Gu Lingyu leaned against the window, looking a little melancholy.
She quieted down, and Mr. Shen closed his eyes to rest.
And so, they all arrived home in silence.
***
Judging from their expressions, Su Yunzhi guessed that the reservoir harvest was probably not going to be good, but she still asked, "Didn't you say you were going to work all day? Why are you back so early?"
Mr. Shen gets furious whenever he talks about it: “They only harvested two thousand catties in one morning. Is that all they’ve got? They need a whole day to get this much stuff?”
"Two thousand catties?" Su Yunzhi was incredulous when she heard this number. She usually didn't care much about these things, but she knew exactly how many fish had been released into the reservoir. "I remember when we first took over the contract, you bought five thousand yuan worth of fish fry and put them in, right? We harvested more than five thousand catties later, didn't we?"
Mr. Shen kept a sullen face and didn't reply.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Su Yunzhi looked at Shen Wuqiu and said, "Wuqiu, now that the reservoir is in your hands, you have to ask Pengzi for an explanation. He's in charge of the reservoir, not to mention other expenses, he should at least recoup the cost of such a large amount of fish fry, right?"
Mr. Shen interrupted her impatiently, "Alright, don't worry about this."
"It's not my business, why should I care?" Su Yunzhi snorted coldly. "I know your Eunuch Le is a very wealthy and philanthropic man. He's willing to let hundreds of thousands of dollars go to waste and be squandered."
Unlike before, Mr. Shen wasn't bothered by her sarcastic and barbed tone. However, in his annoyance, his craving for a cigarette returned. He took a bag of candy from the cupboard, popped one into his mouth, and said with a sip:
"Then what do you suggest? Have Pengzi plug this hole? Besides, Xianghua has helped us a lot over the years, how can we ask him for help?"
"Why is it hard to speak up? Such a big reservoir, so much money has been poured into it, and instead of making a profit, it's all gone down the drain. Nobody's money grows on trees."
Su Yunzhi grew increasingly angry as she spoke, and seeing that Shen's father had fallen silent again, she went on to try and persuade Shen Wuqiu:
“Your dad is just too proud to admit his mistake. It’s true that your uncle has helped our family a lot over the years, but one thing is one thing, isn’t it? Such a big reservoir, and he just uses two thousand catties to fool us? Is that even possible? Besides, now everyone in the village knows that all our fields and reservoirs have been handed over to you. I think it’s possible that Pengzi is just taking advantage of you because you’re a woman and trying to intimidate you.”
That's a bit of a serious statement.
Mr. Shen frowned. "Pengzi isn't that kind of person. Don't add fuel to the fire."
Su Yunzhi was too lazy to pay attention to him. "Wuqiu, I think you need to come up with a plan. It's not that I'm cunning, but don't be fooled by the villagers' friendly smiles on the surface. I think many of them are secretly envious and want to see us make a fool of ourselves."
Her genuine indignation surprised Shen Wuqiu somewhat. She had thought that since her father had handed over the business to her, Su Yunzhi would only stand by and watch, and might even take advantage of her misfortune.
In retrospect, it seems she was narrow-minded.
Furthermore, the other party's words also served as a wake-up call—a show of force.
It's not impossible that they're testing her limits and bottom line.
After considering it in his mind, Shen Wuqiu spoke:
"While it's true that investment involves risk and there's no such thing as a sure-fire way to make money, the difference is just too big. I've looked at the fish we caught today, and most of them are common fish like grass carp, crucian carp, and common carp. There aren't many sturgeon, bass, or bonito. I remember you said that when you released the fish fry, you invested quite a bit in bass and sturgeon."
Hearing her say that, Mr. Shen had a plan in mind. "So what do you mean?"
"The quality of the fish caught is truly exceptional; they're very beautiful, which shows that the fish raised in the reservoir are perfectly fine." Shen Wuqiu looked at him. "When you released the fish fry, did Dad go to check on them?"
Mr. Shen's mind cleared instantly, and before he could speak, Su Yunzhi spoke up from the side:
“Grandpa Le trusted his nephew completely. He let him do whatever he wanted and didn’t interfere with anything himself. He just provided the money. He gave whatever amount the nephew asked for.”
Mr. Shen: "You know perfectly well that it was the end of the year, and I was very busy."
At the end of the year, their family was in a complete mess, with people coming and going all day long. Su Yunzhi knew this and had nothing to say, so she just snorted softly.
Shen Wuqiu didn't want the couple to start arguing, so she quickly steered the conversation back to the main topic, "So how did you report the amount to them back then?"
“He was the one who selected the fish fry. He consulted with me beforehand about how many to buy and only bought them after getting my permission. He came back with the money and reported the cost to me.”
After his daughter's explanation, Mr. Shen understood many things. Fearing she might think he was a fool who easily believed others, he subtly tried to save face for himself.
"At the time, we entrusted him with all these matters because, firstly, he was considered family, and secondly, before that, he had been raising fish on two acres of land with the villagers. I thought he spoke very eloquently, so I entrusted him with the management of the dam reservoir."
Shen Wuqiu nodded, understanding his father's meaning.
But you can't see into someone's heart, and life is unpredictable.
"Dad, Auntie, let's not rush this. Let's wait a few days and see what Uncle says." Just as Shen's father said, she is a girl who has to manage so many businesses, so she inevitably needs help. And these days, Uncle has been genuinely helping her.
My uncle will surely find out about what happened at the reservoir soon; let's see what he has to say.
She needed to decide whether her uncle could be someone she could rely on in the future.
"That's good too." Mr. Shen nodded, popped another candy into his mouth, and said with emotion, "Although Xianghua and I are not blood brothers, we grew up together since we were little. Our families live not far apart, and over the years, we've been just like blood brothers."
Su Yunzhi snorted coldly, "Xianghua is very good to us, but Pengzi may not be on the same page as his father."
Mr. Shen glared at her angrily: "You're just afraid of not saying a word."
"If you think I talk too much, why didn't you just marry a mute? That would have saved you so much trouble!"
That's utterly absurd.
Mr. Shen tossed the candy he was holding onto the coffee table and muttered, "If I had known you were this kind of person, I should have married a mute woman back then..."
Su Yunzhi was sitting in the living room shelling edamame while talking to them. She was some distance from her father and couldn't hear his sugar-coated grumbling, but her intuition told her it wasn't anything nice, so she replied curtly:
"Are you getting senile? Can't you even speak clearly?"
Mr. Shen was also annoyed: "He's not just senile, he's so old he's about to die."
Shen Wuqiu heard everything they said and sat to the side watching them bicker back and forth, feeling like they were two little children.
At that moment, she suddenly realized that her father actually had feelings for the woman in front of him.
Perhaps love in this world comes in many forms; it's not just the kind of care and tolerance a father shows his mother that constitutes love.
She suddenly felt that she was being a bit superfluous sitting there, so she stood up and prepared to go back to her room. "Dad, Auntie, I'm going back to my room to rest for a bit."
"Go."
Su Yunzhi also looked up, and was a little more attentive than her father, "You've been on such a long drive today, are you feeling unwell anywhere? If you are, you have to tell us. You're carrying four babies, so you have to be careful."
Shen Wuqiu touched her belly and smiled at her: "I know."
"These babies in your belly have been pretty well-behaved, except for the very beginning when there were some problems. That little rascal Junjun really gave me a hard time back then, vomiting until he was five months old before he finally calmed down, and I couldn't sleep well at night either."
Like many mothers, Shen Wuqiu is now very willing to listen to others talk about pregnancy. "These babies in my belly seem to be quite well-behaved."
Gu Lingyu, who hadn't found a chance to interject, quickly seized the opportunity: "If they misbehave, see how I deal with them."
Why should my grandson be the one to discipline you?
Mr. Shen was displeased. "You little brat, you're quite nosy."
Shen Wuqiu was afraid that the cat would say something outrageous again, so she quickly pulled her back, saying, "Help me upstairs to lie down for a while, I feel a little dizzy."
Gu Lingyu, who doted on his wife, immediately picked her up upon hearing this.
"..."
There was a two-second silence in the hall.
Shen Wuqiu was too ashamed to look at her father's face, feeling both embarrassed and angry: "Gu Lingyu, what's wrong with you?"
Gu Lingyu was a little stunned by her shout: "Weren't you dizzy? I'll just carry you upstairs."
Shen Wuqiu was speechless and struggled to get down from the ground: "Can't I walk by myself?"
After saying that, he stormed upstairs, and Gu Lingyu quickly followed.
After a while...
Su Yunzhi then looked at Mr. Shen and said, "This is the first time I've ever seen a girl with such strength."
Mr. Shen wasn't surprised; what he found strange was, "Don't you think the two of them are a little odd?"
"Hmm? What's strange?"
Mr. Shen couldn't quite put his finger on it either. After hesitating for a long time, he said, "I've never seen such a clingy little girl. Look at her, ever since she came to our house, she's been following Qiuqiu around all day long."
"That's how girls are, especially since Lingyu is still young. Isn't it normal for her to like clinging to Qiuqiu?"
Since Mr. Shen couldn't understand it anyway, he stopped thinking about it. He glanced around the hall and asked, "By the way, did you see Wangcai today?"
"It's gone. I haven't seen it since yesterday. Speaking of which, this cat is really strange. It was always sticking to Wuqiu's side, but it's disappeared again these past two days."
Hearing her say that, Mr. Shen leaned closer to her and said mysteriously, "You've noticed it too, haven't you? As soon as Lingyu comes, Wangcai goes out. Tell me, is it Wangcai who's weird, or is it Lingyu who's weird?"
Su Yunzhi glared at him, "Didn't you not believe in these things?"
Mr. Chen rubbed his head. "I just find it strange that the cat always runs away as soon as people come in."
Su Yunzhi still couldn't bring herself to like the cat, so she wasn't particularly interested in it. She said dismissively, "That's just how cats are. They don't really like being in front of people. They probably just don't want to come out because Lingyu is an outsider."
Mr. Shen thought her words made sense and stood up. "I wonder how long she's going to stay at our house this time."
"What? Are you trying to kick us out?"
Mr. Shen didn't say anything, but with his hands behind his back, he called out "Wangcai" and slowly walked into the yard.
Sigh, he just misses his cat, Wangcai.
*****
In the evening, Shen Xianghua came over.
Before even entering the door, he hurriedly spoke, "Brother, sister-in-law, Wuqiu, I've heard about the reservoir incident. Don't worry, I will definitely make Pengzi give you an explanation."
Shen Wuqiu and the others were about to have dinner when they saw him coming over. Su Yunzhi added another set of chopsticks and a bowl to the table and invited him to come and eat with them.
"No need, you guys eat first."
Shen Xianghua was in no mood to eat. He had taken on a job these past two days and had gone out early in the morning with his excavator. When he returned, he heard about the reservoir incident and that only two thousand catties of fish had been caught. He immediately became anxious, called Shen Zhipeng, and gave him a good scolding. Still feeling uneasy at home, he came over directly.
"Let's eat first and then talk," said Mr. Shen, before asking Su Yunzhi to pour some wine.
“Brother, let alone eating, I feel ashamed to face you.” Shen Xianghua’s face was very ugly. “Such a big reservoir, you just handed it over to Pengzi like that. I have seen your trust in him over the years. I really didn’t expect that you invested so much money and he would give you such a small thing.”
Mr. Shen got up and pulled him to sit down at the dining table. “I won’t lie to you, I’m really quite disappointed with today’s results.”
"I'm more than just disappointed, I want to punch him." Shen Xianghua took a sip of his drink. "If I had known he would squander your money like this, I shouldn't have agreed to let you hand over the reservoir to him in the first place."
"You can't say that. Pengzi definitely wants to achieve something too."
Shen Xianghua drank in silence, feeling extremely disappointed in his son for the poor performance he had given him, but he felt nothing but apology and guilt.
Su Yunzhi chimed in from the side, "Hua Zi, don't just drink, eat some food too."
Shen Xianghua nodded, then looked at Shen Wuqiu, "Wuqiu, don't worry, Uncle will definitely make Pengzi give you an explanation about the reservoir. If he doesn't give you a satisfactory explanation, not to mention anything else, Uncle will make up for the money you paid for the fish fry at the reservoir."
Shen Wuqiu was quite satisfied with Shen Xianghua's attitude. "Your words are too distant. Fish farming in reservoirs is an investment, and naturally there will be losses and gains."