Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 91: The Maternal Home Sends Grain_1

Chapter 91: Chapter 91: The Maternal Home Sends Grain_1

When Lin Yicheng and Lin Ercheng, the two brothers, arrived at Nanzhi’s doorstep, they found the horse hoof prints on the ground somewhat strange.

"Did someone visit Fat Girl’s home?"

"I don’t know, it smells like it," Lin Ercheng covered his nose, having smelled a strong scent of horse just after arriving.

After waiting for a while and hearing no one come to open the door, Lin Yicheng felt somewhat puzzled.

In this hot weather, where could Fat Girl and Zhiyu go?

Having waited for about a quarter of an hour and still not seeing Nanzhi open the door, Lin Yicheng and Lin Ercheng started to worry if something had happened to the mother and son.

Thinking this, they knocked on the door again.

"Brother Lin, Brother Er?" Shen Yuntian, hearing noise from next door, stuck out his head and immediately greeted the two brothers with a smile upon seeing Lin Yicheng and Lin Ercheng.

"Yuntian," Lin Yicheng stepped forward two paces upon seeing Shen Yuntian and asked, "Do you know where Fat Girl has gone? We’ve been knocking for quite some time but haven’t seen her come out."

Shen Yuntian looked at the tightly closed gate next door, stepped aside with a smile, and invited them into his home, "Brothers Lin, you come on in first. Sister-in-law Lin and my mother have gone up to the mountain to escape the heat. They won’t be back until later."

The two brothers exchanged glances and didn’t refuse. They just said their thanks and followed Shen Yuntian into the Shen household,

It was already almost noon, and staying outside any longer would surely turn them into fools from the sun.

"Yuntian, why do I see that all over your village, everything looks bare and exposed?" As Lin Ercheng spoke, Lin Yicheng also nodded along.

They had felt something was amiss as soon as they entered the village.

The fields outside the village had seemed sparse but still had something growing before, yet today it looked like not a single blade of grass could be seen there.

After entering the village, it got even weirder: the trees were chewed up so badly, they were practically unrecognizable.

Could it be that Lihua Village had reached the point where they couldn’t afford to eat and had to resort to eating tree leaves?

Thinking this, the two brothers shook their heads in unison; no matter how you looked at it, Lihua Village was much wealthier than their Stone Village. Even if their own homes began gnawing on tree bark, Lihua Village wouldn’t necessarily be eating tree leaves.

"A locust plague hit us a few days ago, didn’t your Stone Village get it?"

Shen Yuntian wore a strange expression, looking at them with some confusion.

How could it be that it sounded like Stone Village was unaffected by the locust plague?

"Locust plague?" Lin Yicheng was startled and exchanged a look with his brother.

"What locust plague?"

Now all three of them wore grim expressions.

Although the two villages were separated by more than a dozen miles, how could it be that one village suffered a disaster while the other remained completely unaffected?

Could it be that the locusts actually knew the way and targeted Lihua Village specifically?

By noon, there was still no sign of Nanzhi and her group returning. Shen Dazhu skillfully proceeded to the kitchen, while Shen Yuntian kept the Lin brothers company, suggesting they eat at the Shen house, but then watched as each of them pulled out a millet pancake.

"No need, we’re fine with these," said Lin Yicheng with a smile as he broke off a piece of the pancake in his hand. Their mother had told them that one should never be without provisions when away from home.

Moreover, in these times, it wasn’t good to eat at someone else’s house.

So every time they went out, the brothers would carry two pancakes in case they needed them.

Wasn’t this the perfect opportunity to use them?

Shen Yuntian didn’t insist. Just before it was time to eat, Shen Dashan came to call them.

"Yicheng, Ercheng, come grab a bite to eat."

Shen Dazhu lit up a pipe of dry tobacco. Today his wife, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren had all gone up to the mountain to cool off, leaving just a few of the men at home. Unchecked by anyone, their voices naturally grew louder.

"No need, Uncle, we brought pancakes," Lin Ercheng said with a smile and a shake of his head.

"You’ll choke on those dry pancakes. Big man, pour them a couple bowls of soup."

Shen Xing scooped two bowls of soup to serve before he finally started to eat.

Shen Yuntian originally smiled, but his face stiffened as soon as he tasted the first bite of the dish.

He resisted the urge to spit it out and hurriedly downed a mouthful of wild vegetable soup.

Indeed, Dad’s cooking was as awful as ever.

Watching the Lin brothers eat deliciously, he felt envious for a moment.

Ironically, his two older brothers ate without a change in expression, as if they had no sense of taste.

Shen Dazhu sighed, "My cooking skills have regressed, ah."

A group of people on East Mountain were laughing heartily.

Nanzhi smiled as she pinched Zhiyu’s cheek, then continued chatting with Shen Miaomiao.

"Sister Nanzhi, do you think what he said is true or false?" The young girl’s face was flushed red as she pouted and shook Nanzhi’s arm.

"How would I know that? But he seems like a decent person," Nanzhi replied, not saying much, just smiling and gently pinching the girl’s nose.

In the novel, Shen Wenchen’s brothers didn’t appear much, but she remembered that each of them eventually obtained an official position. If Miaomiao could end up with Twelve, that would indeed be a good choice.

"It’s just, I don’t know if he’s going to deceive me," the young girl said, her pretty face showing a hint of worry.

"I’m just a village girl; what does he see in me? Even if he fancies me, there’s still his family to convince! I’ll just treat it as something to look forward to. Even if he deceives me, I’m happy for the moment."

Surprised by her words, Nanzhi hadn’t expected the young girl to be so insightful.

"Sister Nanzhi, why are you looking at me like that? I might be a bit careless usually, but I’m not foolish," Shen Miaomiao, noticing Nanzhi’s astonishment, pouted even more.

She was so clever!

As the evening approached, the sun hung low over the mountains, and the group began to pack up to head home.

Watching some women start to collect water, Nanzhi realized why.

The village wells were running low on water, and the river at the foot of the mountain had almost dried up as well. It was perfect since everyone had come up the mountain to cool off; they could carry some water back on their way home.

Coming down the mountain, Nanzhi hadn’t yet entered the house when she was stopped by Lin Yicheng and Lin Ercheng.

"Fatty girl, you’re finally back," Lin Yicheng said as he bid farewell to the three Shen brothers and walked over to Nanzhi.

"Oh, Yicheng, Ercheng are here?" Aunt Liu greeted them with a smile as she saw the two brothers.

"Ay, Auntie," they responded.

After the greetings, everyone went their separate ways home.

Shen Zhiyu was even happier to see her two uncles and, holding one hand of each, started talking about the recent happenings at home.

"Uncle, uncle, Dad came back!"

Lin Yicheng and Lin Ercheng were taken aback. Wasn’t their brother-in-law supposed to have died three years ago?

How had he come back?

Had he returned as a ghost in the night?

"Zhiyu’s dad didn’t die, he just had some trouble, and he returned a few days ago, only to leave again this morning," explained Nanzhi, noticing the confusion on her brothers’ faces.

Lin Ercheng was silent for a moment before he entered the yard, closed the gate, then with a dark expression said, "What kind of trouble makes a man leave his own family alone for three years? You’ve been taking care of Zhiyu and our parents, and now he decides to come back?"

"It’s complicated and can’t be explained quickly," Nanzhi said, not elaborating further, fearing that her brothers would get angry. She quickly changed the subject, "Did you come over for something special today? The village had a locust plague for a couple of days; it came out of nowhere. Is everything okay back home?"

"Those rabbit skins we processed last time were ready, and Mom asked us to bring you some meat and grain," Lin Yicheng said as he pulled back the black cloth on his carrying basket, revealing several rabbit skins and pieces of dried meat underneath.

"We have enough at home; take it back for yourselves to eat," Nanzhi quickly declined upon seeing the dried meat, as Wenchen and the others hadn’t stopped bringing things home for the past few days.