Chapter 71: Rumors and rumors

Liu Cuifang was furious, “Lin Yuexi, I’m Lu Cheng’s mother. He’s my son. If you’re talking about being irrelevant, you’re the one who’s most irrelevant to him…”

“You’re Lu Cheng’s mother? You have the nerve to say that? Do you even deserve to be his mother? Lu Cheng risked his life in the army, but you stayed at home and swallowed his allowance, abusing his wife and children…”

“Lin Yuexi, you bitch! You’re stirring up trouble between us, mother and son! Lu Cheng is my son. Shouldn’t I be the one spending his allowance?” Liu Cuifang said through gritted teeth.

“Liu Cuifang, I respect you as my mother, but you keep testing my patience. I’ve said it before, Lin Yuexi is my wife, my children’s mother. I won’t allow you to insult her like this. If you continue to insult Yuexi, besides the 15 yuan monthly allowance I send you, you’ll have to return every single yuan of the 30 yuan allowance you embezzled every month for the past five years…”

Liu Cuifang’s face went pale, and her body trembled slightly. She couldn’t believe that Lu Cheng would go to such lengths for Lin Yuexi. She knew that the 30 yuan allowance every month wasn’t a small sum for her. She had lived comfortably in the village with that money for years. If she had to return it all, how would she live in the future?

“Lu Cheng, you… you can’t do this to me. I’m your own mother!” Liu Cuifang’s voice held a hint of panic and despair.

Lu Cheng’s eyes were firm and cold. “Mother, I’ve always been grateful for your upbringing, but you can’t go too far. Yuexi and I just want to live a peaceful life. If you continue to make trouble like this, don’t blame me for not considering family ties.”

Lin Yuexi looked at Liu Cuifang’s expression and felt a surge of satisfaction, but she didn’t want to make things too awkward. After all, Liu Cuifang was still Lu Cheng’s mother. In this era, filial piety was still highly valued. Although they had severed ties, she couldn’t forget the debt of birth. If she continued like this, it would be bad for Lu Cheng’s reputation. So she said to Lu Cheng, “Lu Cheng, let’s forget it. Consider those allowances as repayment for her raising you. We’ll just ignore her from now on.”

Lu Cheng gently patted Lin Yuexi’s hand. He didn’t say anything, but his eyes showed gratitude towards her.

Seeing Lu Cheng’s resolute attitude, Liu Cuifang, though still unwilling, dared not say anything more. She could only leave Lu Cheng’s house dejectedly. Along the way, she was filled with resentment towards Lin Yuexi. She believed that her current predicament was all because of that woman.

Meanwhile, Xia Ziying, furious, had already returned to Liu Cuifang’s house. She picked up her bag and prepared to leave. Li Xiuyin quickly stopped her. “Ziying, what are you doing? You can’t leave like this.”

Xia Ziying snorted coldly, “Lu Cheng doesn’t even care about me. Why should I stay here? To humiliate myself?”

“Ziying, you can’t leave. If you’re going to leave, you have to wait for Mother to come back…” Li Xiuyin persuaded.

Xia Ziying hesitated for a moment but then thought about the glory of becoming a military officer’s wife and nodded. “Okay, I’ll do as you say and wait for Mother to come back…”

Just then, Liu Cuifang returned angrily. Li Xiuyin eagerly asked about the situation, and Liu Cuifang recounted Lu Cheng’s words, embellishing them to make them even worse.

Li Xiuyin couldn’t help but gasp. “Mother, what should we do? Do we really have to return the allowance we got? Even if we do, we don’t have the money to return! The 30 yuan allowance every month has already been spent by Wei Qing and Jing Yi!”

“Wei Qing and Jing Yi spent it? Didn’t you and Wei’er spend any?” Liu Cuifang said impatiently.

Li Xiuyin didn’t dare to say anything more after that.

Liu Cuifang sat in a chair, her eyes narrowed. After a long silence, she said, “No, we can’t give up easily. We can’t let that bitch Lin Yuexi get all the benefits…” She then said to Xia Ziying, who hadn’t left yet, “Ziying, do you still want to be Lu Cheng’s wife?”

“Auntie, I… I…” Xia Ziying pretended to be shy and clutched her clothes tightly.

Liu Cuifang looked at Xia Ziying’s expression and had an idea. She leaned closer to Xia Ziying and whispered, “Ziying, don’t worry. As long as you listen to me, that position as Lu Cheng’s wife will be yours sooner or later. That Lin Yuexi is now a barefoot doctor in the village, she’s in the limelight. We need to find a way to bring her down.”

Xia Ziying’s eyes lit up. She nodded quickly. “Auntie, what should we do? I’ll listen to you.”

Liu Cuifang said with a grim face, “I heard that this Lin Yuexi has been treating Wang Tiezhu in the village. That Wang Tiezhu was arrested and imprisoned for his bad conduct. He has a bad reputation. We’ll use this to our advantage. Spread rumors that Lin Yuexi and Wang Tiezhu are having an affair, using the excuse of treating him to do things that can’t be seen. The people in this village love to gossip. Once the rumor spreads, even if Lin Yuexi has three heads and six arms, she won’t be able to clear her name.”

Xia Ziying pretended to hesitate, “That’s not a good idea. What if someone finds out that we’re spreading the rumors?”

“Humph, what are you afraid of? As long as we do it cleverly, who will know it’s us? When Lu Cheng is disappointed in her, he’ll naturally divorce her. Then the position of military officer’s wife will be yours…” Liu Cuifang said viciously.

Li Xiuyin chimed in from the side, “Sister Ziying, listen to Mother. This is a good opportunity. When you marry Lu Cheng, don’t forget our kindness.”

Xia Ziying gritted her teeth and finally agreed. “Alright, Auntie, I’ll listen to you.”

Xia Ziying thought to herself, “You have to enter the tiger’s den to capture its cubs. Lin Yuexi, don’t blame me. Why are you clinging to my Lu Cheng?”

So, Liu Cuifang and Xia Ziying began spreading rumors about Lin Yuexi in the village. At first, the villagers just gossiped in private, but as the rumors spread, their eyes began to look at Lin Yuexi differently. Lin Yuexi knew that someone must be behind this.

Meanwhile, Wang Tiezhu had been plagued by gout for many years. Every time it flared up, it felt like countless needles were piercing deep into his bone marrow, causing excruciating pain that made even walking difficult. His life was shrouded in a dark shadow.

Night after night, he sought medical treatment everywhere, trying various folk remedies and Western medicine, but his condition never improved. He felt like he was stuck in a bottomless pit.

Until Lin Yuexi became the village doctor, her superb acupuncture skills, like a ray of light piercing through the gloom, brought Wang Tiezhu long-lost hope.

Lin Yuexi’s skilled acupuncture techniques and her dedication to treating patients pulled Wang Tiezhu out of the pit. In his eyes, Lin Yuexi was a living Bodhisattva who had saved him from drowning. She was the embodiment of kindness and hope in this village. He had only deep respect for her, never having any improper thoughts.