Chapter 414: Don’t Ask Anymore

“No need to thank us. If anything, we should be thanking you. If it weren’t for you all today, we wouldn’t have known something so disgusting was living inside our bodies. But now that it’s out, we can finally breathe easy.” Dazhu chuckled as he spoke.

“You really pulled it out?” someone asked in surprise upon hearing that.

“Ugh, why are you asking that? That’s so gross—can’t we eat in peace?” someone at the table glared at the question-asker with a disgusted expression.

Seeing everyone giving him disapproving looks, the person immediately apologized with an embarrassed face. “Sorry, sorry. I was just too curious and forgot we were still eating. I won’t ask anymore, really.”

Dazhu couldn’t help laughing at their squeamish reactions. “You city folks are too delicate. Us country folks don’t mind chatting about stuff like this during meals.”

“You say one more word, and we’re throwing you out!” someone shouted at him, face pale with nausea.

Seeing their reactions, Dazhu burst into laughter again. Soon, the entire courtyard was filled with sounds of gagging and a mix of laughter and scolding.

Even with the strange atmosphere, everyone still managed to finish lunch.

After the meal, they rested for half an hour. During that time, Li Yiyi made quite a few Hundred Poison Pills and handed them to the village chief.

“Great, great. With these pills, the whole village doesn’t have to be afraid of those parasites anymore.” The old village chief beamed as he held the little pills like they were gold.

“They’re afraid of this medicine. Make a solution with a 1-to-10 ratio, and sprinkle it around areas where you usually get your water. Do it once a day for half a month,” Li Yiyi instructed Dazhu.

She could tell that once the old chief stepped down, Dazhu would likely take over leadership of the village. That’s why she gave him the instructions.

Once everything was explained, it was time for them to leave the village.

When they left, the entire village came out to see them off, walking them all the way to the village entrance. Only then did Li Yiyi stop them.

“This is far enough. If anything comes up in the future, just call this number.” Before she left, Li Yiyi handed them her home phone number.

Dazhu clutched the piece of paper like it was a treasure and smiled. “Got it, Doctor Li. Safe travels!”

And so, with the villagers sending them off, they finally left the village behind.

It wasn’t until the next day, after returning to town, that Li Yiyi learned from Gu Weiwei that the entire situation had been a setup orchestrated by Ye Fan.

The people he claimed he saw going into the mountains didn’t exist. He was just using her to look for the Hundred Immortal Herb he had overheard villagers mention.

Unfortunately, Ye Fan was now dead—truly and utterly dead. There was no way to find out who had put him up to it.

So the case became a dead end.

With the matter wrapped up, Li Yiyi boarded the plane Comrade Shen arranged for her and began her journey home.

When she arrived, it was already afternoon. Without informing anyone, she caught a ride with a local villager from a village near the military base and returned to the military compound.

Carrying several bags, she had just reached the door when she heard two children talking to the three elderly family members inside.

“I miss Mom and Dad. They haven’t called in so long,” Jiang Zhanpeng said, chewing on a piece of meat, but it didn’t taste good anymore because he missed his parents so much.

“I miss Mom too. I wonder when they’ll come home,” Jiang Yueyue added with a look full of longing.

The three elders taking care of the siblings looked at the drooping children and felt their hearts ache.

“Guess who it is!” Li Yiyi called loudly from the doorway, heart aching at the scene inside.

“It’s Mom! Mom’s back!” the two children shouted in surprise from the living room.

A second later, two small figures came running out. When they saw Li Yiyi standing there at the door, their eyes turned red, and then they rushed forward to hug her legs.

“Mom, why did you come back so late? You didn’t even call! Sis and I missed you so much!” Jiang Zhanpeng clung to one of her legs, crying and talking at the same time.

Li Yiyi looked at her son, whose runny nose was about to get all over her pants, and pulled him back a bit with a slight grimace. “Hey, little man, can you stop crying like that? Your nose is running all over, it’s gross.”

Jiang Zhanpeng was devastated. After all those days apart, the first thing his mom said when she came home was to complain about how ugly he looked crying. His heart ached even more, and he cried louder. “Mom, are you really my mom? I’m crying my heart out here ‘cause I missed you, and you don’t even feel bad? You just complain about me? You must not be my real mom. Give me back my real mom!”

Jiang Yueyue, who had just opened her mouth to speak, stopped when she saw her little brother crying like a fool. Her face was full of disgust, and she subtly scooted away from him.

If an outsider saw this, she would absolutely never admit he was her brother. So embarrassing.

A boy crying harder than a girl—what a disgrace.

“You little brat, shut up! You’re making us all lose face. Cry like that again and I’ll toss you out of the house.” Jiang Yueyue finally spoke, unable to bear it anymore. As his big sister, she knew all too well what kind of person her little brother was.

She could tell at a glance that he was just putting on a show.

Li Yiyi had been wracking her brain trying to figure out how to calm her crying son, but before she could do anything, her daughter’s roar did the trick. Her son, who had just been sobbing like someone died, suddenly stopped crying and even smiled sheepishly at his sister.

“I’m not crying anymore! I’m done, really. Sis, don’t be mad—let’s talk it out, okay? No need to get angry!” Jiang Zhanpeng quickly plastered a fawning smile on his face, trying to appease his sister.

To others, his sister might seem like a quiet, well-mannered girl with good grades, but only he knew—when his sister got mad, she was scarier than a lion roaring from the east.

In this house, the one person you never mess with was his sister. That was his number one rule.