Jiang Liuli looked as if she had heard the most ridiculous joke, her smile turning even colder:
"The Star of Literature? All I see is an ungrateful wretch who cares more about his own foot injury than his mother's life. I've never seen any Star of Literature. Besides, even if Third Uncle's foot heals, if his heart remains rotten to the core, wouldn't he just become a corrupt official extorting the people's wealth if he ever becomes an official? Instead of bringing glory to our ancestors, he'd likely bring ruin upon our entire family, dragging the whole Jiang clan down with him!"
These words pierced Jiang Tongbao's heart like a sharp knife.
Nothing angered him more than accusations of having evil intentions. Trembling with rage, he pointed at Jiang Liuli, unable to speak.
"Father! Look at Da Ni!"
Jiang Tongbao's wife, afraid to confront Jiang Liuli directly, could only turn to Jiang Laotou for help.
Jiang Laotou glared at Jiang Liuli, his cane thumping loudly against the ground,
"You little wretch! How dare you spout such nonsense! Tongbao is the only scholar in our Jiang family, destined to bring honor to our name! How dare you, this ill-omened star, curse him?"
Gasping for breath, he pointed at Jiang Liuli's nose and scolded:
"Listen here, Jiang Dani! Today, the doctor must examine Tongbao thoroughly first! Your father is just a dirt-digger, his life is worthless! Staying unconscious a while longer won't kill him! If you keep causing trouble here, I'll break your legs and throw you back into the river to feed the fish!"
Even the old doctor was shocked by these words.
In his decades of practice, he had seen biased elders, but never one so biased as to insist on treating his son's foot injury while his other son lay dying.
Moreover, from how this son had prioritized his own treatment over his mother's critical condition, it was clear the favored child was nothing but an ungrateful wretch.
"Oh? Is that so? Then doctor, please examine Third Uncle first? After you're done, I'll just make another cut. Anyway, if my father doesn't recover, none of you will fare well either…"
As she spoke, Jiang Liuli suddenly produced a kitchen knife from her sleeve, playing with it in her hand.
Her voice was eerie, and combined with her face that was half-angelic, half-demonic, it sent chills down everyone's spines…
"You… you're rebelling against heaven!" Jiang Laotou's voice trembled, though he still tried to maintain his authoritative stance. "Put that knife down now! Or else I'll… I'll…"
"Or else you'll throw me back into the river to feed the fish?"
Jiang Liuli tilted her head, spinning the knife around her fingertip,
"But if my father doesn't survive, my life is meaningless anyway. Why not take all of you to see the River God and ask him whether a dirt-digger's life is worthless, or whether the heartless deserve to feed the fish more?"
She took half a step forward, her sinister gaze fixed on Jiang Tongbao in the kang.
Jiang Tongbao shivered under Jiang Liuli's stare:
"D-don't do anything rash! We'll send the doctor! We'll send him right now!"
The old doctor, sweating from the tense situation, quickly stepped forward:
"Young lady! Let's talk this through! Please put the knife down! I'll go examine your father right now, immediately!"
In his decades of medical practice, he had encountered bandits, but never a girl with such calm eyes while holding a knife, as if she were merely commenting on the weather.
Yet her determination to destroy everything, including herself, was more terrifying than the fiercest bandit.
"Grandfather, give me the money from selling me! Ten taels…"
Jiang Liuli didn't look at the doctor, her gaze fixed intently on Jiang Laotou as she lightly tapped the kitchen knife against her palm.
Old Man Jiang didn't want to give it, but looking at that rust-stained kitchen knife, he suddenly recalled last night's scene of her violently beating the old woman and several grandchildren…
This girl had gone mad ever since crawling back from the river.
Her methods were vicious and ruthless. If Second Son really died, this girl might actually dare to kill!
He swallowed hard, finally turning around and shuffling stiffly to the kang. His withered fingers fumbled along the edge for a long while before prying loose a loose earthen brick.
"It's… it's here…" His voice was hoarse as he pulled out an oilcloth bundle from the brick crevice. His hands trembled so violently he could barely hold it while unwrapping the layers.
Jiang Liuli looked over – exactly ten taels of broken silver.
Jiang Tongbao's wife rushed forward to snatch it: "Father! That's Tongbao's tuition fee!"
Jiang Liuli flipped her wrist, the kitchen knife pointing straight between the woman's eyes, freezing her in place with legs trembling. "Yours?"
She sneered, "Silver exchanged for my life – how dare you call it yours?"
Old Man Jiang glared fiercely at his daughter-in-law and pushed the silver onto the table: "Take it! Take it and leave with the doctor quickly!"
Jiang Liuli bent to pick up the silver. When her fingertips touched the cold metal, her knuckles tightened slightly.
Without looking at the Jiang family, she only said to the old doctor: "Sorry to trouble you."
Just as they stepped over the threshold, they heard Jiang Tongbao's roar from inside: "Father! You just let her take it like that? That was my tuition fee!"
"What else?" Old Man Jiang's voice carried the exhaustion of someone who had given up all hope, "Should we really let her slaughter us all? This girl crawled back from the gates of hell… we can't afford to provoke her…"
…
Only when the old doctor saw Jiang Yinbao did he realize how severely injured he was.
Besides the visible external injuries, he had fractured ribs and leg bones, with serious internal organ damage. Based on his experience, injuries this severe should present as near-death.
Yet for some reason, the middle-aged man before him had a ruddy complexion. Though unconscious, his pulse was surprisingly steady, even carrying some resilience – unlike a dying person.
The old doctor's fingers paused on the pulse pillow. He listened intently for another moment, his brows knitting tighter. In fifty years of medical practice, he had never witnessed such strangeness.
"This…" He looked up at Jiang Liuli, "Has your father been treated by anyone else?"