Chapter 11: Hit her hard in the face!

Chang Meili leaned against Xie Jianguo’s chest, listening to his promise, her heart pounding wildly—not because of his words, but because she had finally secured the future position of a commander’s wife. Xie Jianguo had already taken her body—this was a done deal. No matter how clever Chang Suisui was, Xie Jianguo would never marry her now! She was curious to see how, without Xie Jianguo, Chang Suisui would still become the commander’s wife.

The next morning, Chang Suisui was woken up by fellow educated youths at the commune. Since the autumn harvest hadn’t started yet, there wasn’t much work in the fields. But that also meant the food wouldn’t be good.

Still half-asleep, Chang Suisui sat at the table and stared blankly at the two wild vegetable cornbread buns in front of her. She glanced at the wild vegetable soup on the table—so watery it could reflect her face.

She took a sip of the soup and already felt like she couldn’t eat anymore. Even though she had come from the apocalypse, she had never been wronged when it came to food. As long as she wanted something, that person would find a way to get it for her.

That person…

Her head began to ache again. She rubbed her temples and instinctively pushed the thought away.

“Suisui, we’ll be gathering soon. Why don’t you bring your food to the field with you?” Zhang Fen, a fellow educated youth sitting beside her, couldn’t help but remind her.

Chang Suisui looked up at the table full of people and realized everyone else had already wolfed down their food. Only she was still holding her untouched buns.

Zhang Fen had been at the commune for over two years and was considered a senior among the female educated youths—kind, experienced, like a big sister figure.

Chang Suisui nodded at her. “Got it, Sister Fen.” She took a deep breath, downed the wild vegetable soup in one go, wrapped the two buns with a cloth, and stuffed them into her pocket.

In reality, she tossed the buns into her storage space.

Wearing the straw hat and sleeve guards the original host had prepared, she headed for the fields. Since there wasn’t much work and she couldn’t do heavy labor anyway, she was assigned to pull weeds near the riverbank.

Although she had never done this before, she at least knew how to pull weeds. But knowing with her brain and doing it with her hands were two very different things. She looked at the ankle-high weeds and struggled for ages before managing to clear a tiny patch. Even the half-grown kids next to her were faster!

Staring at the weeds and then at her own hands, she fell into deep self-doubt…

Suddenly, a sharp scream came from not far away. “Someone come quick! Someone’s fainted!”

Chang Suisui immediately walked toward the crowd forming in the distance. She saw Li Chunhua lying on the ground, eyes closed, face pale and looking unwell.

“Did she get heatstroke?”
“Quick, give her some water and move her to the shade!”
“Fan her! Hurry…”

As the crowd prepared to carry Li Chunhua away, Chang Suisui spoke up. “Don’t move her! She was bitten by a venomous snake!”

Everyone around froze in shock. Only then did they notice two bloody puncture wounds on Li Chunhua’s calf, with blackened blood oozing out.

Chang Suisui immediately ripped a towel into strips and tied it tightly above the wound. She grabbed a nearby water bottle and began flushing the wound.

“What are you all standing there for? Go get a cart and take her to the hospital—quick!” she snapped, her voice low but firm.

The crowd finally came to its senses and scattered to find a cart. Chang Suisui set down the water bottle and scanned the area. She didn’t know exactly what kind of snake had bitten Li Chunhua, but judging from the symptoms, it wasn’t a highly venomous one. As long as they got her treated quickly, her life shouldn’t be in danger.

Now, what mattered most was controlling the spread of the venom before she reached the hospital.

Soon, Chang Suisui spotted a patch of Oldenlandia diffusa (white-flowered snake-tongue grass) on the field ridge. Without hesitation, she yanked up a bunch, crushed them on a flat stone, and applied the paste to Li Chunhua’s wound.

“What are you doing, Chang Suisui?! Are you trying to kill her?!” a shrill voice suddenly shouted, preceded by the stench of manure.

Chang Meili had just been hauling manure with Zhao Hang at the compost yard. Passing by the fields, she’d heard someone say Li Chunhua had fainted and had rushed over.

Not that she cared about Li Chunhua—after their fight, she’d be glad if the girl died. But she was sick of living in the cowshed and hauling manure. This was the perfect opportunity to rescue Li Chunhua and boost her reputation among the villagers.

She remembered in her previous life that the village doctor had left, and the town hadn’t assigned a new one. So the village needed someone with medical knowledge to fill in.

With her spiritual spring water, if she could raise her profile now, she might just get out of the cowshed!

But she hadn’t expected to find Chang Suisui already treating Li Chunhua. How could she let someone else steal her thunder?

Chang Suisui ignored her, her eyes scanning the road nearby for the cart.

Seeing she was being ignored, Chang Meili said even louder, “Cousin, I know you and Chunhua don’t get along, but you can’t joke around with someone’s life!”

Seeing no cart in sight, Chang Suisui finally looked back at her with a faint glance. “Oh? You know how to treat her?”

“Of course I do. I studied at a medical vocational school!” Chang Meili lifted her chin proudly, as if her credentials were everything.

In reality, after all the hardships of her past life, she hardly remembered any medical knowledge. She only said that to set the stage for using her spiritual spring water. With it, she could cure anything! Even if it wasn’t instant, it could buy time until they reached the hospital. Surely even the doctors would acknowledge her skills!

Chang Suisui chuckled coldly. “Really? So you’re saying what I’m doing is wrong?”

Chang Meili nodded seriously. “You’ve never studied medicine. How could you know emergency care? You’ll only make Chunhua worse!”

Chang Suisui’s clear eyes blinked once. Then she calmly stepped back and smiled slightly. “Go ahead then.”

That smile gave Chang Meili goosebumps. Something about it felt… off.

Could it be that Chang Suisui was challenging her because she thought she couldn’t treat Li Chunhua?

Chang Meili scoffed inwardly. Of course, Chang Suisui had always thought she was better than her. But what she didn’t know was that she had a golden finger—her spiritual spring!

She would show her just how wrong she was, and slap her in the face with her “miraculous cure.”