“Mother, please wear it. It is only right for my elder brother to show you filial piety. Now that our family is better off, you will not only have a silver bracelet to wear, but also a gold bracelet and a jade bracelet in the future.”
Looking at her filial children, Zhou finally stopped crying and started smiling.
After leaving the Chai family, Shen Yu'an took the butterfly-shaped gold hairpin to the silver shop, explained the situation to Manager Yu, and exchanged it for a silver bracelet. Manager Yu tore up the IOU and gave him sixty taels of silver in change.
"Mother, here are the remaining sixty taels."
After accepting the sixty taels of silver, Zhou looked at Shen Danru.
After her daughter came back, she didn't eat or stay in a good place, which really made her suffer.
"I want to use these sixty taels to buy your sister a decent piece of jewelry."
"Mom, I don't want it. I really like this hair accessory that my older brother gave me. You can give it to Dad first, and then save some money so that Dad can build a house."
Zhou's eyes reddened again. This daughter was so sensible, and she felt more and more that she owed her too much as a mother.
"I can't let you suffer." As she spoke, Madam Zhou took the bracelet off again, intending to put it on Shen Danru, but Shen Danru pressed her hand and refused.
"Mother, I don't really like these material possessions. You should wear them instead."
Shen Danru had seen all sorts of fine things when she was in the Marquis's mansion. She had received countless rare treasures, jade feathers, and pearls from the royal family. In fact, when Song Yuqing came to snatch them, she gave them to her without saying a word.
She always dressed simply and didn't like wearing such things.
All she ever wanted from a young age was her parents' love and affection; how could she care about such material things?
Zhou felt a pang of heartache. What woman wouldn't like these things? She must be saying this because she felt sorry for her mother. She thought to herself that when the family's financial situation improved, she would buy her daughter something even better.
Shen Cheng's plan to build a brick house shocked the entire Shangqing Village.
Just a few days ago, they couldn't even afford to eat and were digging up taro on the mountain every day. And now, after only a few days, they're already building houses?
Then a new piece of news came out: the Shen family made money from the devil's tongue on the mountain. They used a secret method to remove the toxins from the devil's tongue, which is how they made delicious food and made money.
For a time, the villagers of Shangqing Village all went up the mountain to dig up devil's taro.
Shen Danru generously shared her method for removing toxins from devil's tongue, and told everyone that if they wanted to sell devil's tongue, they could send it over for one coin per pound.
Therefore, the people of Shangqing Village all praised her highly.
But this does not include the Shen family.
"Mother, something terrible has happened! Everyone in the village is saying that Shen Cheng makes money by digging up taro and making it into food. Have you heard?"
"What? Aren't the devil's tongues on the mountain poisonous? How can you eat that stuff?"
"Isn't this the daughter of the second son? She went to school for a few years and figured out a way to remove the poison from the devil's tongue. She even made delicious food with it. I heard that they've made a lot of money using this method and have taught it to the villagers."
Upon hearing this, Chen immediately stood up: "What? You have a way to make money but didn't share it with your old mother first, instead you taught it to the villagers?"
Adding fuel to the fire, Niu said, "Yes, Mother, the second son has gone too far. If you ask me, Mother should teach them a lesson. They are too arrogant and don't even respect their mother."
Chen was at a loss. The last time she caused trouble for them, Shu'er was ashamed and told them not to go to her second uncle's house again. Only a few days had passed. If she went to cause trouble for Chen Cheng again, would Shu'er blame her, her grandmother?
But thinking about how much money his second son must have made, if he could get it back, then Shu'er could make ends meet for a while longer, and Shu'er would definitely be very happy.
"So, what excuse should we come up with?"
“Mom, just say you lost money. They stole the money from you to build the house. They said they made money selling taro, but I don’t believe it. I’m sure many people in the village don’t believe it either. They must have used some kind of method to make money in such a short time.”
Chen's eyes darted around a few times, and an idea came to her.
When Chen arrived, the second branch of the family was busy preparing.
As more and more people placed orders, Shen Yu'an hired Aunt Zhang and a few others to help out, paying them fifty coins a day.
Aunt Zhang was overjoyed when she heard this. Her husband only earned thirty coins a day working in town, while she earned more than him, and her status in the family immediately rose.
When Aunt Zhang asked, she learned that five people were needed, so she brought all her close friends in the village, including Shen Dashan's wife, Liu.
Shen Cheng went to see the village head to inspect the foundation, Shen Danru was teaching Shen Yuyan to read in the house, and Shen Yu'an and Zhou Shi were directing everyone to work.
Just then, Chen arrived with Niu and Lü, and they had only one purpose: to ask for money.
Upon entering the courtyard, one sees wooden basins and buckets filled to the brim with pork belly.
"You heartless bastards from the second wife's family! Is this how you squander money? You eat meat every day while I'm starving. May you be struck by lightning!"
Chen's cursing voice carried throughout the entire courtyard.
Upon hearing the noise, Shen Yu'an and Zhou Shi quickly came out of the kitchen, and Aunt Zhang and the others also ran over.
When Chen saw Zhou come out, she cursed even more fiercely. She had always bullied this second daughter-in-law. In the past, Zhou never dared to utter a word in front of her. This time, she wanted to make Zhou obediently hand over the money and take all the pork belly with her.
As for the dried taro in the yard, only the fools in town would eat it; she wouldn't even take it if it were given to her for free.
"Old Mrs. Shen, what are you yelling about? Brother Shen Cheng eats meat every day because he earned it himself. It's none of your business. If you want some, ask your son to buy it for you."
Aunt Zhang had long disliked Chen Shi. She was close to Zhou Shi, and before they separated their households, she was afraid that scolding Chen Shi would implicate Zhou Shi. Now that Zhou Shi and Chen Shi had no connection whatsoever, she was going to give this old woman a good scolding.
"I am Shen Cheng's mother. I raised him. He grew up on my milk. So what kind of relationship do you think we have?"
Aunt Zhang glanced at Chen Shi, and she really wanted to cut open Chen Shi's face with a knife to see just how thick her skin was.
Aunt Zhang was a notoriously shrewish woman. Her father died early, her mother was unable to support herself, and her two younger brothers were still small. As the eldest sister, she had no choice but to change from the moment her father died. Whenever someone bullied her mother and brothers, she would retaliate fiercely, not stopping until she had taken a piece of their flesh.
As a result, she had a bad reputation and was considered an old maid at the age of twenty before she finally got married and became someone's second wife.
Her husband was widowed, and there was a newborn child at home. She raised her husband's child without any hesitation, which earned her the praise of the villagers and made them accept her fiery personality.
“Chen Cheng’s mother, I spit on you, do you deserve to be called that? Aren’t you afraid of having nightmares at night, dreaming that Shen Cheng’s biological mother from the mountain comes to settle scores with you? How much mistreatment did Brother Shen Cheng suffer from you when he was young? I didn’t know because I married into this village late, but the older aunties and grandmas all saw it.”
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