and Aning the best. She gave me the few pieces of oil residue left and said that I can make the decision. But it's too hot. Sister-in-law is afraid that you will get heatstroke. You are not allowed to work at noon. Come back in the afternoon when it's not hot anymore."
Shen Jin looked at the land he had already hoeed, and was not very happy: "It's not that hot."
He was afraid that Shen An would change his mind in the afternoon. What should he do?
What a child says is not always true. It is normal for him to change his mind. He doesn't want to go back until the oil residue reaches his mouth.
Shen An glared at him: "Are you going back or not? If not, the oil residue will be gone."
A piece of lard residue was like a chokehold on Shen Jin: "Go back if you want, but don't regret it this afternoon. I've been hoeing for so long that my hands are all blistered from holding the hoe."
As he spoke, he stretched out his right hand and showed Shen An the position of the tiger's mouth.
To say it's bubbly is an exaggeration, some of the redness is real.
Shen An pursed his lips: "Who would regret it."
"We agreed that if you go back on your word, you're a puppy."
Shen Jin put down his words, picked up his small hoe, and walked away with his two brothers, looking back every three steps. When they were far away, he didn't forget to shout: "You can't fool me."
This caused Shen Ning to roll his eyes.
When Shen Jin got home, he was caught by Li as soon as he entered the courtyard: "Where have you been with your brother all morning? Why did you go out to play with a hoe?"
"Just playing around." Shen Jin leaned his small hoe against the courtyard wall and ran to the main room. He picked up the kettle, poured a cup of water and gulped it down. He had worked under the sun for an hour and was dying of thirst.
As for the fact that he brought his two younger brothers to work for Shen An, Shen Jin was very smart and absolutely did not tell anyone about it, because his mother would not allow it if she told him.
Anyway, his mother is unreliable, so if he wants to eat lard residue today, he has to rely on Shen An.
Li was a little confused. What did they mean by just playing around? She pulled the two children aside and asked.
Shen Yin was also smart. Although no one had told him anything, he intuitively knew that his mother didn't like his second brother and elder sister. He kept his mouth shut and shook his head, then ran to the main room, climbed onto a stool and went to pour himself a drink of water.
I spent half the morning digging mud, stones and grass roots. I was so tired. It was much more tiring than playing in the mud.
Only Chen Tie was stopped by Li: "Tell me, what did you do this morning?"
Shen Jin and Shen Yin, who had escaped first, felt a pang in their hearts. They stopped drinking the water and ran back to the main hall door, winking at Chen Tie.
Chen Tie was held by his mother and couldn't get out, so he cried out, "Play in the mud."
Playing in the mud, the two little brothers inside almost laughed out loud.
Well said, it’s just playing in the mud.
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