Qin Xiaozhou went to the kitchen and made braised pork and teriyaki pork. When he came out of the kitchen, it was past lunchtime. Lu Yunfeng was waiting outside the restaurant. After tasting the food, Chen Haiping was all smiles and readily gave him fifty taels of silver. He also invited the two of them to have a meal upstairs. "It was my fault for delaying your meal. I will punish myself by drinking three cups to apologize to Brother Lu for making you wait so long."

Qin Xiaozhou looked at the table full of food, including bamboo shoot stewed chicken, roasted duck, stewed mutton, and boiled fish, which was quite a feast. "Thank you, Manager Chen. I won't be polite then."

Chen Haiping accompanied Qin Xiaozhou for a meal. When the conversation turned to food, Qin Xiaozhou became quite knowledgeable. When the conversation turned to wild game from the mountains, Qin Xiaozhou learned that the Lu family used to be hunters. So they agreed that if they hunted any wild game, they would sell it to the restaurant, and the restaurant would buy it all.

After leaving the restaurant, Qin Xiaozhou went to the clinic, with Lu Yunfeng following behind. "What's wrong with you?"

Could it be about having children? The rumor that Qin Xiaozhou was too fat to have children was common knowledge in the town, and he had also heard that she had been jilted for this reason. "There are some things you don't need to worry about too much."

The Lu family line isn't small; even if he and Qin Xiaozhou don't have children, their second and fourth brothers' children will take care of them in their old age and see them off in death.

Qin Xiaozhou hadn't thought of that. She just wanted to take good care of her body, because being too fat would affect her health. "Sigh, I can't ignore it."

She doesn't want to die from obesity.

Lu Yunfeng didn't speak, but in his heart he was thinking that if Qin Xiaozhou really couldn't have children, and she really liked them, then he would adopt one from his second brother and raise it.

The clinic in the county town was filled with medicine chests. The doctor was an old man with a white beard and a scholarly air. After taking Qin Xiaozhou's pulse, he pondered for a moment and said, "Your Qi is blocked, and your spleen and stomach are not healthy. You are only eighteen years old. You should think less and worry less, relax, and not overeat. You should eat and drink in moderation and at a slow pace. You should sleep well at night and avoid being irritable and anxious."

After saying that, he took out a piece of paper and began to write a prescription. The apprentice then prepared three doses of medicine according to the prescription.

Sigh! Qin Xiaozhou cursed Qin Fu a hundred times in her heart. That cheap father favored boys over girls and beat and scolded the original owner from childhood, treating her like a mule. When the original owner was young, she couldn't learn how to butcher a pig, so Qin Fu forced her to learn. If she couldn't learn, she wasn't allowed to eat or drink. The original owner's mother felt sorry for her and secretly fed her. The original owner was afraid of being discovered by Qin Fu, so she would eat whatever she wanted. Over time, her stomach couldn't take it, but her body became fatter and fatter.

Qin Xiaozhou was holding the medicine when he suddenly saw Sichuan peppercorns in the medicine cabinet. Overjoyed, he bought a handful of Sichuan peppercorns. These peppercorns were quite expensive, costing 100 wen for just one ounce.

As soon as they entered the village carrying the medicine, Grandma Ajin said sarcastically, "Oh, you're still taking medicine? People shouldn't be so vicious. Last night, wild animals came down the mountain to eat you, and today you're buying medicine again. Heaven has eyes! This is all your retribution."

Qin Xiaozhou sneered, "If Heaven were to open its eyes, it would deal with you first. You sold your daughter and then your granddaughter. Even tigers don't eat their cubs, but you're the one who digs out your own flesh and blood to eat. No wonder you're so old and still alive; you've probably become a monster by now."

"You—" Grandma Ajin was almost furious, but she couldn't refute it. Back then, Cuihua was too thin and looked like she couldn't have children, so not many families came to propose marriage. When Grandma Ajin saw that she couldn't get a generous dowry from Cuihua, she demanded that Cuihua stay at home and work until she was eighteen years old. That's why she was married off by the government. In the past two years, she has sold two more granddaughters. Some people in the village look down on her, but she has no guilt. So what if she sold her money-losing children!

"Bullshit! Those money-losing machines are just for selling to make money for my precious grandson!"

Qin Xiaozhou, however, was quick-witted and couldn't hold back her anger. "Stay away from me, you old monster! You even named your grandson A Jin. Just because everyone calls you Grandma A Jin, does that mean you're some kind of golden elder? Do you think you're so precious? You don't discipline your child properly all day long, all you do is gossip about this and that. Aren't you afraid that your tongue will rot before you even get buried?"

Grandma Ajin went berserk, yelling, "How dare you insult my grandson! You shrew!"

"So what if I scold your grandson? All the upbringing your ancestors for eighteen generations couldn't raise a normal child. Do you really think he's a piece of gold? Someone like you, even if you were a piece of gold, you would only give birth to a piece of latrine rock. Oh! You're not even worthy of gold. Do you really think gold can grow out of a crack in a rotten rock? A phoenix can't grow out of a chicken coop! Keep dreaming. A piece of latrine rock is only fit to be shitted on and tiptoed on."

Going crazy makes people happy!

Qin Xiaozhou spat and strode home with a triumphant air.

Lu Yunfeng followed behind, speechless. When they reached the front door and no one was around, he said, "How can someone as good at cursing as you have such a stagnant spirit?"

He remembered what the old doctor had said; it sounded like someone who would swallow their anger and suffer in silence, completely unlike the person in front of him who never suffered any anger and only let others suffer.

Qin Xiaozhou's medicine was being brewed again in the courtyard. It had a unique smell of Chinese medicine, and for some reason, she seemed to like it. Wang Lan was uneasy and quietly asked her what was wrong.

Qin Xiaozhou poured the medicine into a bowl. "It's nothing serious. I just haven't been eating properly before, so my spleen and stomach aren't very good. I'll take care of them now."

Wang Lan breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully, someone in the family really does need to take medicine; that would be a bottomless pit that no amount of hard work could fill.

With diligent people and favorable weather, the first spring rain began to fall in the middle of the night. Spring rain is as precious as oil. Early in the morning, Wang Lan sat in the kitchen looking out at the orchard, and took out some old clothes to make shoes for Lu Yunfeng. Men who travel a lot always wear out shoes. Zhao Fen also came out early in the morning to tidy up the clothes in the house.

The deathly pallor brought on by illness has slowly faded over the past two days, and a glimmer of life has appeared in his eyes.

Zhao Xiaosi, wearing clothes made by Lu Yuxin, was learning to crawl on the bed. The floor was covered in dust. Zhao Fen felt sorry for her new shoes, so she let her youngest son practice crawling on the bed to exercise his limbs.

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