Jiang Linchuan deliberately emphasized the words "my woman".

He simply didn't want Lian Xiao to do it. He could do the same thing, even better, to protect Xu Xinghe, so why bother a potential rival?

Lian Xiao rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Jiang Linchuan, you're really narrow-minded."

He stepped forward and pushed Jiang Linchuan out the door, saying, "Get out of here, don't get in my way!"

"Wait a minute." Jiang Linchuan reached out to block the door and said matter-of-factly, "Give me a new bar of soap. I made an excuse to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy soap, but it's too late to go now."

Lian Xiao glared at him, furious.

But remembering how he had accompanied her back to Shanghai a while ago to take care of her sick grandfather, she eventually turned around and went into the bathroom, tossing him a well-packaged jasmine soap.

"Take it and leave quickly. Don't come here to borrow my phone next time; I think it's bad luck."

Jiang Linchuan caught the soap, weighed it in his hand for a moment, and smiled slightly. "Thanks."

After saying that, he turned and left quickly, saying, "Next time, you don't need to get involved in Xinghe's affairs either."

Enraged, Lian Xiao kicked over the stool beside him. "You petty, scheming person! You think I'll listen to you just because you say you don't need it?"

He turned around, picked up the phone, and dialed a number. "Hello, help me find two people, Wang Zhizhi's parents..."

The next morning.

It was still dark.

Wang Zhizhi's small house was pitch black.

The woman was snoreling in her blanket when suddenly there was a loud, urgent banging on the courtyard gate, so forceful it seemed like they were going to smash the door open.

"Who is it? What are you yelling about so early in the morning!" she cursed as she got up, threw on an old coat, and headed for the door, where she sleepily unlatched it.

The door had barely opened a crack when a group of people in uniforms forced their way in.

The leader flashed his badge, his tone icy and devoid of any warmth, "We're from the neighborhood committee. We received a report that your family is suspected of speculation and profiteering, and we're now conducting a lawful search!"

"Speculation and profiteering? No way! You must have made a mistake!" The woman turned pale with fright and instinctively tried to close the door, but someone next to her grabbed her arm and pushed her back two steps.

The man inside was also woken up and ran out barefoot. When he saw the yard full of uniformed personnel, his legs went weak, but he still gritted his teeth and blocked the doorway. "You can't search! You have no right to search my house! This is an invasion of privacy!"

"Stop talking nonsense! The evidence is conclusive, cooperate with the search!" The leader waved his hand, and two staff members immediately stepped forward, pinned the man against the wall, and twisted his arms behind his back.

"Don't touch my man! That's all a frame-up!" the woman screamed and lunged forward, but was firmly restrained in the next second.

The group walked straight into the inner room, looked around, and finally their eyes landed on the wooden cabinet in the corner.

A staff member stepped forward and opened the cabinet door, revealing a large bag wrapped in coarse cloth inside.

Upon opening them, they found only privately resold grain coupons, cloth coupons, a dozen or so bars of soap, and five bolts of corduroy fabric—all scarce materials slated for rationing.

The leader shouted coldly, "Caught red-handed, take him away!"

The woman collapsed to the ground, crying and struggling, "It's not ours! Someone else left it here! Please, please let us go!"

The man's face was ashen, and he kept muttering "It's over, it's over," unable to utter another word of protest.

The two men, their arms tied behind their backs, were dragged out of the yard, staggering. Neighbors, hearing the commotion, peeked out and, seeing the disheveled scene, whispered amongst themselves.

What's going on?

"I heard that their family was reported for speculation and profiteering!"

"That's it, they're investigating hard right now, these two are probably going to jail!"

...

Jiang Linchuan quickly received the news, and his tense lips unconsciously relaxed.

He looked up at the bathroom, where Xu Xinghe was washing her hair. The morning light streaming through the window shone on her hair, making it look incredibly soft.

There's no need to let her know about this; it would only cause her unnecessary worry.

After Xu Xinghe finished washing her hair, he stepped forward and gently patted her shoulder from behind.

"We received a message from the Lian family saying that experts from the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica are available this morning and have invited us over to discuss the cultivation of medicinal herbs."

"Really? That's great!" Xu Xinghe's eyes lit up instantly, and she quickly dried her hair. "I'll go get ready right away!"

She rushed into the house, dried her hair, braided it, and then entered the space to transplant one of the medicinal herbs into a flowerpot.

But she didn't take it out immediately. Instead, she said to Jiang Linchuan, "The herbs are in another place. Come with me to get them."

The two then went to another property owned by the Xu family.

Xu Xinghe then took the medicinal herbs out of her spatial storage and placed them in a thick cloth bag.

Jiang Linchuan reached out and took it. "Is everything prepared?"

"All done!" Xu Xinghe patted the dirt off her hands, her eyes full of anticipation. "I'll take one seedling first. If needed, I'll come back for more later."

Jiang Linchuan reached out and tidied her bangs, which had been ruffled by the wind. "Let's go, don't keep the experts waiting."

The research institute is located in a relatively remote area.

At first glance, the small brick building is covered with ivy.

Xu Xinghe gave his name and entered the gate smoothly.

She followed the directions to the laboratory, where the door was ajar.

She knocked carefully twice before pushing open the door, and a faint scent of medicine wafted out.

The people inside looked up at the sound.

Three of them were elderly men with gray hair, and several were middle-aged men wearing white coats.

"This must be Comrade Xu Xinghe! I've heard so much about you!" The elderly man in the middle adjusted his reading glasses, strode forward, and said in a loud voice, "We've carefully studied the frostbite ointment samples you sent. The effect is surprisingly good, but we couldn't identify the core medicinal ingredient, which stumped us old folks. We heard that you brought seedlings this time, so we'll have to broaden our horizons."

"Yes, I am Xu Xinghe. I have met several seniors." Seeing that they got straight to the point, Xu Xinghe did not waste any time. After greeting them, she placed the cloth bag on the table and carefully opened it. "I obtained this medicinal herb by chance. I knew an old man who studied traditional Chinese medicine before, and he left it to me. I don't know its scientific name, nor do I know where it grows naturally, so I wanted to try to cultivate it, but unfortunately I did not succeed when I was in Heilongjiang Province."

"Oh? Heilongjiang Province? What exactly was the environment like during the cultivation?" another elderly man with a goatee immediately asked.

“It was probably minus 20 or 30 degrees Celsius in the dead of winter,” Xu Xinghe recalled. “I was afraid the seedlings would freeze, so I kept the potted plants next to the stove, where the temperature wasn’t low, so they probably didn’t freeze to death.”

"You're wrong. It's not that they won't freeze to death if it's not cold! These kinds of potent medicinal herbs are often extremely delicate and have very high requirements for their growing environment. It may look warm near the stove, but the temperature difference between day and night is large. Plus, you can only place it to one side. Unless you turn the flowerpot upside down at fixed times, the temperature will not be uniform at all. Sudden changes in temperature are the most damaging to seedlings."