Chapter 40...

Chapter Forty

"What? What?" The most excited person wasn't Zhao Zhishan. Hua Fangling, who was originally on Zhao Zhishan's other side, slid to Yao Anhui's side upon hearing this: "You have a weight loss formula? One that's guaranteed to work? What method? Can I not exercise? Can I eat and drink whatever I want?"

Yao Anhui was being shaken so hard by Hua Fangling that her brain was about to pop out. She couldn't understand why Hua Fangling was even more excited than Zhao Zhishan.

"Ah~~ Fangling, don't shake me~~" Yao Anhui was so shaken that she could hardly stand.

"Sorry, sorry, are you alright?" Hua Fangling immediately stopped and helped Yao Anhui to prevent her from losing her balance. She was almost ready to reach out and stroke Yao Anhui a few times before straightening her up.

"You're shaking me so hard I'm going to faint, do you think I'll be alright?" Yao Anhui found it difficult to maintain her elegant image after getting to know Hua Fangling.

"Hey... I was just in a hurry, so tell me quickly, does your weight loss formula work?" Hua Fangling's excited voice was distorted.

“This formula works for most people, but I can’t guarantee that you might be an exception,” Yao Anhui certainly didn’t dare to make any guarantees.

"Huihui, Huihui, can I use this prescription of yours?" Hua Fangling hugged Yao Anhui's hand and kept acting cute, which made Yao Anhui get goosebumps.

"Me too, me too! Huihui, don't forget me!" Zhao Zhishan grabbed Yao Anhui's other arm, afraid of leaving her behind.

"No, you two trust me way too much. How do you know my weight loss formula will definitely work?" Yao Anhui was both amused and exasperated.

"Hey, do you think I don't know you? You wouldn't say something you're not sure about. Don't worry, even if your weight loss formula doesn't work for me, I'll only blame my own unique constitution and won't say your formula is useless." Hua Fangling spoke like a machine gun, afraid that Yao Anhui wouldn't give her the chance to try the medicine.

"Yes, yes, you know how much I struggled to lose weight before. I'm begging you, please let us try." Zhao Zhishan didn't mind at all; heaven knows how long she tormented herself to lose weight.

"Alright, alright, I'm scared of you two. I'll prepare the medicine for you later, but let me make this clear beforehand, I can't guarantee anything." Yao Anhui raised her hands in surrender.

"Don't worry, don't worry," Hua Fangling and Zhao Zhishan assured her repeatedly.

“But I don’t quite understand. It’s one thing for Zhishan to lose weight because of work, but Fangling, you’re not fat, so why do you need to lose weight?” Yao Anhui looked at Hua Fangling’s slightly chubby figure with great confusion.

Yao Anhui's favorite thing about Hua Fangling is her figure. She's neither too fat nor too thin, with a bit of meat on her body and baby fat on her face. She looks healthy and cute. She's never heard Hua Fangling mention losing weight before, so she doesn't understand why she's in such a hurry today.

"It's not for me, it's for my friend. I have a best friend I've known since childhood. She's a really good person, great in terms of family, looks, and job. The only downside is that she's obsessed with love. The guy she married is fine in terms of right and wrong, but he's a total looks-obsessed person. He likes pretty things and people and he hasn't cheated on her. But my friend is obsessed with love. She gained weight after getting pregnant and having a baby. After gaining weight, she became insecure. Things she didn't care about before, she can't help but care about now. She's gotten stuck in a rut and is suspicious of her husband every day. That's when all the problems started."

Hua Fangling sighed. This was no one else's fault; it was Hua Fangling's own. She wrote the book herself, and her best friend wasn't a bad person, nor was her husband. They were all ordinary people with flesh and blood, but because of male chauvinism and postpartum depression, the consequences were that the woman committed suicide in front of her child, the man suffered for the rest of his life, and the child's psychological trauma was incurable for a time.

Hua Fangling originally wrote this plot for the dual development of the female and male leads' careers and emotions, but she can't stand it now.

Hua Fangling is a very emotional person; otherwise, she wouldn't have reported the scumbag who had taken a liking to Yao Anhui after transmigrating into the book. Now that she's heard that Yao Anhui has a weight loss formula that seems to be quite effective, she certainly won't let it go.

“Alright then, we’ll go up the mountain to gather herbs and make a medicinal paste. We’ll send some to your friend then.” Yao Anhui didn’t refuse, mainly because she was confident that the paste would be effective, since she had already tested it.

That's right, the merit hasn't even increased yet, and some of it is already scheduled to be used up. It's a headache.

"Go up the mountain to collect herbs? Can't we just buy them at a pharmacy? It's too much trouble to collect herbs up the mountain." Hua Fangling thought that her online store had so many items that it should also have medicinal herbs.

"Well, because if we went to the pharmacy, we might have bought some artificially cultivated medicinal herbs, which weren't very effective. It's better to just pick fresh herbs from the mountains. The herbs used in this prescription are all very common and can be found in the mountains here, so there's no need to go to the pharmacy."

Yao Anhui didn't want to be so explicit, but if she didn't make it clear, it would be useless for Hua Fangling to buy it from her online store.

As far as she knew, Hua Fangling's mall was a shopping mall in the future, and the items inside were also ordinary items from the future. The medicinal herbs were all grown. If Yao Anhui used those medicinal herbs that were not effective, she would have to readjust the prescription, which would be too troublesome.

"Oh, that's too much trouble for you. When are you going to the mountain to gather herbs? Please invite me too, I'll come and help." Hua Fangling felt it was too much trouble for Yao Anhui, but she was also afraid that her best friend might suffer from postpartum depression like in the book and commit suicide, so she could only ask Yao Anhui for help.

"Then you should invite me too, I can help out." Zhao Zhishan quickly offered.

"Don't worry, we definitely won't let you two get away with this." Yao Anhui had no objection to this.

"Speaking of weight loss formulas, aren't they supposed to be ingested? An Hui, are you going to make a medicinal ointment? How do you make it? The kind you stick on your belly button?" Hua Fangling recalled the advertisements she had seen online before.

"Yes, without eating or drinking, it's stuck on your belly button to promote digestion, like the metabolism you mentioned last time."

The weight loss formula is genuine; she obtained it from the imperial physician in her previous life. She wouldn't have bothered with it if it weren't effective. However, with her incantation magic, the formula's effectiveness is doubled.

"Do I need to avoid certain foods?" For a foodie, having to avoid certain foods is too difficult.

"That's definitely necessary, but you can't eat too many different kinds of food; it should be a bit bland."

How messy is it?

"Just don't eat chicken, duck, goose, fish, or meat all day long. Don't eat fried, braised, or grilled foods all at once. Of course, you should also eat a little less in quantity." Otherwise, how can you look like you're on a diet?

...

As they spoke, they arrived near the apartment building where Xu Tinglan lived. Hua Fangling suddenly moved closer to Yao Anhui, adopting a protective stance.

"We're almost at Tinglan's house. You two should be careful. The people next door are absolutely awful. Last time I went to their house, I brought some milk candy, and good heavens, they practically snatched my bag. They're just like that crazy old woman and her granddaughter."

"You're scaring me a bit. Are you that scary?" Yao Anhui was startled by Hua Fangling.

"It's really that scary, otherwise why don't you see me come here to play? Some people are scared after just one visit." Hua Fangling's expression showed that she was still quite frightened.

"Is there an elderly person taking care of a young child in their family?"

"The only two truly awful people in our residential area are like toads on the back of your feet, they're so disgusting they'd kill you. I'd rather fight someone than encounter these kinds of nasty people."

It seems like he was really disgusted.

"Yeah, last time I bought an ice cream and he just snatched it from me." Zhao Zhishan was still angry when she thought about it.

"Did you manage to get it back?" Hua Fangling asked her.

"No, his hands were all black, and his face was covered in snot. It was disgusting to look at. Besides, what could I do? I can't argue with a little kid. If we really started arguing, his old lady would come knocking on our door."

“If it were me, I would have snatched it back and thrown it away in front of him. I think he just thought you were a civilized person.”

"And you're talking about me? You almost got your bag searched by him last time too. We're more concerned about our reputation than people like him."

"Uh, you're not talking about that person, are you?" Yao Anhui gestured to Hua Fangling to look to the side. There was a child, about seven or eight years old, chubby and strong like a little calf, staring at the basket of eggs in Hua Fangling's hand, drooling.

"Is it him? Is he targeting us again?" Hua Fangling was extremely disgusted. Everyone in the residential area, good or bad, would at least put on a show of respect. But these two families didn't care at all, which was really annoying.

"Oh, isn't this Xiao Hua and Xiao Zhao? Where are you two going?" The voice that suddenly rang out sounded quite kind, but the tone of her voice was somewhat sarcastic. Ever since her grandson tried to rummage through Hua Fangling's quilt and said a few words, she had been speaking to Hua Fangling in this sarcastic tone every time she saw her.

"This is the child's grandmother, another tyrant in our family quarters besides Granny Wen. She's Feng Le, the battalion commander of the 2nd Regiment, and my mother, Granny Lü. They rule together with Granny Wen," Hua Fangling whispered in Yao Anhui's ear.

Hua Fangling didn't answer her. Granny Lü walked up to her without any hesitation, holding her chubby grandson's hand. She said, "Little Hua, where did you exchange these eggs? I see you're carrying such a big basket. Why don't you exchange some with me? My eldest grandson just finished eating his eggs."

Before Hua Fangling could reply, Granny Lü lowered her head and said to her grandson, "When we get back the eggs, we'll cook some for Dazhuang."

Hua Fangling had no desire to pay attention to her or answer her questions. Carrying the eggs, she linked arms with Yao Anhui and walked past the grandmother and granddaughter.

But since Granny Lü said they were top-notch, how could she let them leave so easily? He quickly took a few steps and blocked Hua Fangling and Yao Anhui's way.

"Xiaohua, I'm talking to you, how can you be so rude? I really don't know how your parents raised you, how can you ignore your elders when they're speaking to you?"

"Hehe, my parents taught me to respect the elderly and care for the young since I was little, but some people take advantage of their age and call themselves other people's elders. If you have any objections to my parents' education, then you'll have to ask them yourself. Oh, I'm sorry, my parents live in the Martyrs' Cemetery, so I guess you won't be able to see them."

Hua Fangling wasn't going to put up with this person. What kind of person was he, daring to act so important in front of her? What a piece of trash.

"Hey, you little woman, I'm talking to you nicely, why are you being sarcastic? I just want you to scoop up some eggs, it's not a big deal, it won't kill you if you help out, young man."

"Heh, I won't die, but I don't want to. If you want to eat eggs, you can go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy them. Don't stop me." Hua Fangling was furious, and her words were very impulsive.

"Hey, what's with that expression? I just asked you to help me exchange an egg, why are you yelling? Just because you're young doesn't mean you can curse people like that, right? ējoyfullyfgkhdsvk" Granny Lu continued to yell loudly, hurling all sorts of nasty insults.

"Are you out of your mind? Is it illegal for us to walk across this road? Do you own this road? You're going crazy if we don't give you the eggs in return..."

Sensing that Hua Fangling was losing her temper, Yao Anhui put her arm around her. She felt that Hua Fangling was acting strangely today, unlike her usual personality. Hua Fangling was usually a very straightforward person, but today she seemed more impulsive than usual.

Zhao Zhishan clearly noticed Hua Fangling's unusual behavior and quickly came closer: "Fangling, what's wrong? You seem a bit irritable?"

"I don't know either, I just feel so angry and want to vent it, my chest feels so tight," Hua Fangling said, rubbing her chest.

"Then don't stand here, hurry up and go to Xu Tinglan's house." Hua Fangling said. She wasn't feeling well, so going home wasn't practical; it was better to go to Xu Tinglan's house nearby. Besides, they were there to visit her. It made no sense to turn back now that they were already at Xu Tinglan's doorstep.

At that moment, Yao Anhui and Zhao Zhishan ignored Granny Lü and decided to leave.

However, that awful old woman Lu grabbed Yao Anhui's arm, who was closest to her, and wouldn't let go: "Don't leave. No one is allowed to leave until we explain ourselves clearly."

Yao Anhui looked puzzled. What did they say? What did they need to explain? Did they say something really hurtful?

Yao Anhui thought about it and couldn't recall them saying anything unpleasant. All they did was stop Granny Lü from exchanging eggs and she didn't agree. Although Hua Fangling was a bit angry and raised her voice, she didn't utter a single swear word.

On the contrary, it's this old woman Lü who curses everything dirty, and they're the ones who are wronged, right?

Have we reversed the Heavenly Gang?

Hua Fangling's face immediately changed, but fortunately, Zhao Zhishan quickly calmed her down. At this moment, Hua Fangling also realized that something was wrong with her. She was not usually so easily angered, so she forced herself to endure it.

Seeing that more and more people were gathering around, Yao Anhui spoke up to Granny Lü, saying, "Auntie, I don't know who you are. We were just passing by when you suddenly rushed out and said you wanted to exchange eggs. But we were taking these eggs to visit a pregnant friend. I think your child is so strong and healthy, you probably don't need these eggs from the pregnant woman, right?"

"Besides, we didn't utter a single swear word from beginning to end. It's one thing for us to be scolded by you for no reason, we're young and shouldn't argue with an old man like you, but it's a bit unreasonable for you to hold us back and not let us leave, isn't it?"

Yao Anhui spoke softly, smiled, and was humble. Since everyone present lived in the same building and knew Lu Pozi's character well, she quickly drew everyone to her side.

"Granny Lü, look at Xiao Hua's face, don't hold her back." Someone immediately advised Granny Lü to let go.

"You little slut... You're so treacherous, woman! What do you mean my grandson stole the pregnant woman's eggs? I didn't tell her to exchange them all, I only told her to exchange a few..."

"Aunt Lü, I never said your grandson stole the pregnant woman's eggs." Yao Anhui quickly interrupted her. If someone brought this up, it would become her fault, and no one could harm her.

Yao Anhui was still wondering if this old woman Lu was just making things up and pinning the blame on them. Otherwise, why was she shouting that she was innocent just now?

Could it be that when she was holding onto them and saying they couldn't leave until things were explained, she spoke so confidently just to frame them for something?

Just as Yao Anhui was thinking, she suddenly saw the big guy from Granny Lü's house rushing towards Hua Fangling, and it looked like he was trying to bump into her.

Behind Hua Fangling was a drainage ditch. Without thinking, Yao Anhui stepped forward to protect Hua Fangling and reached out to grab him.

Yao Anhui hadn't expected the child to be so strong. Not only did she fail to grab Da Zhuang, but she also lost her balance and fell down after being pushed by him. Unfortunately, she hit her forehead on a stone on the ground.

Yao Anhui immediately covered her forehead. The next second, she felt a warm, sticky liquid in her palm. The next second, she saw beads of blood falling from between her fingers.

"Ahhh, I'll beat you to death!" In the instant everyone was stunned, Qi Mingzhe, who had been obediently following behind and ignored by Yao Anhui, rushed out and gave Dazhuang a good beating.

The momentary freeze thawed instantly. Some people pulled Qi Mingzhe back, some were concerned about Yao Anhui's injuries, and some went to call for help...

After seeing Da Zhuang, who had been beaten black and blue by Qi Mingzhe, Yao Anhui, whose shirt was soaked with blood, fainted in front of everyone.

Make no doubt, Yao Anhui did it on purpose.

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The author's note: Three times the veins on my forehead burst, and the blood was so thick that my shirt was covered in blood, but it stopped bleeding soon enough.