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Chapter 61: Chapter 61: A Blessing in Disguise "Clap——" Shen Shan slapped the table and shouted angrily, "You brat, if you want to swear, then swear, why hit the table? Good thing the soup wasn’t hot, or what if it burned your third sister?" Shen Qingzhu kept poking his sore shoulder with a look of grievance and said, "I didn’t do it on purpose!" He was just momentarily angry and forgot that Shen Qinglan was still eating. Dong Yao waved her hand impatiently and said, "Alright, hurry up and go to sleep. Kids should stay out of these matters." "Oh!" Shen Qingzhu pouted and said to Shen Qinglan, "Third sister, you weren’t burned, right?" Shen Qinglan shook her head, "No." Hearing this, Shen Qingzhu yawned and returned to his room to continue sleeping. Once he left, Shen Qinglan quickly urged Dong Yao and Shen Shan to rest as well. Seeing that neither Shen Qingzhu nor Dong Yao asked her about the source of the meat and grain, Shen Qinglan thought that Shen Shan must have explained it to them. ———— The next day Shen Qinglan still got up early. While waiting for Dong Yao to make breakfast, she exercised a bit in the courtyard. After breakfast, she and Shen Shan prepared to go to the village entrance to wait for the ox cart. Before reaching the village entrance, the father and daughter saw a group of people gathered under a big tree. Shen Qinglan had good hearing. Even from a distance, she could roughly make out what they were saying. An old woman nearing her forties said, "Oh my, his face was as white as paper, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth, it was terrifying." At first, Shen Qinglan thought they were talking about a ghost story, but she heard someone ask, "That scary? So who beat up Zhou Bo?" The old woman shook her head, "I don’t know either. I asked the Zhou Family, but no one would say. I was just worried that my grandson hadn’t come home, so I went to Zhou Family Village to check, and unexpectedly, heard crying from Zhou Jun’s house. When everyone saw them carry him out, it was quite a scare." A man joked lewdly, "I’d say, wasn’t it the widow Gao’s lover who beat him?" A woman beside him slapped his shoulder and scolded, "Oh, you shameless guy, let Granny Hua finish her story." The man snorted lightly, crossed his arms and said no more. Granny Hua retorted the man, "How could it be? They say, someone from Zhou Jun’s family said it was a young girl, and the girl was surnamed Shen." "Shen?" A woman exclaimed, then lowered her voice, "I heard something yesterday." "What is it?" The crowd was curious. The woman said, "Yesterday, a couple from Zhou Family Village came to Shen’s big house but left shortly after. Then I heard the girl from Shen’s big house crying." Someone said, "Isn’t Shen’s Qinghe girl engaged to someone from Zhou Family Village? I heard they were supposed to get married after the autumn harvest." Granny Hua said with a sigh, "That’s right, my Cui Ying told me, Zhou Jun’s son Zhou Bo is engaged to Shen’s Qinghe girl." "So, Zhou Bo got involved with that widow Gao and didn’t want the girl anymore?" Granny Hua lowered her voice, "Isn’t it? I heard he even got her pregnant." "Pregnant?" Someone was puzzled. Granny Hua rolled her eyes at the person, then mimed a big belly with her hands, "That’s the kind of pregnant." The crowd finally understood, "Oh, I see!" "Oh, poor Qinghe girl, such a sweet and capable girl, how did she end up with such an engagement?" "Isn’t that the truth?" Granny Hua said with a face full of regret, "Fortunately, she hasn’t married yet, which is a blessing in disguise."