"Mother! You...you...sigh..." The three Lu brothers were so angry with their mother that their faces turned pale. Lu Youli was so angry that he stood there with his fists clenched, not knowing what to say.

“Since your mother doesn’t agree to pay me compensation, I won’t make things difficult for you. Please make way, I need to go to the county government!” Jiang Ling gently nudged Lu Youli with her hand and pulled Lu’s wife, intending to leave her house.

"Mother! You! How could you be so confused! Jiang Shi, you... don't listen to my mother, I'll compensate you with money right now!" Lu Youli said to Jiang Ling with a flushed face.

Jiang Ling glanced at Old Lady Lu, who was still throwing a tantrum, and then at Lu Youli, but did not take the silver.

Turning to the village chief, he said, "Village chief, could you please write a written agreement? The gist of it is that after this money is paid, no one in the Lu family is entitled to get it back. If they come to my house to cause trouble, I can report them to the authorities and have them arrested and imprisoned."

As soon as Jiang Ling spoke, Old Lady Lu stopped her tantrum and stared at Jiang Ling in disbelief. She couldn't understand how Jiang Ling, whom she had bullied for nearly ten years, had become so clever. How could she guess what she was thinking? Thinking of this, Old Lady Lu felt a chill run down her spine and even shuddered.

"This..." The village chief hesitated. He didn't really want to get involved in this mess. What if Granny Lu came back to his door and made a scene after the agreement was written? He couldn't bear to give her even a tael of silver.

"Village chief, please write it down. Just write it as Jiang said!" Lu Youli saw the village chief's solemn expression and was worried that the village chief would disagree. He was even more worried that Jiang would take his mother to the county government office to urge him to hurry up.

“You can write it, but I have something to say upfront: this is a matter between you and the Jiang family, and it has nothing to do with anyone else!” the village chief gently reminded him.

Lu Youli was a smart man, and besides, he knew what kind of person his mother was. He nodded and said sincerely, "Village Chief, don't worry, this matter was indeed our family's fault! You can rest assured. We will absolutely not let our mother continue to cause trouble!"

The village chief nodded, and after Gou Sheng brought pen, ink and paper to write the agreement, he had Lu Youli and Jiang Ling put their fingerprints on it, thus ending the farce.

Jiang Ling led Jiang Suihe into the inner room, where Jiang Yaojie had already prepared the medicine and was feeding it to Jiang Wenxi spoonful by spoonful.

"Yaojie, give it to me!" Jiang Ling took the bowl from Jiang Yaojie's hand. Looking at Jiang Wenxi, who was lying on the bed with her eyes closed and her brows furrowed, she felt a mix of emotions. She didn't know when it started, but Jiang Ling really began to regard the three children in front of her as her own. Especially today, when she saw that old hag bullying her two daughters, Jiang Ling wished she could tear her to pieces.

"Mother, I'm sorry, I failed to protect my sister!" Jiang Suihe said, her head lowered and her eyes downcast, her hands nervously clutching the hem of her clothes.

"No, no, Mother, it's not my sister's fault, it's my fault. As the eldest brother, I didn't protect my two sisters well..." Jiang Yaojie quickly stood in front of Jiang Suihe and said.

"I don't blame you. You were the victims in this whole thing. Alright, you must be hungry. I'll cook for you. After I'm done with this busy period, I'll go to town and buy you some meat to help you recover!" Jiang Ling gently patted Jiang Suihe and Jiang Yaojie's shoulders to comfort them.

After the commotion in the morning, it was almost noon when Jiang Ling was cooking. Jiang Wenxi was unconscious, and Jiang Suihe and Jiang Yaojie were both by her side.

Jiang Ling didn't want to take the flour from the ceramic jar in front of the two little ones, so she took some black buckwheat, pretended to walk into the kitchen, bought four eggs from the mall, and hurriedly threw the eggshells on the firewood on the stove. After finishing all this, Jiang Ling looked back uneasily, and thankfully the two little ones didn't come out.

“These three children are all growing up now, so they need to eat more nutritious food. Although I have a shop, it’s hard to explain where the meat comes from. I should take some time to go to town and buy two hens. That way, it will be easier to explain where the eggs come from!” Jiang Ling thought to herself, her eyes darting around.

Jiang Ling made four buckwheat and egg pancakes and stir-fried some shredded potatoes. After lunch, Jiang Yaojie wanted to go dig potatoes with Jiang Ling, but Jiang Ling asked him to stay at home under the pretext of taking care of her younger sister, and then carried a basket on her back and walked into the depths of the mountains.

It was the middle of the day, and Jiang Ling had become much bolder. She glanced at the busy crowd and quietly made her way towards the White-Haired Goddess Temple.

[Beep: Wild chanterelle mushrooms found, priced at 50 copper coins per pound]

[Beep: Wild chicken leg mushrooms found, priced at 80 copper coins per pound]

[Beep: Wild animals spotted...]

The system notification sound appeared in Jiang Ling's mind. Jiang Ling walked and stopped, picking all the mushrooms that the system had suggested and throwing them into her basket. By the time Jiang Ling arrived near the White-Haired Goddess Cave, she had already harvested a full basket of wild mushrooms.

Jiang Ling kept a small portion of the mushrooms, and put the rest of the mushrooms for sale in the system shop.

"Mother...mother..."

Just as Jiang Ling was about to explore the White-Haired Goddess Temple, she heard Jiang Yaojie's slightly anxious voice from behind.

Jiang Ling turned her head and saw Jiang Yaojie's figure not far behind her. He was panting heavily, his chest heaving violently, and his forehead was covered with beads of sweat.

"Yaojie! What's wrong?" Jiang Ling was worried that something had happened to Wenxi, so she rushed forward to ask.

"Mother...Mother...Wenxi...Wenxi..." Jiang Yaojie had been running frantically, and when he suddenly stopped, he was out of breath.

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