After resting for two days, Shen Wei planned to go back to her stall.
The plump woman from next door was gone, replaced by a pair of siblings running the stall.
The girl was dark-skinned and thin. When she saw Shen Wei, she gave her a kind smile.
“Big sister, my brother sells spicy pepper soup. When you have time later, I’ll treat you to a bowl it’s free.”
Shen Wei smiled as she set up her stall. “Sure, then you can also try my buns later.”
“Then my brother and I will look forward to it. I’ve heard your buns are famous for their fragrance around here!”
Soon, after Shen Wei finished preparing everything and was waiting for the buns to come out of the steamer, the girl named Xu Yue brought over a bowl of pepper soup and handed it to her. “Big sister, here.”
“Alright.”
Shen Wei didn’t stand on ceremony. She chatted with Xu Yue while taking small sips of the soup.
It turned out that Xu Song and Xu Yue, the siblings, had come from a remote rural area. Their mother had passed away early, and their father remarried and wanted to marry the younger sister off to a blind man in exchange for bride price money. That was why Xu Song had brought his sister here.
Gradually, they managed to find a place to live and started a small business.
And Xu Song’s pepper soup really did taste quite good.
Many customers who bought buns from Shen Wei, after smelling the aroma of the soup from his stall, would also buy a bowl to try.
Some even sat directly at the small tables and stools Xu Song had set up to drink the soup, asking Shen Wei to bring the buns over.
Sister Wu, who came to buy buns, joked, “You two are perfect one sells food, the other drinks. Together you could open a breakfast shop.”
Shen Wei just smiled without saying anything.
But Xu Song’s ear slowly turned red.
Today, Sister Wu came with her husband, a refined middle-aged man with neatly combed, thinning hair.
Shen Wei had met many kinds of people in her past life. She wouldn’t say she was an expert at judging character, but she could still see a thing or two.
The man had slightly upturned eyes a typical flirtatious look. When Sister Wu introduced them, his gaze lingered on Shen Wei for a moment, making it clear he wasn’t exactly a well-behaved man.
He even joked, “Minjun, your little friend here is really beautiful!”
Wu Minjun rolled her eyes at him and said to Shen Wei, “Ignore him he’s never serious.”
Naturally, Shen Wei paid him no mind. She only hoped she had misjudged him and that Sister Wu could continue living happily.
That day, Shen Wei’s bun stall business went on as usual. Li Na didn’t come because of something at her factory. After steaming her last batch and preparing to pack up, Shen Wei saw Shen Jianguo.
The man was pulling a wooden cart, with Yu Li walking beside him.
“Oh! I heard your business is doing pretty well now,” Yu Li said, reaching out to grab a bun from the pot. She knew exactly how delicious this girl’s buns were. “Why haven’t you thought about being filial to your uncle and aunt?”
Shen Wei slapped the back of her hand. “People need dignity just like trees need bark. The severance letter has already been written I don’t have any uncle or aunt.”
“You!” Yu Li winced in pain and glared fiercely at her.
“You unfilial brat! Even if the severance letter is written, you still have to take care of your grandmother on behalf of your father! Your father was a martyr you don’t want him to be cursed for being unfilial even after death, do you?”
“So you’re saying a granddaughter also has a duty to provide support?” Shen Wei raised an eyebrow and asked back.
“Of course!” Yu Li said righteously. “If someone is unfilial, they’ll be struck by lightning!”
Knowing how sharp-tongued this girl had become, Yu Li didn’t dare stay long. She quickly left Old Madam Shen in front of Shen Wei’s bun stall, then grabbed Shen Jianguo and ran off.
After running out of the market for quite a while, the two of them finally stopped.
“Just leaving Mom there like that what if Shen Wei doesn’t take care of her?” Shen Jianguo was still worried. No matter what, she was his biological mother.
Yu Li twisted his arm hard. “Shen Jianguo, if you want to be a filial son, then go ahead. But I’m not washing clothes covered in feces.”
Thinking of that nauseating smell, Shen Jianguo lowered his head and said nothing.
Forget it. No matter what, Shen Wei, as a granddaughter, should be the one to take care of her grandmother. Besides, she didn’t even have a job she only set up a stall in the mornings, which wouldn’t interfere with anything.
“Let’s go.”
Seeing the wooden cart in front of the bun stall, Xu Song walked over to Shen Wei and asked, “Is there anything I can help with?”
Shen Wei finished packing up her stall. “Brother Xu, help me sell the remaining buns. I need to take care of something first.”
“Alright, don’t worry,” Xu Song said, patting his chest in assurance.
Shen Wei glanced at Old Madam Shen on the cart. The old woman, who had been looking at her sideways, quickly shut her eyes.
“Playing dead?” Shen Wei sneered lightly, then pulled the cart.
Seeing that Shen Wei was willing to take care of her, Old Madam Shen finally felt relieved. “Weiwei, it was Grandma who was foolish before. Now I know you’re the most filial.”
“From now on, the two of us, grandmother and granddaughter, will depend on each other.”
Shen Wei seemed to see the Old Madam Shen from her past life again praising her for being filial while secretly slipping money to her younger uncle’s children.
Even now, in such a miserable state, even if Shen Wei personally took care of her, she had no doubt that the old woman still had her heart set on her younger uncle’s family.
Since they were the real family, how could she stand in the way of their affection?
Shen Wei directly pulled the cart to the entrance of the middle school her younger uncle’s daughter, Shen Dong, studied there.
Since they were both granddaughters, and Shen Jianguo said she had the duty to provide support, then his daughter had it too.
The old gatekeeper asked, “What are you here for?”
“Sir, could you please call out student Shen Dong for me? My grandmother is dying and wants to see her one last time.”
The old man had lived a long life, but it was the first time he had seen something like this someone on the verge of death coming to a school just to see their granddaughter. He hurried off to call her.
When Old Madam Shen realized she had been brought to Xiao Dong’s school gate, she became so angry she started spitting. “Shen Wei! You little wretch, what are you trying to do?”
“I’m telling you, I want you to take care of me! If you dare leave me here, I’ll crawl my way to find you!”
“No problem. Once you crawl there, I’ll just send you back again.”
“Anyway, only if Xiao Dong and Xiao Xi are willing to take care of you will I take care of you,” Shen Wei said calmly.
“Xiao Dong studies well and has a bright future how can you compare to her?” Old Madam Shen spat.
“Was I not a good student before?” Shen Wei recalled how she had been forced to drop out of middle school because she couldn’t afford tuition that pain would stay with her forever. “You took the compensation my father earned with his life and refused to let me study. And now you tell me we’re all family don’t you think that’s ridiculous?”
Old Madam Shen lay on the cart, her chest heaving with anger, glaring at Shen Wei with hatred, as if looking at a sworn enemy.
Shen Dong ran out, confused. She hadn’t fully understood what the gatekeeper had said only that her grandmother was dying.
“Sister Weiwei?”
Shen Wei gave a faint smile and waved her over. “Xiao Dong, come here. Grandma is paralyzed and in bad shape now. Your parents don’t want to take care of her they say it’s the grandchildren’s responsibility. I’ll leave her to you.”
With that, she moved Old Madam Shen from the cart onto the ground, then pulled the empty cart and left.