TIPS – Chapter 48

“Haha, let’s not talk about that. Let’s talk about your husband. How does he treat you?” The man seemed particularly interested in this topic.

“…” Song Jingwei felt a bit foolish—why was he even entertaining this conversation? He said, “I have things to do. Suit yourself.”

“Hey, don’t leave! Are you getting shy just because I asked a couple of questions?” The man stubbornly followed him.

“Stop following me,” Song Jingwei said.

“I heard that you knew your husband before you got married, that you made a private vow to be together. Is that true?” the man asked.

“Who are you? You seem to know quite a lot about me…” Song Jingwei stopped walking and scrutinized the man. “Are you from the Shen family? Shen Lao’er’s wife? Or his daughter-in-law?” Judging by his age, he wasn’t young. “Your’re too old to be a daughter-in-law, so you must be the wife.”

Liu Yue, the wife of Shen Lao’er (Shen Dongqi), stared at his nephew-in-law in shock. How did he figure it out so quickly? Liu Yue had no idea what he had done wrong, but somehow, he had exposed his identity without realizing it. “How did you know?” He had indirectly admitted it now.

“Other people wouldn’t be this nosy. So, tell me—why are you looking for me?” Song Jingwei asked leisurely, preparing for whatever was coming.

“Wait, wait, don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not here to cause trouble,” Liu Yue quickly clarified. Since he was already exposed, he crossed his arms and admitted, “It’s true that Shen Laosan (Shen Dongying) sent us back to persuade you not to open the academy. But in my opinion, opening an academy is a good thing—it benefits the children in the village, doesn’t it?” Liu Yue loved money, but he wasn’t heartless. He was certainly better than their fake, pretentious third brother. “As for why I came here today, I just wanted to meet you. You know, the Shen family’s main branch has struggled for years. If you hadn’t married Xi’er, when would they have ever had a better life?” Now, looking at things, the Shen family’s main branch was finally seeing improvement.

Song Jingwei glanced sideways at him. This wife of Shen Lao’er wasn’t bad—straightforward and reasonable.

“I love money, I love wealth, but I don’t care for fame. To be honest, opening a private school with Shen Laosan’s family won’t make much money—certainly not as much as me and my old Shen running a business. So I don’t care about it at all,” Liu Yue said, making it clear that he had no ill intentions.

Song Jingwei nodded. “Not bad—better than Shen Laosan.” Shen Junxi wasn’t entirely unlucky, at least he had a somewhat sensible second aunt. But whether this second aunt had ever actually helped the Shen family’s main branch was another matter. “Since you care so much, why did you never help before?”

From what Yang Shi had told him, their family had gone through an extremely difficult time in the past, and no one had lent a hand.

“Well… We were busy running our business. We only came back a few times a year,” Liu Yue explained. But in reality, he knew full well that he and Shen Dongqi had simply never cared about Shen Dongming’s family.

“Heh, please leave,” Song Jingwei said coldly. He wasn’t interested in continuing the conversation. He was a quiet person, but he always took care of his family. Even if he couldn’t be there in person, he would never let them suffer financially. If Shen Lao’er was running a business, then he certainly wasn’t short on money. Did he really not have time to lend his own older brother some silver to get through tough times?

Who would believe that? In the end, they simply didn’t care.

“Hey… don’t be like that…” Liu Yue scratched his head in frustration. When he had first married into the Shen family, it was during the most difficult period for Shen Dongming’s family. But he hadn’t been Shen Lao’er’s first wife—there had been another woman before him. At the time, he had been too busy dealing with his own matters to care about Shen Dongming’s family.

But no matter how he explained it, the truth was that he had never helped the Shen family’s main branch.

“Please,” Song Jingwei said politely, gesturing for him to leave.

“You…” Liu Yue was helpless against his cold demeanor. He could only stomp his foot in frustration and leave. After walking a few steps, he turned back and said, “Don’t worry, my Old Shen and I won’t cause trouble, and neither will the others.”

Song Jingwei silently watched him leave. After a while, Shen Junxi appeared beside him, prompting him to turn his head.

“That was my second aunt. What did you talk about?” Shen Junxi signed. He had seen the conversation from afar, but by the time he got closer, Liu Yue was already gone.

“Not much. He said that the Shen family’s main branch won’t cause trouble anymore.” That was the best outcome.

“Mm.” Shen Junxi visibly relaxed. It was best if they didn’t cause any trouble. Even though he no longer saw the Shen family’s main branch as relatives, they were still blood relatives—falling out completely would be unpleasant.

“Shen Lao’er—was he good to your family?” Song Jingwei suddenly asked.

“Hm?” Shen Junxi hesitated for a moment before signing, “Not good, but not bad either?” He recalled that they had little interaction with his second uncle and second aunt. They were like complete strangers. As for why he said they weren’t bad—it was simply because they had never caused trouble or given them a hard time.

“What do you mean by ‘not bad’?” Song Jingwei didn’t understand.

“They never caused trouble,” Shen Junxi signed bluntly. Apparently, that was already considered “not bad.”

“…” Song Jingwei was speechless. What kind of relatives were these? In his heart, Shen Junxi officially earned the title of “most unfortunate child.”

“What’s wrong?” Shen Junxi leaned in closer. Was his wife feeling unwell again? This was the first time he had come to the construction site since last time, and the memory of that day was still fresh.

“Nothing. Have you finished calculating the accounts?” Song Jingwei stood with his hands behind his back and casually asked.

“Mm, it’s done,” Shen Junxi signed, then tapped Song Jingwei’s shoulder and pointed toward the distant tea plantation. The lush green fields stretched far and wide, looking beautiful. Next to the tea plantation, golden rice paddies were ready for harvest, with the stalks bowing under the weight of ripe grains—it was an adorable sight.

Song Jingwei sighed, “This will be the last rice harvest. We won’t plant it anymore.”

“What do you want to grow in the future?” Shen Junxi asked with hand gestures.

Song Jingwei thought for a moment before saying, “How about tea trees? We could start the Shen Family Tea Plantation. Maybe even dig a pond to grow lotus roots and raise fish and shrimp?” It would be a lush, green landscape, and when the lotus flowers bloomed, the whole garden would be filled with fragrance.

Shen Junxi hesitated and signed, “Wife, I don’t think you can raise fish and shrimp in a lotus pond.”

Song Jingwei wasn’t very knowledgeable about this. “You can’t?” he asked.

Shen Junxi thought for a moment before signing, “Grass carp won’t work, but maybe other types of fish, like eels and loaches.” Since lotus roots grow in muddy water, the silt contains a lot of impurities and small insects that could make the fish sick or cause water quality issues.

“Mm, we’ll plan it out slowly. There’s no rush.” If they were going to plant crops, he would need to find experienced farmers to assist—he had never farmed before and wasn’t familiar with these things.

Shen Junxi smiled at him. No matter what his wife wanted to do, it was never too difficult—he always found a way to do it well.

“It’s almost lunchtime. Let’s go back,” Song Jingwei said as he casually walked out of the courtyard without waiting for Shen Junxi to follow, nor did he care that Pei Hongxuan was still teaching the children. He was hungry, so it was mealtime.

Lately, he had been feeling hungry before mealtime more often…

“…” Shen Junxi looked up at the sky, confirming that it was still early. But since his wife had decided to head back, could he really argue?

That noon, they waited and waited, but Pei Hongxuan never returned.

Yang Shi had already prepared lunch. She was about to suggest that someone go check on him in case something had happened on the way when a worker from the construction site arrived.

Seeing Yang Shi, the worker said, “Mr. Pei asked me to pass on a message—he won’t be coming back for lunch.”

“What happened? Why isn’t he coming back?”

“He took a fall and twisted his foot. He can’t walk properly for now,” the man replied.

Yang Shi asked worriedly, “How did he fall? Is it serious? Is someone taking care of him?”

“Yes, someone is looking after him,” the man scratched his head and, after delivering the message, left quickly—his wife was waiting for him to come home for lunch.

Yang Shi went inside and relayed the news to everyone. “I think Xi’er should hurry and eat so he can bring food to Hongxuan later.” Then she added, “We should probably bring two portions—since someone is looking after him, they might not be able to come back for lunch either.” She silently thanked that kind person—there were too few warm-hearted people these days.

“Mm.” Shen Junxi nodded and started eating faster.

Song Jingwei had no objections. He would go with Shen Junxi after eating.

After they finished their meal, Yang Shi handed them a food box containing two portions of food. She advised again, “Maybe Jingwei shouldn’t go—it’s really hot outside at noon.”

Shen Junxi agreed, “Wife, you should stay and rest.”

Song Jingwei shook his head. “Let’s go quickly. We shouldn’t keep people waiting.” He was full, felt energized, and wasn’t tired at all.

Seeing that they couldn’t persuade him, the others stopped trying. Yang Shi reminded them, “Be careful on the road. Xi’er, take care of your wife, understand?”

“Mm.” Shen Junxi nodded seriously, walking shoulder to shoulder with his wife as they left.

The sun outside was scorching, making it hard to keep their eyes open and causing irritation from the heat. Fortunately, neither of them was prone to sweating, so the walk wasn’t too unbearable.

Shen Junxi plucked a large leaf from the roadside and fanned himself as they walked. The breeze cooled not only him but also Song Jingwei beside him.

“What kind of leaf is that?” Song Jingwei asked curiously—it was impressively large.

“Wild taro, but it’s not good to eat,” Shen Junxi signed. However, Song Jingwei didn’t understand the sign for “taro,” let alone “wild taro,” and his face showed confusion.

“…” Shen Junxi chuckled and shook his head. He would have to write it down for him later.

When they arrived at the School, they found Pei Hongxuan sitting pitifully on a chair, one foot propped up on another chair—he seemed to be injured.

“Wasn’t it just a twisted ankle? Why does it look so serious?” Song Jingwei asked.

“Young Master Song,” the person taking care of Pei Hongxuan turned out to be Wu Xi. He explained, “Mr. Pei’s ankle is indeed twisted, but there were some stones on the ground, and he scraped his ankle.”

It had bled, so it had been wrapped in cloth bandages.