Baozi Xishi's Struggle

There are three main rooms. The middle one is used as a living room and dining area. The one on the east is the bedroom of the woman and Yutao. The one on the west is the bedroom of the original owner. Yucheng set up a small shop in the utility room next to the kitchen.

When the woman and Yucheng went back to their rooms to rest, Yutao did not go to bed immediately.

Sitting on a small stool in front of the wooden table, looking at Shen Yu's pale face, he asked tentatively: "Sister, do you really not remember who you are?"

Shen Yu looked at her thin little face and could only shake his head.

There was a sad expression on Yutao's face. She looked carefully into Shen Yu's eyes, which were filled with confusion.

Yutao felt that what her sister said was true. Her sister really didn't remember what happened before, and it wasn't just the obvious injury of falling on her head.

"Sister, let me tell you about our family's past. Listen and see if you can still remember it."

Following Yutao's narration, Shen Yu finally understood the basic situation of the original owner and this family. Although he was mentally prepared, the reality was even poorer than he had imagined.

It turned out that the village where Shen Yu was now was a remote little village called Dongxi Village, and there was a stream called Taohua Creek beside the village.

A few dozen miles from here is Linxi Town, and a few dozen miles further from Linxi Town is Anping County.

The original owner's surname was also Shen. The Shen family had two daughters and one son. The original owner was the eldest daughter of the family, named Shen Yuzhi, fifteen years old this year, the second daughter was Shen Yutao, eleven years old, and the youngest son was Shen Yucheng, nine years old this year.

The original owner's mother, Ms. Li, was from Lijiazhuang, about ten miles away from here. She had two older brothers, both of whom were married and had children.

The Li family was a wealthy farming family in Lijia Village. Li was spoiled by her parents and brother and had never suffered any hardship.

Shen Yuzhi's father, Shen Qingyuan, was once a scholar and one of the few educated people in the village.

Unfortunately, he caught a cold while studying hard on a cold night and developed a chronic illness. After he passed the examination to become a scholar, he failed every time he took the exam.

Shen Qingyuan took the exam several times, but he forced himself to finish each time due to poor health. The result is predictable.

Knowing that he had no hope of passing the imperial examination, he opened a private school in the village and enrolled children.

Mr. Shen was a gentle and patient man. He had many students and his family saved some money. He also expanded and rebuilt his house.

But in the summer of the year before last, I don’t know if it was because I caught a cold or drank cold water, but it triggered my old illness and I fell ill. I saw doctors and took medicine, and looked for folk remedies everywhere, but after half a year, I still passed away.

Li used to be a pampered little girl in her natal family. After she got married, she became the wife of a scholar and never had to worry about her life.

After Mr. Shen passed away, the family fell into decline.

Li didn't have any plans. He needed money for food and clothing, and everything else. He had expenses but no income.

Gradually, all the valuables and land in the house were pawned and sold, leaving nothing. He only had a few acres of thin land and could no longer afford to hire anyone, so he had to farm it himself.

How could a woman who had little farming experience and three young children produce a good harvest?

The two uncles sometimes come to lend a hand, but they also have to take care of their own fields and cannot help much.

Li was struggling to survive. When she ran out of rice, she had to sell her household items to get some rice. Finally, she had to sell her big house and move to this small courtyard.

Shen Yuzhi was very good at embroidery and she practiced the skill very hard in order to have a good reputation for being dexterous and virtuous so as to find a good husband.

In order to have food to eat and earn some money to support the family, she asked her sister-in-law, who worked as an embroidery worker in an embroidery workshop, to ask Mrs. Dong to take the job in the town's embroidery workshop.

In order to earn more money, she often embroidered until late at night, and her eyes became red.

After Mr. Shen passed away, the marriage originally arranged for the original owner also changed.

Seeing that the Shen family was getting poorer and poorer, the man began to disdain them. He was afraid that after Shen Yuzhi got married, she would not only have no dowry, but would also have to subsidize her parents' family.

So the rumor spread everywhere in the village, saying that the eldest daughter of the Shen family was tough and no one dared to marry her, and she kept causing trouble.

Li had never suffered such humiliation before, and in a fit of anger, she agreed to cancel the engagement.

After the engagement was broken off, people in the village always talked behind her back. Shen Yuzhi would sometimes cry secretly, unwilling to go out, and spend even longer time embroidering.

This time, if the land had not been so dry that Li had not dragged Shen Yuzhi, who usually didn't want to go out, to water the plants, she would not have slipped and fallen.

As Yutao spoke, Shen Yu began to feel sympathy for the original owner.

Shen Yuzhi had never suffered any hardship since her childhood. She had always been a spoiled girl at home. She had never had to worry about food and clothing, but now she had no food to eat and her engagement was broken off. Living in that era, she must have been tormented and confused.

Embroidery is not something that can be fooled.

Shen Yu pondered in her heart, no wonder the original owner's hands were so delicate and white, and she didn't look like she did farm work, it turned out that embroidery was her main job, this really stumped her.

In modern times, Shen Yu is a person who can only sew a lost button by doing something stupid, and has never seen such delicate crafts as embroidery.

"Sister, now that you mention it, I seem to remember something vaguely, but I can't think about it carefully. My head hurts when I think about it..."

Shen Yu rubbed his forehead and acted embarrassed again: "But, but I forgot how to embroider..."

"Sister, don't joke and scare me. You are very good at embroidery. Even Mrs. Dong from the embroidery workshop in town praises you for your embroidery skills. She always thinks of giving you the fine work that pays well. You also taught me the little embroidery skills I have." Yutao looked nervous.

"It's true. I've joked with you before."

Shen Yu put on a serious face, fearing that Yutao would not believe her. If she really asked her to embroider, the secret would be exposed in a moment.

"I'd better talk to my mother and ask Doctor Sun to come back for another look."

After all, Yutao was young and had never seen such a situation. Seeing Shen Yu rubbing his head as if in pain, she became scared and stood up and wanted to walk out.

"I'd better not tell Mom, so she won't worry about me. If Mom asks me in the future, I'll say that I've been having headaches since I fell, and I can't see the stitches when embroidering. Maybe I'll just need to rest for a while."

Shen Yu hurriedly grabbed Yutao, fearing that she would really pester Li to call a doctor, and that the so-called "amnesia" would not be cured and she would not be able to justify herself.

"I'll take care of it for a while, and I'll be fine. You've been tired for a long time, so go get some sleep."

Shen Yu put his hand on Yutao's thin shoulders and pushed her out.

Yutao was indeed tired, so she agreed and turned away.

Shen Yu looked at Yutao's thin figure, and then thought about Li and Yucheng who were also as thin as bamboo poles. He secretly made up his mind to find a way to make money as soon as possible so that the family could have enough food to eat.

In modern times, isn't she getting better and better through her own efforts?

Although, it was my own little apartment and I only enjoyed it for one night.

Shen Yu had something on his mind. He couldn't fall asleep in bed and was almost depressed from thinking too much.