Spring scenery in the fields

Chapter 367 Shen Zhiyan

Seeing her busy in the fields, he walked over and said, "Wen He, I see you have been weeding in the fields these days. Take a break. It won't be too late to get back to work in a couple of days."

"There's still half an acre of land left. Let's finish weeding as soon as possible. Aunt Wu is having a wedding the day after tomorrow. Aunt Zhao should go over."

Zhao Sanniang nodded: "I was just worried that the child would wake up. There were a lot of people there that day, and I was worried that the child would be scared."

Ji Wenhe turned to look at her: "Put the child to sleep at noon, finish your meal early and go back. You and Aunt Wu's house are close, one in front and one behind. If the child cries in the house, you should be able to hear it."

"I can hear you." She nodded. "There are two weddings this month. Just going to each family's house for the banquets will cost a lot of money. But the gift money asked for by people in our village is not much."

"The family in front of me earns at least eight cents, and most of them earn twelve cents. There are many children in every family in the village, and the money they earn in a month is not enough to have a feast."

"In our village, the average is six or eight cents. I think this is good. Families don't have much money, so only relatives will give more."

Some people have some money, so they will give more as gifts because they care more about face. This situation has not occurred in their village yet.

The last time I went to visit Zhu Danian, he went to a banquet at home and his relatives gave him thirty cents, which increased the gift price immediately.

It saved face, but other relatives were not very happy when they were around.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Zhao Sanniang went back.

Ji Wenhe wanted to finish mowing the half-acre of grass today, so he sped up the work.

After mowing the grass in the afternoon, let the chickens out and head north.

I went home, got a shovel, and shoveled out the chicken manure.

You also have to keep an eye on them at all times and not let the chickens go into the wheat fields.

Seeing two chickens going into the wheat field, he quickly ran out to chase them away.

All the chicken and goose coops were cleaned and replaced with dry straw.

Ji Wenhe chased the chickens into the pen, closed the fence door, took the shovel and went home.

After washing, I went to Shen Yuanshan’s house to get a cabbage and made some cabbage soup in the evening.

He came out of the house holding the cabbage and ran into Shen Zhiyan, who had come back alone. He asked with a smile, "Zhiyan, why are you back so late? It's almost dark."

"Sister-in-law, I have something to do when I come back. You have to go back and cook."

"Yes, I'll make some cabbage soup tonight."

Ji Wenhe felt that she seemed to be more talkative than before, not as timid anymore, and no longer looked shy when meeting people.

"Zhiyan, last time Xiaoya and I went to see Guyan, we mentioned you during the conversation. Guyan said that he hadn't seen you for a long time and missed you a lot. He was also thinking about when he could meet you."

Shen Zhiyan smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, I saw Gu Yan a few days ago in town. She came to my house to get to know me, but our two homes are a little far apart."

"Yes, it's hard to meet if we're far away, but we can make an appointment and then we can all get together in the village."

"Sister-in-law is right. We both agreed to come over to give gifts at the end of the year. I'll come to see you then."

"Sure, no problem. You can stay overnight. I have a room at home anyway. You can stay for a few nights."

Shen Zhiyan thought for a moment and said, "I'm afraid I can't stay here overnight. I'll come here in the morning and go back in the evening."

Ji Wenhe asked: "You are back so late now, it must be too late to go back, will you stay here tonight?"

She nodded: "I live in the woodshed and will go back tomorrow morning."

"Zhiyan, sister-in-law is so talkative. Why are you back so late? What happened at home?"

Shen Zhiyan lowered her eyes, opened her mouth, and was silent for a few breaths: "Sister-in-law, I'm going home first, and I'll come to talk to you later, okay?"

Gu Yan told her that if she was unhappy or encountered any problems, she could come to Ji Wenhe and said that she would help find a solution. She really had no idea what to do now and didn't know who to talk to.

"Okay, come find me later." Ji Wenhe pointed to the last house on the west side, "That's my home, come over later, I'll be waiting for you at home."

"Okay, I understand, sister-in-law, I'll go back first."

"Okay, let's go."

Looking at her back as she walked home, a trace of helplessness flashed through my heart.

She came back at this time, what emergency could there be at home? Could it be that Shen Xing came back?

When he reached the door of Lan Qiuhua's house, he called out, "Aunt Lan."

"Hey, I'm cooking, Wen He, come in and talk."

Ji Wenhe walked in, leaned against the door and asked, "Aunt Lan, is Uncle Xing back?"

"Didn't Shen Xing go to town? I didn't go out today and didn't see if he came back. What happened?"

"Zhiyan is back. I just ran into her at the door. She looked like she had something urgent to do, otherwise why would she come back so soon?"

Lan Qiuhua agreed: "That's possible. Shen Xing won't do anything weird again. What kind of emergency could there be at home?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask much. She said she would come and talk to me later."

"Okay, this child is pitiful too. Talk to her and ask her to be more open-minded. If her family wants money, tell her not to give it. Shen Xing, as a father, is not good to Zhiyan. He only wants money from her."

Ji Wenhe nodded: "Aunt Lan, you are busy, I will go back to cook."

"Don't go back and cook. Eat at my house."

"No, Aunt Lan, I'm going home to make some soup. I'm leaving now."

"Hey, walk slowly."

After I got home and cooked dinner, the twins came back.

"Yuanshan, Wenshan, come and have dinner. Zhiyan will come find me later."

Shen Wenshan asked curiously: "She came back in the morning."

"No, I just ran into her at the door. Come on, let's eat. After dinner, go to the front and do some work. I'll talk to her at home."

The two nodded in agreement.

After finishing the meal, when I was about to get up to wash the dishes, I heard Shen Zhiyan's voice coming from the gate of the courtyard: "Sister-in-law."

Ji Wenhe poked his head out from the kitchen: "Zhiyan, come in, have you eaten yet?"

She shook her head.

"Then just eat at my house."

"No, sister-in-law, I'm not hungry."

"Silly child, how could you not be hungry? Did you walk here or ride a donkey cart?" He pointed to the table and asked her to sit down.

Shen Zhiyan sat down at the table: "I walked over."

Ji Wenhe poured a bowl of vegetable soup and gave her two pieces of cake: "Here, there are some side dishes. Now that the dishes are finished, if I had known you didn't eat, I should have left some more dishes."

"Eat quickly, don't be polite to your sister-in-law."

She nodded gratefully: "Thank you, sister-in-law."

Hearing her voice choking up, he consoled her, "Eat first, we'll talk after dinner."

Shen Zhiyan nodded and ate her meal in small bites.

After cleaning the kitchen, the two sat under the eaves.

"Sister-in-law, my mother asked someone to tell me to come back today."

"Is your father back?"

"Yeah, I came back this morning."

"Why did he ask you to come back?"

Shen Zhiyan said: "My brother Wang Fei wants to look for a marriage partner. They don't have much money, so they asked me for three taels of silver."