Chapter 30 1/3

Outside the grass hut, Shen Jin stood with his two younger brothers. Shen An and Shen Ning, who were originally clearing land behind the house, were now standing in front of their own door, their faces full of vigilance.

Although Shen Jin was a year younger than Shen An, he was taller and sturdier. However, he stood in a lower position and wasn’t here to fight. He felt confident in himself and came to reason with Shen An and Shen Ning. So he raised his head and argued with them.

“It’s not right for you to act like this. You’ve been eating at my house for so many years, and now we just want to eat two pieces of your oil residue. Why can’t we?” Shen Jin felt extremely wronged. For the past three days, he had been rolling around in the mud on their family’s land. Yet, his mother hadn’t nodded to buy meat from the market to make oil residue for him.

Thinking about the delicious smell he had smelled two days ago, he couldn’t stand it anymore. After these few days, he had tried every means but still couldn’t eat it. He became even more eager and decided to try Shen Ning’s place. What if Shen Ning still had some?

Unexpectedly, Shen An and Shen Ning didn’t give him any and guarded them like thieves. Once the door was closed, the siblings stood in front of the door.

Originally, Shen Jin wasn’t sure if Shen Ning still had any oil residue left, but now he was sure.

Seeing Shen An’s tight-lipped expression, Shen Jin’s eyes brightened. With a surge of momentum, he said, “At the beginning of the year, when my mother made lard, she served it to you guys in small bowls. Each of you got three pieces. Do you dare deny it?”

Shen An’s expression turned cold, and he remained silent, clenching his teeth tightly.

That time was shortly after they had received news of their eldest brother’s death. Both he and his sister cried every day, and their third uncle and aunt felt guilty. During that time, they treated the siblings much better than before.

However, neither of them touched the three pieces of oil residue. They couldn’t eat them, and they returned them to their aunt as they were.

Shen An didn’t want to say anything.

If he didn’t speak, Shen Jin would feel he was right. “You don’t have anything to say now, right? Look, just that one time, you guys ate six pieces from my house. Give each of us two pieces, which makes six in total. Isn’t that fair?”

Shen Ning’s cheeks bulged, and finally, she couldn’t hold back and retorted, “Who said we owe you? Before the family was divided, it was still our family. We didn’t eat yours. My eldest brother also worked in the fields.”

Shen Jin choked.

His eldest brother not only worked in the fields but also hunted.

Although he was young, he had heard many rumors in the village, saying that his eldest brother was pushed out by his father to serve in the army and died on the battlefield.

Shen Jin’s fingertips trembled, and he suddenly felt stuck.

Children might not understand many things, but they vaguely knew when they were wrong. Subconsciously, he tried to avoid the issue.

“Even if we don’t talk about before or after the division, after the division, it was just a while ago. Didn’t you guys often come to my house to ask for food? Just give me back a few pieces of oil residue. What’s wrong with that?”

Shen Yin and Shen Tie had also been craving it for a few days. Children had short memories. If they couldn’t eat something, they would forget about it soon. However, Shen Jin, the eldest, had been thinking about it all along. When the younger brothers forgot, Shen Jin would remind his mother, and then the younger brothers would remember.

Repeated reminders like this made the two little brothers extremely eager. When they heard their third brother mention getting some pig grease residue, they eagerly followed along. However, they soon discovered that, despite their third brother talking for a long time, they couldn’t actually get any.

Shen Yin was so eager that he was nearly in tears; his mouth puckered in grievance. Then, following his third brother’s lead, he said, “Sister, a few days ago, my mother had some vegetable porridge for you.”

Shen Tie sat beside his fourth brother, sucking on his fingers, drooling, almost dripping. At just five years old, he didn’t understand much, but he knew whatever his sister said he should agree with. He looked at Shen Ning eagerly and said, “Sister, I want to eat grease residue.”

Shen Ning could argue back with Shen Jin, but facing her two little cousins, who were on the verge of tears, she didn’t know what to do.

Shen Jin, however, felt that Shen Yin was pinpointing Shen Ning’s weak spot and proudly said, “Exactly! Just a few days ago, we were still eating the food our mother gave us.”

He had been quiet, but as soon as he spoke, he provoked Shen Ning, who had just softened.

The little girl said angrily, “Two tablespoons! Third Aunt knows we’re short on food. We don’t even have bran left. For two days, we’ve only had two tablespoons of vegetable porridge, which is all broth with barely any rice in it. The three of us can’t even find a single grain of rice mixed in the soup with wild vegetables.”

Remembering the days they went through recently, Shen Ning’s eyes reddened. “My sister-in-law almost starved to death.”

“My second brother went to beg for food in the middle of the night, but your parents pretended not to hear!”

“We’re still so young; why did our third uncle separate us without giving us any land or property?”

The more the little girl spoke, the more aggrieved she became, tears rolling down her cheeks. She began crying first, and then, amidst sobs, her speech became incoherent, mentioning her third uncle one moment and her parents the next.

After wiping her eyes, she glared fiercely at Shen Jin and said, “You dare call my second brother a beggar? I won’t give you any grease residue to eat! Don’t even think about it!”

Shen Jin was stunned, while Shen Yin and Shen Tie didn’t know who started it, but they both burst into tears.

One cried, and the other followed suit.

The crying of the two children startled the birds in the mountains, and they fluttered away.

Shen Ning, with tears still on her face, was dumbfounded. Her tears stopped flowing outward.

No matter how harsh the words were, among the children of the Shen family of this generation, apart from the eldest brother, who could already work in the fields, only she and her second brother were the oldest. Before being separated, the two little cousins, including Shen Tian, who was too young to come out, were actually raised by her and her second brother.

When Shen Ning was six, she could already chase after Shen Yin and Shen Tie, who were two or three years younger, with a spoon to feed them.

As a nine-year-old girl facing two tiny little cousins, where could there be any resentment?

Older ones and younger ones, tears meeting tears.

Those two little ones were still crying with their eyes closed, while the older one was already overwhelmed by the crying.

Shen Jin was also dumbfounded.

Shen An watched silently, not understanding how just a few words could turn the situation around like this.

He looked at his sister first. Seeing that Shen Ning had stopped crying, he then said to the two little cousins, “Stop crying.”