Chapter 6 – Oh Heaven, Please Strike Me Down with Thunder…

When Shen Shaoyuan stopped talking, Shen Mo’er picked up a small bamboo basket and walked forward to receive their share of food.

Ding Shouchang, the veteran accountant, worked his abacus with lightning speed. In no time, he had not only finished calculating the Shen Second Household’s share but also worked out the adjustments for Shen Third and Shen Seventh Households—deductions where necessary, make-ups where due, all crystal clear.

Shen Mo’er took a patched-up burlap sack from the bamboo basket. Seeing how weak she looked, Zhou Peijun stepped forward to help her load the food.

The few jin of rice were packed at the bottom. On top, they piled up some corn cobs that had been recently dried in the sun. The remaining potatoes were simply left in the bamboo basket.

It didn’t look like much, but for just two people, it was actually quite a lot. Calculated per person, it was probably even more than what most households received.

Looking at the bulging sack, Shen Mo’er smiled with satisfaction.

This little bit of food might have been insignificant to her in the past. But circumstances were no longer in her favor. Although they still had their treasure vault, it only contained a limited amount of dry food that wouldn’t last much longer. The goods inside couldn’t be touched either and couldn’t be exchanged for food. So, going forward, their meals would have to rely on the food distribution from the brigade.

This food was now their most important asset.

To her surprise, this feeling was kind of novel.

In stark contrast to Shen Mo’er’s good mood, Cao Mei, who had to watch her family’s food go into someone else’s bag, looked as if she had just had a chunk of flesh cut from her.

Shen Lingling and Shen Jianshe didn’t look any better. Shen Lingling cast a glance at Shen Mo’er and had the strange feeling that this usually unremarkable cousin looked… a little different today.

Still, Shen Lingling didn’t take it too seriously. She knew the personalities of Uncle Seven and Shen Mo’er. They must have really hit rock bottom at home and gotten desperate—otherwise, they’d never dare speak up.

“My mom just didn’t know what was going on. She didn’t realize your family ran out of food,” Shen Lingling said in a soft and kind tone, suppressing her own irritation. “We’re all family. If anything comes up, just come to our place and say something. We’ll handle it among ourselves—no need to trouble Peijun-ge and the others.”

Now that things had come to this, and since the food had already been returned, Shen Lingling didn’t mind sugarcoating her words to look good.

Sure enough, after hearing her, Zhou Peijun and Ding Shouchang visibly relaxed.

Just as Shen Lingling was starting to feel pleased with herself, the surrounding crowd suddenly went quiet. Then she heard someone say loudly:

“Shen Old Seven, what did you say—you want your nephews to give the house back?!”

What?!

Shen Lingling thought she must be hearing things. She turned her head in disbelief toward where Shen Shaoyuan was standing and murmured, “Second Brother, did I hear that right?”

Shen Jianshe also looked confused. “Did Uncle Seven just say he wants to switch houses?”

Shen Mo’er moved the sack and the bamboo basket aside so she wouldn’t block the people behind her. Once she was done tidying up, she said calmly:

“You didn’t hear wrong. We do plan to get our house back. The house we’re living in now has so many broken tiles. It’s okay when the weather’s dry, but when it rains, it’s like a cave of waterfalls inside. Totally unlivable. Didn’t you just say, Cousin, that if I had any difficulties, I should come talk to you? Well, this is our biggest difficulty right now.”

Shen Lingling really wanted to say, That was just a polite remark! Who takes those seriously anymore?

But in front of everyone like this, if she dared say that, her reputation would be in shambles.

She forced a smile and replied, “Everyone’s living just fine. What’s the point of switching houses around? Since your house is leaking, the best thing to do is fix it up while the weather’s still good.”

Shen Mo’er shook her head, her expression a mix of grievance and sadness, tinged with a trace of helplessness. “The two large brick-tile rooms Grandfather left my father didn’t have any of these issues. The place we’re in now—even part of the wall is made of yellow mud. If it rains a few more times like it did recently, the walls might just collapse.”

Shen Jianshe couldn’t help interjecting, “That’s because your family hasn’t properly maintained the house. Fix it up, and these problems will go away.”

Shen Mo’er lifted her head, her clear eyes gazing at him, and said softly, “We want to fix it too. But we have no money.”

A strange tingling went down Shen Jianshe’s scalp. Wait—is she about to ask me for money?

He quickly said, “It’s hard to make money in the countryside these days. No one has much saved up. If you really can’t manage, borrow a bit from the brigade. Once the work points are settled, you can pay it back. Fixing the house is serious business—I’m sure the team leader will agree.”

Shen Mo’er nodded, seeming to accept his suggestion. Shen Jianshe sighed with relief—only to choke on that same breath when she spoke again.

“But our family can’t earn many work points. After settlement, we definitely won’t have enough to repair the house. And what I really don’t understand is—why do we have to live in a broken mud house when we clearly had two large brick-tile rooms? Why do we have to suffer and save just to fix a house in the first place?”

She looked at Shen Jianshe and said, “Cousin, you’re just bullying us. You’re taking advantage of the fact that we’re a father and daughter with no support and just snatched our house from us.”

Shen Jianshe choked mid-breath and immediately started coughing violently.

Shen Lingling’s face turned pale. For a moment, she completely forgot to maintain her teacherly composure. Her voice shot up sharply, shrill and piercing:

“Shen Mo’er, what nonsense are you spouting?! Uncle Seven agreed to that house swap himself! How is that bullying you?”

Shen Mo’er looked as though she’d been frightened. She pressed her lips together, seemingly summoning all her courage before speaking again in a soft voice:

“But trading two large brick-tile rooms for a broken mud house—if that’s not bullying, then what is? By that logic, Cousin, why don’t you give me your job, and I’ll become the teacher while you go out and do fieldwork. Would that be fair too?”

Shen Lingling stared at Shen Mo’er in disbelief. Has this girl gone crazy? How could she dare say something so outrageous?!

Not only did she want to take back the house, she was even eyeing her teaching job!

And to be fair, in this era where most people were illiterate and even primary school had levels like “lower” and “upper,” Shen Mo’er, who had a middle school education, was completely qualified to teach in an elementary school as a substitute teacher.

The house and the job?! Shen Lingling couldn’t help but fall into a bit of a conspiracy spiral. Could this father-daughter pair have been targeting her job all along?

Maybe they brought up the house on purpose—so they could force us to trade it for the job. And honestly, that could work…

Her temples throbbed. Her heart thudded. She took a step forward, unable to stop herself from reaching out to grab Shen Mo’er.

At that moment, Shen Mo’er suddenly took two steps back and shouted in a panic, “Dad!”

Before Shen Lingling could react, Shen Shaoyuan had already darted around the crowd with surprising agility and rushed over.
“Mo’er, Mo’er, don’t be scared! Daddy’s here, Daddy’s here!”

He leapt over and stood protectively in front of Shen Mo’er, his expression one of utter sorrow and heartbreak as he looked at Shen Lingling.
“Lingling, how could you do this?! It’s one thing for you to bully me, but now you want to bully Mo’er too?! She lost her mother at a young age and has suffered with a useless father like me. She almost starved to death! And now you want to add to her suffering? I really misjudged you!”

“Oh heavens, this is all my fault! I couldn’t even hold onto the house our parents left behind, and I can’t even protect my only child. What’s the point of me being alive anymore?! Oh heavens, just strike me with lightning now! You don’t even need to kill these heartless people—just strike me down, the useless one!”

Shen Lingling: “………………”

She tried to explain, “Seventh Uncle, you misunderstood. I didn’t bully Mo’er—I was just trying to reason with her.”

Shen Shaoyuan gave her a heavy, sorrowful nod.
“I know. You were trying to reason with her, just like how your father and uncle ‘reasoned’ with me back then—when they convinced me to give up the house so your cousins could get married.”

Shen Lingling: “…………………………”

Still trying to explain:
“Seventh Uncle, that’s not what happened. I had nothing to do with the house—it’s my eldest brother who’s living there…”

Shen Shaoyuan nodded again.
“Yes, your eldest brother lives in that house, which freed up your own house. That way, you and your second brother each got half a room.”

Shen Lingling: “I, no, I didn’t…”

She suddenly realized the more she said, the more mistakes she made. She couldn’t explain anything clearly anymore.

Originally, Shen Jianshe had planned to chime in and support her, but once he heard Shen Shaoyuan rope him in too, he immediately shut his mouth and even stepped back a bit with the sack of grain in hand.

What Shen Shaoyuan said wasn’t entirely wrong. Although the house technically belonged to the eldest brother, both Shen Lingling and he had benefitted from it.

Their family had two rooms left—one occupied by their parents, and the other split between the two siblings.

It was precisely because he had half a brick-and-tile house that he’d been able to marry and start a family a few years ago.

Don’t be fooled by the “half room”—those houses were built early, back when no one cared about exact square footage. Each room was quite spacious. Half a room could easily match a full room in someone else’s house.

At that moment, Cao Mei, who had been standing on the side quietly watching the drama unfold, suddenly spoke up:
“If you ask me, borrowing some grain from your own brother—what’s the big deal? I returned it soon enough, didn’t I? Unlike the first and second branches, who ‘borrowed’ a house and have been living in it for nearly twenty years! My family’s never done anything so shameless. We’ve always conducted ourselves with dignity. It’s only those blind and deaf fools who gossip about us behind our backs!”

In truth, it wasn’t that her family didn’t want to fight over the house—it’s just that back when the “house borrowing” took place, her kids were still young and not yet at marriage age. Without a solid reason, the first and second branches were more than happy to exclude her family.

Because of this, Cao Mei had been deeply resentful for years.

The first and second branches had reaped the benefits, and only her family had gotten nothing. That obviously felt like a loss.

Already bitter, and now stirred up by today’s events, Cao Mei wasn’t about to pass up the perfect opportunity to kick them while they were down with a few snide remarks.

The commune members, who had been queuing for grain while enjoying the Shen family drama, were suddenly irritated by Cao Mei’s words.

What, now you’re trying to whitewash your grain-snatching incident?

The warm-hearted and righteous Aunt Chen from the Eighth Production Team was the first to speak up:
“Don’t try to twist the story! Grain borrowing my foot—you were robbing them! Don’t sit there acting like a crow laughing at a black pig.”

“Exactly! If Mo’er hadn’t fainted from hunger in the field, and Shen Laoqi hadn’t been provoked into demanding the grain back, you think you’d have returned even a bite of that meat in your mouth?”

“Sigh, this father and daughter really have it hard. The Shen family has gone too far. I get that Shen Laoqi isn’t from the same mother as the older brothers, but come on, that’s no excuse to bully them like this.”

“I always thought Lingling was a decent girl. Never expected her to bully someone. Sigh, Mo’er’s already pitiful enough—stop scaring her.”

…

Seizing the noisy moment, the aunties from the Eighth Production Team all started chiming in.

This father-daughter pair were just too soft and meek. They had to step in and speak up for them.

Shen Lingling felt like even if she had ten mouths, she couldn’t explain her way out of this mess. All she felt now was regret—if only she’d let Second Brother come by himself! Why had she insisted on coming along and making trouble?

But it was too late to regret it now. Shen Lingling opened her mouth, then finally said,
“All of this was decided by the elders. I don’t know the details. Seventh Uncle, if you have a problem, go talk to my father or my eldest uncle.”

Then she turned and squeezed through the crowd without looking back.

Seeing Shen Lingling leave, Shen Jianshe quickly followed, hoisting the sack of grain on his shoulder.

As soon as Cao Mei saw the pair slip away, her eyes darted around, and she quickly made her own escape. Her two grandsons, seeing their grandma take off, hurried after her.

In the blink of an eye, everyone from the second and third branches had disappeared.

Shen Shaoyuan, on the other hand, was in no hurry at all. He kept thanking the commune members who had spoken up for him, then, seeing that the brigade leader was finally free, he quickly squeezed over and cried out:
“Brother Mancang, you have to help me! I’m really struggling here, wuwuwu… We’re just a helpless father and daughter. We have no one to rely on except the state and the organization now!”

Zhou Mancang: “???”