Here, Shen Jin suppressed her shame and asked Shen Rui for help, but Shen Qi in the fifth room scolded Shen Quan: "You are the only one who wants to worry about the third child over there. If the fourth child does something wrong, there will be two others." Brother, is it your turn to come forward and complain about the injustice? Not to mention that the third and fourth children over there are older than you. You are just a clan brother, not a clan brother, so arrogantly What he said was really arrogant.”
Shen Quan sneered twice and said, "Aren't I blind to this? Brother Jue has a close relationship with the clan leader. It's already uncomfortable to come back all the way from the funeral. Why do we still have to listen to their harsh words?"
Although in front of Shen Rui and Shen Jue, Shen Quan has always acted like an older brother, but in front of his two brothers, he is the obedient and good brother.
Shen Qi glared at him and said: "Brother Jue's biological father, mother, brother and sister-in-law are over there, and there is Brother Rui, his cousin, so why do you need to protect him?"
Shen Quan muttered: "Brother Rui is still young..."
Shen Qi hummed softly: "I'm smarter than you, just say it in front of Brother Rui."
Shen Quan stopped talking.
He is not an impulsive person, but everyone is close and distant. Although they are all brothers in the clan, naturally Shen Rui and Shen Jue have deeper feelings. Under normal circumstances, he would not come forward to talk back to his clan brothers, but I was irritated by Shen's idly attitude.
Others don't know very well how Shen Jue lived in Shangshu Mansion. Doesn't Shen Quan know?
If Shen Rui's succession is a blessing, then Shen Jue's succession cannot be said to be good or bad.
When he was in the clan house, even if he was not close to the eldest wife of the clan clan, he still had the favor of the clan leader and the eldest clan clan master; after the succession, the heirs and parents could not rely on them, and the uncles and aunts were one level worse after all. If Shen Rui was not there, I still don’t know what kind of life I’ve been living.
It's just that there is no need to publicize these things to everyone, and Shen Quan can only secretly feel grievances.
This day is the third day after May 7th, and there are still about ten days before the funeral of the patriarch.
The funeral rituals in the clan house became more and more complicated.
Although Shen Jue was wearing a "Dagong" uniform, the clan master did not really regard his youngest son as a stranger and arranged for him to keep vigil with his elder brothers and nephews.
As for Shen Rui, he was just a relative of the clan. Except for the first half day, he only had to "burn seven" days to do whatever the clan members did.
In this way, his days are free.
Let's go to the side, you need to go to the fourth room. No matter how bad Zhang Laoan was in his early years, after all, he is the native grandmother of his body, and the etiquette needs to be fulfilled. Otherwise, others will only think that Shen Ruipan is crazy. Gao Zhi, don’t miss old feelings.
Now that he had a plan, Shen Rui sent Changfu to meet Shen Jin in advance and agreed on a time to visit Zhang Lao'an.
On this day, on the appointed day, Shen Rui asked someone to carry several gifts and went to the fourth room.
Shen Jin did not go to school and waited at home early.
However, when seeing Shen Rui, Shen Jin did not take him directly to the backyard, but had tea in front first.
"Lao An, she has not been in good health in the past two years, so she did not go to Yangzhou with the master and stayed in bed for a long time. The old man's temper is a bit weird. Brother Rui will be more careful later." Shen Jin said with a bit of embarrassment.
Shen Rui didn't take it seriously. Zhang Laoan had suffered a stroke and was said to be unable to walk anymore.
"Brother Jin, don't worry. I'm just here to pay respects. How can I argue with the old man?" Shen Rui said.
Shen Jin had a wry smile on his face, and without saying anything else, he stood up and led Shen Rui to the backyard.
The same courtyard, only three years after Shen Rui left Songjiang, gives people a different feeling.
It was obviously late summer and early autumn, when Songjiang was still hot, but the yard looked a bit rundown and deserted.
Even the servants and maids he met looked like they were suffering.
As soon as I entered the yard, I heard shouting and yelling from the main room: "Little bitch, who do you dislike? A bitch bought with two strings of money, how can you pay back the money? Or you have a bad heart, you are a coquettish person, Want to seduce big brother?"
Then, the servant girl begged for mercy.
Shen Jin stopped, his brows already furrowed.
Shen Rui then stopped and Shen Jin said softly: "I'll go to the house and report it first."
Shen Rui said: "Excuse me, Brother Jin."
Shen Jin sighed, picked up the door curtain and entered the house.
There is a clump of banana trees under the corridor. The leaves outside have turned yellow. Under the banana tree, a plump white cat is lying, licking its paws leisurely, without any appearance of fear.
It's just that this cat is fat. There are gray spots on the white fur on its body. It looks dirty, and it looks like a wild cat.
Shen Rui saw that the white cat looked familiar. If he remembered correctly, this should be the cat that Zhang Laoan loved so much back then. Why did he look so embarrassed now?
In the main room, as soon as Shen Jin entered the room, the smell hit his nostrils and he almost vomited. No matter how many times he came here, he still couldn't get used to it.
Shen Jin did not enter the back room directly, but said through Baibaoge: "Anren's grandson is here."
"It's Brother Jin..." Zhang Lao'an said with a loud voice: "Have someone drag this bitch down and sell her directly to a brothel to feces and urinate. She is disgusted by such an unwilling bitch. Maid, I don’t care about you.
"Oh, maid, I don't dare. Please spare my life. I'll disturb the soldiers." The maid's begging for mercy.
The sound of "papa" was interspersed with the maid's suppressed sobs.
Shen Jin shook hands vigorously, picked up the door curtain and entered the back room.
Zhang Laoan was half sitting on the bed in his middle coat, with a sheet covering his waist.
On the floor were dirty pants and sheets.
There was a maidservant standing next to him, and another kneeling on the ground.
The standing maid looked at her nose with her eyes, her nose looked at her mouth, her mouth looked at her heart like a clay sculpture, while the kneeling maid was lying on the ground crying.
Zhang Laoan held a two-foot-long feather duster in his hand and was beating the kneeling maid hard.
Seeing Shen Jin come in directly, Zhang Laoan stopped the scolding and said with some surprise: "Brother Jin, why did he come in directly? But I feel sorry for this little bitch? It turns out that the old woman in this family is a bad person, but Brother Jin is a good person... ...Which one do you want to protect?"
Zhang Laoan's attack on his servant did not happen once or twice, nor did Shen Jin dissuade him once or twice.
Shen Jin knew her temper, so he dared not accept her words, so he hurriedly said: "An Ren, second brother Rui is here to say hello to An Ren."
"Second brother Rui?" Zhang Lao'an didn't react for a moment and asked impatiently: "Where did second brother Rui come from? Does the old lady look like she can meet guests now?"
Before she finished speaking, she had woken up, threw the feather duster in her hand on the ground, and said sharply: "Brother Rui? Could it be that Brother Rui is back?"
"That's right, Brother Rui returned to his hometown with his elder brother Fangzhu, and now he's here to pay his respects to An Ren." Shen Jin said.
"Okay, okay, my Brother Rui is back." As Zhang Laoan spoke, a line of muddy old tears had already shed: "Bring Brother Rui in quickly."
If I met someone who didn't know, I'd be afraid of how deep the relationship between grandson and grandson is.
In fact, in Zhang Lao'an's heart, the relationship between grandfather and grandson is not shallow. Her direct grandson has been raised by her side since he was born, and he has raised her for nine years. To say that he hated the Sun family in the early years, Zhang Lao'an is now That's how much I hate the He family. Compared with the living He family, the Sun family has become a filial daughter-in-law.
Compared with Shen Jin, the eldest grandson who has grown up and is submissive on the surface but has his own ideas in mind, the direct grandson in my impression has become more cute and amiable.
Shen Jin looked at the dirt-stained clothes on the ground and hesitated: "Will you invite Brother Rui to come in now?"
Zhang Lao'an also saw the things on the ground, his face turned red, he touched his messy gray temples and said, "Wait a minute, I haven't seen my good grandson for several years, I have to tidy up."
The old lady was now very suspicious. She glanced at Shen Jin while speaking, and suspected that he deliberately brought Shen Rui here just to see herself make a fool of herself.
She put her face down and said, "Don't let Brother Rui wait alone. You should also go out and accompany him."
Shen Jin responded, glanced at the maid on the ground, and left the inner room.
Although Shen Rui was looking at the fat cat, he also paid attention to the movements in the upper room. He faintly heard a few words, and when he saw Shen Jin coming out, he went forward to greet her.
Although it is not yet noon, it is already very hot.
Shen Jin called Shen Rui into the shadow of the east chamber door and said, "Anren needs to freshen up, we still have to wait for a quarter of an hour."
Shen Rui was naturally speechless when he saw a maid coming out of the upper room to call someone to bring water.
After a full two-quarters of an hour, a maid came out to greet her.
Shen Rui followed Shen Jin into the upper room.
Shen Rui's five senses were already very sharp, but this time they suffered a big blow. The pungent smell of spices was mixed with the sour and rotten smell, making people almost unable to stand. Shen Rui hurriedly held his breath and looked at the closed door. window.
When Shen Jin saw this, he whispered: "An Ren has been very afraid of the wind since he fell ill."
Shen Rui had no choice but to follow Shen Jin into the back room.
The air in the back room became increasingly turbid and smelly.
However, Zhang Laoan has already tidied up, his hair has been newly combed, and he has new clothes on his body. He is half sitting on the bed in a very elegant manner. He does not look haggard like a patient with a long-term illness, but he is even more prosperous than three years ago. Not much, just because I haven't seen the sun for a long time, my skin color is white and slightly bluish.
When she saw Shen Rui, she showed a bit of surprise, and then said in a tearful tone: "Brother Rui has grown up, and my good grandson has grown up..." As she said this, she stretched out her hand and called Shen Rui to come forward.
Zhang Laoan is in her late seventies after all, and her hands are already covered with brown age spots.
Shen Rui did not cooperate and stepped forward. Instead, he lifted up his clothes and made a big salute: "I have met Lao An, and I want to pay my respects to Lao An."
Zhang Laoan said with tears: "It's just waiting to die, so how can there be any peace?"
Thinking of his rebellious son, his unfilial daughter-in-law, his inconsistent eldest grandson, and the days he spent eating, drinking, and eating in bed in the past two years, Zhang Laoan felt as if he was soaking in coptis water, and he was really sad.
The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she became. She went from crying silently to wailing loudly: "God has no eyes, God has no eyes. I have been tortured so hard that I have been a widow all my life, and I have brought up a wolf-hearted son just to please that adulteress." , even abandoning his own mother; the grandson who loves and favors a lot of people, but also wants to be a filial son and only listens to his father's instructions. What evil have I done? What evil have I done... What evil have I done? …”
For Shen Rui coming in, this was still a new rhetoric; for Shen Jin, Zhang Laoan was already repeating an old tune.
Ever since Shen Juren left Zhang Lao'an in Songjiang, asked Shen Jin to serve him, and brought his step-brother and his wife to take office, Zhang Lao'an had complained a lot.
Shen Rui was not exaggerated by Zhang Laoan's pain. Instead, he inexplicably thought of the fat cat in the yard. The fat cat would rather look like a stray cat than enter the house. It probably couldn't stand the smell. Angry.
No wonder Shen Juren felt relieved and left Zhang Lao'an in Songjiang. Zhang Lao'an was paralyzed on the bed, unable to do anything but howl.
For an old man who is nearly 70 years old to be in such a situation, anyone else would have to sympathize with him.
But Shen Rui had seen Zhang Lao'an's shamelessness and selfishness, and he had no sympathy for him.
He was just here to go through the motions, not to meet Zhang Lao'an for a flesh-and-blood relationship. It was both a courtesy and an invitation to An, so he looked at Shen Jin.
Shen Jin's hands and feet were cold. Looking at the crying Zhang Lao'an, she wanted to persuade him but didn't dare.
In the past, whenever Zhang Lao'an cried and Shen Jin tried to persuade him, Zhang Lao'an would double down on him and call him a "bastard raised by a mistress", a "black-hearted bastard", and "squeezing away his good grandson". "Concubine" would blurt out. Although everyone in Zhang Laoan would later say that he was old and confused, and asked his eldest grandson not to argue with him, but the words that were like stabbing each other again and again made Shen Jin feel holes in his heart.
Now that Shen Rui is here, Shen Jin doesn't want her to use words to insult her anymore.
Now that he is older, he understands more and more the importance of the distinction between concubines and concubines.
Although he dared to tell his conscience that he had no bad intentions towards Shen Rui back then, he was afraid that people would use their words to make money, and that Shen Rui would believe those words.
Seeing that Shen Jin didn't respond, Shen Rui pulled Shen Jin's sleeve.
Shen Jin finally woke up and looked at Shen Rui blankly.
Shen Rui whispered: "I'd better go, it's not good to make the old man feel sad..."
Shen Jin blinked, nodded quickly, and glanced at Zhang Laoan.
Zhang Laoan was crying vigorously, with tears and snot all over his face. He was beating the bed and wailing: "I was only twenty-five when Grandpa left, and I became a widow at twenty-five... How many people advised me If I take a step forward, I won’t even let go for that cruel wolf cub..."
As Shen Jin pushed it out quietly, Shen Rui took a quick breath.
I was holding my breath in the room just now, but I was really choking.
Until we reached the front yard, we couldn't hear Zhang Lao'an's cries.
Shen Jin said sarcastically: "I didn't take Lao An to Yangzhou, and Lao An was resentful... I was going to take Lao An to Yangzhou, but the doctor said it was not suitable for Lao An to move... Although Yangzhou is not too big. It's far, but it's still hundreds of miles away, and once you've passed it, you're living as a guest, so it's no cheaper than staying at home."
This was already a family matter in the fourth house, and Shen Rui had no intention of getting involved, but his sympathy for Shen Jin grew twofold.
Taking care of patients is not a day or two thing, but Shen Juren, a scumbag, left it all to Shen Jin. He only wanted to be clean himself, and was not afraid of delaying Shen Jin's studies. This selfish behavior was still the same as before.
Even though he was thinking like this, Shen Rui still had a calm expression on his face. He took out a few banknotes from his wallet, handed them to Shen Jin and said, "I got these from Brother Quan yesterday. Brother Jin will take them first." Spend money... If you don’t have enough money, just ask Wan Ning to find me..."
Wan Ning is Shen Jin's long-term follower, who has followed Shen Jin since she was a child.
It's not that Shen Rui is taking over everything and has a father's heart, but the few hundred taels of silver are not much, and Shen Jin can afford it.
No matter how shamelessly Shen Juren takes over Shen Jin's private property, those properties still belong to Shen Jin. Shen Rui personally experienced the matter of dividing the inheritance back then, so he naturally knows that those properties are all in Shen Jin's name. Shen Juren can take advantage of them. It's cheap, but it pays out annually.
How many tribesmen were watching, and even if Shen Juren had the intention, they would not dare to steal his wife's dowry. After all, the Sun family was no longer an orphan with no family to rely on. She had a lady of the Shangshu as her "sister" and a biological child. The son is the heir of the second wife.
Inexplicably, Shen Rui thought about Shen Jin's marriage.
The marriage did not take place. Was it really because Shen Jin was despised because of his background, or was it because Shen Juren was reluctant to part with his son's private property, so he made an excuse not to propose marriage to Shen Jin?
With Shen Juren’s virtue of loving money, it is really not impossible...