Shen Wuqiu understood. "Then I'll bring you some later."
Mr. Shen remained silent.
The atmosphere was a little awkward. Seeing that his water glass was empty, Shen Wuqiu brought him a fresh glass of warm water from the living room. "How are you feeling today? Are you feeling better?"
"Anyway, it's just a useless shell, so let it be."
Early in the morning, Shen Wuqiu didn't argue with him. After being rebuffed in a few words, she didn't know what to say. In addition, seeing him eating steamed buns made her stomach even more upset, so she didn't stay in the room any longer and went to the kitchen after saying goodbye.
Years have passed, and the kitchen is still as clean and bright as before, except that the exhaust fan has been replaced with a range hood, making it look more modern.
Although Su Yunzhi's personality was not likable, she was always good at doing housework, which Shen Wuqiu didn't dislike.
After washing the pot, Shen Wujun lazily approached the doorway and awkwardly asked, "Want me to help?"
Shen Wuqiu expertly added oil to the frying eggs and casually replied, "Am I just making things worse?"
"A dog bites Lü Dongbin."
Shen Wuqiu felt a strange urge to laugh and turned to look at him, "Do you want some?"
"If you feel lonely eating alone, I can consider it."
"Then bring two more eggs from the refrigerator."
Shen Wujun was quite obedient this time. After bringing over the eggs, he made conversation by asking, "How long are you staying at home this time?"
"I don't plan to go out for the time being."
"Then you go to work..."
"I resigned."
Why?
"Did you come back specifically to fight you for the family fortune?"
"..." This was so unexpected that Shen Wujun was caught off guard and stared blankly at her.
The eggs were fried, and Shen Wuqiu took them out. She then poured boiling water from the kettle into the pot. While waiting for the water to boil again, she looked at Shen Wujun again and asked, "What, are you afraid you can't compete with me?"
"Tch!" Shen Wujun scoffed dismissively. "I don't believe it."
Shen Wuqiu smiled, neither confirming nor denying, then, as if remembering something, asked him, "By the way, did you hear a cat meowing last night?"
What's that cat meowing about?
“It’s…” Shen Wuqiu hesitated for a moment, “the kind of meowing a cat makes when it’s in heat, around midnight…”
"I didn't hear it."
Shen Wuqiu frowned. "You might have fallen asleep, so it's normal that you didn't hear me."
"How could that be? I played games until 1 a.m. last night."
"That must be because you were too engrossed in your game and didn't hear me..."
"Bullshit, I'm just afraid of my mom scolding me. I don't even dare to turn the sound on. My teammates are terrible. If it weren't for the fact that my brother is carrying a girl, I would have already quit the game."
"..." Shen Wuqiu still thought that Shen Wujun was too engrossed in playing games. She didn't believe that she was the only one who heard the annoying shouting last night.
Chapter 5 Shen Yan
After cooking the noodles, Shen Wuqiu took her own portion to her father's room.
"I don't know if you have any dietary restrictions, so I just made clear soup noodles and fried an egg. Please make do with it."
Mr. Shen spoke in his usual argumentative tone: "What's there to avoid? You're going to die whether you eat it or not."
Shen Wuqiu was too lazy to argue with him and picked up her bowl of noodles to eat.
The father and daughter ate their noodles in silence. Less than ten minutes later, Mr. Shen was the first to put down his bowl.
Shen Wuqiu glanced at the clean bottom of the bowl and was a little surprised. "Do you still want it?"
Mr. Shen waved his hand and smacked his lips twice. "Your cooking skills are just like your mother's. Apart from a little salt, there's no other flavor."
This plain noodle soup has nothing but oil and salt added; what other flavor can it possibly have?
Shen Wuqiu had a question on the tip of her tongue, but a glance at her father's face made her swallow the last bite of noodles, and she asked instead, "Do you still remember what the noodles Mom made tasted like?"
“I remember, how could I not remember?” Mr. Shen was very dissatisfied with her questioning. “Back then, we had just contracted the mountain forest and worked from dawn till dusk every day. The only convenient thing was to cook noodles. Your mother was focused on the work in the fields and cooked whatever was convenient for her three meals a day… You little ungrateful thing, you definitely can’t remember.”
Shen Wuqiu lowered her eyes; she truly couldn't remember what the noodles her mother made tasted like.
Her mother passed away when she was five years old. At that time, she was too young to understand anything and her concept of "death" was still vague. After her mother closed her eyes, everyone comforted her that her mother was just sleeping.
She always believed that her mother was just asleep, so when her father married Su Yunzhi a year later, she refused to let the woman into the house no matter what.
Later, as she grew a little older, amidst the gossip of the neighbors, she also came to believe that her father didn't love her mother at all, which was why he remarried her a year after her mother's death.
However, seeing the reminiscence overflowing on that old and haggard face, she felt that perhaps all these years, she had misunderstood the relationship between her parents.
"I thought that all the meals your aunt has made you forget your mother's existence over the years."
Upon hearing this, Mr. Shen was quite shocked. "So you're still holding a grudge about this."
Now that she had spoken her mind, Shen Wuqiu decided to be frank: "Back then, no matter how much I cried and begged, you insisted on marrying her. How could I not hold a grudge? Of course, I understand now that you have the right to pursue your happiness, and I shouldn't..."
“At the time, I thought you were just having trouble accepting it,” Mr. Shen interrupted her. “After your mother passed away, I never thought about starting a new family. But back then, I was either on the mountain or in the fields all day long. You were still young, and there was no one to take care of you. I could only ask relatives and friends to put in a good word for me from time to time. At first, everyone was very enthusiastic, but as time went on, they weren’t so enthusiastic anymore…”
It was rare for Mr. Shen to speak so much in one breath, but his body, tormented by illness, was at its limit. He became breathless after speaking a few more words, so Shen Wuqiu quickly handed him a water glass, saying, "Please speak slowly."
Mr. Shen took a sip of water while following her posture, and after pausing for two minutes, he continued, "You're a girl, and I can't let you run around in the mountains and fields with me. That's why I listened to the advice of my relatives and friends and married her."
This was the first time in all these years that this usually stern man had spoken to her so calmly and calmly.
Shen Wuqiu felt guilty and remorseful, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything polite or gentle. After hesitating for a moment, she whispered, "Yes, I understand now. I was ignorant before, which made things so difficult for you."
"You girls need to be more thoughtful, and it's my fault for not having the patience to think about it."
A sour feeling welled up from the bottom of her heart. Shen Wuqiu raised her hand to touch her nose and took the opportunity to sniff, so that the sour feeling would not rise to her eyes. "It's all in the past. Let's not talk about these things anymore. You don't need to think so much. The most important thing right now is to take good care of your health."
"I've already called my relatives and elders in the village. They'll be coming over by the day after tomorrow at the latest. They'll then properly divide up what I have, and you siblings..."
Shen Wuqiu didn't want to hear any of this. "Now that I'm back, you don't need to worry anymore. Just focus on getting better."
“I know my body. It’s not that I’m stingy with money that I don’t go to the hospital. The cancer cells have already metastasized to all parts of my body. The doctor said that whether I treat it or not doesn’t make much difference.”
Shen Wuqiu stood up and tilted her head back slightly. "Why didn't you treat it properly when it was first discovered?"
"Life and death are predestined; how can such things be explained?"
Shen Wuqiu turned her head away, picked up the bowl from the bedside table, and walked out.
"Qiuqiu".
Shen Wuqiu stood at the door, refusing to turn around.
Stubborn Mr. Shen, who had been stubborn his whole life, sighed helplessly, "Don't be sad. Everyone has to go through this eventually, it's just a matter of sooner or later."
Shen Wuqiu stood still for a moment before carefully taking a breath: "I know."
It is precisely because I know this that I feel even more guilty. I always thought that life was long and there was plenty of time to accompany and love. But I never realized that life and death are not far away at all.
It was a rare opportunity for Shen Wuqiu to have a calm and peaceful conversation with her father, but her mood became even heavier, and she spent a long time washing the two bowls in the kitchen sink.
Seeing her staring blankly at the tap, Su Yunzhi held back for a moment, but couldn't help muttering, "Wuqiu, now it's all water from the water company."
Shen Wuqiu didn't reply, but turned off the tap and left the kitchen without saying a word.
Over the years, she still hasn't learned to be effeminate and get along harmoniously with people.
Su Yunzhi was at home, but she didn't want to stay there, so she went upstairs to get her phone and prepared to go out for a walk.
Seeing that she was about to go out, Shen Wujun followed her out, and said in a smug and obsequious manner, "You haven't been home for so many years. Our hometown has changed so much. Do you want me to take you for a walk around?"
Shen Wuqiu was in a bad mood and didn't want to talk to him. "No need."
Shen Wujun scoffed. The arrogant young man, afraid of being rejected, turned around and started playing games with a sour face.
Yesterday, the village's entirety was hidden under the cover of night, and only a glimpse of the changes could be seen. Today, she realized that the village had indeed changed a lot. The roads she used to know had either been widened or disappeared, and she could only wander aimlessly along the newly built roads.
"Oh, this must be Wu Qiu?"
"How many years has it been since you last came back?"
"Whose family is that woman? She looks so unfamiliar."
"Wuqiu, you just got married, so you definitely don't know me. You must have just come back in the last couple of days."
...
The whispers of conversation, both near and far, high and low, drifted into her ears from time to time, but Shen Wuqiu pretended not to hear them. Her reputation in the village was not good. Firstly, she was not a warm and sweet-talking person to begin with, and secondly, Su Yunzhi had exaggerated and gossiped about her behind her back.
Villagers who weren't very close to her wouldn't greet her much; they would only chat briefly with those they were closer to occasionally.
Shen Wuqiu strolled along the road, and halfway there she realized that the school where she had attended primary school for two years had now become the village committee office building, and there was no trace of the school's ruins left.
Although the primary school had long been abandoned, seeing its completely transformed appearance now, Shen Wuqiu still felt a pang of nostalgia for its former self.
So she walked around the village committee building, and just as she was about to leave, a man walked out of the main entrance. When he saw her, he was surprised: "Wuqiu?"
Upon hearing the voice, Shen Wuqiu turned around to look at the person who had come, but didn't recognize them at first.
"Me? Shen Yan."
Upon hearing this, Shen Wuqiu's stunned expression instantly vanished. "I didn't even recognize you. You've changed so much!"
Shen Yan smiled and said, "You haven't changed much, you just look more feminine."
Shen Wuqiu rolled her eyes at him. Shen Yan could be considered her childhood sweetheart. When they were young, they didn't get along and had a lot of conflicts. But as they grew up, their relationship got better and better. In the two years before she left home, they would often chat online. Later, they probably got busy with their work and had new circles of friends, so they contacted each other less.
Facing his old friend, Shen Wuqiu spoke much more bluntly, "Seriously, how did you get so fat at such a young age?"
Shen Yan smiled wryly: "Perhaps my weight gain period has come early."
"Hahaha, looks like you're doing well."
"Not bad my ass! I'm running around all day, and I don't know how I can still be so fat."
Shen Wuqiu pouted mischievously, "I can't understand people who can't gain weight even if they want to."
Shen Yan walked up to her and patted her shoulder familiarly, "That's it... Ouch..."