A large plate of braised pork filled the dinner table.
The whole family ate it clean.
Each of them wore satisfied expressions.
“The braised pork smells so good! Today, we finally ate our fill!” Shen Dabiao said, chewing on a thin bamboo skewer, his rough voice full of emotion.
“You still have the nerve to say that? You took all the family money to gamble. If we’re eating meat today, it’s all thanks to Qingyue’s ability!” Liu Cuihua glared at Shen Dabiao and spoke proudly when mentioning Shen Qingyue.
“I’m a grown man, what’s wrong with gambling a couple of rounds? Stop nagging.” Shen Dabiao grinned with some impatience.
Liu Cuihua snorted lightly, cleaned up the dishes, and went into the kitchen, ignoring Shen Dabiao.
Shen Erya went back to her room to embroider new clothes.
Only Shen Qingyue and Shen Dabiao remained in the main room.
Shen Dabiao glanced left and right, then quietly approached Shen Qingyue and made a hand gesture asking for money: “Qingyue, you gave Mom twelve taels of silver, shouldn’t you also show some filial respect to me?”
Shen Qingyue answered truthfully: “The money’s already used up.”
Shen Dabiao looked doubtful: “With your character, how could you have handed over all the silver? You gave five taels to that stinky Erya. I’m your father—how could you not give me at least twenty or thirty taels?”
He hadn’t been to the gambling house for a while and was itching to go again. Once he had money, he’d play a few rounds.
Shen Qingyue remained calm: “Mom and Erya handle the household chores without complaint. Isn’t it right that I give them money?”
After a pause, she added, “Even if I gave you money, you wouldn’t keep it. It’d all go straight to the gambling house anyway.”
Shen Dabiao raised his thick eyebrows and said with righteous indignation, “Taking care of a man properly is a woman’s duty! Household chores are nothing! I’m your father—you must show me filial respect first when you earn money!”
Shen Qingyue felt embarrassed. If this mentality were placed in the 21st century, he’d surely be a lifelong bachelor.
She was not the original child, and in some sense, not truly their child.
Whether to be filial to the original owner was up to her own will.
As the saying goes, a favor done does not create an eternal debt.
There needs to be a proper limit when helping.
Like a bully, Shen Qingyue lazily leaned back in her chair, crossed her legs, and asked casually, “Dad, do I look like a filial son to you?”
Shen Dabiao was momentarily speechless.
He wasn’t filial himself.
How could his child be filial?
He awkwardly smiled: “Forget it if you have no silver. Erya will marry off sooner or later, so no use keeping the silver. I’ll take back her five taels.”
“No!” Shen Qingyue sat up and stopped him, “If you dare touch Erya’s silver, don’t blame me for turning hostile!”
Erya had just had a heartbreak. Going shopping and buying things she liked might help her forget that scumbag.
There was no way Shen Dabiao could take the money.
Shen Dabiao was displeased: “I’m your father! You won’t let me take Erya’s money, and you won’t give me any either. You can’t just ignore me!”
After thinking a bit, Shen Qingyue said, “I really have no silver on me, but… we can earn some.”
Shen Dabiao leaned forward, interested: “How?”
Shen Qingyue proposed, “Dad, don’t you know how to hunt? Let’s go hunting up the mountain tomorrow and split the money we earn evenly. How about that?”
It would also be a good chance to test the system’s new feature.
“Hunting?” Shen Dabiao pulled a disappointed smile, “I thought you had some good way to make money. You got me excited for nothing. If hunting were so easy, everyone would be doing it and nobody would starve.”
“Too many people go to the outskirts of the mountain, and you can’t even spot a pheasant.”
“The inner parts are extremely dangerous, with wild beasts roaming around. I’m afraid you’d be eaten by the beasts before catching any prey.”
Shen Qingyue deliberately provoked him: “You afraid of dying?”
“Who isn’t afraid of dying?” Shen Dabiao had just said a few words when he noticed the disdain in her tone. His paternal authority felt challenged, and he suddenly became uneasy.
“What’s with that look? Looking down on me?”
Shen Qingyue bluntly asked, “I’m going hunting tomorrow. Are you coming or not?”
Shen Dabiao’s fighting spirit was stirred: “I’ll go. Who’s afraid of who? You don’t even know how to use a bow and arrow—I can teach you.”
Shen Qingyue smiled faintly, “It’s a deal.”
**
The next day,
Shen Qingyue and Shen Dabiao had breakfast and went hunting up the mountain.
Last time they dug for wild vegetables on the East Mountain; this time, they went to the West Mountain.
Coincidentally, Aunt Zhang and two village women were also on West Mountain.
Aunt Zhang spotted the father and son and gossiped, “The Shen family father and son are famous lazybones—one’s a gambler who just eats and lazes around, the other’s an uneducated bully. Is the sun coming up from the west today? Willing to go hunting?”
Zhou said firmly, “Looks like the Shen family really has no grain left. If they don’t find food soon, the whole family will starve!”
He expressed a hint of disgust: “The Shen family isn’t any good. If they starve to death, no one will pity them!”
Aunt Zhang nodded approvingly: “If they really starve, it’s like removing a huge disaster from the village.”
Though they were some distance away, their voices were loud.
Shen Qingyue faintly heard their conversation. She initially ignored it but saw them getting more ridiculous, so she stepped forward and greeted them coolly: “Three aunts seem pretty idle if you have time to gossip about me. Did you find any wild vegetables?”
Getting caught talking behind someone’s back is always a little embarrassing.
Aunt Zhang quickly waved her hands: “You’re notorious; we wouldn’t dare talk about you behind your back. You must have heard wrong.”
Zhou quickly agreed, “Yeah, we weren’t talking about you, just chatting about some village stories.”
Shen Qingyue gave a half-smile, expressionless.
Aunt Zhang and Zhou didn’t apologize but chose a perfunctory tone. On the surface, it seemed like they feared her, but they also implied she was a bully.
From their attitude, it was clear the Shen family was very unpopular in the village.
Shen Qingyue had no intention of arguing and only said two ambiguous words: “Is that so?”
Then she passed by the three women.
Aunt Zhang muttered watching Shen Qingyue leave, “Why does it feel like Goudan has changed into a different person…”
He spat in Shen Qingyue’s direction, “No matter how much she changes, she’ll never become a good person!”
Zhou glanced at Shen Dabiao’s bow and arrow and sneered, “Shen Dabiao hasn’t hunted in years; he probably can’t even aim properly. I think father and son better just stay home and save their strength.”
Aunt Zhang, a big mouth by nature, grew more excited: “Right! What if they run into bears or tigers? They’d just become prey for the beasts.”
“Then the father and son will definitely run faster than anyone else!”
He interrupted, “No human can outrun a beast. Last month, a hunter from a neighboring village went hunting and never came back. When the villagers searched the mountain, all that was left were torn clothes and bloodied flesh.”
Zhou’s eyes showed fear: “Don’t say more. It’s creepy. We’ll just look for wild vegetables around the outskirts and definitely not go into the inner mountain.”
Shen Qingyue walked farther away, no longer able to hear their conversation.
Shen Dabiao grumbled: “Those three women are really annoying. Why did you stop me earlier?”
Shen Qingyue said straightforwardly: “If you start a fight, you’ll lose face and make the whole village angry. They’ll insult you, and you won’t be able to argue back.”
Shen Dabiao snorted through his nose, “Even if I can’t argue back, I’ll yell at them to let them know I’m not someone to mess with!”
Shen Qingyue’s tone was calm: “The village has long held grudges against the Shen family. Because of your uncle’s position, they dare not confront you directly, only talk behind your backs. Don’t bother with them.”
“As long as the Shen family does well, people will naturally come to befriend us.”