Lu Yun walked out of the house in a daze.

“Second Brother Lu, my brother, he…” Lin Ye, who had been squatting on the ground, suddenly jumped up.

“Ghost!!” Lu Yun shouted.

Lin Ye quickly fumbled to pull her fallen headscarf back over her face.

Lu Yun got a heavy smack on the back from Old Lu, making him grimace in pain.

“Sorry, Sister Lin Ye, you startled me just now…”

“It’s fine… I scared you.”

Lin Ye instantly shrank back into a timid little quail again.

But honestly, Lu Yun thought her ferocity when she was scolding the Lin family clan the other day was kind of admirable.

At least, after all these years, he finally got a good look at Lin Ye’s face.

Though… yeah, it was pretty scary.

“Second Brother Lu, my brother…”

“Your brother… he’s been stitched up.”

Stitched up?

Old Lu raised his hand again.

“It’s true! Like sewing clothes—your brother… his intestines were ruptured, but they’ve been stitched up! He’s not dead!”

But they didn’t use thread for clothes—they used the fine thread made from mulberry bark that little sister prepared yesterday.

Turns out that’s what it was for.

He had thought it was for tying herbs.

Lu Yun’s chest tightened again, and he almost puked.

Seriously, intestines are so gross.

Lin Zhuang owed his life to little sister—he should kowtow 800 times in gratitude!

She stitched him back together!

The Lu household didn’t open their door again until the next day.

Villagers thought they were going to carry out a coffin.

The most committed gossip in the village—Granny Liu—rushed over just as the door creaked open.

“The meat smell from your place has been extra strong these past few days. Don’t tell me that girl of yours got mad and stewed someone!”

Everyone in the village knew the Lu family had been eating meat every day.

But it was always just for their spoiled daughter—no one else got any.

Lu Feng was speechless.

“Granny Liu, please go home, your great-grandson is crying for you.”

“Alright, alright, so you didn’t stew anyone?”

Lu Feng didn’t respond.

Besides, several others nearby were listening with ears perked.

Lin Zhuang was still unconscious, so he wouldn’t reveal anything.

They brought back some firewood, closed the door again.

On the third day, Xiao Xixi came into the Lu house with a basket full of wild herbs.

When he came out, he did a little hop—like he’d just taken some miracle tonic.

Someone grabbed him to ask what was going on inside, but he slipped away like a mudfish.

On the fourth day, Lin Zhuang finally came out—still lying flat on a door plank.

Lin Ye walked beside him with her mouth covered, sobbing so weakly she could barely stand.

Sniffle, sniffle…

“Aiya… he didn’t make it after all. They dragged it out for days… sigh…”

“You think if they had sent him to town that day, he might have lived? He lasted two or three days here…”

“Could be…”

“Xiao Ye, have you decided on the coffin yet?”

“Auntie Ding…” came a dry, raspy voice.

Auntie Ding looked down.

A pale-faced man with blackened skin and white lips was staring up at her with wide eyes.

“Aiya, Three Celestial Ladies! Kitchen God! He’s a zombie—!”

Lin Zhuang didn’t die.

The news spread like wildfire throughout Liuyun Village.

The village chief came with a group to check on him and left behind some grain.

Neighbors also chipped in—each brought a little something.

In big matters, the community stayed united.

Except for a few individuals.

The Ding father and daughter had been waiting for Lin Zhuang’s funeral to use it as a chance to suppress Lu Qingqing.

Unexpectedly, it directly helped boost her reputation!

“That’s impossible. Why would Lu Qingqing save someone?” Ding Xiang couldn’t understand.

“Looks like she really knows something. Saving Bao Shuan last time wasn’t a fluke,” said Ding Hongshi.

Still, he couldn’t figure out why that girl never showed any of this before.

He could swear, the injury Lin Zhuang had—only Doctor Pang in Ming’an County could treat it using suturing technique…

Suturing!

Lu Qingqing used suturing?

Ding Hongshi suddenly laughed.

“Dad, why are you laughing?”

“Just wait. Give it a few days—Lin Zhuang will still die.”

Suturing seemed simple, but was actually extremely advanced.

Plenty of doctors had ruined patients trying it. No one used it unless absolutely desperate.

It might prolong life a bit, but in the end, the flesh would rot—from the inside out.

Hadn’t he… experienced that himself?

“Ning Xiuwen is going to the county for the provincial exam tomorrow, right? Go make sure he’s ready. If he fails, forget about becoming my son-in-law!

Even if he used my money, I want every copper returned!”

“Got it, Dad! I’m going now!”

Ding Xiang believed wholeheartedly that Ning Xiuwen would pass. His teacher had faith in him, his classmates admired him.

He was still the most handsome man in the village.

Once he became a scholar, he would shine even brighter.

By then, Lu Qingqing would regret it so badly her guts would turn green.

Ding Xiang was envious just thinking about Lu Qingqing’s face.

They were both village girls—why was her skin so fair and smooth?

If it weren’t for that scar on her face, all the men would be drooling over her!

..

Lu Qingqing had used her family’s money to buy the herbs that saved Lin Zhuang.

The cost was five taels of silver.

She charged another five taels for the treatment.

Total: ten taels.

Lin Zhuang didn’t have that much, so he wrote an IOU.

He couldn’t help but tear up again.

Saving a life—for just ten taels—and she even let him owe it!

Over the years, he’d spent nearly a hundred taels trying to treat his sister’s face!

And it all went to waste.

He had been wrong.

“Miss Lu… Qingqing, I… I’m sorry. For everything before.”

“What’s done is done. Let the past die with yesterday.”

Lu Qingqing checked his wound and supervised Lin Ye’s dressing technique.

She did quite well—clearly a careful girl.

Lu Yun, who had followed along, lifted his chin and said sarcastically, “Shouldn’t some people be kowtowing 800 times by now?

Who was it that said my sister brings nothing but trouble?”

Lin Zhuang: “It was me… When I’m better, I’ll do it.”

“Second Brother, enough,” Lu Qingqing cut in. “I said not to bring up the past.”

Lu Yun dropped it.

Truthfully, both he and his older brother protected their sister, and Lin Zhuang protected his own.

They were the same type of people.

“What’s the use of kowtowing? Once you’re better, you might as well chop firewood for us for a month!”

Lu Yun took the chance to squeeze out some extra benefit.

Ten taels was way too cheap.

His little sister was practically running a charity!

If it were a doctor from town, they’d ask for at least a hundred taels.

And now they were burning a lot of firewood—because his sister loved being clean and took baths all the time.

Lin Zhuang nodded quickly, “Deal! I’ll chop for a whole year if you want!”

Lu Yun felt completely satisfied.

“Miss Qingqing… earlier you said… said my sister’s face could be treated?

How much would that cost? No matter the amount, I’ll find a way to earn it. Please, help her!”

If he weren’t forbidden from getting out of bed, he’d probably be kneeling again.

Lin Ye stood silently, tears in her eyes.

Her face—it had always been the poison in her heart, and her brother’s burden.

For years, it had weighed on them like a boulder.

Especially since she’d be turning seventeen next year.

This past year, her brother had worked himself half to death, afraid the matchmaker would marry her off to some awful man.

“Brother… honestly, I’m not scared anymore. Whether my face heals or not doesn’t matter. As long as you’re alive and well, I won’t be left alone and bullied. From now on, you should think about yourself more—find a wife.”

Lin Zhuang’s eyes dimmed. He shook his head. “No… I can’t…”

“One tael of silver.”

What?

The siblings looked at Lu Qingqing in unison—first dazed, then surprised, then cautiously hopeful.

“I said, for one more tael of silver, I’ll treat her face. If I’m not mistaken, the bees that stung her must have gathered nectar from poisonous flowers—that’s what caused the toxins to settle into her skin.”