TIPS – Chapter 107

Using his own wife as an example left Shen Dongying momentarily speechless—he certainly didn’t dare to covet his wife’s dowry or private money. But wasn’t the eldest brother’s daughter-in-law supposed to be generous? He always brought out the best things for their main branch to use. So what if they asked for five taels a month? But he didn’t say that aloud. Instead, he coughed and said, “In the end, you just don’t want to pay.”

“Haven’t I already said I’ll pay one tael?” Shen Dongming blinked and said, “Look around the nearby villages—has anyone ever paid this much in support? With the three of us brothers, that’s three taels in total. That’s more than enough for Father and Mother to live comfortably, isn’t it?”

Shen Dongying thought silently: sure, it would be enough for other people. But you’re rich, so giving only one tael seems stingy.

Ahem. Shen Dongqi spoke up, “Let me say something fair. One tael is already a considerable amount. With the three of us contributing, that’s three taels a month—Father and Mother can live very comfortably.” Besides, what good would it do to give more? In the end, the parents couldn’t possibly spend it all, and the leftovers would go to the third brother. Shen Dongqi couldn’t help feeling a bit resentful. His household hadn’t produced a son, and no matter how much money they earned, it still felt like something was missing. Thinking that all this money might end up with the third branch and He-ge’er, he wasn’t about to let the third brother act too smug.

“Second Brother…” Shen Dongying looked at Shen Dongqi in disbelief. He hadn’t expected his own brother to undermine him like that.

“I say we stick with one tael each. That’s three taels total. Father, what do you think? That’s already much more than before.” In the past, it had always been him giving money. He didn’t know about the other two brothers, but aside from the eldest, who gave nothing, who knew if the third even contributed? It was likely their father and mother had to support him.

“…Second has a point,” said the old master slowly. Three taels wasn’t a small amount—if it all went into his pocket. But the third was struggling financially right now, so it wasn’t even certain he could contribute that much. The old man had hoped to squeeze a little more out of the eldest and second sons, and he wasn’t about to give up easily. “But the three taels would only be for me. Your mother’s share also needs to be three taels.”

“…?” Shen Dongming and Shen Dongqi were dumbfounded. Hadn’t they just agreed to count the parents together?

“Ah, yes, Father is right,” Shen Dongying jumped in. “Mother should have her own three taels as well.” What a great idea—especially since he wouldn’t have to pay a coin of it himself.

“…” Shen Dongming opened his mouth, speechless. His third brother and father were clearly scheming for money. What kind of support payment was this? Whose family demanded that much? And on top of that, they wanted a separate share for both parents? Heh. He shook his head. “One tael is enough. I’ll only give one.”

Seeing his older brother stand firm, Shen Dongqi also said, “I’ll give one tael too. With the three of us, that’s more than enough to support Father and Mother.”

The second brother’s lack of cooperation left the old man and Shen Dongying completely frustrated. Since the other two weren’t budging, they refused to back down either. They said, “One tael is fine—but it has to be one tael each for Father and Mother. That’s two taels in total. No less than that.”

Shen Dongming shook his head firmly. “I said one tael. Take it or leave it—I’ll give it to you right now. If you don’t want it, then forget it. I’ll take it back home.”

Everyone in the Shen household realized that ever since the previous year, they had never once come out on top when facing the eldest brother. This time was no exception. If the eldest flatly refused to give in, what could they do? Make a scene? They’d only end up being a laughingstock.

Shen Dongying couldn’t believe it. How was it possible that he’d never managed to win even once against the eldest? Every time, he’d end up swallowing his anger and backing down. Gritting his teeth, he shouted, “No! You have to give two taels! Are Father and Mother not even worth two taels to you?!”

Here we go again. The same emotional blackmail made Shen Dongming even more resentful and angry. Sure, he still held his parents in his heart—but had they ever cared about him? When his wife and son had been on their deathbeds, where had his parents been? Had they ever lent a helping hand?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Shen Dongming stood up and said loudly, “If you don’t want it, then forget it. We’re leaving. If one day you decide you do want the one tael, then come find me.” With that, he turned to his son and daughter-in-law and said, “Let’s go!”

Shen Junxi and his wife had been quietly listening. When they heard Shen Dongming declare that he would give only one tael—and leave otherwise—they couldn’t help but smile. That was exactly what they had hoped for. When dealing with the main branch of the Shen family, they had to hold the power of speech in their own hands. Whatever others said didn’t matter—only their words counted.

“Let’s go, then,” Song Jingwei stood up and said. He was fed up with sitting there listening to this endless back-and-forth. He’d much rather go home and see the baby.

“Mm,” Shen Junxi nodded and got up, preparing to leave with his father and wife.

“Wait!” The Shen family was stunned. They were actually leaving? Just like that? Shen Dongying shouted, “You can’t go!” At the very least, they couldn’t be allowed to leave so easily—what would that make them look like? Getting slapped in the face by the eldest again?

“What’s left to discuss?” Shen Dongming looked back and said, “I offered the money—you don’t want it.”

“You’re too stingy! Those are your parents!” Shen Dongying shouted angrily.

“If you’re not stingy, how about giving me a tael?” Shen Dongming shot back. “I’m your elder brother, and I’m nearly fifty now!”

“You—!” Shen Dongying widened his eyes in disbelief. When had the eldest brother become so sharp-tongued? He was momentarily at a loss for words.

Seeing the situation, the old master had to step in. “That’s enough, Third. If he’s willing to give one tael, then let it be one.” If the eldest really left, they wouldn’t even get that much.

“Hmph…” Since even the old master had spoken, Shen Dongying had no grounds to insist. But the resentment and bitterness he felt toward his eldest brother only deepened.

Hearing this, Song Jingwei immediately signaled the young man to take out one tael. Because he didn’t like to carry bulky items on himself, whenever they went out, money was usually kept on Shen Junxi.

Shen Junxi took out one tael and handed it to his father, gesturing, “Give it to them now—month by month.”

Taking the money, Shen Dongming scratched his head and said, “Go back and have your mother return it to you.” After all, this was supposed to be support for their parents, and they still had money in their pockets. Then he walked over to the old man and handed over the tael. “Here, Father. This is one tael for this month. Please keep it. I’ll bring the next one next month.”

Looking at the silver tael, the old master’s expression was particularly complicated. To accept or not to accept? He felt that the eldest was deliberately trying to get under his skin, and his opinion of him plummeted. “Hmph…” It was just one tael, but he made it look like it was tearing flesh from his own body.

In the end, he still accepted it. Why wouldn’t he? The more the eldest begrudged it, the more determined he was to take it.

Seeing that his father had taken the money, Shen Dongming said, “Since that’s settled, we’ll be on our way.” With that, seeing no one in the room objecting, he immediately led his son and daughter-in-law out.

“Wait!” Suddenly, Shen Dongying’s voice rang out again. “Eldest Brother, wait a moment—your younger brother still has one thing he doesn’t understand and wants you to clarify.”

Shen Dongming had no choice but to stop and turn around. “Alright then, what is it?”

With a dark expression, Shen Dongying said, “Was it you who took care of the tomb-sweeping before? You swept all our ancestral graves ahead of time—how could you do something like that?”

“What was wrong with that?” Shen Dongming asked in confusion. “We weren’t allowed into the ancestral hall to pay our respects, so shouldn’t we at least go to the graves? I still bear the surname Shen, don’t I? I’m not Wang or Zhang.”

Hearing this brought the matter back up again, and the old master grew angry. “That was indeed inappropriate of you, Eldest. I don’t want to see that happen again next year.”

“Father’s right—I don’t want it to happen again either,” Shen Dongming replied. “If I could enter the ancestral hall to pay respects, why would I have to do that?”

Only now did Shen Dongqi realize what had happened. “Eldest Brother, did you try to discuss the ancestor-worship with us before?”

“Yes,” Shen Dongming replied matter-of-factly. “I stood outside until nightfall, but no one came to talk to me. I had no choice but to act on my own.”

“…” Shen Dongqi had nothing to say. He hadn’t known about this. No need to ask—it must’ve been Father and Third Brother’s idea. He glanced over at the two of them. A son should not criticize his father, he thought, and swallowed his words.

By now, Shen Dongying had run out of ways to deal with the eldest brother. He felt completely powerless—no matter what, the eldest brother always came out on top. He had clearly made so many mistakes, so why was he always the one winning?

He didn’t understand. He just couldn’t understand.

Finally, Shen Dongming could walk out the Shen family’s main house gate without a hitch. Looking into the distance, he let out a long breath. To be honest, dealing with his family was more exhausting than a day of hard labor in the fields.

“Sigh, at least this matter is finally over,” he thought. As long as he delivered one tael of silver each month to the old man and old lady, the two families should be able to keep the peace.

That’s what everyone in the main household hoped for as well. When they returned and told Yang Shi, she didn’t even feel bad about the money. She quickly followed her husband’s instructions and gave the one tael of silver back to her daughter-in-law.

Song Jingwei accepted it calmly. It had to be accepted—this was a matter of principle. He respected Shen Dongming’s decision.

Ever since Qingming Festival, the weather had been drizzling almost every day—gentle rain that never seemed to stop. But for farming households, this was a good thing. Rain like this was incredibly valuable and nourishing to the crops in the fields.

The only downside was that everyone had to stay indoors, and sleeping at night meant putting up with all kinds of noise.

That night, Shen Junxi shut the windows tightly before bed, but it still couldn’t block out the croaking of frogs and chirping of field crickets. Their home was near a lotus pond and ridges of farmland, so the frogs were especially noisy.

“How long is this noise going to last?” Song Jingwei asked, frowning. Having never lived in the countryside before, this wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience for him—he was the kind who couldn’t sleep with noise.

“Until May,” Shen Junxi replied, eyes filled with both amusement and affection. He felt sorry his wife couldn’t sleep well, but at the same time, he found it a little cute that frogs could bother him so much.

“The baby doesn’t seem to be affected at all,” he said while holding the child. The little one would eat and then sleep, completely oblivious to the croaking outside.

“Mm.” The young man sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at their sleeping son. The little bundle of flesh was now over three months old. Now that his facial features had developed more, he was impossibly adorable—so cute it hurt, and they loved him down to their bones.

“Look at him—isn’t he getting too fat?” Song Jingwei gently lifted his son’s chin with his fingertip. It felt like the baby didn’t even have a neck anymore—it was all chubby rolls. “What are we going to do in the summer? Do they even sell baby powder around here?”

Smack smack—Little Benben smacked his lips as if uncomfortable and twisted his chubby neck slightly. Then, he suddenly opened his eyes in a daze and stared at the two familiar faces in front of him.

“…”

Song Jingwei immediately felt a little guilty. It seemed he had accidentally woken the baby up. He braced himself for a round of crying.

Shen Junxi also tensed up. His son’s sudden eye-opening startled him, and he hurried to prepare to take over the little noisemaker so his wife could get some sleep away from the racket.

“…”

Little Benben’s black eyes rolled around, looking at this face and then that one. Then, out of nowhere, he let out a gigantic yawn—his soft, chubby pink mouth opened so wide that it seemed to take up half his face.

“…Mm.”

The young man relaxed. Benben looked as sleepy as a pup and soon drifted off again.

“This little guy…” Song Jingwei muttered under his breath, “gave me a fright.”

Shen Junxi chuckled and signed, “He’s getting cuter by the day. His eyes look just like yours.”  Just like his little papa, with a pair of beautiful, expressive eyes.

“They really do look like mine,” Song Jingwei agreed after glancing at the baby’s eyes. Not just the eyes, but the eyebrows too—delicately shaped, a little on the elegant side. But other than that, the rest of the baby’s features—especially his mouth, nose, and chin—were all a perfect copy of Shen Junxi.

“He takes after you—so he’s good-looking,” Shen Junxi signed with a smile and lifted his gaze to glance at his wife.

Under the warm glow of the lamp, Song Jingwei’s face looked especially soft and gentle. Maybe it was because of the baby, or maybe because of the lighting, but Shen Junxi couldn’t quite recall what expression his wife wore when they had just gotten married.

Back then, he probably wasn’t happy, was he? That was the only explanation Shen Junxi could think of—because lately, his wife had been smiling more and more.

“I’m going to put him to bed,” Song Jingwei said, giving the baby a gentle bounce in his arms. Once he was sure the baby was fast asleep again, he carefully laid him down on the bed.

But while the baby slept soundly, Song Jingwei found the frog chorus unbearable…

Noticing his clenched jaw and grinding teeth, Shen Junxi found it both funny and endearing. He tilted his head and signed thoughtfully, “How about… we go catch some field frogs?”

Catching field frogs could be useful—they could cook porridge for the baby. That’s what most villagers did.

“Catch frogs?” Of course, Song Jingwei knew they were edible, but he hesitated. “Aren’t they full of parasites?”

Shen Junxi understood exactly what he was thinking. He shook his head and signed, “Field frogs are very clean. They can’t survive in dirty places.”

“Oh.” Song Jingwei nodded. It was like how some fish only lived in clean water—if that was the case, then it might be worth considering. After all, he did enjoy these kinds of activities. Catching fish, shrimp, working in the fields—he wanted to try them all. “So, how do we catch frogs?”

“Wait here,” the young man said, and quickly got up to prepare the tools for catching frogs.

A short while later, the two of them, dressed and ready, appeared at the field ridge outside. There was no wind or rain now, the temperature was pleasant, and the sky had cleared to reveal a bright moon.

Each of them held a torch and carefully walked along the ridges, keeping a close eye out for any sign of frogs along the field edges and ditches.

Back home, Shen Dongming and Yang Shi looked at the baby their son had dropped off before leaving. The two of them sighed in unison.

“Going out this late to catch frogs with your wife…” Yang Shi shook her head. “Really?”

“Hehehe…” Shen Dongming chuckled. “I think it’s great! Shows how well they get along.”

“Laugh all you want. But do you really think they’ll catch any frogs?” Yang Shi asked doubtfully. If it were just Shen Junxi, she’d be confident he’d bring some back. But bringing the daughter-in-law along… it seemed more like a fun little outing than a frog hunt.

“Why not? It’s not that hard,” Shen Dongming replied. He used to catch them often himself—field frogs were delicious and nutritious. Now was the perfect time to catch some and make porridge for their grandson. “Tomorrow morning, get ready to cook frog porridge,” he told his wife.

“Only if they catch any,” Yang Shi said with a helpless smile. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her daughter-in-law—it just didn’t seem like something he’d actually do.

But in fact, Song Jingwei quickly got the hang of it. He didn’t scare off the frogs due to inexperience. After watching Shen Junxi catch a few, he learned the techniques too. It really was quite simple—just required a bit of focus, patience, and quick reflexes.

“This one’s huge,” he said, holding up the first frog he’d caught. It had been croaking loudly earlier, and he hadn’t expected it to be so big.