Jiang Yuwei, thinking that she still needed to go back to cook dinner for her fellow villagers, said to the village head:
“Village head, I won’t go to the government office with you. There are too many things to do at home. I can’t manage them all by myself. I’ll have to trouble you to make the trip for me.”
The village head nodded and said:
"Okay, don't worry about it, leave it to me. You go back and get busy, eldest son's wife."
As Jiang Yuwei left, she looked at Xu Qianqian, who was still standing beside her with an indifferent expression, and said in a deep voice:
"If you still don't know when to stop, I will definitely not let you off the hook. I will retaliate against you with all the methods you used against me."
Looking into Jiang Yuwei's eyes, Xu Qianqian felt a hint of fear, but she still forced herself to speak:
"Stop making trouble here!"
Seeing this, Granny Wang, who had followed behind Xu Qianqian, quickly stepped forward to block Xu Qianqian and glared angrily at Jiang Yuwei, saying:
"Who do you think you are, daring to threaten my daughter? You only dare to be so arrogant because she's a widow without a husband. Let me tell you, if it weren't for that cripple Ning Huaizhi returning from the battlefield, you would be a widow now, and you wouldn't be any better off."
Jiang Yuwei frowned, looking at the ferocious-looking Granny Wang in front of her, and said in a deep voice:
"As expected, like mother, like daughter. If you don't like our Huaizhi, you should tell your daughter to give up on that idea as soon as possible. Stop coming to our house and hanging around Huaizhi. I don't believe a widow like her doesn't know the difference between men and women!"
Seeing this, Granny Wang was about to say something more when Xu Qianqian pulled her a few times from behind, signaling her to stop talking.
Jiang Yuwei didn't want to watch the mother and daughter put on an act any longer, so she turned and walked towards the small courtyard at the east end of the village.
When Jiang Yuwei arrived at the courtyard, she saw everyone busy building the wall, while Ning Huaizhi was washing dishes with Ning Wan.
Upon seeing Jiang Yuwei return, Ning Huaizhi immediately stopped what he was doing and asked with a worried expression:
"Yuwei, how did it go? Did they catch the culprit?"
Jiang Yuwei smiled and nodded:
"We caught him. It's Zhang Laizi from the west end of the village. He said he was acting on Xu Qianqian's orders. Xu Qianqian promised him that if he could bully me, she would serve Zhang Laizi every day."
Upon hearing Jiang Yuwei's words, Ning Huaizhi's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at her and asked:
"Yuwei, how could this be? How could Qianqian do this? Why would she hurt you? What was her motive?"
Jiang Yuwei looked speechlessly at Ning Huaizhi's shattered expression, shook her head helplessly, and said:
"Xu Qianqian did not admit that she was the one who ordered it."
Ning Huaizhi seemed relieved after hearing Jiang Yuwei's words and said:
"I knew it. Qianqian wouldn't be that kind of person. No matter what, she wouldn't tarnish her own reputation just to hurt you. Qianqian isn't a bad person at heart."
Jiang Yuwei looked coldly at Ning Huaizhi and asked calmly:
"Why would Zhang Laizi, a complete stranger to me, hurt me? And why did he say he was acting on Xu Qianqian's orders instead of someone else's?"
After saying that, Jiang Yuwei ignored Ning Huaizhi and went to cook.
Ning Huaizhi watched Jiang Yuwei's busy figure and murmured to himself:
"Could it be...? How could this be? Why would Qianqian hurt Yuwei? She knew Yuwei was my wife, so why did she treat her like this? I just can't understand it. I... I still can't believe that Qianqian did this."
The next morning
Jiang Yuwei thought that the yard at home was almost finished, and she no longer needed to stay at home all day. Today, she decided to try her luck in the forest and see if she could find wild ginseng. So she put on her basket, told Ning Huaizhi what she was doing, and went up the mountain.
Fearing danger on the mountain, Jiang Yuwei hid a dagger in her sleeve. This time, she went up the mountain along the small slope behind her house, heading deeper into the mountains. She thought that if she went early in the morning, she could wander around the mountains for a while and get down before dark.
As Jiang Yuwei was clearing away the grass with a stick and climbing up the mountain, she suddenly saw some tall plants standing out on a patch of grass. Jiang Yuwei quickly went closer to observe them and saw that the grass had no leaves and its yellow stems were like scales. Jiang Yuwei was overjoyed, for this was Gastrodia elata!
Thinking this, she didn't stop digging and started digging with a shovel. Jiang Yuwei was afraid of damaging the roots underneath, so she dug very carefully.
In no time, the entire root of the gastrodia elata was dug up, and it was as big as two palms. If I took gastrodia elata of this quality to a pharmacy, I would definitely get a good price.
Jiang Yuwei hurriedly dug up all the large Gastrodia elata plants around her and put them into her basket. Then she dug up a few smaller ones to keep and plant in her own space, hoping to grow them up and sell them for money.
After Jiang Yuwei finished digging up all the gastrodia elata in this area, she continued to walk deeper into the forest. In the distance, she saw a patch of grass that looked like ginseng leaves, so she didn't care about anything else and ran straight towards it. Just as Jiang Yuwei was lying on the ground to observe it carefully, she suddenly heard a sound behind her.
As soon as she turned around, she saw a gray wolf rushing towards her. Jiang Yuwei was so frightened that she had to reach out to block it. In an instant, a fat figure suddenly flew in from the side.
Before Jiang Yuwei could react, she saw the creature repel the gray wolf that was pouncing on her. The gray wolf looked at the gray and white patterned wildcat in front of it with murderous intent in its eyes.
To everyone's surprise, the wild raccoon was not afraid at all and pounced on the gray wolf's face. With just one claw, it blinded one of the wolf's eyes. Jiang Yuwei stared at everything that was happening in front of her, stunned. Was the wild raccoon saving her?
The gray wolf, its eyes blinded, howled in pain and turned to run into the depths of the forest. Jiang Yuwei saw the plump wildcat still standing in front of her, staring majestically in the direction the gray wolf had run off to.
Jiang Yuwei, fearing that the gray wolf would attract the wolf pack, quickly shouted:
"Wildcat, thank you for saving me. Let's hurry up and go. Would you like to come down the mountain with me?"
The wildcat glanced back at Jiang Yuwei, its two dark blue eyes seemingly filled with disdain. Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei took out a piece of cake from her basket and threw it forward. The wildcat darted away, snatched the cake in its mouth, and ate it in a few bites.
At this moment, the wild raccoon seemed to look at Jiang Yuwei with a pleading look in its eyes. Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei had no choice but to throw it another piece of cake. The raccoon flew over and caught it, then ate it in a few bites. After finishing, it even stuck out its tongue and licked its lips with satisfaction.
Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei laughed and said:
"I'm going down the mountain now. If you'd like, come with me, and I'll give you some more good food."
After saying that, Jiang Yuwei turned and walked down the mountain. The wild cat behind her, seeing that she had gone far away, hurriedly followed her warily.
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