Chapter 82: Coming Down the Mountain with a Full Stomach

Shen Yin looked at the two large bundles of hemp on the ground, feeling at a loss, “Third Brother, what are you saying? I can’t carry two bundles.”

Although it was autumn hemp, which was not very tall, it was still taller than him, and Shen Jin had tied so much. Standing up, it was even taller than him. He could barely manage one bundle, how could he handle two?

Shen Jin: “I’ll help you carry them to the foot of the mountain, then go back and call Little Tie for you.”

Shen Jin picked up a large bundle of hemp and walked back.

Shen Yin: ???

Shen Yin struggled to carry his own bundle of hemp, or rather, half-carry and half-drag it, following behind. As he followed, he asked Shen Jin to wait for him. When he finally caught up, he asked somewhat strangely, “Third Brother, what’s wrong with you? Aren’t you going to Big Brother’s house to exchange for sugar water?”

Third Brother was acting strange all day today.

Normally, he would have already gone there early, faster than anyone else.

“Not going, you and Little Tie go.”

Shen Yin looked at him suspiciously, “Are you being bad-mouthed again?”

He remembered that his sister-in-law had quarreled with Third Brother because of his bad mouth.

Shen Jin glared at him, “I’m not!”

It wasn’t me who was being bad-mouthed.

He kept telling himself that, thinking back to the day he went to pull his mother away, asking her not to say anything, and ended up being slapped on the hand by her.

Thinking like this, he felt a bit wronged.

Shen Ning must not have seen him get slapped too, otherwise why wouldn’t she call him over, they had agreed last time.

With a grunt, he reached the foot of the mountain, asking Shen Yin to wait while he went back to call Shen Tie.

Shen Tie, who had been watching Tianya at home for a long time, was almost nodding off. Suddenly being awakened and told to go to the mountainside with Shen Yin to exchange for sugar water, he immediately perked up.

He jumped out of bed and put on his shoes, running a few steps before turning back, “Third Brother, aren’t you going?”

“Not going.”

“Okay.” Shen Tie replied and ran off without a trace.

Shen Jin: …

At the foot of the mountain, Sang Luo had just finished cooking lunch. As soon as she walked out of the courtyard, she saw Shen An and Shen Ning, who were peeling hemp outside the yard, and called them in for lunch.

Just as she stepped out of the courtyard gate, the first thing she saw was not Shen An and Shen Ning, who were peeling hemp on one side of the yard, but two tiny dots at the foot of the mountain, dragging two bundles of… firewood?

Firewood?

Looking closer, it didn’t seem like it.

Sang Luo reminded the two siblings, “Xiao Yin, Xiao Tie are here. Take a look at what they’re dragging?”

Shen An and Shen Ning stood up and looked down the mountain. They only saw Shen Yin and Shen Tie dragging two large bundles of something, they quickly descended the mountain.

Shen Yin looked up from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside, and immediately saw Shen An and Shen Ning coming down to meet them. He waved his hand happily and shouted to his elder brother and sister.

Shen Yin offered the treasure from afar, “Big Brother, we’ve cut hemp!”

Shen Tie said, “Third Brother said we could exchange it for sugar water to drink.”

Sang Luo burst into laughter.

These kids were indeed something.

Come to think of it, where was Shen Jin?

Sang Luo looked up the mountain behind the two kids and wondered if Shen Jin had hidden himself again like last time when he brought the goose eggs?

She had only scolded the little bear once, was he really so afraid of her?

With this thought in mind, she suddenly remembered that the sugar drinking team from earlier didn’t seem to have seen the three brothers, Shen Jin, but she didn’t know about the conflict between them?

Sang Luo raised her eyebrows. Didn’t they share the oil residue with the three brothers last time, and they had agreed to share the good food? So, was there a conflict between them?

Thinking of this, she looked back at Shen An and Shen Ning, especially Shen Ning, who glanced at the end of the mountain road, but didn’t see anyone there, then looked at Shen Yin and Shen Tie, “Where’s Shen Jin?”

Shen Yin blinked, before he could speak, Shen Tie said, “Third Brother said he’s not coming.”

Shen Yin looked at his younger brother

 suspiciously. How did he feel like his younger brother had tricked their older brother?

Sure enough, Shen Ning said, “If he doesn’t come, he won’t come.”

Shen Yin: “But he said he would come at first, and after cutting the hemp, I don’t know why he didn’t come again, and it was me and Little Tie who exchanged it.”

Hearing this, Shen Ning smiled and said, “He didn’t let you come up, so you didn’t come?”

Shen Yin didn’t feel embarrassed at all, “I went to ask Stone.”

So how long have they been squatting here?

Shen Ning laughed.

Shen Yin relaxed when he saw Shen Ning laugh. As he relaxed, his mouth flew open, “Sister, did my brother bad-mouth again? Did you guys quarrel?”

Shen Ning smiled, “No quarrel.”

Shen Yin: “Then why doesn’t he dare to come up?”

Shen Tie nodded vigorously beside him, “He also doesn’t let us come up.”

Shen Ning’s eyes curved, thinking that it was just as well that he didn’t dare to come up, thinking like this, she felt a bit more relieved.

But it was one thing to dislike Third Uncle and Third Aunt, and it was another to be angry with Shen Jin. But facing Shen Yin and Shen Tie, her attitude was obviously much better. She didn’t bring up the unpleasant things from their mother, just smiled and said, “If he doesn’t let you come up, you won’t come up?”

Shen Tie didn’t quite understand these things, so he just watched how his two older brothers acted. Shen Yin glanced at Shen Ning, the words turning over in his mind several times before he whispered, “Sister didn’t call us.”

She called many people nearby, but not them.

Shen Yin lowered his head at this point. Although he was only six years old, he could actually read the atmosphere a bit. He vaguely understood that his parents didn’t like his second brother and sister, so he knew a little bit.

So even though Sister was their sister, she seemed to get along better with other friends than with them.

Thinking of this, Shen Yin lowered his head in disappointment.

Shen Ning was rarely a little uncomfortable, but this discomfort only lasted for a moment. She didn’t think she had done anything wrong; Third Uncle and Third Aunt were just not good.

She said, “Next time, if I don’t call, you can come by yourselves. I don’t like going to your yard.”

Shen Yin was stunned for a moment, vaguely understanding why Third Brother didn’t come over. For a moment, he felt a bit lost.

Shen An looked at him and asked at the right time, “These two bundles of hemp are quite heavy. How did you bring them over?”

Shen Yin’s thoughts were diverted, and he told the truth, “Third Brother carried them to not far from here, and then Little Tie and I dragged them for a short distance.”

Oh, so Shen Jin had already arrived nearby and then turned back.

Shen An and Shen Ning glanced at each other, and Shen Ning fell silent, not saying anything.

Sang Luo stood above and listened to the whole conversation, probably guessing what had happened, but she didn’t know what to say for a while.

She didn’t have any relatives or siblings, and the situation in the orphanage… Well, it was quite different, so Sang Luo didn’t really understand what the relationship between siblings was like.

But she saw that Shen An and Shen Ning were actually quite good to their younger cousins. There wasn’t much resentment or hatred between the children, and even Shen An, who was usually sensitive and thoughtful, seemed to have forgotten, fearing that Shen Jin would sneak into their house because of greed and find out about the tofu incident.

Children might quarrel, but as soon as they made up, they would play together again, and their relationship would be restored.

However, the influence of Uncle Shen and Aunt Shen on Shen An and Shen Ning, and the relationship between Shen An and Shen Ning and the children of Shen Jin, Shen Jin’s behavior would inevitably affect their interactions from time to time.

Sang Luo didn’t interfere. It was up to the children to work things out themselves. She only smiled and responded when Shen Yin and Shen Tie called her at the halfway point of the mountain.

After looking at the two solid bundles of hemp that Shen An and Shen Ning helped bring up, Sang Luo asked Shen An and Shen Ning to take the two younger ones to wash their hands. Then she went inside and fetched a bowl, scooping out three spoonfuls of freshly steamed egg from the plate, and handed it to Shen Yin, saying, “There’s not much steamed, so you and Little Tie can taste a little.”

She then called Shen An and Shen Ning to have lunch.

Shen Yin and Shen Tie were almost drooling. The two little brothers exclaimed, “Egg cake!”

They thanked Sang Luo together.

Then they huddled together, taking small bites one by one.

Shen An and Shen Ning went inside to serve the meal, but they didn’t bring the younger cousins in. Shen An also picked some vegetables and brought them out in a bowl, ready to eat outside.

As soon as he reached the courtyard gate, he heard Shen Yin outside saying, “If Third Brother knew that Sister gave us egg cake to eat, would he cry from envy?”

Shen Tie took a sip of steamed egg and nodded, “Definitely.”

“What should we do?”

“Don’t tell him.”

Shen An couldn’t help but smile.

Sang Luo had indeed made only a little steamed egg, and it was just a dish for lunch, so it couldn’t be too much. She only gave them three small spoonfuls to taste. The two little brothers ate it in small bites, and in a few seconds, it was all gone.

With their mouths smacking, scraping the last bit of crumbs from the bottom of the bowl, Shen Yin went to wash the bowl and spoon. Instead of going inside, he just handed the clean bowl to Shen An, who was eating outside.

Except for the three brothers Shen Jin, Shen Yin, and Shen Tie, the other children who came here had been taught by their parents not to go into the Shen family’s yard. Although Shen Jin, Shen Yin, and Shen Tie were not taught like that by their parents, they learned by imitating other children and knew not to go into the yard.

Shen An took the bowl back inside, and Shen Yin peeked into the yard, whispering to Shen Tie, “Do you think we came too late, and the sugar water is already gone? There were so many people here this morning.”

Shen Tie, who was still savoring the delicious egg cake, was taken aback for a moment, then remembered his long-awaited sugar water.

But what did Fourth Brother say? It’s gone?

Shen Tie felt like he had been struck by lightning, and he was stunned, “No, it can’t be, right?”

But then he felt like there was nothing impossible. Sugar, who would save it for them?

The two little brothers looked at each other, and the delicious egg cake that had just been so fragrant suddenly lost its appeal.

Little did they know, Shen Ning had already prepared the sugar water. Seeing her second brother coming back with a clean bowl, she smiled and took it over, scooping out a big bowl of sugar water for him. She also took another bowl from the wooden table and scooped out another big bowl, handing it to Shen An. “Second Brother, take this sugar water out for them. Otherwise, they might think there’s no share for them.”

Shen An looked at the sugar water in his bowl, which was obviously darker than the one they had all drunk together before, “Is it newly made?”

Shen Ning said, “There’s not much left in the jar, not enough for two bowls.”

Shen An smiled and put down his bowl, taking the sugar water out for the two little cousins.

…

While Shen Yin and Shen Tie were happily drinking sugar water on the mountain, Shen Jin sat with his head down on the wooden doorstep of his own yard, holding his knees and playing with ants.

He occasionally flicked the ants with the small branch in his hand, flicking a few times, then looked up at the mountain road in the distance, flicked a few

 more times, and looked up again.

No one.

They had been up there for so long, and they hadn’t come down yet. Did Little Yin and Little Tie already get something to eat?

Shen Jin began to regret. Why did he chicken out just now? It was clearly him who had cut the hemp, but now he could only sit here.

Shen Jin reflected, if he wanted to eat something, how could he have thin skin? If he had thin skin, how could he get anything to eat?

He wasn’t like this before, and he wasn’t afraid of Shen Ning either.

He glanced at the mountain road and sighed.

But worrying was useless. Should he go up and cut another bundle of hemp?

It would be better to go up just now.

Feeling frustrated, even the ants weren’t fun to play with anymore. He threw the small branch aside, rested his cheeks on his hands, and stared at the mountain road with his eyes squinted.

Stare, stare again, still staring!

His eyes were sore from staring, and finally, he saw his two younger brothers coming down the mountain with their bellies full.

Shen Jin stood up suddenly, his belly really bulging, he didn’t even walk fast. How much had they eaten?

He strode over, still a few steps away, and asked, “Drinking sugar water?”

Shen Yin and Shen Tie smiled brightly and nodded, “Yes! It’s so sweet.”

Shen Tie even hugged his little belly. He had drunk too much and couldn’t walk fast.

Shen Jin looked at their empty hands in surprise, “Didn’t Shen An say to bring me some? Didn’t you two say that I cut the hemp?”

As he asked this, he saw his two younger brothers look at each other without answering, and Shen Jin’s heart sank.

“No need for that. It was agreed upon, but last time, I saved some oil residue for them.”

Just as he was about to burst into tears, Shen Yin and Shen Tie chuckled.

Shen Yin lifted a thin hemp rope from his shoulder, so thin that it was the same color as his clothes, barely visible unless you looked closely. As he lifted the rope, the bamboo tube that was originally slung diagonally behind him was pulled out.

“Here, Sister and Second Brother asked me to bring this to you.”

Shen Tie added jokingly, “Sister said she would only give it to you after you cried.”

When Shen Jin saw the bamboo tube, he was about to cry, but he quickly held it back.

“Give it here.” It must be sugar water in the bamboo tube.

Knowing that he had sugar water to drink, Shen Jin didn’t care whether Shen Ning was laughing at him or not. He took the bamboo tube from Shen Yin and felt its weight. His eyes lit up.

Opening the bamboo cover, he saw a large bamboo tube, almost eight-tenths full. Before he even got close to it, he could already smell a particularly sweet fragrance. He lifted it to his mouth.

Gulp! It was so delicious that he almost bubbled up. “So sweet!”

It was the sweetest sugar water he had ever drunk.

Shen Ning must have put a large piece of malt candy in it.

Shen Jin smiled happily and took another sip, then closed the lid tightly. “I’ll savor it slowly.”

This time, Shen Yin and Shen Tie felt envious. If Shen An hadn’t asked just now whether he wanted more, they would have asked for more and begged Third Brother again on the spot.

Sister made this sugar water especially sweet and fragrant, even better than the one Mother made during the New Year.

Shen Yin leaned over to Shen Jin and negotiated, “Third Brother, since I brought it back for you, can I have some later?”

“You already had some, didn’t you?” Shen Jin glanced at his belly. “Didn’t you drink a lot?”

Shen Yin chuckled, “I still want more, Third Brother. I won’t drink now, but later, can you give me a little? Just a little.”

Shen Tie joined in, “Give me a little bit too.”

Shen Jin hugged the bamboo tube to his chest. “No way, both of you have already had some. Don’t stare at mine.”

He had cut two large bundles of hemp and even made Shen Ning laugh, so he had to drink his fill.

Shen Jin hugged the little bamboo tube, his face beaming with happiness, feeling even happier inside.

Shen An and Shen Ning still treated him well, and he didn’t miss out on the sugar water. This large bamboo tube, hehe, it was definitely worth the oil residue he had saved from his mouth.