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Shen Yu’an coughed lightly, feeling somewhat uncomfortable, and asked uncertainly,
“You only want twenty percent?”
Fei Yanchen spoke firmly, “Yes, only twenty percent.”
The two locked eyes, and there seemed to be a spark of fire between them.
Grandma Shen asked, “What’s this talk about twenty and eighty percent? Can this thing be sold for money?”
Many people had already understood the situation from the conversation between Shen Yu’an and Fei Yanchen.
“It seemed that Yu’an wanted to find someone to collaborate with to publish and sell the things they had written down, and Ah Chen, this kid, took on the responsibility for this matter.” Shen Rong said.
It seems that the price offered is even better than Yu’an had anticipated.
It must be said that a daughter knows her father best, and Shen Rong’s guess was not wrong.
Seeing that Shen Yu’an showed no intention of hiding anything, she explained the possibility of selling the written stories as well.
As soon as this was mentioned, both Grandma Shen and Zhao’s family were delighted and said, “If it can be sold for money, why hesitate?”
In their eyes, the stories Shen Yu’an told every day were only entertaining and served no other purpose.
Now that they knew these scraps of paper could be exchanged for silver, they naturally felt extremely happy about it.
Shen Yu’an hesitated for a moment and looked at Fei Yanchen, saying, “I can’t let you suffer too much. You can take these writings to publish, and we’ll split the earnings sixty-forty. I’ll take sixty percent, and you’ll get the remaining forty percent.”
Shen Yu’an had a faint feeling that Fei Yanchen might be in urgent need of money.
When Fei Yanchen heard this, warmth filled his eyes as he looked at Shen Yu’an. He didn’t refuse her proposal.
Shen Yu’an brought over the papers she had already written in her room.
Fei Yanchen casually flipped through them, noticing that the handwriting clearly wasn’t from one person.
Some writings had sharp and decisive strokes, while others were round and gentle, indicating that the writers had quite different personalities.
On the papers, there were thoughtful numbers written, so even if the order got mixed up, they could still tell which one came before and which one came after.
Shen Dalang also handed over a few pages he had just written to Fei Yanchen.
Fei Yanchen took them and glanced at the handwriting. It was similar to the more gentle ones he had seen before, without any sharpness.
He nodded, then placed those few pages at the bottom of the stack of papers and handed them to Fei Dong and Fei Xi, who were waiting outside the door.
Fei Xi took them and quickly snatched the stack from the top, eager to start reading.
Fei Dong clenched his fist, resisting the urge to grab it from Fei Xi. He actually wanted to read it too.
However, wanting to maintain his aloof and cool image, Fei Dong decided against it.
With this thought in mind, Fei Dong shot a disapproving look at Fei Xi, hugged his sword to his chest, and stood up straight.
Although he tried to keep his cool, his eyes kept sneaking glances toward Fei Xi.
The rest of the events were not witnessed by the entire Shen family; only Shen Rong and the grandfather stayed with Shen Yu’an to discuss the cooperation in detail with Fei Yanchen.
But it didn’t end there. Shen Yu’an took out pen and paper and had her father, Shen Rong, draft a contract.
Then, Shen Yu’an and Fei Yanchen signed their names on the contract.
……
Fei Yanchen and his two companions stayed for a while but left before noon.
Their arrival and departure did not disturb the other villagers in Longxian Village.
Before leaving, Fei Yanchen looked at the mountains behind the Shen family’s courtyard with a deep gaze.
After Fei Yanchen’s departure, life at the Shen family continued as usual.
Shen Yu’an still set aside some time every evening after dinner to tell stories from her writings.
During the day, the young boys practiced martial arts or studied with Ji Xun.
With Ji Xun around, the Shen family didn’t rush to find a school for them; they planned to wait until spring to make any decisions.
In such days, time passed slowly.
It was now late December, the day before the Winter Solstice.
Early in the morning, Song prepared the pork that she had bought yesterday and minced it, then mixed it with cabbage.
In addition to dumplings filled with pork and cabbage, Zhao Shi also prepared some with leek and three fresh ingredients, as well as with cabbage and mushroom fillings.
The filling ingredients were all prepared by Xiao Zhang, and then mixed together by Shen’s grandmother, Song Shi, and Zhao Shi.
Everyone moved to the dining room and sat down together to get to work.
Shen Yu’an, Song Xiao Ni, and Hua Ling sat together to wrap the dumplings, finally regaining some confidence in their culinary skills.
Although Shen Yu’an wasn’t great at cooking, her dumplings always looked the most beautiful.
Hua Ling looked surprised and glanced at Shen Yu’an’s fingers as they flew, creating a beautifully shaped dumpling in the next moment.
Hua Ling grabbed Shen Yu’an’s sleeve and said hurriedly, “An’an, teach me how to do it. I want to make them look like that too.”
Shen Yu’an slowed down her movements and patiently guided Hua Ling step by step.
However, after trying for a while, Hua Ling still couldn’t get the hang of it. Instead, the dumpling skin couldn’t wrap the filling properly.
She said in frustration, “It’s not working. Why is it so disobedient?”
Shen Yu’an looked at Hua Ling’s disappointed expression on her dumpling-shaped face and comforted her with a few words.
Before long, Shen Yu’an was suddenly inspired and brought over the uncut dough from the side. She then shaped it into various small animal forms.
She tilted her head to examine her creations and felt that something was not quite right. So, she fetched some green and yellow beans to decorate the animal-shaped dough.
When Shen Yu’an’s handiwork caught the attention of Shen Sanlang, Shen Wulang, and Shen Liulang, they gathered around to join in the fun.
Grandma Shen smiled as she watched them play but still expressed her disapproval, saying, “Go play somewhere else and don’t spill the dumpling filling.”
Then she threw a lump of dough to Shen Yu’an, instructing her to take the little ones to another table to continue shaping.
She also warned them not to waste the dough.
……
As soon as it was the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, the village became noticeably livelier.
Previously, everyone just managed to get through each year as it came.
But this year, before the New Year, the Shen family came to hire workers to build houses, which allowed many households to save some silver. As a result, this year’s celebration could be more abundant.
Those with some extra money in their homes went to the town to buy things to prepare for the New Year.
The Shen family was no exception; they had quite a bit of money left in their hands, so they naturally weren’t stingy in their preparations.
However, without relatives and friends around, the approaching festival felt a bit desolate for them.
In about twenty more days, Xiao Zhang’s baby would reach the full ten months in her belly.
Shen Yun’s biggest task now was to support Xiao Zhang and help her move around.
Xiao Zhang waddled with her big belly, and everyone watched nervously.
Aunt Pan, who had collected wild vegetables from the foot of the mountain, deliberately made her way to the Shen family’s house.
As she smelled the delicious aroma wafting from the courtyard, Aunt Pan glanced over with resentment.
If only their family had agreed to hire her son to build their house, they wouldn’t have to watch other villagers go to town and bring back tempting goodies while they couldn’t.
Upon looking, she noticed that the Shen family’s courtyard gate was open. Inside, Shen Yun was gently supporting the pregnant Xiao Zhang as she moved in circles.
Thinking of the handsome boys in the Shen family, an idea popped into Aunt Pan’s mind.