Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Primitive Treatment Methods

In the afternoon, Gu Qinghuan and Qian Caihua stubbornly waited until Lin Xiaomeng arrived before starting work. Their motto was to never do more than required—not even a little bit.

As soon as Lin Xiaomeng showed up, she bombarded Qian Caihua with all sorts of detailed questions, but she didn’t find the slightest clue about the missing fortune value.

As for the delicious persimmon Qian Caihua mentioned, Lin Xiaomeng simply ignored it. How good could a persimmon possibly taste? Qian Caihua just hadn’t eaten anything nice before, so she thought everything was delicious.

After all her questioning, Lin Xiaomeng still couldn’t find anything suspicious, so she had no choice but to give up and get back to work, feeling quite dejected.

Seeing this, Qian Caihua even went over to ask if Liu Guifang had upset her.

Lin Xiaomeng, seeing her nosy expression, felt her anger flare up. A leopard can’t change its spots—this gossiping woman would never stop.

Gu Qinghuan, meanwhile, acted like she was invisible, not wanting to talk to anyone and just focusing on her work.

She could actually feel Lin Xiaomeng’s gaze landing on her several times. She figured Lin was starting to suspect her.

Gu Qinghuan made up her mind: from now on, she’d keep her distance from the male and female leads. As long as her family wasn’t involved, she couldn’t afford to take risks anymore.

They worked until dark, but the three of them still couldn’t finish digging up all three piles of sweet potatoes. Naturally, they didn’t earn full work points—just barely managed to get six, and that was only after Qian Caihua bargained with the team leader for ages.

Gu Qinghuan returned the farm tools and dragged her exhausted body home.

Today was truly exhausting—ten times worse than climbing the mountain.

She could clearly feel that the skin on her shoulders must have been rubbed raw; every movement of her clothes sent a sharp pain through her.

She also had two blisters on her hands.

She really wondered how the original owner had managed to endure this day after day. She herself had only worked one day and already felt like she was going crazy.

Xu Huai’an had been standing at the door for a long time, like a wife waiting for her husband to come home. Finally, he saw a familiar figure walking toward the house.

But she looked utterly worn out—so different from her usual energetic self, a bit disheveled even.

A look of distress appeared in Xu Huai’an’s eyes as he walked over to meet her.

Seeing a tall, thin figure approaching, Gu Qinghuan guessed it was Xu Huai’an and forced herself to perk up. “Why did you come out?”

“I wanted to welcome you home. You worked hard today,” Xu Huai’an said softly.

Gu Qinghuan immediately felt comforted. This scene was so much like a wife waiting for her husband to come home from work—just with the roles reversed.

“If you know I’ve worked hard, then hurry up and get better. Once you’re well, all this work will be yours,” Gu Qinghuan said, half-joking, half-complaining.

“Alright!” Xu Huai’an promised seriously.

“Mama, you’re back! We’ll be eating dumplings soon!”

From the main room, two little ones waved their small, pale hands to greet Gu Qinghuan.

Zhong Zijun was making dumplings with the two kids, and they were doing a surprisingly good job.

She’d made chili sauce with the leftover pork from before to eat slowly, and for the dumplings, she was using pork cracklings.

The two big chunks of pork fat Gu Qinghuan had brought back last time hadn’t been rendered yet, so with some free time that afternoon, Zhong Zijun rendered them all. They ended up with a big bowl of lard and another bowl of cracklings.

Pork cracklings mixed with wild greens made for the tastiest dumplings.

After a long, tiring day, Gu Qinghuan instantly felt healed.

Only love and good food are not to be let down.

She washed her hands, changed her clothes, and joined in making dumplings. Soon, a pot of plump dumplings was ready.

With some dipping sauce, each bite was delicious!

The whole family ate until they were stuffed.

Beibei patted her little belly and said, with the air of a world-weary old soul, “Lately, I’ve eaten more good food than in my whole life.”

Everyone burst out laughing. This little one was only four years old—what did she know about “her whole life”?

“Huanhuan, if you have time tomorrow, see if any families have extra vegetable seedlings and try to trade for some. Huai’an already finished weeding the private plot today, so we can start planting tomorrow,” Zhong Zijun said.

Besides asking her daughter to look for seedlings, she was also gently reminding her that her son-in-law was doing his best to take care of the family.

To be honest, Xu Huai’an’s leg still couldn’t handle standing for long, and he wasn’t really fit for heavy work—especially weeding, which meant bending over for ages and was hard on the legs.

But Xu Huai’an insisted on doing it. When he got too tired, he just sat on the ground and kept weeding. What would take a normal person a morning took him all day.

He felt bad for Gu Qinghuan and didn’t want her to have to work outside and still worry about chores at home—these were things he should be doing.

Zhong Zijun saw all this and could only worry silently. She felt sorry for both her daughter and son-in-law, but she was also happy for them. They were both good kids, working hard for the family, and life would only get better.

Gu Qinghuan looked at Xu Huai’an disapprovingly. “Your leg just got out of the splint. Don’t hurt it again. I can handle these things.”

“It’s fine, I know my limits. But you—you must be really tired today,” Xu Huai’an said. He was actually exhausted too, but he was happy to finally be able to help out.

Gu Qinghuan shrugged, trying to stretch, to show she wasn’t tired, but a sharp pain shot through her and her face scrunched up like a dumpling, freezing her in place.

Xu Huai’an looked at her anxiously. “What’s wrong? Did you hurt your shoulder?”

Zhong Zijun quickly got up to check. She gently lifted her daughter’s shirt, and found that the wound and the fabric had stuck together. It took some effort to separate them.

As soon as they came apart, blood welled up from the wound. Her fair shoulder was bruised and swollen—a shocking sight.

The pain brought tears to Gu Qinghuan’s eyes, making her look pitiful and delicate.

“Mom, be gentle!” Xu Huai’an said anxiously, forgetting all about propriety.

At this moment, with her delicate shoulder exposed, Xu Huai’an felt no romantic thoughts—only heartache.

She used to be a pampered young lady, but now she was suffering here.

The two children hurried over as well.

Beibei’s eyes filled with tears. Mama’s shoulder was hurt—it must hurt a lot.

“Mama, let me blow on it for you. It’ll stop hurting soon.”

Gu Qinghuan gently patted her mushroom-shaped head. “Okay, thank you, Beibei.”

Dabao ran outside and brought back some plantain and fleabane.

Xu Huai’an finally came to his senses and silently scolded himself for being so flustered—he wasn’t even as clear-headed as a child.

“We don’t have any medicine at home right now. What Dabao brought are common herbs for stopping bleeding and helping wounds heal. Mom, could you mash them up and apply them to Huanhuan’s wound?”

Xu Huai’an wanted to do it himself, but was afraid it would be inappropriate, so he had to step back.

Zhong Zijun had been living in the countryside for five years and knew all sorts of folk remedies. For small injuries, this was how they handled things—no time for anything fancy. She quickly mashed up the herbs and applied them to Gu Qinghuan’s wound.

Gu Qinghuan never thought she’d one day experience such a primitive treatment firsthand. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

She could buy medicine from her space, but it wasn’t convenient to take it out right now.

For now, this would have to do."

"Chapter 52: Who Are You Trying to Kill?