Chapter 95: First Encounter

In the more than two years he had been away, Shen Lie had thought countless times about how his younger siblings were doing at home.

He thought Xiao An and An Ning would be struggling; he thought that without him at home, after the initial guilt, his third uncle and aunt would revert to their true nature, and Xiao An and An Ning would have to live under their harsh eyes and listen to his aunt’s harsh words every day; he thought they might not have enough to eat, might not have enough warm clothes, thought of many, many things… But he never thought that his third uncle and aunt would just sweep Xiao An and An Ning out the door after thinking he was dead.

His heart ached, worried, and angry, churning into a mess, finding no outlet for release.

How could a broken grass hut on the mountainside be habitable in such heavy snow?

Were there bugs and snakes in the mountains in summer? What if the snow got heavier, and the wild animals in the mountains couldn’t find food and came out to forage?

It had been six months since they were separated. What kind

 of suffering were Xiao An and An Ning enduring now?

Did they have winter clothes? Did they have winter blankets?

Could his third uncle and aunt, who had swept their nine-year-old nephew and niece out of the house, be expected to provide enough to support their lives?

One thought after another surged up, and Shen Lie could even see in his mind’s eye his young brother and sister looking thin and haggard, huddled in the grass hut, wearing thin and tattered clothes, shaking in the cold. Thinking of the hardships his two younger siblings had endured over the past two years, his nose tingled for a moment.

As the emotions surged, his running speed increased, leaving a long string of footprints in the snow as he extended into the mountains.

He was eager to see his younger siblings, to know how they were doing now, to let them know he was back, alive.

The three mountains he had to climb were trampled very solidly by the children’s daily back and forth, with no weeds or bushes, even if covered with thick snow, it was clear where the mountain path was.

Shen Lie was too impatient, or perhaps he had entered a place he had grown up in, so he overlooked this detail that he would never have overlooked in the past.

After crossing the last mountain ridge and turning out of the path, he looked eagerly towards the grass hut halfway up the mountain.

He froze on the spot when he saw it, with the high earthen walls and from his angle, he could vaguely see the tops of three grass huts? One of them had smoke rising from it.

The mountain was indeed their family’s mountain, but this house had completely changed its appearance.

Shen Lie was only stunned for a moment, then strode towards the unfamiliar small courtyard halfway up the mountain. It was just that the transformation of this broken grass house into a newly built earth-walled courtyard was quite peculiar, causing his steps to lighten involuntarily.

While others had to walk fifty or sixty steps to reach the courtyard, due to his tall stature and long legs, he arrived after only twenty or thirty steps. When he reached the place where their family had lived for quite some time on the mountainside platform, that familiar yet unfamiliar feeling intensified.

The terrain was still the same, but there were many more things to see at a glance, even if covered with snow, it was clearly visible. There was a not-so-small courtyard, a bamboo pipe drawing water from a mountain spring, several carefully built chicken and duck pens with thick grass curtains… There was even a path swept clear of snow and laid with flat stones.

All of this was just a quick glance. His gaze fell into the courtyard through the half-open door. The snow in the courtyard had obviously been cleared away, but what first caught his attention was a chubby, somewhat silly-looking snowman piled up at the door, with eyes and nose made of stones and branches for hands.

Next to the snowman was a stone path, different from the stone path outside, this one was made of smooth cobblestones, even using stones of different colors to create patterns. When he looked up again, the only thing familiar was the grass hut where he had lived in his childhood, but the house had obviously been renovated.

Beside the grass hut was another courtyard door. Was there another courtyard behind the courtyard?

Speaking of which, for Shen Lie, it was actually just a momentary glance, but in just a few glances, he became more and more puzzled. Since the other half of the courtyard couldn’t be seen because the door was half-closed, he was about to cautiously push the courtyard door, but suddenly heard the dense and urgent footsteps outside the courtyard approaching him.

As he turned his eyes, the protagonists had already shouted loudly and rushed towards him around the corner of the wall.

Geese! There were three large ganders weighing at least fourteen or fifteen kilograms each!

If he had encountered them in the woods before, he would have dealt with them directly and had an extra meal, but since this seemed to be his own home, that wouldn’t do.

The best way was to push open the courtyard door on the right, which was slightly farther from the geese, rush into the courtyard, and close the courtyard door!

That’s what Shen Lie thought and was prepared to do, but as he pushed the door open and raised his foot, he met the gaze of a young woman coming out of the kitchen with a bowl of steaming food in her hand, looking at him in astonishment and wariness.

Shen Lie, who had already taken half a step, forcibly retracted his foot and stepped back outside the courtyard door.

The wind approached abruptly, and the geese rushing in front had already come close. Their long necks were like javelins thrusting towards his shins, and their jaws, full of serrated teeth, were about to take a bite.

Shen Lie didn’t care about the reaction of the young woman in the courtyard. He dodged and swiftly grabbed the strongest mouth of the big white goose with his eyes quick and hands fast. He repeated the same with the second one.

The two patriarchs of the Shen family were inexplicably caught by the necks of fate. Their faces were dumbfounded, and they could only flap their wings and shake their necks, honking in confusion. Because of their struggling, one of the round goose eyes facing the unfamiliar man was especially confused.

The three bosses that had rushed up froze! Seeing their companion subdued in one move, its small goose brain didn’t understand that the opponent no longer had a third hand to hold it down, it just knew it had encountered an opponent.

For the first time in its goose life, it hesitated shamefully between attacking and not attacking for a moment.

In just such a short moment, Shen An and Shen Ning, who had come out behind Sang Luo, heard the footsteps and turned their heads distractedly to look at Shen Lie, and saw Shen Lie’s face, which was somewhat familiar yet different, stunned.

There was a moment of silence in the air, Shen An and Shen Ning’s eyes widened, and then the two siblings almost simultaneously shouted and rushed towards the courtyard door!

“Big brother!”

“Big brother!”

“Big brother’s back! Big brother’s alive!”

“I knew it, I knew it!”

The first two shouts were excited and thrilled, and the latter ones were choked up, with tears streaming down.

Shen Lie also let go of the two geese and reached out to catch Shen Ning, who ran over. He hugged her and then hugged his brother Shen An. The three siblings all had red eyes.

The two big geese finally managed to break free. They were scared to death and ran away a few steps in panic, keeping a safe distance from Shen Lie. Seeing the stance of their two little masters, the third goose knew there was no need to hesitate anymore, so it turned and walked away with its two little companions.

Too fierce, too fierce, it turns out they belonged to the same family. Time to call it quits.

The three siblings of the Shen family met in joy, while Sang Luo, holding a bowl of tofu stew, was dumbfounded.

What should she call Shen An and Shen Ning’s brother? Big brother???????

The elder brother of these two siblings, the one who died heroically in battle?

Wasn’t that her husband?

What about the widow?

If this were in a Qiong Yao drama from decades ago, she would have dropped the bowl of vegetables she was holding at least twice by now to express her shock and amazement!

She was indeed shocked, so shocked that her head buzzed twice, but her hand holding the bowl was strangely steady.

Shen Ning had already asked her big brother to put her down. She was nine years old and didn’t need to be carried anymore.

The little girl was very excited, with tears still hanging from her eyelashes, but her smile was extremely bright. She turned her head and called out to Sang Luo, “Sister-in-law, this is my big brother, my big brother really didn’t die, he’s back alive!”

Then she looked up at her big brother with bent eyes and said, “Big brother, this is Sister-in

-law!”

Shen Lie was dumbfounded, Sang Luo was stunned, and her whole person was in trouble.

The days had just begun to pass, and a husband had suddenly fallen from the sky?

How do you handle this?

But he was Shen An and Shen Ning’s elder brother, and being alive and returning was a great thing for the two siblings. She couldn’t feel that he shouldn’t have come back alive.

Sang Luo forced a smile and pushed the bowl in her hand, “I’ll go put this stuff in the house first.”

She needed a moment alone.

Shen Lie looked at the young woman who had entered the house and withdrew his gaze, finally having the opportunity to take a good look at Shen An and Shen Ning.

They were completely different from what he had imagined.

There were no signs of emaciation or thin clothing. On the contrary, although the siblings were a little sunburned, their cheeks were plump, and they were dressed in thick new jackets and trousers. Even their shoes looked like newly worn cotton shoes.

An Ning’s little bun on her head was carefully arranged, with a red headband wrapped around her bun, and two watermelon-colored hairbands woven into her hair, leading to a beautiful knot.

This was the appearance and spirit that could only be nurtured through excellent care.

The stone that had been weighing on his heart for more than two years finally fell, and Shen Lie smiled. He rubbed the heads of the two siblings and said, “Thank goodness.”

Thank goodness you’re both well.

“Taller, grown up.”

Shen An and Shen Ning were a bit shy. In fact, Shen An had many questions he wanted to ask, but thinking that his sister-in-law was alone in the house, he grabbed his brother and walked into the courtyard. “Big brother, it’s cold outside. Let’s talk inside. Have you had dinner yet? We were just about to eat. The stewed tofu made by sister-in-law is especially delicious.”

As Shen Lie listened to the two children calling her sister-in-law one after another, he remembered Zhou Cunzheng’s words. His third uncle and aunt had arranged a wife for him.

The distance from the courtyard gate to the main house was only a few steps, and Shen Lie quickly met the young woman inside the main house again at the entrance.

Although they were complete strangers to each other, they were in a husband and wife relationship, which made both Sang Luo and Shen Lie extremely uncomfortable. They had no idea how to interact.

Shen Ning happily went to get chairs, leaving only Sang Luo and Shen Lie in the room. Neither of them moved. Ever since Shen Lie entered the main house, both Shen Lie and Sang Luo had been scrutinizing each other.

After a moment of silence, it was Shen Lie who curved his lips first. He bowed slightly. “Thank you for taking such good care of Xiao An and An Ning for me.”

Although he didn’t know why she had become his wife, seeing how well Shen An and Shen Ning were doing, it couldn’t have been the work of his third uncle and aunt, nor could it have been because his younger siblings were exceptionally capable. The only person Shen Lie could think of was the woman in front of him.

Seeing how close Shen An and Shen Ning were to her, their relationship must be very good.

This thank you couldn’t be wrong.