Half an hour later.
Xu Xinghe brought back a full basket of vegetables from Aunt Mei's house.
When I returned to the courtyard, the rain hadn't stopped.
She tidied herself up quickly, tied on an apron, went into the kitchen, and made herself a simple dinner.
Stir-fried greens with white flour steamed buns, served with warm rice porridge.
After dinner, she moved a chair to the window and sat quietly watching the rain outside.
The rain pattered softly on the tarpaulin awning.
The courtyard was filled with the fresh scent of earth and grass.
She thought of Jiang Linchuan, wondering how his mission was going and whether he was safe.
After a moment of stunned silence, Xu Xinghe turned around, took out a yellowed notebook from the drawer, opened it, picked up a pen, and carefully recorded the recent planting situation of medicinal herbs.
"July 25th, rain. The medicinal herbs are growing well, but drainage needs to be ensured. The dandelion leaves are slightly yellowing, likely due to waterlogging..."
The pen scratched across the paper, conveying her understanding of herbs through her words.
And so, accompanied by the sound of rain and my notes, two days quietly passed.
The sky finally cleared slightly, revealing a long-awaited glimmer of light.
The rain has stopped, and the air is exceptionally fresh.
Xu Xinghe rushed to the edge of the medicinal herb field immediately and carefully lifted the tarpaulin canopy.
Looking at the scene before her, she couldn't help but frown.
Despite the timely installation of rain shelters, the continuous rain still affected some of the medicinal herbs.
The roots of several dandelion and mint plants were blackened from being soaked in water, and their leaves were wilted, which was particularly heartbreaking to see.
She recalled the points the professor had noted in his notes: wood ash has strong water absorption and can also kill bacteria and prevent root rot.
Now is the critical time to save these medicinal herbs.
She immediately got up, picked up the cloth bag from the corner of the wall, and walked towards the military canteen.
They usually cook over a fire there, accumulating a lot of wood ash, which will come in handy.
Not long after Xu Xinghe left, Lin Hui appeared at the entrance of the courtyard.
She looked somewhat anxious, with barely suppressed urgency in her eyes.
That morning, she received a secret message from her superiors.
They found a supposedly very skilled Chinese medicine master, but after repeated examinations, the master could not identify all the medicinal ingredients in the ointment, and had no clue about even the most essential main ingredient.
The higher-ups have issued an ultimatum, urging her to get more ointment as soon as possible, or to obtain the complete prescription directly.
For the sake of credit, she had no choice but to come back to find Xu Xinghe. She hurried over and saw the small courtyard from afar.
When she reached the courtyard gate, she found it was ajar. She gently pushed it open a crack and tentatively called out, "Xinghe? Are you home?"
The courtyard was quiet, and there was no response.
It seems she might not be home.
Lin Hui glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, then gently pushed open the door and tiptoed inside.
As soon as she stepped into the courtyard, her gaze was drawn to the medicinal herb field covered by tarpaulin in the distance.
The medicinal herb field wasn't large, but it was meticulously maintained. Under the tarpaulin, the lush green leaves peeked out, clearly indicating that the herbs were growing very well.
Her heart suddenly raced, and her breathing became rapid.
Could the medicinal herbs in this contain the core ingredients of the ointment?
If we can find clues here, we might be able to crack the secret of the prescription!
She looked back again to make sure no one was around, then quickly walked to the side of the medicinal herb field and carefully lifted a corner of the tarpaulin.
Sunlight shone on the emerald green leaves; some she recognized, others she had never seen before.
To avoid being discovered, Lin Hui would only pick the most inconspicuous edge of each medicinal herb, gently pluck a small leaf, and quickly put it into her pocket.
The movements were light and quick, leaving as few traces as possible.
Take these leaves back and have the master analyze and compare them one by one; perhaps they can find the key ingredient in the ointment.
Just as she was focused on picking a herb with slender leaves, a clear voice suddenly came from behind her, "Sister-in-law? What are you doing?"
Lin Hui was so frightened that she froze, and the leaf in her hand fell to the ground.
Her heart was pounding, almost jumping out of her throat. Her mind raced, and she forced herself to turn around, forcing a stiff smile. "Xinghe? You're back? I was passing by and saw your door was open, so I came in to see if you were home."
As she spoke, she quietly used her foot to crush the fallen leaves into the soil.
Xu Xinghe, carrying a cloth bag full of wood ash, walked step by step to Lin Hui, her gaze falling on the pruned plants at the edge of the medicinal field. "Sister-in-law, were you touching my medicinal herbs just now?"
"No, no!" Lin Hui quickly waved her hand. "I just saw some weeds growing in the herb garden and thought you work so hard taking care of it, so I wanted to help you pinch some off. I didn't touch your herbs."
Xu Xinghe spends every day with these medicinal herbs, and he knows the growth and leaf shape of each plant by heart. How could he not see the clues?
She glanced at the medicinal herb field and immediately noticed that each herb plant near the roadside was missing a small leaf from the edge; the cut was fresh, indicating it had just been plucked.
Only the few rare herbs transplanted from the space at the very back were still too far for Lin Hui to handle.
A wave of displeasure washed over Xu Xinghe. She hated it most when people took things without asking or touched her things secretly.
However, considering that Lin Hui was Director Li's wife and had been injured while saving her, without causing any substantial damage on the surface, she ultimately didn't speak too bluntly. Her expression turned colder, and her tone became indifferent, "Sister-in-law, is there something you need?"
Lin Hui noticed the change in her attitude and her heart skipped a beat. She knew that her actions just now might have aroused suspicion, but she still pretended to be normal. "It's nothing serious. I just thought I'd invite you to have dinner together so it would be more lively."
"No need, thank you, sister-in-law." Xu Xinghe refused directly, "I've already cooked the meal myself, so I won't trouble you."
Her tone was noticeably distant, completely lacking the warmth she had shown before.
Lin Hui secretly blamed herself for being too hasty and acting rashly without confirming safety. But since things had come to this, she could only bite the bullet and try to salvage the situation. "That's such a pity. Actually, I don't know much about these things either. I might have mistaken them for something else and accidentally pinched off the herbs. If I accidentally touched your precious herbs, Xinghe, please don't mind."
"No," Xu Xinghe replied calmly, her eyes fixed on her. "But sister-in-law, next time if you see anything in the ground, please don't touch it. These medicinal herbs have special habits. Some look like weeds, but they actually grow in pairs. If you make a mistake, it might affect other plants. It would be bad if you did something good but ended up doing something wrong."
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