Please remember the domain name of this site:

Chapter 26 Stone Brother

The man standing in front of the door was in his twenties, of medium height, with a slightly dark complexion, regular features and a look of vigor. He was wearing a piece of clothing that was neither new nor old, clean and neat. In his hand he held a pheasant with spotted feathers and a long tail, which he thrust into Shen Zian's hand as soon as the door opened, as if he would not allow it to be refused.

"Brother Zi'an, I came back very late last night, and I just found out this morning that you had separated from the family and were living on your own. So I went out to shoot a pheasant to celebrate your relocation. Don't complain that it's too little."

"Brother Shitou, you are so polite. Please come in and sit down."

Shen Zian obviously had a good relationship with this man, so he took the wild chicken without any hesitation and invited him in.

"Wife, this is Brother Shitou. He has always taken good care of me. You can just call him Brother Shitou."

Shen Zian said to Su Zhi, Su Zhi bowed slightly and called him "Brother Stone", which surprised the other party. The Shen family had spread rumors about the new daughter-in-law outside. He even sighed for Shen Zian. If he hadn't known that Shen Zian didn't take the initiative to divorce his wife because of his suggestion, he would have wanted to persuade him to divorce his wife. She had a serious illness and secretly married her daughter, which was a reason to divorce her. But now it seems that Shen Zian had a reason not to divorce his wife. Although this woman had an illness, she seemed to have a good temper and seemed to be a good match for Shen Zian.

"Don't be so polite, sister-in-law. Although Zi'an and I are not brothers, we grew up together. I had to go away for business a few days ago when you got married. I didn't even know you had moved out until I got home late last night. But it's a good thing this way. We will live closer from now on, and it will be more convenient for us to visit each other. If you have any problems, just come to me. Don't be polite."

"Thank you so much, Brother Stone."

Su Zhi thought that although this Stone Brother was a country boy, he looked generous and good at talking. He was not the kind of person who was polite and fawning, but rather down-to-earth. He was indeed the kind of friend or brother that Shen Zian would make friends with. She wondered how he would react after knowing her reputation as a swindler.

"Brother Stone, your brother and sister-in-law and I just moved in. There's not even a stool, let alone a chair, so let's just sit on this stone."

Shen Zian pointed to a few stones in the middle of the yard. They were there originally and Su Zhi wanted to keep them, saying she could sit on them. Unexpectedly, they were being used now.

Brother Shitou didn't care, he sat on the stone and talked to Shen Zian. Su Zhi went to get a bowl of hot water from the pot, handed it over, and then turned back to the house. Her face was not healed yet, even though it was covered, she still didn't want to be in front of others.

About half an hour later, Shen Zian came in and said that Brother Shitou had passed away. Then he told Su Zhi Brother Shitou's name and the situation at his family.

Brother Shitou's surname is Li, and his given name is Shi. Country people have nicknames, which means they are easy to raise, so Li Shi's nickname is Shitou. Stones are everywhere, so they must be easy to raise. He is the only one in his family, and they live not far from here, by the river.

"Brother Shitou looks young, why is he alone? Where are his parents? Hasn't he married yet? He's in his twenties, so he should have been married a long time ago, right?"

Su Zhi asked, in this era, women who are not married by the age of 18 are usually considered old maids, and men are married before the age of 20. This Li Shi must be in his 20s, so why is he alone at home? This is a brother that Shen Zian values, and they will often visit each other in the future, so of course she has to ask clearly.

Shen Zian sighed slightly and said, "Brother Shitou has a bad fate, even worse than mine. I was already able to remember when my mother passed away. Brother Shitou lost his mother when he was born, because his father didn't like him either. Later, there was a disaster in the village one year, so Uncle Li sold him and never thought he would come back. As a result, he came back, but he didn't have a share of the family's things. In the end, he settled down in the east of the river. It's only been a year since he came back, and he hasn't married yet."

Su Zhi nodded, thinking that this man had a miserable life, but she could also understand why he was so good at speaking. He had worked as a servant outside, even if he was the lowest servant, he had been tempered.

"Have you told Brother Stone about me? What does he think?"

Shen Zian held Su Zhi's hand and said, "I told him, but he didn't believe it. He also said that he was also said to be a jinx, and that his fate was already bad enough, so he didn't care."

Su Zhi thought it was no wonder that these two became brothers, they even had the same ideas. It seemed that they could interact more often in the future. It was always good to make more friends in this era, especially in times of trouble, the friends you made were even more precious.

As they talked, it was already noon. They were hungry. Shen Zian looked at Su Zhi's slender body and thought that it was time to divide the family and give his wife some nourishment. He had originally thought of hunting some game in the afternoon, but Brother Shitou sent him a pheasant. He decided to give his wife some nourishment as soon as possible. He went to boil water and began to prepare the chicken. He gutted and feathered the chicken very quickly, but when it came to cooking, he was in a dilemma. There was no oil at home except salt. He could only roast or steam it. Roasting would make it too oily, and steaming would be too bland. Moreover, there was only salt to enhance the flavor. He didn't know if his wife would like it.

When Su Zhi saw Shen Zi'an asking her whether she wanted steamed or roasted lotus leaves, she thought about it and an idea suddenly occurred to her. She said, "Zi'an, go to the river and pick me some lotus leaves. The bigger the better, not too dry. I'll make you something delicious when we get back."

When Shen Zian heard that his wife was going to make him something delicious, even if it wasn't too tasty, he was happy. He agreed and went out.

Su Zhi turned around and went to the back of the house. She found a few wild onions and a few dried wood ears in the morning. She picked them after watering them with spiritual spring water, cut them into sections and slices, and found a pepper plant on the edge of the field behind the yard. She didn't know if it was wild or someone dropped seeds here and grew it. There were only two small peppers left on it, both green with a little red. It was estimated that the big ones were all picked, and these two were the ones that slipped through the net. She picked them too, thinking that with this little seasoning, she could probably make something flavorful.

Su Zhi waited for Shen Zian to come back, but he didn't come back. She was a little puzzled. He had walked three times from here to the river and came back. Why didn't he come back? Did something happen? That was the river. Su Zhi was worried. She walked back and forth several times, stood in front of the gate and looked out, but she didn't see Shen Zian. She frowned, covered her face, locked the gate and went out.

Walking along the path towards the river, there are several houses nearby, some with two or three households next to each other, and some with individual households standing alone, which look spacious.

At this time, smoke was coming out of every household and everyone was cooking. There were children playing at the gate of the courtyard, and they looked at Su Zhi curiously. There were also adults who saw Su Zhi but did not come over. Their eyes were wary, and it was obvious that her reputation as a bad luck charm had spread. They were all a little afraid of her. But Su Zhi felt pretty good. At least no one would chase her away or scold her. She didn't feel too pitiful as a bad luck charm. She also had confidence in changing the villagers' views of her. At least they closed the door when they didn't see her, but they still dared to look at her, which meant they were not too poisoned.

"Wife, why did you come out?"

Shen Zian appeared in front. He ran to Su Zhi with a few large lotus leaves in his hand.

"You haven't come back for a long time. I was worried about you, so I came out to take a look."

"I just ran into Mr. Liu from the west side of the river. He twisted his foot on his way home from the fields. I sent him home, so I came back late. I'm sorry to have worried you. Let's go back."

Shen Zian saw that Su Zhi was worried about him and came out without being afraid of being seen. He thought that this was his wife. Finally, there was someone who would worry about him coming home a little late. He took Su Zhi's hand and supported her as if she was supporting a treasure. The two of them walking slowly together was very beautiful in this quiet countryside, and everyone who saw it felt a little envious.

****Thanks to Xinqingxiao and Qingka for the amulets. Sorry for coming back late. I was moved to tears when I saw that I was urged to update. I will add another chapter this afternoon, around 5:30.