Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 82 - 80: Go Ahead and Make a Fuss

The next day, Shen Chengyao was so annoyed that he didn’t go to the main family’s house. Early in the morning, he went to Shen Chengzu’s house and invited the three of them over for breakfast to thank them for taking care of his family during this period. He also told them about finding Yun’er and adopting Fang Wenri.

After breakfast, Shen Chengyao went to the county to pay the foreman, Liang, for work done by the villagers. He gave the silver to Shen Chengzu to help him pay. Actually, it was his idea to delay the payment. He was originally worried that only a few children were at home. If the house was built and the wages were not paid immediately until he returned home, it would prevent people from thinking the house was hiding silver and becoming targets for thieves. He never thought things would escalate to the point of severing ties with his own parents.

Jingrui and Jinghao, with Yun’er and Fang Wenri, visited the new house. Yun’er finally believed that their family had silver, and a lot more than she had imagined. She was relieved. Xiao’er went with Shen Chengyao’s bullock cart to the county.

Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Lu were sewing on the kang bed. In just over ten days, Mrs. Lu had made a tael of silver. Now, she’s wholeheartedly devoted to this wonderful task. Even Shen Chengzu thought she was becoming obsessive.

The wives of Youfu and Dashu, knowing Mrs. Liu was back, brought some toy parts to work on together.

"I really didn’t expect such a person from the elder Madam Shen, who prides herself on her scholarly background, to do such a heartless thing. It’s outrageous to separate flesh and blood like this!" Mrs. Lu was restless, thinking that she had to deal with such a malicious person as her sister-in-law.

"I didn’t expect it either. Usually, I just saw her as haughty and out of touch with us. I never thought that her heart would be so different from ours," Mrs. Liu replied as she cut fabric.

"Are you really not going to the main family’s house again?" The wife of Youfu hinted toward the direction of the main house with her eyes; she noted that Shen Yuzhu had been peering at them from the main house doorway several times.

"Since we’re cut off, why rush over there?"

"You should have stood your ground earlier. Not just for yourself, but also for your children. Look at how your children were before the family division, so skinny it’s heartbreaking!" Mrs. Dashu was extremely frustrated. Whenever she saw the children playing at her house, she’d find something for them to eat.

Mrs. Liu also felt that if she had been less accommodating from the start, no one would have dared to target her children.

The group continued to chat about recent happenings in the village, and before they knew it, the morning was gone. Shen Chengyao didn’t come home for lunch. After lunch, the people in the main family’s house finally couldn’t wait any longer, so they sent Shen Yuzhu to call them.

When Mrs. Liu brought the children to the main family’s house, Mr. Shen asked them to sit down.

"When did Lao San’s family arrive?"

"Last night. Yun’er, Brother Ri, come and greet your grandparents."

The two obediently greeted, "Grandpa, Grandma."

"Finding Yun’er is a good thing, a good thing. Now Lao San can finally let go of his worry! Where’s Lao San?"

Xiao’er looked carefully at Mr. Shen’s expression, but there was no joy or surprise.

"He went to the county."

"Coming home without first reporting to elder’s, is there no house rules left?" Mrs. Shen was greatly annoyed. Lao San’s family seemed to care less and less about them. A whole morning passed, and they hadn’t come over. It was only when someone was sent to call them that they finally arrived.

"We arrived late last night when the lights were out in the main house. We thought you and father were already asleep so didn’t want to disturb you."

"What about this morning? Couldn’t you have come this morning?"

"We were in a hurry to pay off the owed wages this morning, to avoid having someone else sever ties with us."

Mrs. Shen was poked again and was fuming inside, "What’s wrong with severing ties? I haven’t even come at you yet. Are you trying to kill off my Shen family? With glass windows and houses built entirely from green bricks and large tiles, you’ve used bricks to build a courtyard wall around several dozen to hundreds of acres of wasteland. Even landlords aren’t as extravagant as you! If your head isn’t that big, don’t wear such a large hat! You’re trying to drag our entire Shen family down with you. Severing ties with you is for the best. I want to kick you out of the Shen family!"

"Ahem, ahem. What kind of things is the child saying after just coming home? Pay it no mind, your mother is all bark and no bite. She means well, but she just can’t hold her tongue!" Mr. Shen felt that severing ties with Shen Chengyao was going too far and wanted to find a way to remedy the situation.

He looked at the boy by Yun’er’s side and thought this could be a breakthrough, "He’s your maternal nephew, right? What’s his name?"

Upon hearing this, Brother Ri felt a bit awkward. Aunt Shen had already introduced him earlier, but it was evident that no one paid much attention. And even with Yun’er, they’ve never expressed much concern. It seems that Uncle Shen’s family is quite different from Uncle Shen himself.

"Father, he’s not my maternal nephew. He’s Brother Ri who grew up with Yun’er."

"Grandpa, did you know that Yun’er was taken away by another family?" Xiao’er asked on purpose.

Mr. Shen had actually guessed it right at that moment, but he dared not say it out loud. His eyes flickered, "How did your father find Yun’er?"

Now to ask this was too late.

"Grandpa, do you remember the incident more than three years ago when people died from eating the new food that big uncle’s grocery store sold?"

Upon hearing this, the excited expressions on Shen Chengzong’s face and Mrs. Li could not be concealed.

"That’s a long time ago. I’m old and can’t remember much." Mr. Shen hated it when people brought up that incident! He hoped that everyone, including himself, had forgotten it.

"That’s the family who took Yun’er away. Later, when the couple passed away, they entrusted their two children to their younger sister. But their younger sister was living in hardship, unable to raise so many children, so she came to us. She told my father that my second uncle..."

Upon hearing his name, Shen Chengzong jumped up. "What ’second uncle’? What does it have to do with me? It was clearly your big uncle who sent Yun’er away to make amends. It was big Aunt’s idea, I just happened to overhear them discussing it, Yun’er’s matter has nothing to do with me!"

"You brat! When was it your turn to speak! The moment you open your mouth, it’s all crap!" Upon hearing this, Mr. Shen angrily picked up the pipe next to him and threw it.

"As for the ones from Chengyao’s family, when that incident happened, your big brother’s family wasn’t here. You can’t just listen to the second one’s one-sided statements. Moreover, that woman also said..."

"Father, are you even still my real father?" Shen Chengzong had just dodged the pipe thrown by Mr. Shen. Upon hearing Mr. Shen’s words, he was hopping mad!

"Ahem, and you can’t trust what that woman said. Maybe she was the one who took Yun’er away, and she just happened to know about the incident and deliberately exploited it!" Yes, it must be like this. Deny it all and hope it goes away. Good thing the main family wasn’t here today. Otherwise, the incident would spread and negatively impact Wen’er.

Mr. Shen’s eyes darted around and landed one more time on Brother Ri. Shen Chengyao brought him home, so he must be planning to raise him. He glanced at Mrs. Shen again, a plan forming in his mind.

"This matter is too big. We’ll wait until your big brother comes home and discuss it face to face, so as not to cause misunderstandings and affect the brother’s relationship. Brother Ri was also adopted by that couple, wasn’t he? Why is he at our house too?"

"Brother Ri is an orphan now, he’s still so young, how could he fend for himself? Plus, he saved Yun’er’s life. His father and I brought him home, considering him as our own son!"

Mrs. Shen was furious upon hearing this, "Tsk, you’re a home-ruining star of bad luck. Our Shen family will be ruined sooner or later because of you. You’d even bring home any stray cat or dog. Do you think you have too much money now? Raising one more person means feeding one more person! I’ve never seen you take the initiative to offer to support me and your father! An unfilial son! You only show kindness outside! In your heart, you’re an ungrateful wolf, and you only ever help outsiders!"

Mr. Shen breathed a sigh of relief – let the argument continue, as long as they didn’t bring up the topic of Yun’er being kidnapped again.