With a "click", the door was locked.
Chen Susu, who was locked inside, opened her eyes. Her uncle and aunt thought she had fainted and spoke without paying attention to her, so she clearly heard her uncle and aunt's plan.
Chen Susu sat up straight. Her belly was already showing, causing her underwear to bulge out a little.
She leaned against the wall and touched her neck.
Mute medicine. If she takes it, she will never be able to speak again.
If she went out now and told them that she was much better and no longer in pain, then she wouldn't have to eat, but in that case, all their plans for this period would be in vain.
Chen Susu closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, there was a look of determination in her eyes.
-
"Xiao Man, bring the bacon drying by the bed."
"Xiao Man, what are you thinking about?"
"Huh? Oh, here it comes."
Su Man, who was sitting under the eaves picking vegetables, came back to her senses. After sending the bacon to Zhao Chunhua in the kitchen, she sat back on the bench.
She had been feeling inexplicably uneasy from the very beginning. Everything was going well, but she always felt something was wrong, as if she had forgotten something important.
What is it exactly?
Just then, Li Zhuang came back from the fields after working. Zhao Chunhua went to take the basket off his back. "Hey? Didn't I ask you to borrow some chili peppers from Zhao Laoliu's house today to stir-fry the bacon?"
"Hey, we already have garlic sprouts at home, why do we need chili peppers?" Li Zhuang, like Li Pozi, is very concerned about his reputation and would never do such a thing as asking for something.
Zhao Chunhua got angry when she heard this. "We're just going to let him borrow this and that from us? It's really a hassle for you to borrow things from him."
"Okay, it's just a few peppers, why are you hesitating?" Li Zhuang was not convinced.
Su Man had no intention of listening to the quarrel between the mother and daughter, but Zhao Chunhua's next words woke her up like a thunderclap.
Zhao Chunhua said disdainfully, "You're just like your dad, dumb as a clown. Borrowing something is like asking for your life."
Dumb..
The sound of Zhao Chunhua and Li Zhuang arguing seemed to fade away, and another voice sounded in Su Man's ears.
That day, she followed Zhao Chunhua to persuade Chen Susu, who was tied to the kang and gagged, for the first time. When she untied Chen Susu, her aunt threatened her, "I'm going to let you go later. If you scream again, I'll ask Old Madam Zhou for a mute potion and poison you to make you mute!"
Poison and muteness, will she poison Chen Susu and make her mute...
The dish in Su Man's hand fell to the ground, and the next second, she stood up from the stool.
Li Zhuang noticed Su Man's abnormality and asked inexplicably, "What's wrong with you?"
Su Man calmed down before speaking, "Today, Mom said Chen Susu was having a miscarriage. Although we had a quarrel with Third Aunt last time, we are still relatives after all. I want to go and see her."
Zhao Chunhua frowned, "Why are you looking at her? Your Third Aunt is like a mad dog now, biting whoever she wants. If you go there, not only will she not remember your kindness, but she might even get you into trouble. It's better not to go."
"I know you're still mad at Third Aunt, but think about it. Brother Fu'an probably won't have much time left like this. Chen Susu's child hasn't even appeared yet, and his family's large piece of land might have to be contracted out. It won't hurt if we build a good relationship with them."
Li Laosan's orchard was so well-maintained that not only were others jealous, but even Zhao Chunhua was envious. Although some people followed suit and planted fruit trees, unfortunately, the harvest was poor, so they had to stick to farming.
If his family could contract the land, half would be enough for them to grow crops, not much.
Thinking of this, Zhao Chunhua's expression eased a little.
Unlike Li Pozi, Zhao Chunhua was very sensible and was good at saying sweet words but harboring hidden ulterior motives. After being reminded by Su Man, she no longer insisted and said, "Well, your Third Aunt and I are from the older generation. It's okay for you to have so much contact with Chen Susu and other younger generations. Since you want to go, just go and take a look."
"Why."
Su Man convinced Zhao Chunhua, rinsed the mud off her hands at the faucet, and hurried out.
Fearing that her third aunt would harm Chen Susu, Su Man almost ran all the way to Chen Susu's house.
It was just a coincidence that when she arrived at the door, she saw her third aunt carrying a medicine bag in.
Su Man hurried to catch up. She was afraid that her Third Aunt would make a fuss again when she saw her, so she lay down at the foot of the wall and listened to the noise.
She peeked inside through the crack in the door and saw that her aunt first took out the herbs wrapped in newspaper.
It is not the dried kind, but the emerald green kind. Each plant is made up of three long leaves, and the leaves are wavy.
Why does this thing look so much like Pinellia?
After recognizing the medicine, Su Man immediately understood what Mrs. Zhou meant by the mute medicine.
Pinellia is also common in traditional Chinese medicine, but it is usually cooked or soaked in water to remove its toxicity before being used as medicine.
Although pinellia can be used as medicine after processing, the whole plant of raw pinellia is poisonous.
Eating one or two grams raw can cause poisoning, especially having a strong effect on the mouth, tongue and throat.
A small amount will cause numbness in the mouth and tongue, and a larger amount will cause burning pain in the mouth and tongue, inability to speak, and even difficulty breathing and paralysis leading to death.
If Chen Susu ate this big bag, it would be enough to kill her several times.
Su Man was about to stop her, but Third Aunt packed most of them back and took out only two plants. She crushed them with a pestle, rinsed them with water, stirred them a few times with a spoon, and carried them into the house.
Seeing this, Su Man didn't care about anything else and shouted directly, "Aunt San, are you home?"
Third Aunt looked confused at first, but when she saw Su Man, her face immediately fell.
"It's you? How dare you come to my house? Get out of here right now!"
Facing the harsh words from her third aunt, Su Man was not angry at all. Instead, she looked guilty. "I know you hate me because of Brother Fu'an. I won't argue. Whether you hit me or scold me, Xiao Man has no complaints. It's just that I heard that my sister-in-law has a stomachache. After all, we are sisters, so I wanted to come and see her."
"What are you looking at! You killed her husband, my son. Our family doesn't want to see you again. Get out of here!"
Just as Aunt San was about to push Su Man out, Chen Susu's voice suddenly rang out from the room, "I want to see Jia Man."
Third Aunt's hand paused. Although she extremely didn't want to see Su Man, Chen Susu was pregnant with the only boy in her family, so she had to give Chen Susu some face.
She glared at Su Man fiercely and turned to open the door. However, she did not leave. She stood in the room holding the medicine bowl. "If you have anything to say, say it quickly and leave quickly."
Su Man knew that it was impossible to be alone with Chen Susu under the current circumstances. She took a deep breath and walked up to Chen Susu. "Sister-in-law, I heard that you haven't been feeling well these past few days. How are you?"
As Su Man spoke, she winked at her, indicating that she couldn't drink the medicine.
But no matter what she did, Chen Susu didn't react at all. She leaned weakly against the kang and said, "Just like that. Let's leave it to fate."
"Alright, alright, you've seen it all, get out of here now."
Before Su Man could say anything else, Third Aunt started to chase people away. Su Man hadn't finished her words yet and was still winking at Chen Susu when she was pushed to the door.
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