Mo Xuan didn't know how many times he had heard the word "snake soup" today. If it weren't for the fact that it couldn't speak now, he would have refuted it.
You're the snake, your whole family are snakes. He's a flood dragon, do you know he's a flood dragon!
Seeing that Shen Yao was really going to raise a snake, Zhou Ya Nan felt her worldview slightly collapsing. Trembling, she took out her phone and took a few photos of Shen Yao holding the snake.
With one click, the photos were successfully sent to the dormitory group chat of the four of them.
At noon, both Father Zhou and Father Shen returned. The lychees on the mountain had all been picked, leaving only some finishing touches.
Because the shelf life of lychees is not very long, Father Zhou planned to transport a batch back after dinner, and the rest would be sent to the headquarters in H City together in the evening.
The H City headquarters was not particularly far from here, and the Zhou family had always had trade dealings with airlines. Therefore, to ensure the freshness of the lychees, they chose air freight directly.
Zhou Ya Nan originally planned to stay at Shen Yao's house for a few more days, but was persuaded by Father Zhou's words, "Your mother hasn't seen you in a long time."
"Yao Yao, you must miss me. After my thesis is approved, Chao Chao and Xi Xi and I will come to visit you," Zhou Ya Nan said.
Shen Yao nodded at her. She knew she wouldn't be able to stay long, so she wasn't particularly sad.
After lunch, Father Zhou took Zhou Ya Nan and drove to the airport in a truck.
The lychees originally ordered for Xia Chao and Wang Xi Xi's families were all taken away by Father Zhou, who said he would deliver them uniformly later.
Father Zhou did not have much further business interaction with Xia Chao and Wang Xi Xi's families, but they were all wealthy merchants, and with the relationship of their daughters, they were also in contact.
All the lychees on the Shen family's mountain, except for those not yet in season, were sold. At a price of 88 yuan per jin, the Shen family earned millions from the lychees on the mountain alone.
With the proceeds from the lychees as a precedent, the Shen family's expectations for Shen Yao's barren land cultivation grew higher and higher.
The villagers did not know exactly how much money the Shen family earned from selling lychees, but they knew for sure that they had earned a lot.
Money attracts envy. As soon as the Zhou family left, several groups of people arrived at the Shen family's house.
"Da Jun, I heard that your family had a great lychee harvest this year, and even a big boss came to follow up." The speaker was an aunt, whom Shen Yao vaguely recognized.
She was a distant cousin from the same clan as Shen Yao, married to an outer village. Logically, they should have been very close.
But the Shen family was poor before. Not only were they poor, but they also had many children and, with excessive kindness, adopted abandoned girls.
At that time, this distant cousin had told Father Shen to discard Ning Min. If he really wanted to adopt a girl, she would give her daughter to Father Shen to raise.
Father Shen would never agree. The distant cousin clearly wanted him to raise her daughter for her, as she already had three daughters and was desperately hoping for a son. Despite the strict family planning policies at the time, people still secretly had more children.
There were many who hid in the mountains to have children.
The distant cousin's family situation was slightly better than the Shen family's, but each additional girl meant paying an extra fine. Recently, the distant cousin had another daughter, and then she heard that her cousin had actually picked up a girl to raise!
This naturally made her set her sights on Father Shen. But Father Shen, after hearing the distant cousin's words, refused. Not only would he not abandon Ning Min, but even if he didn't raise Ning Min, he wouldn't raise her daughter for her.
Later, when Father Shen refused to help her raise her daughter, this distant cousin fell out with him. It was said that her younger daughter was also given away by her.
The Shen family's conditions only gradually improved after Shen Yao was born.
Father Shen and Mother Shen had not planned to have more children. Although they regretted not having a daughter, Ning Min's arrival had compensated for their regret.
However, fate played a trick on them. The year after they adopted Ning Min, one day, Song Qiu Wan felt her stomach was much larger and worried that she had some illness.
As a result, after a hospital check-up, she was found to be six months pregnant. The doctor even scolded her for being careless, not coming for check-ups, and not knowing she had missed her period.
Since the pregnancy was advanced, the family planning officials did not irrationally force her to have an abortion. After Father Shen and Mother Shen consistently promised to pay the fine, Shen Yao was allowed to stay.
Of course, this was all what Shen Yao had heard from Father Shen and Mother Shen.
She wondered why her distant cousin, whom they hadn't contacted for over twenty years, suddenly came to their house.
"Cousin."
Despite not having been in contact for over a decade, Father Shen still called her cousin.
"Yes, Da Jun, you are indeed not that heartless person who disowns poor relatives after getting rich." The distant cousin said with a smile.
It would have been better if she hadn't looked around constantly while smiling.
Father Shen just smiled. Clearly, this cousin gave him a very bad feeling.
"Da Jun, it's truly different when you're rich. Look at this house. The large courtyard next door is also yours, right? I said, among our Shen family, you will be the most successful in the future."
Father Shen pursed his lips. You didn't say that before. Before, you said he deserved to be poor his whole life.
"Look at you, you don't look like you're almost 60. You look about the same age as your eldest son."
Shen Huai Min: ...
After coming in, this distant cousin's mouth wouldn't stop chattering.
Her words gave everyone goosebumps. It was Shen Huai Sang who interrupted her, stopping her from continuing.
"Is this your cousin, Aunt? I can't recognize her after so many years."
Shen Huai Sang's words could make someone spit blood. The distant cousin was so angry that she almost couldn't catch her breath.
"Uh, heh heh, is this the third child, Huai Sang? Oh my, you've grown up so handsome. I heard you're a veteran? Being a soldier is good, being a soldier is good."
Despite her anger, the distant cousin could only endure it and speak kindly.
"Thank you for your praise, Aunt. Being a soldier is indeed very good."
Shen Huai Sang accepted the distant cousin's praise without any humility.
Seeing that the conversation was becoming difficult, the distant cousin changed the subject and her gaze fell on Shen Yao.
Good heavens, what a beautiful young girl! Could this be the younger daughter Father Shen had after Da Jun?
It wasn't that the distant cousin didn't know. After Shen Jun refused to raise her daughter, they had no more contact.
Even when this distant cousin returned to her maiden home, she never came to Shen Jun's side. She learned about Shen Jun's situation from her own family.
"Is this the younger daughter Da Jun had later? What's her name again? I think it's Yao Yao? What a beautiful name, and she's so pretty too."
This was indeed the distant cousin's heartfelt thought, as she had never seen a more beautiful girl than Shen Yao.