Chapter 30

Shen Mo had intended to confess early to lessen the consequences, but when he thought about how revealing everything right away would spoil the surprise, he ultimately gritted his teeth and swallowed the explanation that had reached the tip of his tongue several times.

Shen Mo didn’t want Zhou Jing to worry about him so much, so in a moment of panic, he hastily came up with a random excuse.

“Brother Jing, my stomach hurts, I need to use the restroom.” Shen Mo said as he jumped off the bed and quickly darted into the toilet.

If it was just a stomach ache due to needing to relieve himself, that wouldn’t be much of a problem. Zhou Jing wiped the sweat from his forehead, but his expression remained tense.

When Shen Mo came out, his expression was much more relaxed, even showing a smile.

“I just needed to use the restroom. I actually thought my stomach hurt!” he said.

Zhou Jing didn’t think too much about it.

The shock had scrambled his brain, leaving him slow to react.

“As long as you’re fine, let’s go then.”

Shen Mo dragged his feet as he followed along, but as soon as he sat down on the mule cart, he began complaining about his stomach hurting again.

“Xiao Di, why haven’t you gone to fetch Doctor Zhong yet?” Zhou Jing’s tone grew a bit more stern.

Shen Mo, fearing that Zhou Jing would blame Shen Lin and cause Shen Lin to suffer because of him, quickly explained, “I’ve never eaten braised duck before. Yesterday was my first time, and I must have eaten too much. My stomach can’t handle that much grease. It’s not that serious, I just need to visit the toilet a few more times. There’s no need to call Doctor Zhong. I just won’t go with you two today, so I won’t delay our business. If I rest at home for a day, I’ll be fine.”

If it had been any other man, they would have agreed and let it go, as villagers usually just rested at home when they got sick. But Zhou Jing wasn’t like that; he insisted on taking Shen Mo to see the doctor.

Shen Mo had no choice but to say, “Fine, I’ll go to Doctor Zhong right away. It’s just a bit of food poisoning, nothing serious. But if you don’t sell those sausages, I might get so anxious that I end up with another illness. You all should hurry on ahead, don’t make me worry.”

Zhou Jing knew Shen Mo’s temperament—he always got anxious and stressed when it came to money matters. There was no helping it; Zhou Jing had to compromise.

“Alright then, but make sure you go to Doctor Zhong. You’re not allowed to skip it.”

“I know, I know,” Shen Mo replied.

After finally sending off Zhou Jing, who kept turning back with every step, Shen Mo immediately became lively, bouncing around like a rabbit set free.

He quickly pulled out the “treasure” he had carefully hidden away. It was the fabric Zhou Jing had bought to make clothes.

Shen Mo found some needles and thread and began sewing diligently.

His heart brimmed with joy as he imagined how happy Zhou Jing would be when he told him that the clothes he was wearing were handmade by Shen Mo himself.

Zhou Jing truly believed that Shen Mo wasn’t feeling well, and the more he thought about it, the more anxious he became.

He couldn’t stop worrying, especially about what Doctor Zhong had said—particularly the part about it possibly affecting Shen Mo’s lifespan.

It unsettled Zhou Jing so much that he miscalculated the total amount several times.

It was Shen Lin who noticed and corrected the mistakes.

By this time, Shen Lin had already started learning how to read and write from Zhou Jing and had memorized the multiplication tables quite well.

After the lunch market, Zhou Jing felt as if his heart was frying in oil; he couldn’t bear it any longer.

He forcefully dragged Shen Lin to pack up the stall, even though there were still 10 pounds of sausages left unsold.

Shen Lin was unwilling to leave and wanted to keep selling, which almost made Zhou Jing scold him for being heartless, not caring whether his brother lived or died.

Shen Lin didn’t dare to betray his big brother, so in the end, he had no choice but to follow Zhou Jing back.

However, despite being so anxious, Zhou Jing did not forget to go to the pharmacy to get the prescription that Doctor Zhong had written.

As soon as they arrived home with the mule cart, Zhou Jing jumped down before the cart even came to a stop and rushed into the house.

On the bed lay the needles and threads used for sewing. Zhou Jing barged in so suddenly that Shen Mo had no time to put them away, and they lay flat in front of him.

Zhou Jing was immediately filled with anger and said, “If you’re not feeling well, why aren’t you resting at home? Why are you sewing right now? We don’t even need to save this few dozen of copper coins right now!”

Shen Mo rubbed his clothes and lowered his head, not saying a word.

At that moment, he actually didn’t dare to speak up.

He hadn’t expected that after he downplayed his illness so much, Zhou Jing would still be so concerned.

He wondered if Zhou Jing would be so angry and ignore him if he knew that he had deliberately deceived him.

“Let’s go to the clinic in town right now!” Zhou Jing said as he approached Shen Mo, extending his arms as if to lift him off the bed.

Shen Mo dodged, causing Zhou Jing’s embrace to fall empty.

At this point, Shen Mo realized he could no longer keep his secret.

Like a child who had done something wrong, Shen Mo lowered his head and quietly confessed, “I… actually, I didn’t feel unwell this morning. I just wanted to stay home to sew.”

“Do we really lack that little bit of money? Or do you think I’m so incapable that I can’t even afford to hire someone to make our clothes?” Zhou Jing felt a wave of relief wash over him immediately, but that relaxed feeling was quickly replaced by a surge of anger!

Zhou Jing: “Do you know that I spent the entire day worrying about you? I was afraid that if I left you at home alone, something might happen to you because you are not feeling well. I even got angry with myself for making the house so secure; if something happened to you, no one would even hear you ask for help!”

Throughout that day, Zhou Jing felt restless and anxious. Fearing he might lose control over his anger and say something even harsher, he decided to turn around and go to the courtyard to calm down.

Shen Mo panicked and, without bothering to put on his shoes, jumped out of bed and chased after him barefoot.

“Brother Jing, Brother Jing…”

Zhou Jing was still mad and did not want to talk to Shen Mo, fearing that even a few words might lead to an argument.

He kept his head down and walked outside in silence.

When Shen Mo followed him into the courtyard, Zhou Jing proceeded to open the main gate and walked out.

“Zhou Jing!” That call came out so urgently that it almost broke him.

Zhou Jing stopped in his tracks. In that brief moment, Shen Mo caught up to him and hugged him tightly from behind.

Shen Mo clung to Zhou Jing’s waist with such force that it made Zhou Jing feel pain as if Shen Mo were afraid he might run away. His voice trembled and was hoarse.

“I’m sorry, Brother Jing. I know it was all my fault. No matter what, I shouldn’t have used my illness as an excuse to deceive you! But I… I just wanted to do something for you; it wasn’t about the money. I entrusted my clothes and my younger brother’s to Aunt Shen, so how could I be short on those few coins?”

“It was just that since you came here, I had always relied on you and never really did anything for you. So, I wanted to make you a piece of clothing myself. Although it might not be worth much, it was my heartfelt intention.”

“I wanted you to understand that you were always in my heart; it wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate your kindness and only knew how to take from you! I am a ger, and coming to this world is a sin. My father didn’t like me, and my mother hated me for being a lowly ger! Only with you… Only by meeting you, did I realize that being a ger was not a sin; it could also mean being cherished and held in someone’s palm!”

Perhaps liking someone felt just like this: no matter how great the anger or how justifiable the reasons for being upset, a moment of vulnerability from your beloved easily shattered all defenses.

In the end, it all came down to how difficult Shen Mo’s past had been.

Whenever someone showed him even a little kindness, he felt compelled to give his all in return.

Zhou Jing turned around and embraced Shen Mo, holding him tightly while gently comforting him.

His voice was filled with a tenderness he didn’t even realize he possessed.

“Xiao Mo, don’t cry anymore. It’s good that you’re okay. I’m not actually angry that you deceived me; I’m upset that you used such a reason to do so. Do you have any idea how worried I was about your health? Just thinking about how small you are and how much hard work you’ve done makes me fear you might be suffering from some illness I don’t know about!”

He knew. He understands everything. He no longer dared to do it again.

“Alright, then stop crying. Your voice is going to be damaged from all the crying. If you keep it up, you’ll end up with a voice like a duck’s, and I won’t like that,” Zhou Jing said.

Shen Mo understood that Zhou Jing was trying to comfort him, and replied; still choking, “Then I won’t cry anymore.”

“Mm, my husband is so obedient….” Before Zhou Jing could finish his sentence, he looked down and saw that Shen Mo was standing on the ground with bare feet.

Thankfully, it was already spring, if not, he would have surely fallen ill.

Having just comforted him, he couldn’t scold him, so Zhou Jing could only carry Shen Mo inside the house.

Zhou Jing placed Shen Mo on the bed and intended to get up to fetch water to wash his feet, but the hem of his clothing was caught by Shen Mo.

Shen Mo looked at him with his watery eyes and said, “Actually, I… I have selfish reasons. I want you to wear the clothes I made with my own hands. In our village, the husbands wear clothes made by their own wives. How can they wear clothes made by someone else’s wife?”

This… Was his little husband being jealous?

Zhou Jing said helplessly, “Aunt Shen is already so old; why are you still jealous of him?”

“I—I am not jealous! Anyway, it’s just not allowed! You can only wear the clothes I made!”

“Alright, alright. I will only wear the clothes you make from now on, okay?”

Shen Mo blushed and shot him an angry glare. ‘Did he not know that sometimes it was better to keep things unsaid?’

“By the way, why did you all come back so early? Did you sell everything so quickly?”

Shen Lin explained, “Brother-in-law was worried about you. After the noon market, he couldn’t wait even a moment, so we came back early. Originally, we had 10 pounds of sausages left, but we gave 5 pounds to Butcher Wu and brought back 5 pounds.”

It was all his fault.

Shen Mo felt embarrassed to reprimand Zhou Jing for being wasteful, but it still pained him greatly. Now they could sell 50 pounds of sausages a day, and the net profit could reach 675 copper coins. Losing the remaining 10 pounds would result in a loss of 250 copper coins!

Shen Mo’s brows tShamaned, yet he still made every effort to suppress his urge to scold Zhou Jing.

This scene almost made Zhou Jing laugh out loud.

“Actually, I was planning to come back early today. Didn’t I tell you yesterday that we would make duck dishes? I intend to make them today so that we can sell them at the market tomorrow,” he said.

“But you didn’t buy any ducks!” Shen Mo replied.

Zhou Jing: “I was planning to buy the ducks in the village. At first, we won’t need many, so we can sell them locally and get a sense of the people’s character. For those with good character who are worth befriending, we can establish a long-term business relationship and sign a purchase agreement. We will buy all their ducks, but if the quantity is large, we can’t go by the market price. We need to charge them 2 copper coins less than the current market price per pound.”

“Alright, that plan sounds good,” Shen Mo said.

“Since today is the first day, whose family’s ducks should we start buying from?” Zhou Jing asked.

“Let’s go with Aunt Shen’s family. I had eaten her ducks yesterday, and they were really fat. Aunt Shen has had a tough time these past few years, so if we can help her, we should!” Shen Mo was a kind-hearted person. Although he had endured a lot of hardship since he was young, his heart was softer than anyone else’s.

“Alright, then you and Xiao Di go on a trip!”

When Aunt Shen opened her door again, she was surprised to see the Shen brothers standing outside.

A jolt ran through her heart as she instinctively felt that these two brothers from the Shen family were not coming to ask her to make clothes for them anymore.

She could earn 90 copper coins for making four pieces of clothing from the Shen brothers. This was quite a lot of money. Her son would have to carry sacks for two days, exhausting himself to earn that much.

At the same time, she felt an inexplicable sense of relief. She thought to herself that someone like Zhou Jing, a good-for-nothing rascal, could never be more successful than her hardworking son.

However, Aunt Shen, wise from experience, pretended to be oblivious and asked, “Oh, it’s you two! Come on in. I’ve already sewn more than half of your clothes. Hurry and take a look at the stitches. Are they tight enough?”

The Shen brothers entered the house and indeed saw the finished pants and the two sleeves that had yet to be attached to the short jacket.

Aunt Shen’s craftsmanship was truly impressive; the stitches were very fine.

Shen Mo said, “Aunt Shen, you don’t need to rush. My little brother and I aren’t in a hurry to wear these clothes. Take your time and make sure you don’t strain your eyes.”

Upon hearing this, Aunt Shen sensed that the Shen brothers didn’t come to her to back out of their agreement.

But if they didn’t come here take back the clothes, what were they here for? Unable to figure it out, she felt that perhaps they still intended to back out, and their polite words were merely a way to save face for a while.

She remained composed, sitting across from them, and continued to chatter about trivial matters, acting as if they were just visiting for casual conversation, without asking them what they were actually there for.

Finally, Shen Mo could not take it anymore and initiated the conversation: “Aunt Shen, we came this time for a reason, but it is good news for you. My family’s head wants to buy all the ducks from your family.” 

“All the ducks?” Aunt Shen exclaimed in disbelief.

Her family had eighteen ducks, each weighing about five or six pounds, priced at thirteen copper coins per pound. If all of them were bought, it would amount to over 1 silver coin! When had Zhou Jing become so wealthy? Spending over 1 or 2 silver coins was as simple as drinking plain water for him.

Yesterday, Zhou Jing had come to her and said he wanted to buy one of her ducks, but she had not paid much attention to it.

She thought the Zhou family was simply craving duck meat to take home and eat. Later, she heard from the villagers that it was her duck that had injured Shen Mo, and Zhou Jing planned to buy it and stew it. It’s his own way of taking revenge for Shen Mo’s sake!

At that time, she thought the whole matter sounded quite absurd. After all, it was just a peck; what could it possibly mean? It hardly seemed worth it to specially buy the duck to stew for revenge. Besides, Shen Mo is just a ger; good girls weren’t as pampered by their families as this ger, Shen Mo!

Therefore, Aunt Shen did not believe that talk, but Shen Mo’s sudden visit today, where he immediately stated he wanted to buy all her ducks, made her believe the rumor. After all, which family would want to buy those ducks for no good reason? Most families would eat them; if they didn’t eat them, they would sell them in town, which was not easy to do and could even lead to a loss.

The only reasonable explanation Aunt Shen could come up with was that Zhou Jing intended to seek revenge for Shen Mo’s injury by consuming all her ducks. 

She couldn’t believe that such a man who cared for his wife existed in this world. How had this little ger managed to attract such attention? What a fortunate fate he had!

Shen Mo felt a chill run down his spine under Aunt Shen’s envious and jealous gaze. 

“Aunt Shen, are you not willing to sell your duck to us? If that’s the case, it’s fine; we can just ask someone else.”

Aunt Shen hurriedly grabbed Shen Mo’s arm to stop him from getting up and answered decisively and loudly, “Sell! I’ll sell you all of them!” 

Shen Mo didn’t know what strange feeling he felt about Aunt Shen, but since she had agreed, he no longer thought about anything else.