Chapter 17: Burn Bridges After Crossing Them

When everyone returned to the house, Mrs. Shen quickly directed Mrs. Li and Mrs. Yang to prepare the meals. Mrs. Li was in a slightly better state, as she had intentionally arrived late in the morning, so she only ended up working for an hour. Although Mrs. Yang had been alternating between working and slacking off, she was still worn out from the unfamiliar harsh labor. It was more than she could bear, but she still endured it. She wished to ingratiate herself in front of Mrs. Shen, but recognized that it would all be in vain if she didn't complete her work now. Inwardly, she prayed for her older brother to send word soon.

While preparing the meals, Master Shen and several men didn't get to rest immediately either. They needed to thresh the rice they had brought back, then take it to the grain-drying field. Of course, they couldn't accomplish much during their noon break but Master Shen was used to being hardworking, so he would do as much as he could.

It wasn't until lunchtime that everyone took a break. After resting for an hour, they resumed their work. Shen Chengyao stayed behind to help with the threshing, which was quite strenuous and difficult work. Apart from Master Shen, only Shen Chengyao and Shen Chengzu were proficient in this task, so they took turns doing it.

The newly harvested rice should ideally be threshed as quickly as possible and spread out to dry to prevent it from germinating due to moisture.

They harvested for a while in the afternoon. Shen Yuzhu and Shen Bao'er complained of dizziness. Xiao'er noticed that their complexions were normal and their eyes were darting around. There were no signs of dizziness, they were obviously trying to slack off. The old man also noticed but chose to remain silent. Instead, he sternly told them to go back and rest. Mrs. Shen also claimed that she was too tired to go on and returned home to rest before preparing the evening meal. Master Shen understood that his wife was getting on in age and usually didn't do much work; it was mainly her daughters-in-law who did everything. So he let her go. With this opportunity, Mrs. Lan offered to help Mrs. Shen back and they all walked back together, supporting each other.

Harvesting in the afternoon was increasingly pleasant as the weather cooled down. It was only when darkness fell that Master Shen announced a break. He felt he could harvest a bit more, noting that he felt more energetic this year than in previous ones. But the darkness made it difficult to see clearly, so he stopped for the day.

When they got back home, the food was ready and two big pots of hot water had been prepared. Master Shen was satisfied. After working so hard outside, what they wanted most when returning home was a hot meal immediately available and a hot bath. Just this small comfort was enough. Little did they know, the women were so determined to make a good impression at home to avoid going out and suffering the laborious work on the fields again.

Sure enough, after dinner, Master Shen announced that the women would go to the fields to harvest a bit in the morning. They could return home once the sun was up to prepare the meals and wouldn't need to go out in the afternoon. Occasionally checking on the grains spread out in the grain drying field was enough.

The women were joyful at the news. Mrs. Li, however, regretted not having acted the same way before. But Master Shen didn't afford her the same treatment, he only told her to rest in the tree shade before resuming work.

After supper, everyone else went to bed early after bathing. Only Master Shen, Shen Chengyao, and Shen Chengzu remained, busily threshing grains at the grain drying field. The place was bustling with villagers all performing the same task. Halfway through, the Shen brothers persuaded Master Shen to go home and rest, assuring him that they could finish the rest. Master Shen, being quite tired, agreed. They didn't finish their work until after midnight. During this time, Xiao'er brewed a pot of porridge with water from another time and space to replenish their strength. When she asked Mrs. Shen for rice to make the porridge, she encountered some resistance and it was only after Master Shen intervened that she got the rice. That night, Shen Chengyao stayed at the grain drying field to keep a vigil. People had to keep watch at the drying field through the night to guard against thieves or those looking to profit from others' losses. Therefore, every household was taking turns keeping vigil at the drying field.

Two more days passed like this. On the third day, when Master Shen and the others returned from the fields, it was already late. As delightful smells of home-cooked meals wafted from every house, their hunger intensified and their bellies growled. They quickened their pace, only to find a cold stove and empty pots at home. Mrs. Shen, Shen Yuzhu, Mrs. Lan and Shen Bao'er were all asleep, worn out from the hard toil of the past few days.

Master Shen was so angry that his finger trembled as he pointed at them. He ordered them all to come to the fields the next day. He decided that from then on they would only prepare meals after everyone had returned from the fields. It was going to be the last autumn harvest for the family and he had wanted everyone to work together, leaving an impression of unity and harmony. But one after another, they were all refusing to cooperate, which infuriated him!

Seeing that Master Shen was truly angry, Mrs. Shen didn't dare to talk back. She directed her anger at Mrs. Lan. Mrs. Lan, who had never been treated this way before, wished she could pack her things and immediately head back to the town.

The Shen brothers had taken turns keeping vigil for the past three nights, so it was Shen Chengguang's turn tonight. The next day when he woke up, he discovered that two sacks of rice grains were stolen, which outraged Master Shen. However, he didn't cause a scene in front of others, keeping in mind that his grandson who would have an official career in the future and wanting to spare his son some dignity. So, he suppressed his anger, put on a bitter face and worked even harder, as if it could somehow make up for the lost rice grains.

The family worked in the fields for a while and just as Mrs. Lan was hoping, the person she had been waiting for finally arrived. The messenger reported that Mrs. Lan's older brother had urgent business in the county and couldn't continue to look after the shop. So, the family had to return to the town the very next day.

Upon hearing this, Master Shen let everyone from the main family head back to the town in the afternoon. After all, they weren't contributing much to the work and had just been causing chaos. Master Shen was not yet over the theft of the two sacks of rice. Their departure would result in less hassle for him.

They worked like this for another three days, finally managing to harvest all of the second branch's land. While going back home in the evening, Mrs. Li suddenly sprained her ankle, and Shen Chengzong had to carry her back. Later that night, while taking a bath, Shen Chengzong slipped and fell, injuring his back. He said he couldn't get out of bed. Everyone in the second branch seemed to be suffering from some pain or the other, and the next day none of them got up to work in the fields. Master Shen was livid. Shen Chengyao and Shen Chengzu were somewhat disappointed, but not particularly angry as they were accustomed to such behavior. They told Master Shen to rest at home while they went to the fields, but Master Shen refused and went with them.

Oh, how Xiao'er regretted her decision! In hindsight, she wished she had not worked so hard a few days ago. Once bitten, twice shy.

Shen Jingrui and Shen Jinghao were so frustrated that they wished they could sow all the grain they previously harvested back into the field.

Today, they started harvesting Shen Chengzu's land first because it was near the village. When they divided the property, Shen Chengyao specifically chose the farthest and worst farmland, intending to leave the better parts for his younger brother.

The next day, a torrential rainstorm came just as dawn broke. The people in the grain-drying yard hurriedly moved sacks of paddy into the ancestral hall. The grain-drying yard was situated just outside the hall's entrance — a precautionary measure for times of rain, as the grain didn't have any other shelter.

The rain continued through the night, and although it lessened somewhat by the next day, it didn't completely stop, only pausing intermittently. Shen Chengyao and Shen Chengzu both had a restless, sleepless night, getting up early to harvest in the rain. Master Shen wanted to accompany them, but the brothers firmly rejected the idea. They feared they would forever regret it if their aging father fell sick from helping them in the rain. Subsequently, Master Shen relented.

Xiao'er and Jinghao couldn't go along either. Jingrui, as the eldest son, insisted on going, and Shen Chengyao only relented after losing the argument.

Even though she was not required to work the fields, Xiao'er had no intention of staying idle. Knowing Mrs. Shen's character, she figured the woman wouldn't bother preparing their meals anymore. The people of the second branch had been left to fend for themselves when they didn't go to harvest the previous day, and now that even Master Shen was not going, Xiao'er suspected that their daily meals would not be taken care of either.

She asked Jinghao to take care of their three-year-old cousin, Jingjie, while she went to fetch 100 coins from Mrs. Liu's safekeeping. Taking advantage of a pause in the rain, she went to the market to buy some rice. Upon her return, she took to the mountains to search for pheasants or hares.

Fortune smiled upon her. She was able to catch two pheasants not far into her journey. As it was harvest season and the mountain was shrouded in the day's rain, few people ventured up, while the chickens just emerged in search of food. Unluckily for them, they ran right into Xiao'er.

Holding two pheasants, Xiao'er turned back. The sky had taken a dark turn, indicating another round of rain was on the way. Sure enough, it began to rain again halfway through her journey home.

By the time Xiao'er came back home, the people of the main family had already eaten, as did those of the second branch. Jinghao and Jingjie were building a fire in the kitchen of the west wing, a pot of hot water already on the stove.

Jinghao was rather pleased to see her, saying, "Sister, I'm glad you're back. Jingjie and I have boiled a pot of hot water. Would you like to take a bath first?"

Xiao'er gently tousled their hair, answering, "You two are so good. But I won't wash up yet. I caught two pheasants. I should prepare dinner first. I believe father, Uncle Four, Aunt Four, and Brother will be home soon."

She changed out of her wet clothes back in her room, and returned to the kitchen to slaughter the pheasants. As Jinghao and Jingjie wished to help by plucking the chicken feathers, Xiao'er chopped some ginger and placed it in a pot, adding water to it. The two boys then set to work making ginger soup on the small stove.

After Xiao'er had slaughtered and chopped the chickens, she put the rice into a pot and asked Jinghao to keep an eye on the stove. She then went to the vegetable garden to gather small cabbages and cucumbers. Upon returning and washing the vegetables, she found the rice was nearly cooked. She asked Jinghao to lower the flame and let the residual heat finish cooking the rice.

The dinner she planned consisted of three dishes: chicken with chestnuts, garlic-flavoured small cabbage, and chicken liver stir-fried with cucumber.

Halfway through cooking, Shen Chengyao and the others returned, all drenched. Xiao'er directed them to bathe first: "Father, Uncle Four, Aunt Four, Brother, why don't you take a bath first? Jinghao and Jingjie have prepared hot water. They have also boiled ginger soup. After your bath, drink a bowl of ginger soup to warm yourselves, and then we can have dinner.