Chapter 5: Dizziness
Xinghui was puzzled. How could his sister not know who Shen Dabao was? His sister liked Shen Dabao; even he could tell! But he still replied, “He is the son of the village chief, Shen Dabao.”
Shen Dabao said angrily, “Shen Xingnong, don’t play dumb with me. Don’t think I’ll let you off the hook like this. Why did you injure Miss Mingzhu? Such a serious injury, her shoulder is all bruised! Miss Mingzhu has delicate skin and tender flesh. You injured her, can you, a bastard, afford to compensate?”
Xingnong looked at him with surprise, “The village chief’s son? I thought he was Shen Mingzhu’s husband.”
Xinghui was even more confused about what Xingnong was doing. He shook his head, “Sister, have you forgotten? Shen Mingzhu is not married yet!”
Hearing this, Madam Gu looked worriedly at the back of Xingnong’s head. Could she have lost her memory from being beaten with the board?
Xingnong was even more surprised. She looked Shen Dabao up and down. “No? Then how does he know that Shen Mingzhu has delicate skin and tender flesh, and that her shoulder is all bruised? Such a private injury, he must have either seen it with his own eyes or Shen Mingzhu told him. And his eyes are swollen, his footsteps unsteady. If you didn’t know better, you’d think he just came out of a brothel.”
Xingnong looked him up and down again, then glanced at the screen wall inside the house made of blue bricks and tiles.
The original owner was blinded by love, but she was not. From the original owner’s memory, Xingnong knew that Shen Mingzhu always used Shen Dabao to humiliate the original owner. Just like in the yamen, with a casual remark, she could draw Madam Li’s attention to herself.
Hearing this, Shen Mingzhu, hidden behind the screen wall, wished she could rush out and tear Xingnong apart.
If this were to spread, her reputation would be ruined!
This bastard Shen Xingnong was simply vicious!
Didn’t she know that she was destined to enter the palace as a Noble Lady in the future?
But didn’t she like Shen Dabao? In front of Shen Dabao, she wouldn’t even dare to raise her head, always submissive and obedient, listening to everything he said?
That’s why, after sending back Madam Li, who had been beaten with ten strokes of the board by the magistrate, she must have pretended to be seriously injured when she saw Shen Dabao as she got off the carriage. She and her maid put on an act, making him go and teach Shen Xingnong a lesson and report her to the authorities again. She never expected that this would drag her down with it.
Shen Dabao was also an idiot. What justice was he seeking for her? Who was he to her?
Shen Mingzhu quickly gave a few instructions to the maid beside her.
Outside, Madam He and Madam Li, who were watching the commotion, heard Xingnong’s words as if they had discovered a shocking secret.
That’s right, how did he know such a private matter?
Unsteady footsteps, could it be that…?
Especially Madam He, who loved gossip, looked Shen Dabao up and down with a knowing look, imagining all sorts of things.
Other villagers also looked at Shen Dabao curiously, their eyes filled with inquisitiveness.
Shen Dabao’s face had brightened a little when he heard Xingnong say he was Shen Mingzhu’s husband, but hearing this, his face became even uglier!
This bastard dared to ruin his reputation with Miss Mingzhu!
“You damned bastard, what nonsense are you talking about? I know Miss Mingzhu is injured because…”
Xingnong stretched out her hand to interrupt him, “You don’t need to explain to me, it’s none of my business! It’s your own affair. A good dog doesn’t block the way, please move aside!”
After saying that, Xingnong pulled the stunned Madam Gu and walked straight past him. As she passed by, she whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Don’t you want to marry Shen Mingzhu? Remember to give me the matchmaker’s fee.”
Shen Dabao was stunned.
What did she mean?
Wait, matchmaker’s fee?
If the rumor that he and Miss Mingzhu had something going on were to spread, would he be able to marry her?
Shen Dabao couldn’t help but feel tempted. He liked the gentle and kind Miss Mingzhu, but he also knew that it would be difficult to marry her with his family’s status. If…
At this time, Shen Mingzhu’s maid hurried out and said loudly, “Master Shen, you were here earlier to borrow a book from my young master. You heard that my young lady and old madam were injured, and my young master, distressed for them, knowing your family has good medicine for injuries, asked you to go and get some? Thank you, but there’s no need, my madam has medicine.”
Hearing this, Shen Dabao came back to his senses and looked at the villagers who were watching the commotion. “Yes, I was just helping Brother Zhiyuan to vent his anger. There’s really nothing going on between me and Miss Mingzhu, please don’t misunderstand! Aunt He, I really didn’t know Miss Mingzhu has such delicate skin, I didn’t know her shoulder was injured! I overheard it by accident! I didn’t see anything!”
Aunt He smiled, “Hehe, I understand, you didn’t. You two didn’t indulge excessively, hehe… I understand! I understand!”
“Yes, we understand.”
Other villagers also echoed their understanding sarcastically, their faces full of suggestive smiles.
Shen Dabao pretended to be anxious and explained, “No, I really didn’t see Miss Mingzhu’s entire shoulder bruised, please don’t misunderstand, this will ruin Miss Mingzhu’s reputation.”
The maid also became anxious, “Yes, he didn’t see it, he just heard about it, please don’t make wild guesses.”
“Hehe, we know, Shen Dabao didn’t see that Mingzhu’s shoulder was all bruised.”
Their attempts to clarify only made things worse. Shen Mingzhu, hidden behind the screen wall, fainted from anger.
~
Xingnong pulled Madam Gu and Shen Xinghui back to the narrow alley.
There was a low thatched cottage built decades ago.
“Sister, you’re back! Grandma said that reporting to the authorities would result in beatings and rolling on a nail board. Are you alright?” A fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl pushed open a dilapidated wooden door and ran out, her eyes filled with worry.
The girl was thin and sallow, but with delicate features and big eyes. She would definitely be a beauty when she grew up.
This girl was the original owner’s cousin, Shen Xingqing.
She and Shen Xinghui were dragon and phoenix twins.
Because the three children grew up together and all took their maternal grandfather’s surname, they all addressed each other as siblings.
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The whole family was quite good-looking.
“I’m fine,” Xingnong replied.
Madam Gu spoke at this time, “Xingqing, your aunt didn’t run around, did she?”
“No, my aunt and I prepared the meal together, waiting for grandma and sister to come back. We can eat now.”
At this time, a young woman walked out of the house.
Xingnong’s gaze couldn’t help but fall on her.
Perhaps because she rarely saw the sun, the woman’s skin was very fair, her features were beautiful, and her figure was slender. Her hair was all pulled up and held in place with a wooden hairpin. Even though she was wearing a faded, worn, and old black coarse cloth dress, her beauty was still striking.
This woman was the original owner’s mother, Shen Ruoxi. Because of an inexplicable pregnancy before marriage, she only realized she was pregnant when she started experiencing morning sickness. When she went to the clinic to see a doctor, which happened to be opposite her fiancé’s family’s grocery store, her fiancé’s mother found out. She immediately grabbed her and threw her into a pond to be drowned in a pig cage. This incident became known throughout the city. Although she was later rescued, after waking up, her mental state became somewhat unstable, she was considered insane.
Over the years, her condition has improved a lot. As long as she wasn’t stimulated, she wouldn’t have an episode. It had been over a year since her last episode.
However, the family still didn’t dare to let her leave the house or stay home alone, for fear of stimulating her and causing another episode.
“What is mother saying? How could I run around? I’ve already prepared the meal. Where did you go? Why are you back so late? Xingnong, Xinghui, Xingqing, hurry up and wash your hands to eat, I’ll go set the table.”
“I’ll go set the table,” Shen Xinghui rushed to a small room next door.
“Don’t crowd here, come inside! Xingnong, come in, let me have a look and apply some medicine,” Madam Gu beckoned to Xingnong.
The walkway, which could only accommodate two people side by side, was indeed crowded with the whole family coming out.
Xingnong looked at the wooden door that could only be pushed open halfway and then at their home.
Their home consisted of two dilapidated mud houses, one larger and one smaller. The smaller one served as the kitchen and bathroom.
There was no courtyard, only a narrow alleyway at the entrance, barely wide enough for two people to pass through. The door couldn’t even be fully opened.
Behind them was a mountain, and in front of them was a tall wall, completely blocking the sunlight from reaching the house.
This wall was the back wall of Shen Mingzhu’s house.
Madam Li had deliberately built the wall so high and so close to their house to spite them.
But it was someone else’s land, they could build it however they liked.
As Madam Li had said, leaving them a path to walk through was already an act of kindness on her part.
However, from the original owner’s memory, Xingnong knew that the house made of blue bricks and tiles had been built by her maternal grandfather, Shen Chongshan. Old Master Shen had said that Madam Gu didn’t have any sons, so he hadn’t given her a room. The current dilapidated house was only lent to them temporarily, and Madam Gu had later bought it for one tael of silver.
Shen Chongshan’s death compensation was one hundred taels of silver. Old Master Shen had used it to buy ten mu of farmland, adding to the five mu of farmland that Shen Chongshan had bought with the money he earned before joining the army, making a total of fifteen mu. Not a single mu had been given to Madam Gu because she didn’t have any sons.
During the family separation, no property was divided, but filial piety was absolutely required.
When Old Master Shen was still alive, Madam Gu had to give him three hundred copper coins every month for his living expenses.
Old Master Shen was always feeling unwell, and Madam Gu had to pay half of his medical expenses, which amounted to at least a few hundred copper coins every month.
The Shen family’s eldest branch was truly benevolent!
Shen Ruoxi walked up and held Xingnong’s hand with a worried look, “Xingnong, are you injured again?”
“No, it’s just the wound on her forehead,” Madam Gu was very protective of her daughter and didn’t tell her anything to avoid stimulating her.
“You scared me. Xingnong, go and change your dressing! Mother, be gentle with her,” Shen Ruoxi touched Xingnong’s hair gently.
Xingnong was a bit uncomfortable but nodded and walked inside.
