“Shen Zhiqiu, what do you mean by this? This is your own son. If you don’t care, fine, but now you even want to take the money for his treatment?”
The previous county magistrate had been transferred away without arranging a position for Shen Zhiqiu. The new magistrate would surely appoint his own people, so Shen Zhiqiu’s job as a clerk was hanging by a thread. He had been raising funds and seeking connections during this time.
“You’ve already seen the doctors in the county town, yet you still refuse to give up. Do you really want to drag the whole family into starvation?”
Shen Zhiqiu’s face darkened. His eldest son was useless, lazy and gluttonous. The second son’s leg was crippled. As for the third son, although he studied at the academy, his health was poor and required constant medication to maintain. He didn’t seem like someone who would amount to much either.
“Shen Zhiqiu, have you forgotten? For nearly ten years, the second and third branches of the family haven’t used a single penny of your money. All your money went to the first branch. The Shen family’s wealth was taken away by your beloved Ruyan. Who are you trying to get money from now? Shame on you, a scholar, scheming over your wife’s dowry every day. Why don’t you ask your eldest daughter-in-law for money? She has a dowry too!”
Grandma Shen slammed her chopsticks down, speaking angrily.
The two glared at each other, looking less like a married couple and more like sworn enemies.
“That won’t do! What dowry do I have? The little I had was spent long ago on household expenses.”
Du Shi grew anxious, especially when her father-in-law looked at her, hesitating as if he truly intended to target her dowry.
“Mother, forget it. I won’t get treatment. The doctors all say my leg is beyond saving. Don’t waste the money!”
Shen Da Shan sat in his chair, his face pale.
“Quiet! This family isn’t yours to decide for, not even your father can make decisions for me!”
Grandma Shen declared with authority.
Enraged, Grandpa Shen slammed the table. “I’m done eating!”
He was too angry to have an appetite.
Shen Xixi glanced at Shen Da Shan’s leg. With just a simple look, she could roughly tell what was wrong. In her previous life, she had been part of a mercenary squad. Though her combat skills weren’t exceptional, she played the role of the squad’s wet nurse.
She was the field medic of the squad, a legend in the medical field.
Shen Da Shan’s leg had a fractured section. The doctor who set the bone was unskilled and misaligned it. Now, not only had it not healed properly, but it was also excruciatingly painful.
But in this ancient world with underdeveloped medical technology, curing it would require seeking out a renowned orthopedics specialist. Yet, in such a small village, finding even a decent doctor was difficult, let alone a famous one.
He would have to walk with crutches for the rest of his life.
But she was here now.
Shen Wu’s eyes held mockery. “Aunt, how much longer can your dowry last? You’d be better off admitting your mistakes to Father and being more obedient. Otherwise, the second and third branches will depend on you. Forget about medical treatment—they’ll starve.”
“Your father’s money was spent raising all of you. What does it have to do with me if he’s broke? Useless man, with no money yet still trying to keep a mistress. Serves him right for being abandoned, serves him right for his concubine running off with someone else!”
“Shut your mouth!” A teacup was thrown from inside.
Du Shi shrieked in alarm. “Father, you’re still throwing things! You’ve thrown away all the teacups!”
Her heart ached at the waste. These were bought when the Shen family still had money. The household hadn’t acquired new items in years.
After the concubine left, there was a period when the family’s relationship had been somewhat tolerable. But some villagers who loved to gossip claimed that Ruyan left because she was driven away by Feng Meixiang, the matriarch.
Since then, the concubine’s two children treated her like an enemy whenever they saw her, constantly sowing discord and worsening her relationship with Shen Zhiqiu.
Later on, after the two elders in the family passed away one after another, this home became even less like a home.
The old couple would bicker over nothing.
For two whole days, the old couple didn’t speak to each other. By the third day, Shen Xixi had mostly recovered.
Truth be told, after eating wild vegetable porridge for three days straight, she couldn’t take it anymore.
“Mom, I’m going out to dig up some wild vegetables.”
“Second sister, I’m coming too!” Shen Wen Xing followed like a little tail.
“Don’t go too far, you two! Come back early for dinner!” Liu Taohua watched them walk away quickly, still a bit worried.
“Second Sister, let me carry it for you. I’m really strong!”
Even though Shen Wen Xing was just a six-year-old little bean sprout, he was already helping out with household chores.
He directly took the small back basket and slung it over his own back.
“It’s fine, we’ll each carry one!” Shen Xixi fetched a slightly larger back basket from the corner, and the two of them went out with sickles in hand.
Not long after stepping outside, little Wen Xing glanced around furtively and whispered with a secretive air.
“Last night when I got up to use the outhouse, I heard Eldest Uncle’s Wife, Eldest Uncle, and Grandpa saying that once the wound on your face heals, they plan to take you out and sell you. Second Sister, be careful!”
“I feel like I might have been dreaming, but I still had to tell you, Second Sister!”
“Did you tell Grandma?” Shen Xixi understood—the little one definitely wasn’t dreaming.
She touched the wound on her face. It seemed she couldn’t let it heal too quickly.
“No, I was afraid they’d start arguing again. Grandpa is really scary when he yells!”
Shen Wen Xing was timid and afraid of Grandpa scolding him.
Shen Xixi sighed. When the original owner was taken in, on one hand, Grandma still had some money at the time and didn’t make the eldest branch pay. On the other hand, Wen Xing had just been born then, and Shen Xixi took care of the baby, freeing up an adult’s labor. The family’s ten mu of land relied entirely on the second branch to tend, so no one said anything more.
Now that Wen Xing was older, the second branch was plotting to sell her for money.
The wild vegetables near the village had long been dug up, so the two had no choice but to head into the mountains.
Along the way, Shen Xixi was deep in thought about how to deal with the situation.
“Ding, wild onions discovered. Can be sold for 10 wen coins per jin.”
A voice startled Shen Xixi.
She looked down at the ground—it was a patch of wild onions. In her previous life, many people ate these as a cold dish, and such wild vegetables were quite expensive in modern times.
But here, no one ate them. After all, with only salt available daily, their pungent flavor didn’t taste good with just salt.
Without overthinking it, Shen Xixi started digging. Little Wen Xing, seeing his sister digging these, joined in.
“Second Sister, what kind of wild vegetable is this? Is it tasty?”
Mentioning food, the little one began to swallow his saliva. The past few days of eating bland, watery soups had left him hungry long ago.
“It’s tasty. When there’s a chance, Second Sister will make some for you to try!”
They quickly gathered over twenty jin. “22 jin of wild onions discovered. 10 wen coins per jin. Sell?”
“Sell!” Shen Xixi only felt her purse suddenly become heavy. Opening it, she saw that it originally contained 2 wen coins, but now, counting them, there were 222 wen coins.
“Wow, Second Sister, there are still so many wild vegetables here. Xingxing will pull them all!” Little Wen Xing used both hands and feet to pull, even falling on his bottom several times. For the last few jin, Shen Xixi didn’t sell them—she had to keep some.
The little one was easy to fool, but he wasn’t stupid.
“Second Sister, Xingxing is so hungry!” After working for a while, the little one felt he had no strength left.
Sitting on the grass, he sighed heavily. “Grandma said she’ll make flatbread after the autumn harvest. When will the autumn harvest come?”
As he spoke, he stared at the rice fields, swallowing his saliva and imagining the taste of flatbread.
“Second Sister will give you something delicious, but you mustn’t tell anyone!” The little one looked thin and pitiful.
After thinking for a moment, she exchanged for hand-torn bread on the system panel—a large piece costing only 3 wen coins—and pretended to take it out from the back basket.
“Here, half for each!” She had been hungry for a while now.
“Wow, it looks so delicious, but can I save some for Mother and the others?” The little one was drooling, yet couldn’t bear to eat it all alone.