Ye Wenxue deftly rinsed the split fish several times with the spiritual spring water, placed it in the bamboo basket, and frowned:

"Dr. Su has urgent business to attend to and won't be back for a while. How did the wound reopen? Is it serious? Will it interfere with my work this afternoon?"

Sui Ye snorted, his face pale.

How else could it have broken open?

When Ye Wenxue kicked him into the water, he instinctively struggled to fight back, forgetting that he still had an injury on his chest.

But he's proud, so he won't say it.

Ye Wenxue didn't indulge him. She quickly packed up the bamboo basket and backpack, and handed the bamboo basket to Suiye: "Go back to the valley first to change your clothes and apply the medicine yourself. I'll bring them back later."

Sui Ye looked somewhat surprised: "Aren't you afraid I'll take your children hostage and use them to threaten you?"

"You can give it a try."

Ye Wenxue's voice was very calm, but Sui Ye could detect a hint of murderous intent in her words.

This was completely different from the previous tentative killing intent.

This time, Ye Wenxue really wanted to kill him, but she lacked a reason to explain it to the children.

If he really did kidnap the child to use as leverage... we have a ready-made excuse.

Two pairs of eyes met, countless emotions hidden beneath a calm gaze.

It ended with Suiye turning to the side to take the bamboo basket. He clutched his wound, a mocking smile playing on his lips, and said, word by word:

"How could that be? You saved my life. I can never repay your kindness..."

Ye Wenxue refused to accept the title of Suiye's savior: "After we finish the work for half a year, we'll be even. It was Doctor Su who saved your life and helped you heal your injuries; you should repay him."

Suiye gave an ambiguous hum and turned to leave.

Ye Wenxue couldn't help but roll her eyes at Suiye's retreating figure, picked up her basket and bamboo basket, and followed the path where Su Jiu and Sanyuan had left.

*

When Ye Wenxue and the other two returned to the valley, the valley was filled with the aroma of rice.

Dazhuang held Yuanyuan tightly, protecting Shuangshuang, Siwang, and Da'e, and stood opposite Suiye with a solemn expression, confronting him.

Ye Wenxue's head buzzed. Without bothering to examine the situation closely, she dropped her heavy basket and bamboo hamper and dashed out.

Su Jiu reacted quickly, but even his timely intervention couldn't stop him.

Ye Wenxue kicked Sui Ye to the ground, then stepped forward and examined the cubs from all angles.

"You're hurt? Is Yuanyuan alright? Watch me go kill that bastard and avenge you!"

Ye Wenxue didn't expect that even after she warned Sui Ye, this person still dared to make a move.

The thought that several children might die because of her negligence filled her with lingering fear.

Perhaps she became too comfortable after arriving in ancient times and entering the deep mountains and forests, which reduced her sense of crisis. She also overlooked the fact that Dazhuang and the others were too young to protect themselves, and overestimated Suiye's character.

Her anger escalated with each question she posed.

After saying that, Ye Wenxue clenched her fists, turned around and left, not giving Dazhuang and the others a chance to stop her.

Suiye was grinning smugly at the group of kids when he was suddenly kicked to the ground, and his face turned extremely ugly.

Why did you kick me?

Ye Wenxue sneered and threw a punch: "What do you think?"

Having narrowly escaped the perilous wilderness, Ye Wenxue seemed utterly bewildered.

As he dodged, he shouted, "So what if you cooked a little more rice? I've been working myself to the bone all morning, can't I even have a few more bites of rice?! I don't even mind that your food is awful!"

Dazhuang rushed forward to stop him:

“Mother, he didn’t bully us, it’s just… it’s just that we don’t have much food at home, but he still cooked a whole pot of it, which should last until the day after tomorrow.”

And this was the result even after he tried to stop it.

A full pot isn't the limit for Suiye, it's the limit for the pot itself.

Ye Wenxue paused, withdrew her fist, and looked at her eldest son: "He really didn't bully you?"

"Hmm." Da Zhuang was also puzzled.

Dazhuang was prepared for Suiye to bully them, and he was ready to wait for his mother to come back and complain.

As a result, the man changed his clothes with a pale face, applied the medicine on his own, and then did not run away or bully anyone. He just forced the man to cook more rice.

Adding a handful of rice wasn't enough; he forcibly grabbed the pot and started cooking as he pleased.

Look, we can't even finish our food; it'll probably spoil if we leave it overnight.

Da Zhuang felt heartbroken at the thought of the perfectly good brown rice being wasted.

He and his mother carried this up many mountains under the scorching sun!

Ye Wenxue realized she had misunderstood, quickly calmed down, and chose to play the victim:

"You can't possibly eat all that food. You'll have leftovers for dinner."

"Outrageous!" Suiye protested. "It was clearly you who hit me without knowing the full story; it was your indiscretion that led to this! You..."

Ye Wenxue said expressionlessly, "Oh. So what? Go ahead and fight back if you dare. Besides, for wasting food like that, getting kicked isn't unjustified."

Suiye became even angrier, so angry that his wound almost burst open again.

Su Jiu quickly stepped forward and pulled Sui Ye into the cave: "Calm down, getting angry is bad for your health!"

"She went too far!"

"Yeah, yeah, if you're so capable, beat her up and get back at her. If you're not, just put up with it."

Suiye: "......"

Ye Wenxue didn't have time to care about Suiye. After hugging each of the cubs, she felt a bit complicated.

After this incident, even she, who was slow to realize, understood that she no longer regarded raising the children as a task left by her predecessor, but had accepted and accepted the children from the bottom of her heart. She couldn't bear to see them suffer any grievances, which is why she suddenly lost control of her emotions.

Perhaps it was because she hadn't felt the warmth of family for too long, or perhaps it was because these children were just too well-behaved, or perhaps it was because she had no one to rely on in ancient times... There were too many adorable reasons, and Ye Wenxue couldn't find the most fundamental one for the time being.

But it's not a big problem.

If you're raising a pet and don't develop any feelings for it, it just feels a bit fake if you rely solely on technique.

It's fine as it is now.

Seeing Ye Wenxue silently staring at them, Dazhuang felt inexplicably flustered. He softly called out, "Mother?"

The meanings of Shuangshuang, Sanyuan, and Siwang are unclear.

All they knew was that their mother had just hit someone because she was worried they would be bullied.

So the three little ones huddled together close to Ye Wenxue, affectionately snuggling up to their mother.

Sanyuan and Siwang said foolishly, "Mom, I'm hungry."

Ye Wenxue chuckled, gently rubbing Sanyuan and Siwang's heads, and said softly, "Alright, Mom will go cook. You two eat something to fill your stomachs first."

"Okay!"

The other three children didn't notice anything amiss; their mother remained as gentle as ever.

Da Zhuang's eyes flickered, and the last bit of resentment in his heart vanished like smoke.

Regardless of who Ye Wenxue is or where she comes from, her kindness towards them is genuine.