Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 100 - 98: Collapse

Mrs. Shen was reluctant to let them come and eat for free. "If they come over for meals without bringing any rice or vegetables, what are they going to eat? They might as well eat at their own homes."

"What nonsense are you talking about! Never mind your mother. Now you all better go kill the chickens and ducks to prepare for dinner!" Mr. Shen glared at Mrs. Shen.

Shen Chengyao knew his mother’s temperament well. He didn’t want a small matter of food to ruin the New Year’s Eve dinner. "Dad, I’ll go home and bring some meat and vegetables. My family has already prepared the chickens and ducks."

Mr. Shen looked at the sky and nodded in agreement. It was too late to slaughter the animals now.

In the end, the chicken, duck, fish, and meat for the New Year’s Eve dinner were all brought by Shen Chengyao. However, his family only managed to eat a couple pieces of meat before they were snatched away. All of them were still hungry.

Shen Jingzhi had just been released from the cell not long ago, and he was drooling at the sight of the meat. He would have used his feet as hands if he could! However, upon noticing Xiao’er glance at him, he quickly looked away, like a mouse caught in the gaze of a cat!

After dinner, the family went home. Mrs. Liu, Xiao’er, and Yun’er immediately went to the kitchen to prepare more food. They hadn’t been hungry for a long time. Suddenly being without food was so unbearable! They hadn’t felt this uncomfortable even when they hadn’t had enough to eat in the past.

New Year’s Eve, stay up all night. This was a traditional custom passed down since ancient times.

The family gathered around the table making dumplings and chatting. The heating in the room was warm, and conversations about their plans for the new year filled the air. Pockets of happiness kept bubbling up.

Xiao’er remembered that her little sister still didn’t have a name, so she said, "Dad, mom should give little sister a name too. We can’t keep calling her ’little sister’!"

"Yes, we should give her a name. You all can help think about it. Let’s see what’s a good name!"

"Let’s name her Fu’er." Yun’er felt truly happy at the moment.

"Our cousin from grandpa’s family is named Shen Jingfu, everyone calls him Fu’er."

"I almost forgot about brother Fu’er! Luckily, he’s not here. Otherwise, he wouldn’t give me candy to eat." Yun’er stuck her tongue out playfully. These days, she was gradually regaining the innocence and liveliness of a child. After all, she was a real child.

"You’re such a sweet tooth, aren’t you afraid of losing all your teeth?" Mrs. Liu pretended to be angry.

"Sister bought it for me."

"You’re betraying me. I won’t buy it next time!" Xiao’er pretended to be angry too.

"No worries, I’ll buy it for you next time!"

"You’re just spoiling the children!" Mrs. Liu glared at Shen Chengyao.

"Dad, I’ve thought of a name for little sister! Let’s name her Xi’er. I feel like life now is hopeful; it’s filled with hope." Jinghao spoke after pondering for a long time.

"Xi’er? It sounds good. Let’s name her Xi’er!"

Mrs. Liu also liked it. Not long after Xi’er was born, they split from the main family. Isn’t life now filled with hope?

Outside, snowflakes were falling heavily from the sky. Soon, everywhere was blanketed white. The snowfall that night was dense, heavy, and lasted long.

After midnight, everyone went back to their rooms to sleep. Right before dawn, several shrieks echoed throughout the village. Xiao’er furrowed her brows under her warm quilt. What had happened? freeωebnovēl.c૦m

Shen Chengyao and Mrs. Liu both got up.

"Could it be that the snow was so heavy that it collapsed the houses?" Mrs. Liu guessed. Yesterday’s snowfall was exceptionally large.

"I’ll go check on my parents at the old house." Shen Chengyao was worried about his parents.

"I will go with you!" Mrs. Liu tucked Xi’er in and also got ready to leave the bed. By now, Xi’er was able to sleep through the night.

The two returned to the old house, and as expected, one side of the east wing where the main family lived had collapsed. Mrs. Lan was wiping her tears there. She was genuinely terrified, their whole family almost crushed. Fortunately, the collapse was on the other side.

"Neither second nor fourth brother are reliable. They didn’t bother to sweep our snow while they were sweeping last night."

"Big brother, you were at home, and you expect others to do your work! You might as well let me take over the grocery shop!" Shen Chengzong was displeased with this remark! What do they mean by not being reliable!

"Uncle, you said yourself last night to wait until the snow got thicker to sweep. Besides, the snow from the roofs last night was swept by Chengzong! What are you if we’re not reliable!" Mrs. Lu thought the main family was lazier than hibernating snakes!

Last night when Shen Chengzu was sweeping the snow from the roof, he called Shen Chengzong and Shen Chengguang to help him. Shen Chengzong came out and swept the snow off his roof before going back to sleep.

Shen Chengguang, sensitive to the cold, said, "Let’s wait until the snow gets thicker before we sweep, so we won’t have to do it again in the morning."

He had never done this kind of work before and thought that amount of snow couldn’t possibly cause the roof to collapse, so he didn’t sweep it.

Shen Chengzu swept the snow off his own roof, Shen Chengyao’s roof and Old Master Shen’s roof, but then he felt too cold to continue. Anyway, Shen Chengguang had said to wait until the snow was thicker, so he let it be.

Seeing that his eldest son’s family was unharmed, Old Master Shen felt relieved. Then he felt heartache for the house. His eldest son was a bit lazy, indeed, but he really didn’t know how to do these heavy tasks; his hands were meant for writing, not for work! The second and the fourth couldn’t do this little work when it was needed. Once the family got divided, they started caring only for themselves. Let’s see how they regret when Jingwen gets a government job!

"Dad, our house has collapsed, where do we live now?"

"We could move into our rooms in the west wing for now. Everything is still there," Shen Chengyao volunteered.

"Yes, let’s live in the west wing for now. We can bring in people to repair the house tomorrow and move back once it’s done."

Mrs. Lan was even more eager to move into their new house. She really wanted to experience everything about the third brother’s new house. However, seeing both of them agree, she didn’t have the courage to voice her opinion.

After settling the main family, Shen Chengyao planned to visit other parts of the village to see if anyone else needed help.

Old Master Shen nodded. This was the right thing to do, many of the villagers were related to them, it was only natural that they should help each other.

Xu Wenhui’s thatched house had also collapsed. She was making toy parts when she heard a noise from the roof and managed to run out in time.

Looking at her collapsed house with teary red eyes, Xu Wenhui felt her fortune was beyond miserable. Even the roof over her head was gone now.

Mrs. Liu thought of her and came over to check on her. Sure enough, her house had collapsed. She saw Wenhui standing blankly, holding a bag of toy parts in her hand and staring at her collapsed house. Mrs. Liu, seeing that she was not injured, relaxed and said, "Wenhui, your house has collapsed too. You come to my house first, live there until tomorrow. We will help you repair it, and you can move back after."

"How could I impose so much on you, I’ll be troubling you too much." Xu Wenhui wiped her tears.

"No worries, our house has many vacant rooms now, make do with it for a few nights."

"Now that you have this job, life will gradually improve." Mrs. Liu pointed at the bag in her hand and comforted her.

Xu Wenhui looked down at the bag in her hands and nodded. Mrs. Liu then led her to her own house.

Shen Chengyao was helping another family take their injured to Doctor Luo’s house. He didn’t return home until daybreak.

The next day, upon learning that Xu Wenhui had moved into the new house that she had had her eyes set on, Mrs. Lan grew exceedingly angry. She then complained a great deal to Mrs. Shen, implying that Shen Chengyao was willingly helping outsiders, giving them priority over his own elder brother, taking all his favors outside the family.

"The kang bed in the west wing isn’t heated, what if Wen’er gets cold, how is he going to do well in the exams next year? Furthermore, letting someone with a bad reputation move into our house, would also affect the reputation of our children. After all, three of our girls are at the marriageable age now. Who’s going to marry Yuzhu!" Mrs. Lan was pretending to be worried.

"That poisonous woman, Mrs. Liu! I knew she’s full of bad intentions, she will be the death of our Shen family! ... I must drive that harbinger of bad luck away!" Mrs. Shen hastily walked out.