Chapter 17 – Do You Even Believe That Yourself?

Jiang Manman turned her head and saw Zhou Ye suddenly jump up and run outside.

“Hey! Are you seriously not planning to take me with you?”

“Treating a dead pig like a live one—if I cure it, you pay me two bucks; if I don’t, I pay you two. You’ve got nothing to lose!”

But once she said that, she realized—wait, she might actually be the one losing out here!

How much does a pig cost again?

Oh, wait, this wasn’t just any pig—it was an old sow. That’s not the price of one pig; that’s the value of ten pigs… or even twenty or thirty!

Oh ho, from the looks of it, she might be facing a mission to save dozens of pig lives.

With that in mind, and while Zhou Ye was still hesitating, she took the initiative, stepped forward with her long legs, and walked out of the courtyard.

Zhou Ye thought of how she’d mentioned this a few times before—could it be that she really could cure the pig?

With that thought, he didn’t stop her and just said,

“Alright, come with me then!”

Jiang Manman followed him. The pig farm was at the foot of a mountain near the forest edge. There were a few houses, with a sign at the gate reading “Xu Family Village Pig Farm.”

She had prepared herself mentally to be surrounded by hundreds or even thousands of pigs—but when she saw only eight,

She remembered—right, this was that kind of era.

Only eight pigs, and they had the nerve to say they supplied several meat-processing plants?

She had really believed that scam artist.

But then she remembered that the only sow in the farm was crucial—it turns out this place even had the infamous story of seven men and one woman.

Back to reality, she followed Zhou Ye to the sow’s VIP single pen.

When she saw the old sow lying on the ground, barely breathing, she rushed forward in alarm to inspect it.

“Do you have a thermometer? Have you taken its temperature?”

“Huh? Take a pig’s temperature?”

Judging by Ge Mazai’s expression, it was clear he hadn’t. Poor her—she transmigrated with the barest minimum setup. No system, no item shop—just a clean 100-square-meter space.

Not even a system—couldn’t she at least have an item shop? That way she could pull out some medicine and pretend to be a pro.

Even just beast-speak would help… well, maybe not.

If they were slaughtering a pig and it suddenly screamed, “Help! I’m being killed!”

What was she supposed to do then—save it or not?

“I think the pig has a slight fever. It needs some cephalosporin, astragalus polysaccharides, and 5 mg of dexamethasone.

Also, Vitamin B and C injections.”

She paused. All those things… probably couldn’t be found here.

She glanced at the mountains and her eyes lit up.

“I have Plan B—go up the mountain, collect medicinal herbs, grind them into juice, and force-feed it. Based on the symptoms, I think it ate poisonous weeds.

It’s likely that while foraging pigweed, someone mixed in something toxic by mistake.”

Zhou Ye was speechless. He had been a little awed by what she said earlier, but now that she suggested herbs, he relaxed.

Truth was, there was no way they could get those medications— even the old vet only had a few emergency drugs.

Jiang Manman thought for a moment and added,

“Also, tetracycline and analgin—you guys must have those, right?

Give it two tetracycline tablets now, and an hour later follow with analgin. I’ll head up the mountain now to gather herbs.”

“Alright. It’s not safe up there; I’ll go with you,” Zhou Ye said, then turned to Ge Mazai.

“You get the medicine.”

They didn’t have much, but those two drugs they did have—they just hadn’t thought they could be used for pigs.

Might as well give it a try.

Jiang Manman carried a bamboo basket and headed up the mountain, Zhou Ye following close behind.

“What herbs are you looking for?”

“Anti-inflammatories and ones rich in vitamins B and C. Like monk fruit and purslane—purslane has Vitamin C. Monk fruit would be even better.

Also, detoxifying herbs.

That’s why not everyone can gather pigweed—if a toxic plant gets mixed in, the pig can die quickly.”

“How do you know all this?”

Zhou Ye was curious.

Jiang Manman kept searching the ground while replying,

“My grandfather taught me in a dream.”

Zhou Ye chuckled at the sight of her focused herb-searching.

“You seriously believe that excuse yourself?”

“Believe it or not, I do.”

Zhou Ye gave her a speechless look as she yanked a stalk of purslane from the ground.

He memorized its appearance and joined in the search. The two of them were bending down, picking through the grass, unaware that danger was creeping up nearby.

Suddenly, a snake sprang out from the underbrush, and Jiang Manman shrieked and jumped onto Zhou Ye’s back.

“Ugh!”

Zhou Ye nearly lost his balance and fell over.

“Comrade Jiang! Do you have any idea how much you weigh?

Get down!”

But Jiang Manman refused to budge—she was terrified of snakes.

“No! There—it’s a bamboo pit viper!

If I go down, I’ll die before the pig does, and then you’ll have no one to save your sow,”

She added, worried he wasn’t convinced,

“That sow could birth ten piglets at a time—maybe thirty or more in total!

For the pig’s sake, you must guarantee my safety—AHHH IT’S COMING!”

As her voice rose in fear, Zhou Ye felt her tighten her grip on his back. He ground his molars.

For the pig… he endured.

Then Jiang Manman saw him swing his stick hard at the snake. Just as she was about to shout,

“Be careful, snakes follow the stick up!”

He precisely stabbed the snake right at its seven-inch weak spot—piercing it clean through!

She’d always thought she had quick reflexes, but Zhou Ye’s strength far exceeded hers—her worry had been for nothing.

“The snake’s dead. Still not coming down?”

Embarrassed, Jiang Manman slid off his solid back. Because it was summer, he wore only a light coat.

When she touched him earlier, she hadn’t noticed much. But now that she had time to savor—no, feel—she realized,

This man really lived up to his reputation as a former soldier. His body was all muscle. Too bad she couldn’t feel the front, only the back.

Zhou Ye gripped his stick a little tighter.

It was his first time carrying a girl on his back. The soft curves pressed against him had turned his ears red.

Luckily, the chubby girl got off quickly. Though he wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, he thought her hands felt hot… and kind of…

“Ahem. The viper’s gall bladder is useful for medicine, and its venom too.”

As she said that, Zhou Ye didn’t hesitate—he picked up the snake, rolled it up, and handed it to her.

“Here, take it!”

“No no no! You hold onto it!”

From her expression, it was obvious she feared snakes. Zhou Ye shook his head and simply stuffed it into his own pocket.

“Alright, let’s hurry. It’ll be hard to find anything once it gets dark.”

Jiang Manman knew he was right and quickly resumed the herb search.

By the time they gathered all three herbs, the sky was already dim.

Going back down, she used Zhou Ye’s stick and made it down safely.

When they returned to the pigsty, Jiang Manman noted that there were fewer pigs than people, but the place was relatively clean.

There were three foragers, four caretakers, plus Zhou Ye as the director, and Ge Mazai as the assistant director…

Come to think of it, there really were more people than pigs.

Jiang Manman thought this was a waste of manpower, but later found out—they also went into the mountains to catch wild boars.

That explained it. She had noticed earlier that some pigs looked smaller, and two of them even looked like wild boars.

Ge Mazai rushed over when he saw them return.

“Did you find them?”