Chapter 28 – Heaven Sent Me a Dish

Shen Mo’er lifted the thing in her hand. It had a narrow head, a sharp beak, and finer feathers than a domesticated chicken—it was clearly a wild pheasant.

If someone had accidentally lost their chicken and it wandered into her home, Shen Mo’er could understand. But for a wild pheasant to show up at her place for no reason—unless Heaven knew she wanted to cook meat and decided to deliver it straight into her hands.

First, they were dropped into this world by Heaven, and now it had gifted her fresh meat. Could her father be Heaven’s own son?

But if her father was Heaven’s son, then wouldn’t her royal uncle be too? The two were full brothers, born of the same parents. Heaven couldn’t favor one over the other, right?

Then where had her royal uncle ended up?

The pheasant, held by the neck in Shen Mo’er’s hand, glared at her with its beady little eyes, its long throat letting out a dying croak, finally pulling Shen Mo’er out of her spiraling thoughts.

She noticed there was still a piece of rope tied to the pheasant’s wing, so she simply used it to truss up the bird in a few swift motions.

Just as she stepped outside with the pheasant, she bumped into a dark and skinny young man. He grinned wide, flashing a set of gleaming white teeth under the sunlight. “Cousin Mo’er, you’re quick! That bird was fierce. It kept trying to escape the whole way here. I got pecked several times.”

Shen Mo’er had been wondering who this person was, but as soon as he spoke and she took a closer look at his features, she belatedly realized—he was her cousin, Zhao Zhengyang, the eldest son of her Sixth Aunt, Shen Yinyin.

Shen Laoqi was the youngest child in the family. Before him were six siblings: eldest brother Shen Shengli, second brother Shen Yongjun, third brother Shen Hongbing, fourth sister Shen Xianghong. There was supposed to be a fifth child, but he reportedly died in his teens. These five were all born of Old Man Shen’s first wife. Shen Laoqi’s mother had only given birth to two children: Sixth Sister Shen Yinyin and Laoqi himself—Shen Shaoyuan.

Shen Yinyin was six years older than Laoqi and had married while their father was still alive. She married into her own mother’s village—Beishan’ao. Although it technically belonged to the Liuqiao Commune, it was extremely remote, a little mountain village tucked deep into the hills. Even leaving the place was a challenge.

So although Shen Yinyin always worried about her one and only full-blooded brother, practical constraints meant she could only make the difficult journey back home once a year—during the Spring Festival.

Shen Mo’er looked behind Zhao Zhengyang and, sure enough, spotted a slightly tanned middle-aged woman with her hair tied up in a bun—Shen Yinyin. Next to her stood another equally dark and skinny but younger man, Zhao Zhenghui, her second son. There should have also been a younger daughter, Zhao Tingting, around fourteen or fifteen. She usually came along during Spring Festival visits but was nowhere to be seen this time.

Shen Yinyin was speaking to Shen Shaoyuan. “I heard Third Sister-in-law snatched your grain. Poor Mo’er fainted from hunger! If you were really out of food, why didn’t you send someone to tell me?”

She knew her little brother had always been honest and mild, while the older siblings had always bullied him. Just thinking about how everyone had survived those three hardest years, and yet now, in better times, her brother and niece nearly starved to death—Shen Yinyin couldn’t help but tear up.

“That was months ago,” Shen Shaoyuan reassured her. “We got the grain back later. And the three rooms of the blue-brick house they took—I got the money back too. We’re building a new house now. Don’t worry. That time when Mo’er fainted from hunger in the fields, I couldn’t sleep all night. I thought things through. Even if I don’t do it for myself, I have to for my daughter. From now on, I’m going to stand tall.”

Shen Yinyin, wiping her tears, looked at the construction site beside them, stunned. “Wait… This house being built is yours?”

She had noticed it when she arrived and assumed it was a neighbor’s foundation laid next to Laoqi’s home. But it turned out it was her brother’s new house?

Her tears suddenly dried up.

This wasn’t what she had been told!

But Shen Yinyin quickly pieced it together. Beishan’ao was far too isolated; the villagers rarely interacted with the outside world, so information barely got in or out.

Like this time—her brother’s grain had actually been stolen two months ago, but she only found out yesterday from a village daughter-in-law who had gone down the mountain to visit relatives.

With two months’ delay, of course things might have changed.

Though this was quite the change. She had come expecting to see a family on the brink of starvation, but instead walked into a booming construction site. The emotional rollercoaster nearly gave her whiplash.

Still, she wiped her tears dry. “Building a new house is great—it’s a happy occasion. We shouldn’t be crying. But why didn’t you send word to Beishan’ao about this? Your brother-in-law and nephews could’ve come to help. Good thing we came today. Perfect timing. Zhengyang and Zhenghui can help with the work, and I’ll help Mo’er with the cooking.”

Shen Shaoyuan smiled. “Too much going on—I forgot. And it’s not easy for you to come down the mountain anyway.”

Truthfully, even though he had inherited Shen Laoqi’s memories, he wasn’t really Shen Laoqi, so it never occurred to him to contact his sister.

But from Laoqi’s memories, he knew she had treated their little family well—especially after Laoqi’s wife passed away. Even if she rarely visited, she always brought plenty of things when she did, helping them out a lot.

Shen Yinyin looked him over. “You really have changed. It’s good you’ve gotten back on your feet. But we’re siblings—if you ever need help and can’t ask others, can’t you at least ask me?”

Shen Shaoyuan thought, I’ve never been afraid to ask anyone for help—not even an emperor.

With Laoqi’s memories, he didn’t feel estranged from Shen Yinyin—actually, he felt pretty close to her. And since he was used to bossing his older brother around in his previous life, he felt no shame doing the same with an older sister. So he confidently ordered, “Alright then. Zhengyang, Zhenghui, get to work.”

The two young men, who had hiked down the mountain before dawn without even a sip of water: “…”

In this era, those deep in the mountains often lived better than others. Living off the land, wild game was more plentiful—especially pheasants and rabbits.

Beishan’ao didn’t have many households, and the village was tightly knit. There had once been an old hunter who generously taught the kids how to track and trap wild animals.

Zhao Zhengyang and Zhao Zhenghui had learned a bit too. Just a few days ago, they had caught two pheasants. When Shen Yinyin heard her brother was starving, she told her sons to bring both birds.

Along with the pheasants, they also carried plenty of grains and dried vegetables.

To Shen Mo’er, this was almost no different than Heaven delivering ingredients to her doorstep.

Shen Yinyin worked quickly and had a straightforward personality. While helping Shen Mo’er prepare the meal, she managed to learn everything that had happened recently.

When she found out that the grain robbery had been instigated by Tian Fang, who even shamelessly brought her nephew to try and claim her brother’s land and inheritance, Shen Yinyin spat angrily.

“I always knew she had a sweet face but a bitter heart. Talks like a saint, but she’s vicious inside. Back when I was looking to marry, she tried to interfere—just because my mom was dead and my dad was senile. No one to support me.”

If it weren’t for her greedy older siblings constantly trying to meddle in her marriage, she wouldn’t have begged her aunt for help and married into remote Beishan’ao.

What shocked Shen Yinyin most, though, was hearing that her brother had become a factory worker at the commune’s kiln!

While slicing the pheasant’s neck and draining its blood into a bowl, she was momentarily dazed. “What? You’re saying Laoqi didn’t just join the commune kiln—he’s not even doing hard labor? He’s writing and drawing for the publicity department?”

She asked skeptically, “Your dad knows how to write and draw?”

Shen Mo’er took the pheasant from her and tossed it into a basin of boiling water. Calmly, she replied, “He does. When Mom was alive, she taught him every day. It’s just that he worked the fields all the time, so he never had a chance to use those skills. This time, the publicity officer got reassigned, and they urgently needed someone—my dad happened to be there.”

After a moment of shock, Shen Yinyin broke into a big smile. “So your dad’s officially a worker now? Oh my, our Laoqi has finally made it. He suffered so much growing up. After our mom died, our dad lost his mind. Laoqi was just a teenager, yet had to chop firewood daily for the older siblings. Later, he got lucky saving your mom, and finally had his own family. When they got married, they didn’t even have a single decent bowl…”

Laughing, her eyes welled up again. She wiped them quickly and sniffed. “Why am I talking about the past? This is a good thing. Life will get better for you both now.”

She had been so anxious after hearing her brother was starving. Upon learning the news just the evening before, she had packed immediately and set off before dawn with her sons.

He was her only full-blooded brother, after all.

As Shen Yinyin helped, Shen Mo’er felt a tremendous weight lift off her shoulders. Later, Aunt Chen and Sister Xinmei also came over. With the four of them dividing the work, everything became much easier.

Soon, the workers outside could smell the rich aroma of meat—more mouthwatering than when they cooked rabbit.

While working, Zhao Zhengyang grinned. “This pheasant smells even better than when my mom cooks it. It’s making me drool.”

Zheng Jiamin, who could chat with anyone, perked up. “Brother Zhengyang, that’s pheasant cooking?”

Zhao Zhenghui chimed in, “Of course! My brother and I caught it in the mountains. One of them was really fierce—it might’ve pecked someone. But pheasant meat is way tastier than rabbit.”

Zheng Jiamin gave a thumbs-up. “Brother Zhenghui, sounds like you’ve eaten plenty of wild game!” He blinked, smiling enviously.

Zhao Zhenghui replied, “We’re from the deep mountains—there’s plenty of wild animals. Not just pheasants and rabbits—we’ve got wolves and wild boars too. Sometimes our village organizes group hunts. We bring back the game and split it up. We usually get to eat it once or twice a month.” (Though sometimes more, but he knew better than to brag too much.)

“You mountain folks really live the good life!”

Zheng Jiamin was genuinely envious. His own family was well-off, with several workers, but in this era, even city folks struggled to buy meat. Each person only got a few ounces of meat coupons per month. In big families, they might not get meat for months.

After meeting Zhao Zhengyang and Zhao Zhenghui, he finally understood why Shen Mo’er was so skilled at catching rabbits. It was clearly a family talent. With cousins this capable, even picking up a little would be enough.

Zheng Jiamin felt he had seen the truth.

News that meat was cooking in the kitchen made no one happier than the freeloading nephews of Old Shen’s family. They had heard that Shen Laoqi was generous, and that the meals here were solid. Even if there wasn’t meat, there would be scrambled eggs and plenty of grains.

Who knew they’d show up on the first day and catch a pheasant feast?

Talk about dumb luck.

Especially that one who had come just for the food—he was grinning so wide, his smile nearly reached his ears.

Under the powerful lure of the rich aroma of meat, everyone’s enthusiasm for work soared. Just the thought of getting to eat chicken and drink chicken soup soon filled them with energy, and they unconsciously quickened their pace.

Shen Shaoyuan stood off to the side, idly giving directions. He thought to himself, At this rate, we’ll probably finish at least three days ahead of schedule.

Sure enough, before the troops move, the provisions must come first—some truths really are universally applicable.

At one point, a voice rang out from the kitchen: “Time to eat——”

The people who had just been working diligently immediately dropped what they were doing and dashed straight toward the kitchen in a mad scramble.

If you’re not eager to eat, there’s something wrong with your thinking.

Charge!