Chapter 20.2

“Dad Cui, I asked the traditional Chinese medicine doctor about this herbal medicine. It won’t have any side effects on your body. You must drink it; I spent a lot of effort preparing it,” Jiang Ci said as she delivered the herbal remedy to the military compound that evening.

“Alright, Dad Cui will drink it now,” Cui Pingzhou said, clearly moved by his daughter’s filial piety. Even though he knew the medicine wouldn’t help his leg, he happily accepted the bowl.

Jiang Ci’s eyes sparkled with excitement. If Dad Cui drank the herbal medicine infused with the magical spring, he would definitely get better; she just didn’t know how long it would take. As she watched eagerly, Cui Pingzhou raised the bowl to his lips, preparing to take a sip.

“Wait a minute!” a clear voice rang out, followed by hurried footsteps coming down from the second floor. Jiang Ci looked up to see her mother, Lin Wan.

Jiang Ci smiled and said, “Mom, I’m here to deliver medicine to Dad Cui.”

Lin Wan hadn’t seen her daughter for several days, and she reproached her, saying, “You can’t just drink medicine casually; it’s simply reckless.”

To add credibility to her claim, Jiang Ci brought along Dahuang. The little yellow dog wandered around the feet of several people under the dining table. Jiang Ci tossed a bone, and Dahuang eagerly grabbed it and ran off to enjoy it in a corner.

“Dahuang has a fracture; it’s different from your Dad Cui’s situation.” Lin Wan felt a bitter taste in her mouth, thinking about her daughter’s impulsive idea of forcing Cui Pingzhou to drink herbal medicine for months. “Let’s just forget it.”

“No, he must drink it for three months.” Jiang Ci was convinced that Cui Pingzhou would be able to stand up again. If Cui Pingzhou’s leg could heal, her mother’s life would be happier in the future. “From tomorrow on, I’ll bring herbal medicine to Dad Cui every morning before work.”

“You’re so willful,” Lin Wan said, exasperated.

Cui Pingzhou quickly gulped down the herbal medicine and said, “Xiao Ci means well. I see that Dahuang has recovered; maybe I can get better, too. Lin Wan, wouldn’t you be happy if I could stand up?”

“I…” Lin Wan sighed. “Cui Pingzhou, just let her be. It’s not me who will suffer.” With that, she stuffed a sour plum candy into his palm.

The herbal medicine was extremely bitter, but Cui Pingzhou felt sweet inside. He unwrapped the sour plum candy and popped it into his mouth.

Jiang Ci nearly grimaced at the sourness. “Mom, I’m leaving now. I’ll come back tomorrow to bring Dad Cui more herbal medicine.”

Lin Wan couldn’t argue with her daughter. “It’s too much trouble for you to come every day. How about you bring the herbal medicine here, and I’ll prepare it myself?”

Cui Pingzhou also thought the little girl would be too tired running back and forth. “Xiao Ci, why don’t you just move in here?”

“That won’t work. The water I use to brew the herbal medicine comes from the ancient well behind our house. I don’t actually know whether the herbs that Brother Chuan picked are better or if the feng shui of the yard is better, but anyway, I’ll keep brewing it and bringing it over each day,” Jiang Ci said earnestly. “Dad Cui, you drink this herbal medicine. If you feel anything unusual, we’ll stop. And if you start to feel something in your leg, you have to tell me.”

“Okay, Dad Cui understands.” Even though the herbal medicine was bitter, he hadn’t felt this cared for in over a decade. He’d be willing to endure it for three months or even three years.

—o—o—o—

As Jiang Ci left the military compound, she noticed that someone was following her. That person definitely wasn’t Gu Qingchuan; if it had been Brother Chuan, she wouldn’t have heard the man’s footsteps.

Turning around a corner, she leaned against the wall, waiting for the person behind her to catch up. When he did, Jiang Ci kicked him down.

“Xiao Ci, don’t hit me…” Liu Xiaozhu begged, covering his head.

Jiang Ci was taken aback and said nothing.

“Why are you still following me? Aren’t you afraid of getting beaten up again?” Jiang Ci felt furious and wanted to hit him. Liu Xiaozhu wasn’t really that bad; it was just that the last time Jiang Hongyu had found him, it was probably his first time doing something wrong.

Liu Xiaozhu’s eyes were filled with sorrow as he knelt on the ground, too afraid to get up.

“Sister Ci, I heard that Brother Chuan’s grandmother can see again. My mother has the same problem; she can barely see now. I heard you bought eye drops, so I went to the hospital and bought all the eye drops, but they didn’t work. These are all the ones I had used on my mother before,” he said.

There were over a dozen different types of eye drops. Some were empty, and others still had half left. Liu Xiaozhu lowered his head. “I was wrong last time. I couldn’t earn any money and wanted to help my mother. I got tempted when Jiang Hongyu said he would give me two hundred yuan. I really know I was wrong. I won’t dare to do anything bad again. Sister Ci, can you tell me where you bought those eye drops?”

“If I told you, you wouldn’t be able to afford them,” Jiang Ci replied angrily. The eye drops contained spiritual essence; where could he find them? She said, “Do you think every person who makes a mistake has the kind of luck to correct it? If Brother Chuan hadn’t run into you, I would have wanted to kill you. Why would I help you?”

Jiang Ci turned to leave, but Liu Xiaozhu hurriedly stepped forward. “Sister Ci, I just want to ask for some eye drops for my mother. From now on, I will do whatever you ask me to do. My mother had a hard life. Everyone in her family told her to throw me away when she found me, but she refused. She never married and raised me all by herself. She is such a good person; she shouldn’t go blind.”

“Your mother is blind because she picked up a useless person like you,” Jiang Ci said, unable to kick him as she felt anger rising. Suddenly, she was furious at herself for being soft-hearted.

Seeing that he hadn’t been hit, Liu Xiaozhu hurried to catch up. “Sister Ci, I also want to find a job and be a good person, but my family background is bad, and I can’t find one. Please give me a chance. I will definitely be a good person.”

“Alright, alright, I get it. When I find the eye drops, I will let you know,” Jiang Ci said, impatient with his persistence, yet she still decided to help his mother with the spiritual essence. “But I can’t guarantee that those eye drops will work for your mother.”

“Thank… thank you.” Liu Xiaozhu was stunned; he hadn’t expected Jiang Ci to actually agree. When he came, he had no hope at all.

Once Jiang Ci had walked far away, Liu Xiaozhu snapped back to reality and gave himself a hard slap. “Liu Xiaozhu, you can’t let yourself rot like this anymore. Be a decent person.”

—o—o—o—

Gong Liping was too embarrassed to ask Jiang Ci directly. She had observed for over a month, and only when the little yellow dog’s back legs had fully recovered did she believe that the traditional Chinese medicine Gu Qingchuan brought back was genuinely effective. It was said that this dead girl boiled medicine for Cui Pingzhou every day, and she also wanted to ask for some help for her son.

“Xiao Jiang, Xiao Sun, did you find the materials for the 40th-anniversary factory celebration that I asked you to help me with yesterday?”

Gong Liping leaned against the door of the second-floor archive room, feeling quite astonished. These two girls worked so quickly. The metal shelves that had been ordered a week ago had arrived, and the first-floor materials had all been reorganized by year and category. Every compartment had been labeled, and a comprehensive catalog allowed one to quickly find what they needed. One could locate any item in the designated section and row in just a few minutes.

Now, they all started organizing the second floor.

“What do you need? Find it yourself. The factory director and the union chairman have both said not to disturb me and Sun Feifei while we work,” Jiang Ci raised her head and said. “If you keep bothering us, aren’t you afraid of being punished?”

Gong Liping kicked at the materials that were in her way. Everyone praised how well the archive room was organized, significantly saving time finding documents. The factory director was so pleased that he issued a notice stating that no one was allowed to disturb them until the two archivists had completed their work. Gong Liping could no longer find excuses to trouble the two girls.

She was infuriated but comforted herself with the thought that the plans that could prove Gu Zhengchu’s innocence weren’t in this building, so she let herself busy in vain.

Recalling the purpose of her visit today, she changed her expression and smiled. “By the way, Xiao Ci, could you tell me about the herbs you gave to Cui Pingzhou? I’d like to try some for my family’s Pang Zhu.”

Jiang Ci dropped the pen she was holding and stood up, rubbing her wrist. “You can’t just take medicine randomly. The little yellow dog could recover because it was lucky. Your Pang Zhu is malicious and has bullied our Xiaotingxiang; even if my medicine were to be thrown away, I wouldn’t let him have it.”

“What eye did you see Pang Zhu bullying her?” Upon hearing that Jiang Ci was unwilling to give her the medicine, Gong Liping didn’t want to continue being submissive. “That little brat was picked up by our Gu family and kept alive with food. How dare she spread rumors outside? Just wait until I get home; I’ll teach her a lesson.”

“Do you dare?” Jiang Ci shot her a cold glance. “Don’t forget how Pang Zhu injured his leg.”

Sun Feifei had long been intolerant of Gong Liping’s deliberate provocation. “Xiao Ci, let’s go eat in the cafeteria and ignore her.”

Jiang Ci pointed at the results of her and Sun Feifei’s labor on the table. “Don’t even think about causing trouble after we leave. I know exactly how everything is organized. If I come back and find anything different, I’ll report it to the director. After all, you’re the only one who’s been here this morning.”

They had braised tofu and minced eggplant for lunch. After finding a vacant spot, Sun Feifei asked, “Xiao Ci, it’s said that Gu Qingchuan has been lucky and found some century-old Ganoderma. Is that true?”

“I don’t know; I don’t recognize herbs,” Jiang Ci said with a smile. “What magical herbs? Do you actually believe that?”

“Why not believe it? Our Qinchuan stretches for a hundred thousand miles. What treasures aren’t in the mountains? It’s just that no one dares to go deep into the mountains. The good stuff near here has already been dug up long ago.”

“Alright, stop thinking about that. It’s getting colder now, and we can’t find herbs anymore,” Jiang Ci said absentmindedly. She hadn’t found any leads in the archive room for over a month.

While she was anxious to find clues, news was spreading through the streets and alleys of Qincheng that the landlord’s hat would soon be taken off. Jiang Ci wasn’t surprised; she had already known about it from her previous life. She just wanted to find evidence to clear Brother Chuan’s father of any wrongdoing at the same time the landlord’s title was removed.

“Xiao Tingxiang, your sister is back to see you.” As soon as she heard about the nationwide campaign to remove the landlord’s hat, Xie Tingyu hurried back from her adoptive parents’ home.

Three years ago, she went with her adoptive parents to the neighboring province but hasn’t returned since. Now, stepping back into the small courtyard where she had lived for seven years, her eyes filled with tears.

She and Tingxiang were biological sisters. When they were eight, their mother had collapsed in front of Miao Xiulan’s door, bringing both her and her one-month-old sister with her. Later, their mother didn’t survive, and Miao Xiulan took them in, giving them a few months of a prosperous life.

Grandma Miao treated her and her sister as if they were her own granddaughters. At that time, there was also an older sister, Gu Yunchuan, and a brother, Gu Qingchuan. The older brother and sister were incredibly kind to them, making them feel welcome.

However, it didn’t take long before the family faced a crisis, and their home was raided. That year, in order to prevent her younger siblings from starving, the eldest sister married a good-for-nothing man. Xie Tingyu had stayed in the Gu family for seven years. Unable to endure the constant hunger any longer, she was encouraged by Gong Liping to leave that home and became an adopted daughter in the Xie family.

“Tiang Yu Jie!” Xiao Tingxiang hurried over. Three years ago, her sister changed her surname after being adopted by a family named Xie, and she left. She used to miss her sister very much, but since her sister never came back after Jiang Ci arrived, she found that she didn’t think about Tingyu much anymore.

“Tingxiang, you’ve grown taller and fatter.” Xie Tingyu set down the rattan box she was carrying and squatted down to examine her younger sister carefully. When she left, Xiao Tingxiang had been as thin as a small turnip, dark and frail. After three years, she had become noticeably fairer.

“Xiao Ci Jie moved in! She cooks delicious food for me every day, so I’ve gained weight!” Xiao Tingxiang was only ten, and her mental state might still be at the level of a six or seven-year-old. She couldn’t quite grasp why Tingyu’s expression suddenly darkened upon hearing about Xiao Ci.

Xie Tingyu had just returned and hadn’t heard about the recent events in Qincheng, but she didn’t like Jiang Ci at all. Ever since childhood, she had always clung to her brother.

“Where’s Grandma?” Xie Tingyu opened the rattan box containing her clothes and daily necessities. She took out a small bag of fruit candies for Tingxiang and a bottle of eye drops. “I bought these eye drops for Grandma; they were specially formulated at the military hospital and are hard to get.”

Xiao Tingxiang held onto the fruit candies without eating them. “Sister, I’m losing my baby teeth, so I can’t have candy anymore.” She was late in losing her teeth, and Xiao Ci had advised her to eat less candy.

“Oh, then I’ll take the eye drops to Grandma.” When she left that year, the family had been so poor that they couldn’t even afford eye drops for Grandma.

Xiao Tingxiang hurriedly grabbed her. “The eye drops aren’t needed anymore! Xiao Ci bought Grandma’s eye drops, and her eyesight is all better now!”

Why is it Jiang Ci again? Xie Tingyu felt displeased and threw the eye drops into the box. “Then I’ll go see Grandma.”

“Grandma, your granddaughter is here to see you!” Xie Tingyu entered the room and immediately knelt by the bed, crying as she leaned against Grandma’s knee.

“Stop crying; I’m still alive. If you keep crying, I’ll get annoyed. Did you hear that the landlord’s hat is going to be taken off, so you rushed back? What do your adoptive parents think?” Miao Xiulan saw her adopted granddaughter dragging her luggage back and knew she wasn’t planning on leaving again.

When she couldn’t endure life any longer, the fifteen-year-old girl knew she had to plan for her future. Not wanting to end up like her elder sister and marry a good-for-nothing, she had sought out adoptive parents. Now that she heard the family would be shedding its landlord status, she hurried back overnight.

It seemed she hadn’t been living well with her adoptive parents in the past three years.

Xie Tingyu cried very sadly, “My adoptive parents want me to get married, and the other party is a divorced man. I don’t want to marry Grandma; I want to go home.”

If she had known that the Gu family would have a chance to turn their fortunes around, she would have waited a few more years. After three years, she had lost much of her goodwill, and she feared that Grandma would not so easily accept her back.

“The Xie family took me in just to make me their maid. Now that I’m eighteen and can marry, they want to use me in exchange for a bride price. Grandma, these three years have been nothing short of a nightmare for me.”

Xie Tingyu sobbed, “I caused a scene at the local women’s federation, claiming they wanted to sell their adopted daughter, and that’s why I cut ties with them. Now, I’ve been kicked out. Grandma, please let me come home; I have nowhere else to go.”

She had returned with no way back, stating only facts, not fearing Grandma’s investigation. In any case, she had to come back to this family.

Miao Xiulan looked closely at Xie Tingyu, who hadn’t seen her in three years, and she was now crying pathetically under the light. She did not immediately agree, “You can stay for now. We’ll talk about it when your brother comes back.”

“Okay.” Xie Tingyu nodded obediently, “Grandma, where will I sleep tonight?”

Miao Xiulan looked at her curiously, “There are only two bedrooms in the house. Where else could you sleep? There are three of us women sharing one bed. Tingxiang is already ten years old; are you expecting her to squeeze in with Brother Chuan? Boys and girls don’t share a bed once they reach seven. Didn’t I teach you that when you were young?”

“I was just asking casually since I haven’t been back for three years.” Xie Tingyu’s face flushed red.

Grandma could not stay up late and was already sleepy by eight o’clock, “Tingxiang, take your sister to the kitchen to make some dinner. Hurry up and get to bed afterward.”

There were steamed buns, flower rolls, dozens of dumplings wrapped by Jiang Ci, and a large pot of mixed fish stew in the kitchen. When she opened the lid, the soup inside had frozen into fish jelly.

Xie Tingyu spoke to her sister, “Go light a fire under the stove for your sister. I’ll boil dumplings; do you want to eat some?”

Xiao Tingxiang opened her mouth, “Sister Xiao Ci said those dumplings are for brother’s breakfast tomorrow; he loves the dumplings you make.”

Xie Tingyu paused. Why were there traces of Jiang Ci everywhere in the house now? Xiao Tingxiang kept mentioning her; she was the one who was supposed to be Tingxiang’s real sister.

Once the water boiled, Xie Tingyu still put twenty dumplings in. After eating her fill, she dragged out a wooden basin, heated some water, washed herself thoroughly, changed into clean clothes, and comfortably soaked her feet.

She had hurried back and had only managed to buy a standing ticket, standing for over ten hours until her feet were swollen. Now, at this moment, after filling her stomach and sitting in her own kitchen soaking in hot water, she felt alive again.

It was so good to be home; no one would beat or scold her, and no one would try to use her to trade for a bride price. As the hot water in the basin cooled, Xie Tingyu opened her eyes, “Tingxiang, please add some hot water for me.”

“Oh.” Xiao Tingxiang scooped two ladles of hot water from the kettle. Xie Tingyu stopped her, “By the way, Tingxiang, why hasn’t brother come back yet at this late hour?”

“Brother went to Blackwater River to earn some money,” Xiao Tingxiang didn’t really know what her brother did every day. “He goes out at night and comes back in the morning.”

Blackwater River? That probably meant he was going to the black market for business. The year she left home, Gu Qingchuan was seventeen. He had said that he couldn’t live this way anymore and needed to go out to find a way out. Three years had passed; the young boy who was once naive had likely transformed into a stable man.

In just three years, the rice jar had the best new rice, the pantry had fish and meat, and soon the landlord’s hat would be taken off; life at home could only get better…

Gu Qingchuan had always been popular with girls because he was good-looking. Among his peers, he stood out. Now that she had returned, she was no longer his sister… Xie Tingyu shyly covered her face with the damp towel in her hands.

“Sister, that’s the towel for washing your feet; why are you putting it on your face?” Xiao Tingxiang hurriedly pulled the towel off her sister’s face.

Noticing that Xie Tingyu’s face was already flushed red. “Are you having a fever, sister?”