TIPS – Chapter 126

Before long, Shen Dongming and Yang Shi also came in. The dishes had just been reheated, and they were told to hurry and eat. Afterward, they could enjoy a nice, relaxing hot bath, then go to bed for a good night’s sleep—wake up tomorrow feeling refreshed and full of energy.

“I’ll eat first, then talk to you afterward,” Shen Junxi said, glancing at the food and gesturing to Song Jingwei. It was clear he really wanted to talk to Song Jingwei and didn’t want to stop, but his stomach was growling—he needed to eat first.

“Hurry and eat. What’s there to talk about, anyway?” Song Jingwei said, a little helpless.

“Hehe, eat up—only after you’re full will you have the strength to chat with your wife,” Shen Dongming teased with a grin. Yang Shi pinched his arm and scolded, “You eat too, and talk less!”

“Aye aye, listening to the wife is always right.”

The young man followed his father’s lead. After smiling at his wife, he quickly lowered his head and began eating seriously. He had always been earnest when it came to meals. His attitude toward food made it clear that he was a dependable and grounded person.

After dinner, Shen Junxi went back to the courtyard to take a bath first.

When Song Jingwei returned to the room holding their drowsy baby, he saw the young man under the lamplight, applying ointment to his feet. His actions weren’t exactly graceful—borderline clumsy, even—but the concentration on his face made him appear unexpectedly endearing.

When Shen Junxi noticed someone watching, he hurriedly finished what he was doing, packed up the ointment, and looked slightly embarrassed.

“Got a blister on your foot? Did you pop it?” Song Jingwei walked over to ask. A blister should be popped for it to heal faster, but it would definitely hurt.

“Mm.” Shen Junxi nodded and quickly gestured: “I’m going to wash my hands.” He walked swiftly toward the washroom, despite the pain in his freshly popped blister, and washed off the ointment on his hands. Afterward, he even gave his hands a sniff to check for any strange odor. Actually, the ointment had a light herbal scent that wasn’t particularly pleasant, and he remembered Song Jingwei didn’t like odd smells.

“What took you so long?” By the time Shen Junxi came out, Song Jingwei had already put the baby to bed, and the child was sleeping soundly.

“Mm…” Shen Junxi smiled and, despite the pain in his foot, walked over to sit by the bed.

“Does it hurt a lot?” Song Jingwei asked as he approached. “Let me see. Maybe you didn’t apply it properly.” Since he had walked around after applying it, Song Jingwei turned to retrieve the ointment, planning to reapply it for him.

Seeing his intention, Shen Junxi quickly shook his head and gestured, “No need, I just did it.” How could he have the nerve to raise his foot and let Song Jingwei look?

“Let me see.” Song Jingwei insisted and had already lifted the leg of his pants.

Shen Junxi couldn’t resist and had to support himself on the bed with both hands, reluctantly raising his foot. He wondered what kind of sight his wife would see right now.

“There are quite a few blisters.” Song Jingwei didn’t mind at all. He wiped off the messy ointment from earlier and reapplied a fresh layer. Then, he even wrapped the foot in gauze.

Shen Junxi had gotten blisters before, but he’d never taken care of them this thoroughly. Usually, he’d just pop them and be done with it—sometimes not even bothering with ointment.

“This way it’ll heal faster. You don’t have much to do tomorrow, right? Just stay home and rest. You’ll be fine in a couple of days.” As Song Jingwei said this, he remembered the time when Shen Junxi hurt his knee and asked, “Was it your left leg or right leg you hurt before? How is it now?”

Shen Junxi gestured: “It healed a long time ago.”

“Let me check if it left a scar.” That day, he had pulled down Shen Junxi’s pants to treat him but hadn’t paid attention to the injury itself.

Shen Junxi looked at him, then reluctantly pulled his pants up to reveal his knee.

The area that had been scraped before hadn’t scarred deeply—probably because it wasn’t a serious wound.

“It’s not bad,” Song Jingwei said after a glance, then helped him roll his pant leg down.

“Mm.” Shen Junxi touched his knee. Every time he saw the scar, he remembered how cold and distant Song Jingwei used to be toward him. It was only after he got injured that Song Jingwei had shown concern for the first time. He would never forget how that felt—it seemed that from then on, their relationship had started to improve.

Thinking of this, the young man smiled gently. Then, on impulse, he leaned over and quickly kissed Song Jingwei on the cheek.

Song Jingwei turned to look at him, and he stole another kiss on the lips. His expression was calm and joyful. He loved being close like this. Every time there was no distance between them, he felt lucky and happy. It was unexpected that they could end up together, and it had taken a lot of emotional hardship. Fortunately, he had been accepted in the end.

“Let’s sleep,” Song Jingwei said, patting the pillow and lying down on the outer side of the bed.

Shen Junxi tugged at him and gestured, “I’ll sleep on the outside. The baby might wake up during the night.” He didn’t want to disturb Song Jingwei. If the baby cried, he would get up and take care of it.

“Don’t worry. He’s been sleeping well lately,” Song Jingwei replied. “Even if he does cry, I’ll get up and carry him. You just go to sleep.” He simply felt bad that the young man had worked so hard during the day and didn’t want him to have a rough night too.

Shen Junxi naturally understood that Song Jingwei was being considerate and caring toward him, which made him especially moved. He was the same—knowing that Song Jingwei didn’t sleep well, he didn’t want him to get up in the middle of the night to soothe Benben.

“Go to sleep,” Song Jingwei said when he saw the young man still propped up on his elbows, dazed.

“…” Shen Junxi silently lay down, scooted close to him, then closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Ever since more and more villagers started to believe that there would be a war with the Northeast, more and more people moved into the mountains to find places to settle. Among these, the location found by the Shen family’s main branch had the most people—almost completely filled up.

Such a big event couldn’t be hidden from the Shen family’s main household, of course. Their attitude hovered between belief and doubt. If the news had come from someone else, they might’ve believed it outright and followed everyone else in moving to safety quickly. But because the information had come from the Shen family’s main branch, their contrarian nature kicked in, and they naturally began to doubt its truthfulness.

At first, Shen Dongying said, “It’s all just rumors stirring up panic. Even if there’s going to be a war, it won’t happen right away.” He figured that if there really were a war, they’d still get notified in time to react, so he remained quite relaxed. As for those families who’d rushed into the mountains, he secretly scoffed at them, thinking they were fools.

“That may be, but it’s still better to be prepared early,” said Old Master Shen. He was an old man now, and though he could be a bit alarmist, nothing was more important than life.

A few days later, word spread that all the good spots in the mountains had already been taken. Some people had even fought over places. At that point, the Shen family’s main household started to panic. Old Master Shen quickly sent his third son, Shen Dongying, to see if there was still any land left under their family’s claim.

Shen Dongying had no choice but to rush into the mountains. He found that the mountain hollow was indeed a great location—but the key issue was that there was no space left!

He looked around for other spots. There were still places on the outskirts, but none as good as the central area, and the outer areas also didn’t feel as safe.

When he went back and reported to Old Master Shen, everyone began to discuss: “We’ve got so many people in our family—how can we go without a place to stay? We need to find a way to carve out a spot for ourselves.”

Wang Shi couldn’t help but complain: “If only we had gone and fought for a place earlier when the villagers were doing it!” At the time, everyone in the household had treated the whole matter as a joke. But now, it looked like they were the real joke.

“It’s not like there’s no way—there are still places on the outskirts, and they’re spacious, just not as good as the inside,” Shen Dongying said awkwardly. He refused to admit he had delayed things.

“Look at you—can’t even handle a simple task properly,” even Old Master Shen started grumbling. But complaining wouldn’t solve the problem. He said, “Figure out a way to get those inside to give up some space. I don’t believe that if everyone gives a little, we can’t make room for a family to live in.”

Shen Dongying muttered, “If everyone gave up a little, we could carve out enough space for us, but only if they’re willing to give it up.”

“Why wouldn’t they? Our family isn’t that disliked,” Old Master Shen said. “Go talk to them first. If they won’t listen, I’ll step in. Our family is still one of the most prominent in the village—we’ve got reputation and standing, and we’re the only scholarly family with any real background. Even if they don’t care for the message, they’ll respect the messenger.”

“Alright then, I’ll go ask,” Shen Dongying replied, forcing himself to agree. But he had never been good at humbling himself to the villagers—what if they laughed at him?

Despite his reluctance, he went because of Old Master Shen’s orders. He first asked around and found out which families had moved in early and taken the largest spaces. If these few families were willing to give up a bit of land, it would be just enough for the Shen family’s main branch to squeeze in.

But when these families heard Shen Dongying had come to ask for land, they all shook their heads, waved their hands, and played dumb. Being rejected like this made Shen Dongying especially upset. He had always held himself in high regard—he thought just speaking politely to these people was already a huge concession. He hadn’t expected that none of them would give him any face.

“Third Master Shen,” they said, “you’d better look elsewhere—there’s no room left inside! The families here moved in first thing. Heh, if you want to blame someone, blame yourself for coming late. Nothing we can do about that.”

Shen Dongying returned home feeling stifled and told Old Master Shen the result.

“…” Old Master Shen looked at his third son in disappointment. He had known his third son was unreliable—aside from reading and teaching, he was good for nothing. Not like the smooth-talking second son, Shen Dongqi, who actually knew how to handle things. He said, “If you can’t handle it, write to your second brother and have him come back quickly.”

After giving those instructions, Old Master Shen began thinking he might have to step in personally. What else could they do? They couldn’t just leave the family without a place to hide—they couldn’t just pick any random spot and hope for the best.

So the next day, he prepared to head out. He asked Shen Dongying, “Which families did you visit yesterday?”

Shen Dongying hesitated and said, “You’re going too? But those people aren’t easy to talk to—you’d better not go…”

Old Master Shen didn’t say anything. Of course, he wasn’t planning to visit those families—he had asked specifically to avoid them. But that wasn’t something he would admit honestly to Shen Dongying.

“Ahem! I’ll go by myself. You all just wait at home,” Old Master Shen instructed the family, then went out alone.

The family assumed that, no matter what, the villagers would give Old Master Shen some face. After all, he was a respected figure in the village. But they hadn’t expected that, in a time of life-or-death urgency, everyone would act selfishly. Naturally, people prioritized the safety and stability of their own families before even thinking about helping others, right? If they couldn’t even ensure their own safety, who would have the energy or willingness to help someone else?

Old Master Shen walked around for quite some time and was surprised to find that no one was willing to talk about the matter. As soon as he brought up the topic of giving up land, they would either change the subject or laugh it off. The few honest ones gave a straightforward answer:
“No.”

Just one word—no—left Old Master Shen feeling stifled and heavy-hearted.

He had thought that his personal involvement would at least be more persuasive than his third son Shen Dongying, but reality left him not even angry—just defeated. It was their land. If they didn’t want to give it, there was nothing he could do. Trying to talk about principles, morals, or virtue would only make others laugh at him.

Back at home, the Shen family members looked at him with hopeful eyes.

Old Madam Shen asked directly, “Well? Did they agree? Is the land spacious?”

She too had assumed the villagers wouldn’t dare disrespect her husband, so she hadn’t even considered the possibility of refusal.

“Agree? We’ll have Third Son make another trip tomorrow. Tell him to hurry and look in nearby areas—before even those places are taken,” Old Master Shen said. Of course he was angry, full of suppressed fury. Hadn’t he said before to let Shen Dongying handle claiming land? But Shen Dongying hadn’t gone.

“What? They wouldn’t agree?” Old Madam Shen asked in shock, then quickly grew displeased. If it had been their third son asking and got rejected, that would have made sense. But even when their old master went himself and was refused? That was outrageous! “How could they do that? Our family is at least…”

“If they don’t agree, then they don’t agree—what can you do?” Old Master Shen was already irritated. The more Old Madam Shen spoke, the more it highlighted his own failure.

“Well, we can’t just pick any random place. I heard the better spots are further in,” Old Madam Shen said. She had heard this from her daughter-in-law, Wang Shi, who had gotten wind of it from outside. “How about this—we put up some silver, treat it like buying the land. What do you think?”

Old Master Shen felt that made some sense and hesitated before replying, “That could work. Have Third Son  go ask.”

They discussed a price and agreed to offer five taels of silver in exchange for a plot of land large enough for them to settle. That afternoon, they sent Shen Dongying again, this time with high hopes—after all, five taels wasn’t a small amount.

But when Shen Dongying returned in the evening with the results, the entire family was disappointed and puzzled—why didn’t anyone take the offer?

“This one won’t do, that one won’t either. What on earth do they want?” Shen Dongying had gone back and forth so many times and was exhausted. He was also increasingly resentful, feeling that others were deliberately targeting their family.

“Did they give a reason?” someone asked. If they refused to share land, there must be a reason. It certainly wasn’t due to a lack of land—when the first group went, they had claimed as much as they could. How could there not be land left?

“Who knows!” Shen Dongying sat down sullenly. Then suddenly, his expression brightened. “There’s still one more way!”

Everyone turned to him. “What way?”

Shen Dongying said, “Eldest Brother’s family was the first to move into the mountains. They discovered that valley—surely they claimed a lot of land. I figured, even if they don’t want to give us any of their land directly, they could still help us get a plot.”

The others in the room agreed. The villagers might not listen to them, but surely they’d give Eldest Brother some respect. Even if the eldest brother didn’t want to give up his own land, helping them secure another piece shouldn’t be a problem.

But the question was—how to bring it up?

“Ahem, I think it’s best if Father goes in person. I’m afraid if I go, Eldest Brother won’t give me that kind of face,” Shen Dongying said, not without reason. Deep down, he didn’t want to humble himself and beg Eldest Brother.

“Hmph…” Old Master Shen glanced at his third son. How could he not know what the man was thinking? Still, fine. He had planned to make the trip anyway. He wasn’t afraid Shen Dongming would refuse—after all, he had a trump card in hand.

The trump card in Old Master Shen’s hand wasn’t anything else—it was the fact that Eldest Son Shen Dongming’s eldest grandson hadn’t been added to the clan registry yet. He figured that if Eldest Son refused, he could use that as leverage to trade for land.

First, he had Xu Da deliver a message to see if Shen Dongming was willing to come over.

But Shen Dongming wasn’t keen on visiting the main family. He invited Xu Da in for tea and asked, “What does the old man want from me? Didn’t I already say? If it’s nothing serious, I won’t go over there.” Other than delivering the one or two taels of monthly support money, he almost never went to that side, nor did he care to.