Chapter 74: News from Mo River

Chapter 74: News from Mo River

After finishing her lecture to the Gu siblings, Ye Qing's attention finally shifted to the women's bicycle.

It was a 26-inch Phoenix brand lightweight crossbar model. The horizontal bar had been removed, replaced by two slanted bars, making the frame of the bike significantly smaller than the 28-bar.

Ye Qing pushed the bicycle out of the yard and sat on it to try it out. Finding the seat still too high for her to reach the ground with her feet, she asked Gu Weidong to help lower it to the minimum.

Once the seat was adjusted, she sat on it again and it felt just right. With a tip of her toe, she sped off. It had to be said, riding a bike herself was different from sitting behind someone else. In the front, she could truly feel the thrill of the wind rushing past, whereas sitting at the back, all she would worry about was her bottom bouncing uncomfortably.

It had to be said, Ye Qing's women's bicycle was extremely eye-catching. On her ride, she happened to run into villagers from Kaoshan Village returning from work. The male comrades didn't think much of it, but the female comrades immediately had their eyes glued to her new model, unable to tear their gaze away.

Not long after Ye Qing returned to the end of the village, several groups of villagers came to her house out of curiosity to check out her new bicycle.

Ye Qing wasn't stingy; anyone who came could try it out. The size and style were indeed more suitable for the female comrades, and many of the aunts and sisters in the village gave it a test ride.

However, when they asked about the price and found out it was the same as the 28-bar, their interest waned. The main issue was that this model was produced in fewer quantities, so one had to rely on connections to get it. In Jiaotan County, it might take months to get a hold of one in stock. Upon hearing this, the aunts and sisters became quiet.

Ye Qing was a city person and capable enough to be featured in newspapers, so it wasn't surprising that she could afford a bicycle.

But for other families in the village, spending the same amount of money on a women's bicycle wasn't a wise choice for ordinary rural households.

So, while they treated it as a rare curiosity, almost no one seriously considered spending the money to buy one themselves.

However, a few of the female students in the village showed great interest after trying it out. The female students, who received settlement fees from the Revolutionary Committee, could afford to buy a bicycle if they really wanted to.

But even though they were temporarily staying with commune members for meals and lodging, it didn't mean they didn't have regular expenses each month.

Especially when the educated youth compound was completed by the end of the year, the senior students would have to move into the educated youth dormitory. If they emptied their savings to buy a bicycle, they wouldn't have much money left to decorate their new living space, and if any urgent expenses arose, they'd be in trouble.

After some secret discussions, the female students decided to abandon the idea of purchasing a bicycle.

After hosting several groups of curious villagers and students, and after dinner, Captain Wu and the old party secretary came by.

The two came to inquire about Ye Qing's exam earlier that day.

Ye Qing didn't say a word, simply reaching into her bag and pulling out her barefoot doctor certification.

The two veteran production team leaders were more excited than Ye Qing herself upon seeing the certificate.

"Wonderful! With this certificate, our health station is now a certainty!"

"Once this batch of corn is handed in, we can officially start building the house!"

Satisfied with the answer, the two leaders didn't stay long at Ye Qing's place. They expressed that she must be tired from the county exam and told her to rest early before hurrying off.

Although it was a bit late, they felt the need to immediately convene all the production team leaders for a meeting to share the good news. Additionally, they needed to quickly assign the various tasks for building the health station so that the cadres could implement their work in time. Once the village's grain contribution was handed in, they could start construction immediately!

Ye Qing only mentioned a few of her requirements for the health station to Captain Wu. As for how and by whom it would be built, she certainly wouldn't be involved in those matters.

Before going to bed, after giving acupuncture to the old lady, she went to the annex to check on the baby girl's condition. Then, she quietly sat under the oil lamp, writing about the pathological analysis of Alzheimer's disease, jotting down everything she could recall.

Although Mr. He's abdominal epilepsy might not be related to Alzheimer's, Ye Qing believed this information could be useful someday.

After recalling all the knowledge she could, her notebook was already filled with multiple pages.

She couldn't help but stretch and prepared to wash up and go to bed.

But just as she lifted her head, she noticed several scratches on the window paper behind the main house. Under the dim light of the oil lamp, a dark shadow was visible on the paper.

The last time something like this happened was with a female mandrill, and it nearly frightened Ye Qing’s soul out of her body. But now, having experienced such a scene once before, she had grown accustomed to it. She walked up calmly and simply pulled up the window frame at the back of the house.

As soon as the window opened, a large head immediately lunged at her. A big mouth exhaling foul-smelling, hot breath stopped less than a foot away from Ye Qing, with saliva still dripping from the corners of its mouth.

Behind this creature, three more shadows stood in a neat row, all staring at her with round, wide eyes.

A lineup of black coal-like figures with open, drooling mouths—they looked like carbon copies. It could only be the black bear family.

Ye Qing had assumed that after appearing on the riverbank, these four bears had been driven back into the mountains by the old party secretary and his hunting gun.

But despite their clumsy appearance, they had learned to play hide-and-seek with humans. They had hidden in the low forest for hours and only came out after everyone in the village had gone to sleep.

However, Ye Qing’s calmness didn’t last more than three seconds.

When her gaze shifted to the scene behind the bears, she was so angry that her temples throbbed, and her face darkened in fury.

If it weren’t for the fact that attacking bears was too violent, and they had the potential to go berserk, she would have been tempted to fight them off like those from the "fighting nation."

Because these damned bears had chosen her backyard to mess with!

Her carefully tended medicinal herb garden in the backyard, which she had worked on day after day, had finally started to look presentable.

And yet, this family of four had barged in as if they owned the place, creating several gaps in the garden’s fence and trampling her herbs into a mess.

Seeing the state of her medicinal plants, Ye Qing almost lost her temper on the spot.

"Ah Qing, what's wrong?"

Murong Ah Po, who had already fallen asleep, suddenly asked upon hearing Ye Qing open the back window and sensing some commotion in the backyard.

Afraid of startling the old lady, Ye Qing quickly explained, "It's nothing. Go back to sleep. Some small animals probably came out to look for food. I was just checking to make sure they weren’t stealing the lingzhi I planted."

Saying this, Ye Qing pointed to the four bears outside, signaling them to move further away, and then with a "pa" sound, she closed the back window.

When she was in the small cabin before, this was how she directed the four black bears to move back. These four big, foolish creatures understood her command and obediently stepped back several paces.

Ye Qing rushed to the kitchen and brought out a jar of jam she had prepared earlier, pouring all of it into a enamel basin. Remembering how much the bears loved malt syrup, she found some malt sugar, crushed it, dissolved it quickly with hot water, and then poured it into the jam, mixing it all together before carrying it outside.

Upon presenting this large basin of wild fruit jam mixed with malt syrup to the black lumps, the large male bear didn’t hesitate to grab the enamel basin. He led his wife and children away, running into the nearby forest. The family of four huddled under a tree and began eagerly slurping and licking the basin.

After finishing the entire basin of sweets, the family of four finally stopped bothering Ye Qing and, patting their chests, huffed and puffed as they made their way back into the mountains, disappearing from sight shortly after.

Ye Qing didn’t mind these guys mooching her food. As long as she could send them away quickly, it was fine. She just hoped they wouldn’t ruin her carefully tended medicinal plants again.

Although they had damaged her garden fence and trampled her herbs, it was acceptable. But if they frightened Murong Ah Po or endangered the safety of other villagers, the old hunters in the village might really shoot them with their guns.

After the bears disappeared into the night on the back hill, Ye Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly used her flashlight to check on her medicinal garden.

She straightened the trampled herbs and secured them, then secretly used her elemental wood abilities to catalyze some vines to repair the broken fence. After finishing all this, she went back inside to wash up and sleep.

However, in the middle of the night, she dimly heard noises outside the window again.

Hearing the familiar huffing sounds and the rustling of low shrubs in the woods, it was clear that the black bears had come back.

Ye Qing immediately woke up and rushed to the backyard to assess the situation.

When she rushed out through the back door, she didn't see the shadows of those black bears. However, she smelled the strong scent of blood lingering in the air.

She quickly turned on her flashlight and looked around. Sure enough, next to the recently repaired fence of her medicinal herb garden, there was a pile of prey. The gruesome appearance indicated that the black bear couple had just caught them in the mountains.

Ye Qing's expression froze, and for a moment, she didn't know what to say.

At this rate, not to mention protecting the pristine ecosystem of the Changbai Mountains and preventing those wild species from going extinct, she would become a feared figure to all the wild animals in this forest.

It was indeed bothering her that these black bears suddenly ran down the mountain asking for sweets, but to be honest, she had never intended to exchange a basin of fruit preserves and malt sugar juice for so much prey.

The law of the jungle is survival of the fittest and the strong preying on the weak, but as a human standing at the top of the food chain, it would be absolutely unacceptable to domesticate black bears to hunt for her when she wasn't short of food.

Although she hadn't killed these animals herself, it was undeniably because of her that they had lost their lives.

Ye Qing couldn't help but sigh.

It seemed that next time the black bear family came down the mountain, she would have to set some rules. They could come for sweets, but they couldn't keep giving her prey. If they had to, they should go for rabbits or pheasants, species that reproduced quickly and were abundant in the forest.

They should definitely not hunt and deliver rare species from this mountain; her fragile heart couldn't handle it.

Late at night, Ye Qing looked at the pile of prey and began to worry.

As they had already been delivered and the black bear couple had already run far away, it was impossible to return them. She would have to figure out how to dispose of them quickly.

After some hesitation, Ye Qing decided to ask Gu Weidong for help.

At this time of night, the Gu family's courtyard had been bolted from the inside, so she couldn't enter.

However, because Old Man Miao had moved in with Gu Weidong, Gu Weidong was now sharing the east wing room with Gu Weibei.

The east wing room of the Gu family was separated from Mrs. Murong's garden by just two fences.

So, Ye Qing secretly extended some vines to the window sill of the east wing room and tapped on the window frame rhythmically.

Gu Weidong, a former elite special forces soldier, quickly got up and opened the window upon hearing the sound.

Under the moonlight, Ye Qing was standing in Mrs. Murong's yard, waving at him urgently.

At such a late hour, it was obvious that something must have happened.

He soon climbed over the fence and, guided by Ye Qing, came to the backyard.

Seeing the pile of prey in the backyard and after hearing Ye Qing's description of their origin, Gu Weidong was also shocked and didn't know what to say for a moment.

Many villagers were experienced hunters, but if the village didn't organize group hunts, even these seasoned hunters might return empty-handed from a solo trip. This was why many of them preferred to work in the village and only hunted in their spare time. Even with the rich resources of Changbai Mountain, hunting alone couldn't support a family.

But sometimes, comparisons breed resentment. No matter how hard these seasoned hunters worked, they might not be able to catch large prey, while Ye Qing didn't have to lift a finger and had prey delivered to her doorstep.

If those old hunters found out, they would probably be so envious that their eyes would turn red.

These few prey were similar to the ones delivered last time to the cabin. There was an adult wild boar and a yellow sheep, weighing several hundred jin. With so much meat, Ye Qing certainly wouldn't keep it, so she asked Gu Weidong:

"Last time, the person who helped me dispose of the prey was Li Yong, right? Does he still want this wild boar meat?"

Gu Weidong nodded. "The black market in the county is run by him and a few friends. They take any kind of meat, the more, the better."

Ye Qing thought to herself that her previous guess was indeed correct.

"Could you help me contact him again? Follow my usual arrangement. I’ll keep a few pounds of each type of meat to eat fresh, but I want the internal organs and large bones. The rest can be sold."

Last time, Ye Qing intended to give half of the cured meat and organs to the Gu family, but Aunt Gu and Gu Weidong both firmly refused. Thus, Ye Qing’s plan to share the meat was postponed.

Since then, whenever Ye Qing cooked preserved vegetables, she would cook extra and bring a portion to the Gu family. Her preserved meats were specially smoked using spiced fruit shells and pine leaves, making them especially fragrant. After the Gu family tasted them once, they fell in love with this Southern specialty.

As expected, when Ye Qing mentioned keeping the internal organs, Gu Weidong immediately recalled the smoked sausages and bacon from last time, and his mouth watered uncontrollably at the thought.

He hesitated for a moment, then couldn't resist saying:

"How about this: instead of bothering Li Yong, you could sell me the meat. I’ll buy it at the same price Li Yong offered. But could you teach me how to smoke these preserved meats? I plan to send them to my comrades scattered across the country."

Hearing this, Ye Qing immediately recalled the unknown relative of Gu Weidong who helped her contact Shanhe Farm, and the family members of his comrades who made donkey hide gelatin and grew jujube trees back in his hometown. She felt that Gu Weidong’s proposal was excellent.

He had helped her so much; out of courtesy, she should return the favor with a gift. So, Ye Qing immediately said:

"Sure, you can have all the meat. You’ll assist me, and we’ll slaughter and butcher these two hunted animals right away. After marinating them for two days, we can smoke the meat."

"Don’t mention buying it. The hunted meat was free anyway, and paying for it would be embarrassing."

Since Ye Qing put it that way, and Gu Weidong wasn’t a hesitant person, he thought for a moment and agreed.

They moved the hunted animals from the backyard to the front kitchen, used a door panel as a chopping board, and started a fire to boil water to slaughter and butcher the wild boar and the gazelle.

Ever since Ye Qing read that book on Chinese veterinary medicine, she had become extremely familiar with animal anatomy. So, when it came to being a butcher, she was quite professional.

She didn’t need Gu Weidong’s help at all. With a few swift movements, she had the two animals butchered, bones and meat separated, each part meticulously divided. Her fluid movements left Gu Weidong stunned.

Seeing that there was no need for him to help with the butchering, Gu Weidong quickly took over the remaining tasks. He scraped the bristles, cleaned the internal organs, washed them, and handled the subsequent meat cutting, marinating, and cleaning.

The two of them worked quite well together. While occasionally chatting about old times, they worked swiftly with their hands. In just over two hours, they had processed both large animals.

So much cured meat couldn’t be left in the kitchen to attract attention, so Ye Qing used vines to weave some baskets, placed the meat inside, and moved them to the cellar behind the kitchen.

After finishing all this without stopping, it was almost dawn, and the two of them went back to their rooms to sleep.

The next morning, Ye Qing indeed slept in until late morning.

The commotion Ye Qing and Gu Weidong made in the kitchen last night wasn’t quiet. Unless Wang Chunhua and Murong Ah Po were deaf, they must have heard it.

But the two of them had a tacit understanding not to get up and check. When Ye Qing got up late in the morning, neither of them asked any questions.

Ye Qing liked to get along with such smart people. Eating meat was something that should be done quietly behind closed doors. If it were to be made public, envious people would immediately appear. They wouldn’t care how you obtained the meat; as long as it was hunted from the back mountain, it should be shared equally with everyone.

The Gu family had clearly reached this understanding as well. At noon, when Ye Qing invited them over to eat hot pot, no one said a word when plates of fresh and tempting gazelle and pork ribs were served. But when they ate, everyone opened their stomachs wide and ate until they were full.

Within a day, the news that Ye Qing had passed the exam to become a Barefoot Doctor spread throughout the village. That afternoon, when she went to inspect the sanitation of the pigsties and cow sheds at the tidal flats, the villagers she met along the way enthusiastically congratulated her. Some were curious and asked what the Barefoot Doctor certificate looked like.

Ye Qing happened to have it in her bag. When curious villagers asked, she generously took it out for them to examine. After those who saw it returned to the fields and spread the news, the village became even more lively.

Everyone knew that once Ye Qing’s certificate arrived, the construction of the health station in the village would be certain. So, everyone worked harder, unconsciously speeding up the corn harvest, eager to finish delivering the state grain so they could start building the health station. They couldn’t wait to construct the only health station in the production teams under the Red Flag Commune.

Don’t underestimate this health station. After relentless promotion by the villagers, the news had spread far and wide. Many women from other villages who had married into this village were asked by their natal families about the details of the health station. Everyone was envious of the upcoming health station in Kaoshan Village.

In a short time, Kaoshan Village had become highly sought-after, becoming a hot topic in the nearby towns and villages. In modern terms, this village was showing signs of becoming an internet-famous village.

The women who had married out of the village and the brides who had married in both unconsciously held their heads high, feeling proud of the changes in Kaoshan Village.

The unmarried young men in Kaoshan Tuen have become highly sought-after prospects in the matchmaking market, with several local matchmakers having their doorsteps practically worn out by people inquiring if there were any eligible young men in Kaoshan Tuen available for introduction.

Even Wu Xilai, who was nearly forty, had lost his wife, and was raising three children, had people asking if he was interested in remarrying.

Many of the older bachelors in the village had started to become more desirable, and the younger men in their prime were even more so. Of course, the villagers of Kaoshan Tuen had noticed this change and had become increasingly respectful of the educated youth Ye Qing, who had brought good fortune to their village.

Those women who had previously harbored thoughts of tricking Ye Qing into marrying into their families were scolded by their husbands, abandoning any such schemes. They feared that offending the educated youth could turn their entire family into enemies of the village.

These changes, of course, were not immediately visible for now. Ye Qing continued her routine health inspections on the livestock in the cow shed and pigsty, carefully recording the relevant data in her records, and informed Meng Jia about areas that still needed improvement.

Just as she was thinking about riding her new vehicle to the neighboring farm to check on Colonel Zhao’s pig farm reform progress, Lai Guochang and the police officer who had previously investigated the abandoned baby case arrived in Kaoshan Tuen again.

Ye Qing immediately guessed their purpose and felt a surge of joy.

Sure enough, upon seeing Ye Qing on the tidal flat, they walked directly toward her without even entering the village.

The police officer then took out two documents from his coat and handed them to Ye Qing.

As soon as Ye Qing saw the official red stamps on the documents, she couldn’t help but smile broadly.

One document was a voluntary surrender of parental rights from the biological parents of the baby girl, bearing the joint signatures and stamps of the commune, the police station, and the Women's Federation.

The other was the adoption papers from the county welfare home, signed by the head of the police station and the director of the welfare home, both with official red stamps.

With these two documents in hand, all potential issues were addressed. Ye Qing was no longer worried that the biological parents of the baby girl would come looking for her when she grew up. Even if they did, with such complete documentation, any attempt to stir up trouble or make moral demands would be futile.

Relieved, Ye Qing carefully put the two documents away and thanked the two men again and again.

Lai Guochang also took the opportunity to ask about Ye Qing’s recent exam in the county and was surprised to learn that she had already obtained her license.

"Didn't you just take the exam yesterday? Usually, the results aren’t posted for a week, right?" Lai Guochang asked.

Ye Qing was momentarily confused. "Is that so?"

But then she recalled how the exam had felt more like a formality, with the entire process—from answering the questions to submitting the paper, and even Dean Gu handling her license application—being somewhat perfunctory. She couldn’t help but feel a bit amused and explained to Lai Guochang:

"The license was personally handled by Dean Gu of Jiaotan County Hospital. I suppose out of respect for him, the health bureau didn’t delay my certification. They issued it on the spot."

Upon hearing this, Lai Guochang was at a loss for words.

Even the county hospital’s dean was assisting Ye Qing; this girl was truly remarkable now.

But no matter how capable she was, she was still under the jurisdiction of his commune for now. In their several interactions, Lai Guochang had heard Ye Qing express her ideals and ambitions a few times. From what she said, it seemed she planned to settle down in Kaoshan Tuen and not leave.

This made Lai Guochang incredibly happy, as he was counting on her to improve his record, hoping it might help him get promoted from the commune to the town or even the county in his lifetime.

So now, Lai Guochang was particularly attentive to Ye Qing’s needs. If there was anything she required his help with, he would go all out to assist her.

"If you need to register the child and yourself under the Zou family, just get Wu Yongbing to issue a statement. Once I sign and stamp it, you can go to the police station to finalize it. Whenever you require, just come to the commune and find me," Lai Guochang said.

After saying this, Lai Guochang and the police officer left, riding their bicycles away.

Ye Qing then began to seriously consider the matter of recognizing a godmother. If she was going to formally acknowledge Zou Ah Po as her grandmother, it couldn’t just be empty words. A proper ceremony was needed, and it would be appropriate to invite some villagers for a meal to witness the event.

Rather than delay, she decided to act that same evening after dinner. She went to the Wu family and spoke to Wu Yongbing about her intentions.

Since it was Wu Yongbing who had initially brought up the idea of recognizing a godmother, he was naturally pleased that Ye Qing was willing to finalize the arrangement.

The next noon, Wu Yongbing helped Ye Qing invite several respected elders and village leaders to the Zou family.

The whole Gu family was present at the event, and they even helped organize the banquet. Led by Wu Yongbing, Ye Qing, along with the baby girl, solemnly kowtowed three times to the old lady. From then on, Ye Qing no longer called Granny Zou "Ah Po" but directly referred to her as "Grandmother."

Of course, Ye Qing's name remained unchanged, but she gave the baby girl with a cleft lip the name Zou Yun, following the surname of the Zou family.

It was the old lady's own initiative. She hoped that the child would always remember the great sacrifices made by her husband and son and carry forward the revolutionary heroism of the Zou family, preserving this great spirit for future generations.

Due to some unspoken reasons, the ceremony could not be held with great fanfare or loud drums. Simply having a meal together was considered very formal and proper for the occasion.

That same afternoon, after the meal, Ye Qing went to the town's police station to handle the household transfer procedure. She registered both her and Zou Yun's households under Granny Zou's name, with both listed as "granddaughter" in relation to the head of the household.

After completing the procedures, Ye Qing took the opportunity to visit the post office.

She wanted to ask Xu Xianzhen if there was any registered mail or packages for her. After all, it had been some time since she sent the letter to Shen City, and by her calculations, there should have been a response by now.

To her disappointment, no packages or letters had arrived for her. However, Xu Xianzhen was very happy to see Ye Qing and immediately took her to the backyard of the agricultural technology station. She led Ye Qing into the house and mysteriously retrieved a book from a wooden chest inside.

Xu Xianzhen then handed the book to Ye Qing, gesturing for her to open it.

Ye Qing was puzzled but opened the book anyway.

As soon as she did, she was stunned.

It was a complete set of red commemorative stamp albums with the theme of "The Founding of the People's Republic."

The collection started with the first stamp issued after the founding of Xia Country by the Liberation Post Office, "The Founding Ceremony," with a face value of 35 yuan (old currency);

The four main stamps from the 1950 Party Day issue of the Tiananmen founding ceremony parade, with their grand and majestic large format;

Five stamps commemorating the first anniversary of the founding, issued on National Day of the same year, with the bright red flag fluttering, one large star and four smaller ones;

There were also stamps for the tenth and fifteenth anniversaries of the founding. The tenth anniversary set included five groups with a total of 19 stamps, and the fifteenth anniversary had one commemorative stamp.

The craftsmanship of the entire album was even more exquisite than the stamp collection Ye Qing had purchased from Xu Xianzhen before.

Holding such precious and commemorative stamps, Ye Qing felt the weight of them in her hands. Even without a passion for stamp collecting, she couldn't help but admire them, flipping through the pages again and again.

"So, what do you think? Do you like it?" Xu Xianzhen asked with a smile.

Ye Qing certainly couldn't say she didn't.

However, she could see that this album was more refined and rare than the last one. As someone involved in speculative activities, how could she deserve something so valuable?

Moreover, now that she had two more family members, she couldn't afford to be as extravagant as before. She needed to save money for future expenses. So, despite liking the album, she couldn't casually decide to buy it.

Therefore, she looked up at Xu Xianzhen with an apologetic expression and said, "Sister Xu, this album is truly wonderful, even better than the last one. But I'm not in a good financial position right now. If you expect me to buy it, I can't afford it right now. I'm really sorry."

Xu Xianzhen was immediately amused: "What? Who said I was selling it to you? My cousin heard that you like stamp collecting and got this from somewhere else."

At this point, Xu Xianzhen didn't hide anything and lowered her voice, "A blacklisted individual in the county was recently confiscated. Many of their possessions were discarded at the recycling station. An employee at the recycling station discovered the album. My cousin knows someone related to the recycling station employee and managed to acquire it for just ten yuan, wanting to give it to you as a gift."

Ye Qing was stunned and instinctively tried to refuse.

But would Xu Xianzhen take back a gift once given? She immediately put on a displeased look and feigned annoyance:

"What, now that you've become a famous person, you look down on your friend Sister Xu? When I took my cousin to you for treatment, you didn't charge a single cent for the consultation. The things we brought for you, you didn't accept either. Now, even when my cousin got you such a cheap album, you're still pushing it away. Are you afraid of getting too close to a poor friend like me or something?"

These words were quite serious, and Ye Qing was immediately put in a difficult position, not daring to refuse anymore.

Seeing that Ye Qing didn’t push back, Xu Xianzhen smiled satisfactorily:

"That's right. It's not like this thing is worth much anyway. If you're not into it, some people wouldn't even give it a second look, otherwise, why would it end up in the junkyard?"

"And if you keep refusing everything, how can I bring my relatives to trouble you in the future? Even between close friends, we need to keep things clear. The consultation fees should be properly charged!"

Xu Xianzhen said this very solemnly and sincerely, clearly indicating that she had no intention of taking advantage of Ye Qing.

Ye Qing smiled on the surface but was inwardly quite surprised.

When she first met Sister Xu, a handful of peanuts had significantly improved her attitude. Ye Qing had thought she was someone who loved to take advantage of others for small gains.

But after several interactions, she found that wasn’t the case.

Whether it was exchanging ticket vouchers for peanuts or receiving this commemorative album, Sister Xu never intended to take advantage of her. Her words reflected a wisdom about life, showing she was a savvy person who navigated the world without being bothersome.

Ye Qing quite enjoyed dealing with such people. So, when she talked with Xu Xianzhen again, she was much more genuine. She first asked about Xu Xianzhen's daughter-in-law's pregnancy, shared some important precautions, and reminded her to seek help in Kaoshan Village if needed. Then, she inquired about the follow-up situation with Song Hongying and her elder sister-in-law.

As soon as Xu Xianzhen mentioned Song Hongying’s situation, she had a whole load of gossip to share:

"After returning, my cousin told her husband about the musk poisoning incident. This revelation sparked a heated discussion, and my cousin only then realized that her husband and his elder brother were half-brothers!"

"Her real mother-in-law had passed away a long time ago. The current mother-in-law had remarried into their family when her husband was less than a year old, bringing along the elder brother. After marrying in, the mother-in-law only had two daughters and no more sons. Now, those daughters have already married off."

"Currently, the elder brother's family lives with the in-laws, and they don't know if the elder brother was aware of the elder sister-in-law's poisoning of my cousin."

"If he was aware, that would be terrifying. Who knows who came up with such a scheme!"

"Anyway, now that they've communicated, they feel this might have been premeditated. But they have no idea who is behind it, so the couple plans to pretend they know nothing and quietly have the baby first."

"The situation is incredibly complex. The more I think about it, the more chilling it gets. Her in-laws' household is like a den of snakes, with no one trustworthy. If they return, they'll likely be devoured completely. It's better to stay far away."

Xu Xianzhen couldn't help shuddering with goosebumps.

Ye Qing was also shocked. This was straight out of a prime-time family drama, full of twists and turns.

But she couldn’t learn more details since Xu Xianzhen wasn’t directly involved and only heard the story from her cousin. The information she could share was limited.

Ye Qing was left wanting more, feeling like she was missing the next chapter. She wished she could sit on a rooftop and observe everything from a bird's-eye view.

With this lingering sense of regret, she rode back to Kaoshan Village. As soon as she arrived home, Gu Weidong shouted to her urgently from next door:

"Ye Qing, we have news from the Mo River!"