The village head looked like he wanted to curry favor with someone powerful.
He secretly plotted that Shangqing Village still had a lot of wasteland. If he could curry favor with Shen Cheng, and Shen Cheng was pleased, Shangqing Village would become the first village in the surrounding area to successfully reclaim wasteland.
The news of Shen Cheng's official appointment reached the Shen family.
Chen was instantly panicked, muttering repeatedly, "Impossible, impossible..."
Seeing this, Zhu pushed Chen and cursed, "Old woman, what's impossible? Go cook! Do you want me to starve to death?"
Zhu was the new wife that Chen arranged for Shen Dazhuang. She was a widow, almost forty years old, and had two sons. Fortunately, Zhu was in good health.
Chen thought that Zhu was fertile, so she would ask her to give the eldest son a son next year.
Before entering the family, Zhu had promised to give Shen Dazhuang a son, but after the marriage, things didn't go as planned. She never mentioned having a son again and even plundered all the good things in the Shen family, secretly giving them to her two sons.
Chen wanted to discipline her daughter-in-law as before. The day before, Zhu was beaten, but unexpectedly, the next day, Zhu's two sons came to the door and smashed up the old Shen's house.
From then on, Zhu Shi dominated Chen Shi, frequently beating and scolding her, and Chen Shi ended up doing all the housework.
Seeing her spouting nonsense, Zhu Shi truly looked down on her.
Chen was pushed to the ground by Zhu, but she sat there as if in a daze, muttering, "Impossible, impossible, he could never be an official..."
Zhu immediately understood what Chen was talking about and sneered, "Oh, you regret it now, don't you? Your second son, Chen Cheng, whom you looked down on the most, is now an official. Do you think he will use his official position to punish you?"
"If you had treated this son well back then, she would be the mother of an official now. You could walk around with impunity not only in Shangqing Village, but in the entire Sifang Town. Ha! But look at you now. If it were me, I would be regretting it so much that I would kill myself."
When Zhu used to scold Chen like this, even though Chen was afraid of her, she would still get so angry that she would jump up and down and curse back.
But today, Chen was like a madwoman, completely motionless.
What does it taste like?
Zhu covered her nose and squatted down. What she saw startled her.
Chen urinated.
"You old bastard, how dare you pee in the house? I'll beat you to death today!"
But at this moment, Chen remained motionless, and Zhu's hand, which was about to strike her, stopped halfway.
Zhu was somewhat suspicious. Was her mother-in-law faking it, trying to extort money from her by sitting on the ground?
Seeing Chen glaring at her hatefully, her mouth crooked and her eyes slanted, she felt more and more uneasy. Her mother-in-law was probably not faking it; she had been provoked. Her push had caused her mother-in-law to have a stroke.
Zhu took a few steps back, hurriedly went back into the house to tidy up, and ran away while everyone in the family was doing farm work in the fields.
When Lao Shen's family returned, they found Chen lying on the ground. They called a doctor, only to be told that there was currently no cure for the disease unless they found a miracle doctor.
The Shen family is so poor they can't even afford to eat, let alone afford to see a miracle doctor.
So they simply carried Chen to the bed.
However, this illness requires continuous medication to save her life; without it, Chen would likely not live much longer.
Chen mumbled something, but no one could understand a word he said.
Old Man Shen asked, "Dazhuang, where's your wife?"
When Shen Dazhuang returned to the house, he learned that his wife, Zhu, had taken everything of value that she could.
He also felt some resentment towards Chen Shi at this moment. The wife he had finally managed to marry had been bullied away by his mother.
Well, now she's getting her comeuppance; she suffered a stroke.
But his mother's illness was the most important thing right now, so he had no choice but to come back and discuss his mother's treatment with Shen Wan.
"Third brother, you've been to school and can read, why don't you go and beg your second brother to arrange for you to be the manager in town? I heard he even arranged for Zhou's nephew to be there. We grew up together, he shouldn't be so heartless."
Shen Wan looked bitter.
Shen Cheng now hates their family to the core. Not only will he not arrange a job for them, but his original job was ruined by Shen Danru.
“Brother, you can go wherever you want. Shen Cheng not only opened a shop in town, but now he also has a workshop, a breeding farm, a winery, and even built a manor. There’s bound to be something suitable for you to do.”
"Third brother, you should go. You're literate and can earn more. If I go, the little money I earn won't be enough for Mother to buy medicine."
Shen Quan spoke up from the side: "Stop talking, both of you go, and the third son's wife goes too."
It's better for three people to work than for one person to work.
Since their father had spoken, the three of them had no choice but to agree.
###
The Shen family is celebrating Shen Cheng's reward.
Shen Cheng kept the village head, clan chiefs, and all the servants who worked for the Shen family behind and set up several tables in the courtyard.
The servants and neighbors also brought congratulatory gifts. Although the gifts were small, the sentiments were deep, and Chen Cheng accepted them all and invited them to stay for dinner.
Shen Cheng couldn't help but take out the wine his daughter had brewed for him, Baili Zui, to celebrate.
Almost all the villagers sincerely congratulated Shen Cheng, except for a few villagers who were jealous of the Shen family.
On the estate, Shen Danru also sent people to slaughter pigs, chickens, and sheep to provide extra meals for the refugees, who were now the Shen family's farmhands.
After the meal.
"Ru'er, your father should thank you. These rewards should rightfully be yours."
In this era, it was difficult for women to be rewarded. Even if they made great contributions, if the emperor was pleased, he would only reward them with some silver or the like.
But it would be different if the credit were given to a man.
This time was no different. When the magistrate of Ningshou County submitted his memorial, he mentioned that Shen Danru, the daughter of the Shen family, had assisted her father, Shen Cheng. The emperor was pleased and rewarded her with one hundred taels of silver and two thousand acres of wasteland outside Shengjing.
Conversely, if the land reclamation and early rice planting were both spearheaded by Shen's daughter with Shen Cheng's assistance, then Shen Cheng would only receive some monetary rewards, and it's impossible for him to be granted an official position.
This is not what Shen Danru wanted either.
Of course, this also benefited the magistrate of Ningshou County, as his official position tended to rise.
“Father, there’s no need to say these things to your daughter. Besides, although the idea of reclaiming wasteland was mine, the actual implementation was yours, so you deserve this reward.”
"His Majesty has appointed you to take up a post in Shengjing to assist the Ministry of Revenue in land reclamation. When shall we depart?"
At this point, Shen Cheng felt a little nervous. He was afraid that if he didn't do things well, he would embarrass Shen Shi when they met in the future.
"Ru'er, I..."
"Father, don't be afraid. You are no worse than anyone else. Your daughter will help you when the time comes."
Shen Cheng nodded.
Shen Cheng wanted to make a name for himself before recognizing his family, so that he wouldn't be laughed at by the people in Shengjing and the Duke's Mansion, and so that his father, Shen Shi, would be proud of him.
His daughter's encouragement greatly boosted Shen Cheng's confidence.
How fortunate he was to have reunited with his daughter whom he had once lost; otherwise, everything he possessed now would have been unimaginable to him.
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