“Starting today, Mother and I are moving back into our old room, and we’ll eat with everyone else.”
Shen Meng looked at the man sitting in the seat of honor.
He was the head of the Shen family, her grandfather, Shen Mancang. He was already over seventy-six years old. His hair was completely white, yet he was still strong and robust, with a sharp, energetic look in his eyes.
Before Shen Mancang could say anything, the elderly woman sitting beside him spoke.
“Fugui’s wife, what do you mean by this? We agreed on everything before, and now you’ve suddenly changed your mind. You even encouraged your girl to cause such a scene, beating Second Daughter-in-Law, Baozhong, and Baozhu. You didn’t even cook. The men of the family worked hard fishing all day, only to come home to cold pots and cold stoves with nothing hot to eat.”
“You should be grateful that the two of you even have a place to stay! And now you actually have the nerve to make demands! How ungrateful and disobedient!”
The old woman was Shen Mancang’s wife, Madam Shen Zhou. She had no given name. At sixty-five, she was eleven years younger than Shen Mancang.
It was said that the Shen family had been desperately poor in those days and had many children. As the eldest son, Shen Mancang had no choice but to help his parents raise his four younger brothers and three younger sisters, which was why his marriage had been delayed.
Madam Shen Zhou had fled from a locust plague hundreds of miles away. Her family members had either died or become scattered along the way. By the time she reached Shen Family Village, she was the only one left. She had collapsed from hunger outside the Shen family’s home, where Shen Mancang found her and brought her inside.
After she regained consciousness, she stayed with Shen Mancang’s family for some time to recover. As the two spent more time together, feelings developed between them, and they eventually married.
She had actually stayed home all day, but after hearing that even the notoriously fierce Wang Cui’e had been beaten by Shen Meng, she hadn’t dared go to the back courtyard to demand an explanation. It wasn’t until Shen Mancang and the others returned that she finally worked up the courage to throw her weight around.
When Shen Meng first heard about Madam Shen Zhou’s past, she had felt a little sympathy for her. But after seeing the way she was acting now, that little bit of pity and compassion vanished completely.
“Grandmother, you’re a woman yourself. You’ve suffered too. Now that your life is getting better and better, how can you treat a widow and her daughter like this? Doesn’t your conscience bother you?” Shen Meng asked.
Madam Shen Zhou sneered.
“All women have to go through this. Why should you be any different? You spend years as a daughter-in-law before finally becoming a mother-in-law. Wait until your mother becomes one herself!”
“Oh, right. Your mother was unlucky enough to give birth to only you, this money-losing girl, all these years! She doesn’t even have a son. She’ll never become a mother-in-law!”
“Madam Shen Zhou, watch your mouth!” Shen Meng said. “My mother is the widow of your eldest son, and I’m your granddaughter. Even if you don’t care about your relationship with me, you should at least remember your relationship with my father.”
“My mother and I are moving back into our old room, and we’ll eat our meals as usual. But we won’t live there for free or eat for free. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be responsible for gathering firewood.”
“Shen Baozhong used to do it, but he would work for three days and then slack off for two, so the family often ran out of firewood and didn’t have enough to cook with. Once I take over, I guarantee that won’t happen again.”
“You’re going to gather firewood? Look at you!” Shen Baozhong jumped to his feet and pointed at Shen Meng. “It’s three li from our village to the back mountain. With your tiny frame, you’d have trouble just walking there and back! And you think you’re going to chop firewood?”
“If I say I can do it, then I can,” Shen Meng said.
“What are you going to chop it with, your mouth?” Shen Baozhong mocked.
Madam Shen Zhou was about to speak when Shen Mancang waved a hand to stop her.
“Shen Meng managed to kick a grown man like you into the air and beat you so badly you couldn’t fight back. If she says she can gather firewood, I believe her.”
Shen Baozhong grew angry and embarrassed at the same time. He lowered his head in shame, squatted back down, and fell silent.
“Speaking of which, what kind of evil has gotten into Shen Meng? She used to be so weak that a gust of wind looked like it could knock her over. How did she suddenly become so strong?!”
Wang Cui’e stared at Shen Meng with gleaming eyes.
“I think we should find a spirit medium to take a look at her. What if she’s brought something evil back with her?”
Bai Jinxi stepped in front of Shen Meng.
“What nonsense are you spouting? Don’t blaspheme the gods. Yesterday, my Meng’er caught a chill and became seriously ill. While she was delirious with fever, the Sea Goddess showed her divine power. Not only did she cure Meng’er’s illness, she also bestowed divine strength upon her so that she could protect herself.”
Shen Meng looked at Bai Jinxi.
As expected of someone who had read Records of Strange Tales. She could casually come up with all this talk about gods and spirits.
“Bah! The Sea Goddess showed her divine power? Listen to yourself! Why would the Sea Goddess bestow divine strength on a sickly little girl like her?!”
Wang Cui’e was so worked up that spittle flew from her mouth as she spoke.
The Sea Goddess was a deity deeply worshiped throughout the surrounding villages and hamlets, and even across the entire Yuezhou Prefecture.
“Exactly! You’re just making things up!”
Shen Baozhong laughed loudly as if he’d just heard the funniest joke in the world.
Shen Meng didn’t bother arguing.
She grabbed one of Shen Baozhong’s arms and twisted it behind his back. Shen Baozhong immediately screamed and dropped to his knees.
“Whether I’m making things up or not, you should know better than anyone, shouldn’t you?”
As she spoke, Shen Meng applied slightly more pressure.
Shen Baozhong immediately howled again, tears flying from his eyes.
“Shen Meng! Let go of my Baozhong!”
Wang Cui’e rushed over, trying to grab and hit Shen Meng. Shen Meng lightly pushed her away with her other hand, and Wang Cui’e immediately fell onto the ground.
Wang Cui’e had already experienced Shen Meng’s strength firsthand. There was nothing she could do. Sitting on the ground, she slapped her thighs and wailed,
“Father! Mother! Are you just going to stand there and let her do this?! She’s gone completely out of control! This is outrageous!”
“All right. Stop,” Shen Mancang said. “Let Baozhong go.”
Shen Meng released him, but Shen Baozhong still couldn’t stand. He slumped onto the ground, clutching his arm and sobbing.
“Mom…”
Wang Cui’e hurried over and helped Shen Baozhong massage his arm.
“Fugui’s wife, I believe what you said. If the Sea Goddess really bestowed divine strength upon this girl, then it’s a great blessing for our family.”
“Firewood is very important to our household. We need it every day to boil water and cook. It’s early spring now, and the weather is cold and damp. Your mother has suffered from an old illness for years. Whenever the weather turns like this, her bones ache, and she needs firewood to keep warm by the fire every day.”
“But when Baozhong was in charge of it, we couldn’t even get enough firewood for heating, let alone enough for boiling water and cooking. The little money our family earns from fishing isn’t enough to buy charcoal year-round either.”
“I’ve thought about this for a long time, but there simply hasn’t been anyone in the family who could take over the job. If you girls are willing to shoulder this work now, you’ll be doing our family a great favor.”
“So, I’ll give you five days. If you can fill half the woodshed with chopped firewood, while also supplying enough firewood every day, on time and in the required amount, for boiling water, cooking, and heating, I’ll agree to your request.”
“Deal!”
Shen Meng readily agreed.
“But I have one more condition.”
“Don’t push your luck!” Madam Shen Zhou said, crossing one leg over the other and curling her lips.
Shen Mancang shot Madam Shen Zhou a glare before turning to Shen Meng.
“Go ahead.”
“The household chores can’t all be left to my mother. Wang Cui’e and Shen Baozhu have nothing else to do, so the three of them will share the work.”
“Fine!” Shen Mancang said. “As long as you can take responsibility for gathering the firewood, we’ll do as you say.”
Shen Mancang then turned to Shen Baozhong.
“Baozhong, starting tomorrow, you’ll go out to sea and fish with us.”
“Grandfather!”
The moment Shen Baozhong heard that, he jumped to his feet. He wasn’t even crying anymore.
Shen Baozhong started to protest, but Shen Mancang cut him off.
“You’re just not grounded enough. Your ambitions are too high, but you don’t have the ability to match them. You always dream of making big money instead of doing any real work. We sent you to school, and you ran back home after only a few days. Then we sent you to the county town to apprentice under your Third Uncle, and you came running back again after only a few days. You can’t do anything properly. You can’t even gather firewood!”
“Our farming household can’t afford to keep idle men. A man has to shoulder his responsibilities and support his family! You need to provide for your own wife and children!”
“Grandfather! I’m the one who gave our family its first great-grandson…” Shen Baozhong tried to argue again.
“That great-grandson wasn’t born by you. Your wife gave birth to him. And there’s nothing impressive about having a son. The real ability is raising that son into someone capable. Right now, without relying on the family, you can’t even support your own wife and child, yet you’re still standing here whining at me!”
“No more arguments. Tomorrow, you’re going out to sea with us!”