Chapter 37 1/2

Uncle Shen and Mrs. Li were still unaware that their son had stooped so low for a few mouthfuls of food that they almost wished he belonged to another family.

The couple had been at home for half a day now, one sitting under their own hall roof, the other wandering around the courtyard, touching this and that, but mostly staying in the yard, the best position where they could easily spot anyone coming from afar.

Qin Fangniang had returned, so the Sang family should be back too.

The two of them were paying attention to the outside, but with different intentions.

Mrs. Li was nervous, fearing that someone might really come knocking on their door. She didn’t want to be labeled as someone who had caused trouble in the main household.

Uncle Shen, on the other hand, had a different mindset. His thoughts were a bit more complex. The fact that he and Mrs. Li could get along so well as a couple could only be attributed to the idea that people from different families should not enter the same door. Their reactions to many things were surprisingly consistent.

For instance, they didn’t want to support idle people, and then they brought the Sang family into the household, handing over the entire main family to Sang Shi, and then split away, thinking it was enough to appease their conscience.

In fact, in certain matters, even if their opinions were slightly different, one would always be assimilated by the other in the end, depending on whose will was stronger.

At this moment, what Uncle Shen and Mrs. Li unanimously agreed on, and what hadn’t changed, was that they still didn’t want to do anything that would incur losses.

This was their nature.

Of course, today, their nature took a backseat, and what took precedence was Uncle Shen’s dignity as a man.

Just think about it. Whenever they went out, if they happened to meet someone from the same village, the way they looked at him, the ambiguous expressions on their faces, the seemingly knowing questions they asked, and the gossiping behind his back when he turned away immediately changed the subject when he turned back.

Who wouldn’t understand?

Who could tolerate it?

Uncle Shen hadn’t left the house all day; he felt like the whole village was watching his every move.

This was even more unacceptable than the last time when Sang Luo confronted them in front of the courtyard gate. Last time, it was only a few nearby neighbors who witnessed it, and it had been several months since the family split. The incident where the Sang family almost starved to death was only mentioned by Shen An, Shen Ning, and Sang themselves. Who had seen it? Wasn’t it just a lively scene here?

Uncle Shen didn’t believe it himself, so, of course, he didn’t think others would believe it either.

But this time, it was different.

The main family was going to build a house, but instead of him, the only elder in the family, taking the lead, it was the neighboring Chen family taking charge.

This was a slap in the face of monumental proportions, directly hitting him in the face.

Even if he didn’t want to do anything for the main family, it didn’t mean that his dignity as an elder, as a man, could be trampled on, especially with the whole village watching, stepping on it, and then grinding it down further.

This really wouldn’t do. Uncle Shen felt uncomfortable all over, as if he had been stripped of his clothes. He couldn’t walk out of his own courtyard gate with his head held high like a man anymore.

So while Mrs. Li didn’t wish for Sang Luo to come, Uncle Shen hoped for her arrival. He hoped that Sang Luo would come to give him a way out and save his face.

Even if he just went out and made a show of helping for a couple of days, it would still keep his back straight.

The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became. As time passed, this anxiety grew stronger.

Uncle Shen couldn’t sit still anymore. He stood up, pacing around the courtyard with his hands behind his back.

As he passed by the courtyard gate, his eyes instinctively glanced outside, just like countless times today.

But who did he see with that one glance?

Sang!

Uncle Shen was suddenly excited, but he quickly suppressed it, pretending that he hadn’t seen Sang Luo at all, and continued to pace until he reached the chair outside the hall, where he sat down.

It was like drinking a refreshing glass of water on a scorching day; all the anxiety vanished in an instant.

His lips subconsciously curled up.

It was good that she had come. He was already thinking about how to handle the situation—to scold her a bit but not too much—to smoothly take control of the situation.

Then he would immediately go to various households in the village and let those who laughed at him see that he was the one handling such an important matter.

Thinking further, if Sang Luo still spoke reasonably and showed respect for elders, would he help out for a day or two more?

There was no stove over there. Should he arrange for meals to be prepared here?

After this whole ordeal, no one in the village would dare ridicule him again, right?

He quickly weighed the degree of assistance in his mind, tapping his fingers lightly on his leg.

When Mrs. Li saw that his expression was off, she glanced outside and saw Sang Luo.

Instantly, she became vigilant, recalling the argument she had with Sang Luo a few days ago. A hint of hostility flashed in her eyes.

Why should she help with the construction of the house? If Sang Luo dared to come in, how embarrassing would that be?

With different thoughts in mind, they watched as Sang Luo approached, getting closer and closer, and then walked past…!!!

Uncle Shen stood up abruptly, walked a few steps to the courtyard gate, looked outside, and saw Sang Luo going straight into the neighboring Chen family’s house.

In that moment, he couldn’t control his expression; his face turned extremely ugly.

Especially when he realized that the neighbors next door must have seen Sang Luo before them, waiting eagerly to see the excitement, and now they had witnessed his reaction to all this, Uncle Shen felt even worse. He turned around and walked away, not even bothering to stay in the hall, and went straight back inside the house.

Rarely, Uncle Shen was so angry that his vision almost went black, while Mrs. Li Shi almost burst out laughing in the courtyard.

Sang Luo had done a great job. She understood her own man too well. With such a big loss of face, it would be useless for him to ask for help with anything in the future.

Her gloomy mood from earlier in the day finally cleared up.

…

Sang Luo went to find Mrs. Chen, intending to entrust her with the arrangements for the next day’s meals.

Old Man Chen happened to be there too, and he said, “The main task tomorrow is to fell trees. If we finish it in the morning, we’ll go to the northern mountain to dig clay in the afternoon and bring it over. Most of the good yellow clay in our village is in that area. They’ll bring their own axes and tools for carrying clay. As for the people, I haven’t called too many. Did Aunt Arita inform you?”

Sang Luo nodded. “She did.” On the way back from the county seat, Qin Fangniang had already informed her about which families to invite and how many people each family should send.

There was a family surnamed Shi, with a man named Shi Erlang. He was the only able-bodied person in his family, so he came to help alone. The other family was surnamed Lu. The Lu family had plenty of manpower, and two brothers from their family would come to help.

With the addition of the Chen family father and son, there were five people in total.

Sang Luo said to Mrs. Chen, “Granny, I have to set up a stall, and I can’t neglect my work. I’ll entrust the matter of meals to you. The grains we bought today can be used for now. The salt is also stored here for use. Tomorrow, I’ll buy more grains from the county and bring them back. Apart from rice, I’ll give you another twenty-five coins each day. Please help buy some meat and vegetables for meals.”