?!
This is utterly outrageous!
Niu Shi and Sister-in-law Zhang had just been acting like bosom sisters, but now their mouths hung agape, their eyes filled with nothing but each other’s detestable faces.
A brutal clash of personas!
Her gaze instantly sharpened—the little boat of friendship had capsized before it even set sail.
Although there might be no limit to the number of daughters one could acknowledge, there was only one father to go around. These people were all here to snatch their share of the pie and benefits—they were rivals!
Bah! What kind of lowlifes and down-and-outs are these? They don’t look like decent folk at all!
Unexpectedly, Sister-in-law Zhang, for reasons unknown, did not storm off in a huff. Instead, with a hint of schadenfreude, she began introducing everyone present to Niu Shi in detail.
In front of the eastern wing’s door stood a rather tall girl with a haughty expression, glaring at Shen Yiyi. She was called Sister Gui, a little over a year older than Shen Yiyi, and was “Candidate No. 1 for Miss Shen.”
Accompanying her was an elderly couple who were said to have once been servants of the Shen Mansion. Sister Gui was the daughter of their eldest daughter.
The eldest daughter was no longer alive, but there was also a younger daughter who had come along, named Ding Ju. Delicate and pretty, she lived up to her name, resembling a daisy. Sister-in-law Zhang deliberately emphasized in a sarcastic tone, “She’s almost fifteen and still hasn’t been betrothed,” which was quite telling.
Another girl, thin, small, and somewhat dark-skinned, was called Sister Nian, a little over a year younger than Shen Yiyi. She was “Candidate No. 2 for Miss Shen,” currently peeking at everyone from behind her mother’s skirt.
This family were tenants of the Shen Mansion. Her mother, Zhang Xiuxiu, couldn’t be called beautiful, but she had a classic pear-shaped figure, exuding the healthy charm unique to mature women. At the very least, when Sister-in-law Zhang mentioned her sister-in-law as “recognized by the surrounding villages as fertile,” her tone rose a few notches.
Beside the eastern wing’s door, the hem of a pale blue skirt that had been half-visible earlier had now completely disappeared.
Now that Shen Yiyi, “Candidate No. 3 for Miss Shen,” had been revealed, the group exchanged glances, and inwardly, they were all thinking: What the hell?!
How could there be others?!
How could there be so many?!
The rear annex had a row of five rooms: the Ding family lived in the easternmost one, the Zhang family in the center, and today, the Hu family had moved into the room on the west side.
Damn it, just how many illegitimate daughters did Master Shen have? Was he planning to fill all five rooms?!
Including the family members who had come along, this small courtyard was already packed with thirteen people!
However, looking at this crowd of young ladies and potential concubines, the men present couldn’t help but feel a sour, envious jealousy toward Master Shen.
And so, the conversation could no longer continue. Everyone hurried back to their respective rooms. It went without saying that each family would hold a small meeting to discuss matters thoroughly.
As soon as the door was shut, Niu Shi blurted out anxiously, “Her father, this—”
“Shh!” Hu Sicai pulled her back, listening until there was no more noise in the courtyard. Then, frowning, he sat down and lowered his voice, saying, “What’s with all the fuss and braying like a donkey?! Even if Shen County Deputy has died and the Shen family is no longer what it used to be, they’re still a wealthy and influential household.”
His tone carried a hint of bitterness: “Master Shen has money and scholarly honors—what’s wrong with him having a few women and fathering some children? If I were a wealthy man, I’d—”
“What else would you want to do?! Bah! You men are all the same, no good at all! Let me tell you, Hu Lao Si, keep that thing of yours in check! If you dare, just see if I don’t—”
“Go on, get out of here! If you’ve got time to spout nonsense, better think about how to outdo those two families and get more benefits!” Hu Sicai, fearing she might start making a scene without regard for the situation, quickly changed the subject. “We must think of a way to please Master Shen!”
“Hmm, what kind of child do you think a master would like?” Once the words were out, Hu Sicai realized this was indeed a question worth pondering. He clicked his tongue thoughtfully for a while. “Besides being good-looking, they probably need to be obedient and capable?”
“Not necessarily!” Niu Shi, still fuming, retorted defiantly. “Look at Old Man Zhao’s family in the village. Isn’t Zhao Huaihua capable? Is there any chore inside or outside the house she can’t handle? She can even work the fields like half a man. Her father married her off to that old coffin lid, Crippled Qian, and she didn’t dare utter a word of complaint. She even brings things back every now and then to support her family.”
“But aren’t her parents still fonder of her younger sister? Zhao Taohua is lazy and gluttonous, but she knows how to act cunning and slick in front of her parents. I don’t think she’s all that good-looking either!”
Seeing Hu Sicai actually listening seriously to her opinion, Niu Shi couldn’t help but feel smug and continued to ramble on. “People’s hearts can be biased sometimes, and they often favor those worthless brats!”
“Never mind others, I heard from my aunt that your deadbeat father was always stealing chickens and dogs, never earned a single coin, and even had to rely on the family to support him. Didn’t your grandmother still treasure him like a phoenix egg? On the other hand, your uncle—Hu Erniang’s father—was honest and hardworking, yet he never—”
“Shut up! What nonsense are you spouting!” Hu Sicai, who had been listening calmly, suddenly turned furious. He scolded Niu Shi while nervously glancing toward the room.
Seeing Shen Yiyi sitting by the bed, swinging her short little legs, engrossed in watching Hutou banging on a washbasin, completely unaware of their conversation, he finally relaxed.
Niu Shi knew she had spoken out of turn and muttered sheepishly, “What does a little kid like her understand? Besides, she’s far away over there.”
Shen Yiyi endured the noise made by the bratty child but had long since pricked up her ears and heard everything clearly.
Hu Erniang’s father? That must be this body’s maternal grandfather. It seemed the relationship between the older generations wasn’t very harmonious and held quite a story.
Unfortunately, Hutou started laughing loudly and banging the washbasin with a deafening noise, while Hu Sicai and Niu Shi lowered their voices, so she couldn’t hear anything more.
“Hey, who’s banging a basin and shouting at this hour of the night? Is it a beggar? We’re just listening to the commotion for free, but I wonder if Master Shen will find it unlucky?”
“It’s that bitch from the Zhang family!” Hearing the woman’s voice from the next room, Niu Shi was about to rush out and start cursing, but the latter part of the sentence stopped her in her tracks.
Fuming, she stormed into the inner room, grabbed Hutou’s ear, twisted it a few times, and shouted back, “I’ll slap you blind, you noisy brat! Think you’re the only one with a big mouth, huh?”
After this exchange across the rooms, Niu Shi still felt aggrieved. She went over and slapped Da Ya twice, blaming her for not keeping an eye on her brother.
Only then did she vent a bit of her anger, saying bitterly to Hu Sicai, “That gossipy shrew! Just because they arrived two days earlier, they got the central room. Pah! What a horse-faced hag! The Ding family, who came from Shen Mansion, only got the east side.”
She poured herself a cup of tea, drank it all in one go, wiped her mouth, and added, “But I heard the rooms on the east side are not only brighter but also slightly larger. It seems the Ding family is quite cunning at heart.”
Turning to look at Hutou, who was still sniffling quietly, she warned Shen Yiyi, who was sitting dazedly nearby, “Yuan Jie’er, you must be careful! Those people are no good! Your uncle and aunt have seen it all—we know how to judge people accurately!”
After saying this, she leaned in with a fake, kindly smile and began her usual spiel: “Seeing your uncle is like seeing your mother. Since your mother is away, your uncle will take care of everything for you,” and “A girl’s future depends entirely on her brothers. Hutou is your own brother. If you help him now, he’ll support you later,” and other such nonsense.
At first, Shen Yiyi just nodded along, humming in agreement. You can chatter all you want—I’ll treat it as empty air.
But who knew that Niu Shi, perhaps motivated by the wealth before her eyes or provoked by Master Shen’s uncertain number of “female companions” that could expand at any moment, would drag this brainwashing session on far too long.
Finally, exhausted from the day, Shen Yiyi had no energy left to deal with Niu Shi’s endless rambling. She kept yawning and rubbing her eyes, hastily washed up, and lay down on the bed, pretending to sleep.
Seeing her “student” had given up, Niu Shi turned to educating her own child. After scolding Da Ya a few times as usual, she pulled over Hutou, who was still clamoring to play, stripped off his clothes, and stuffed him under the covers.
There was only one canopy bed in the room, so the three children slept side by side, while Hu Sicai and Niu Shi slept on a makeshift bed outside the partition.
The Shen Mansion seemed quite experienced in hosting these two families, having prepared a pile of bedding and quilts well in advance.
A four- or five-year-old rascal like Hutou wasn’t about to give in easily. Even after the oil lamp was extinguished, he rolled and jumped around the bed, causing chaos and stepping on Shen Yiyi’s feet several times.
Shen Yiyi winced in pain, nearly letting out a yelp. Fortunately, the inner room was dark, so no one saw her expression.
Gritting her teeth and sucking in a breath, she continued pretending to sleep, her face twisted in agony. In her mind, she cursed the little troublemaker countless times and kindly wished him nightmares.
After a bout of chaos, Niu Shi finally grabbed the little rascal, pinched him a couple of times, and peace was restored.
In the pitch darkness, the room finally fell silent.
Shen Yiyi opened her eyes, staring blankly at the blurry canopy above.
She scratched her hand, where the wounds from farm work had scabbed over and were slightly itchy.
This young girl had clearly been pampered growing up—her small hands showed no signs of long-term labor, nor did they bear the calluses from years of writing and studying, like Shen Yiyi’s own.
She was just a stressed-out student, originally holed up in a school hotel room, preparing for an interview the next day.
The competition for graduate admission at a top university was fierce. Her written exam scores were on the lower end, and despite having taken exams all her life, she was still so nervous she couldn’t sleep.
Tossing and turning into the early hours, Shen Yiyi thought about her grueling year of preparing for the graduate entrance exam and angrily pounded her pillow in frustration: “Ugh, whatever! I don’t want to play this game anymore!”
But that was just venting! There was no need to actually give me a new account and restart the game!
Who said studying was hard? I love studying now!
Let me go back! I promise I’ll keep studying!
Little sister, do you have any wishes?
Let’s discuss this: big sister will help you finish it, and then you let big sister go back, okay?
Shen Yiyi tried to communicate with the little girl in her heart.
After a long while, there was no response.