Doctor Liu was not annoyed. He hesitated for a moment before finally speaking, "I just took a look, and you are no longer in serious trouble."
"Um, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that if I refused you, you would be so unable to think straight. I didn't mean anything else; I just genuinely dislike being waited on by others. Truly. Your parents were very kind to me before, and I will do my best to help you all."
Xu Jianing was amused. After all that, this blockhead had misunderstood her? How could she possibly be so distraught?
But she truly had no energy left to waste.
Under Doctor Liu's gaze, she downed all the prepared Herbal Soup in one go without even frowning once.
Soon, she felt very sleepy. If she guessed correctly, there was a sedative component in the medicine. Doctor Liu gave a few more instructions before finally leaving satisfied.
After he left, Xu Jianing quickly jumped off the bed and bolted the door. Although it was called a bolt, it was really just shut tightly; the state of things in this house was truly hard to describe.
After doing this, she lay back down on the bed with relief. Closing her eyes, she touched the mark on her arm, wondering to herself how to officially activate it.
She tried touching here and pressing there, but there was no effect at all.
She dejectedly touched the wound on her forehead. Just as she was about to give up, she suddenly remembered something important: for convenience, many of the passwords for things related to her in their home were set to her birthday.
Could it be the same this time?
Thinking of this, she silently recited 1229 in her mind. Unexpectedly, a picture quickly flashed in her mind—a virtual cat image popped out, but it displayed as still loading.
This made her excited. That's great, that's great; she finally had a cheat system too.
However, she was quickly rendered speechless. The virtual little cat spoke, "Little Master, Little Master, I have finally waited for you. Grandfather said that one day in the future, I will always accompany you."
"Get to the point, get to the point!" Xu Jianing couldn't help but ask, "Are you the Treasure Appraisal Little Cute Beast? You're just a little cat. Hurry up and show me what abilities you have."
"Master, Grandfather named me Treasure Appraisal Little Cute Beast, so of course, I can appraise treasures. However, the prerequisite is that you must be able to find the treasures yourself."
"Grandfather said that relying on heaven and earth is not as good as relying on yourself. He will help you become a little genius with an eidetic memory, but you must study on your own. There is a library here; you can go in and study when you have time."
Xu Jianing felt like everything was wrong. After all this effort, Grandfather still expected her to be self-reliant.
There was no choice; she was desperately short of Silver right now. Faced with reality, she had to bow her head.
Looking at the stacks of books on the bookshelf, she casually picked up a few to flip through. Surprisingly, after glancing at the words one by one, and then deliberately closing her eyes, she had actually memorized the contents. At this rate, she finished several books in no time.
After an unknown amount of time, a commotion woke her up from her sleep.
She heard a Woman shouting at the door, "You, Xu Dongyang, look at the good daughter you raised! She actually slandered my Lan'er in front of Outsiders. That is your own niece, her own second cousin! Now the whole village is spreading rumors that the Village Chief's Erya is a jealous woman and a lunatic who beat her own sister!"
"Our Erya is truly pitiful. This morning, as soon as she went out, people were pointing fingers at her. Now she's throwing a fit at home. Oh, my poor Lan'er, to be harmed so badly by her own sister!"
Hearing the noise, Xu Jianing quickly put on her clothes and opened the door. She saw the Woman collapse onto the ground and start throwing a tantrum.
When she saw Xu Jianing staring coldly at her, she immediately stopped crying and pointed at Xu Jianing's nose, cursing loudly, "You dead Girl, you've really grown some nerve, daring to swindle things from your Eldest Uncle!"
"What a scheme! That item was brought back from the provincial capital by my Eldest Sister the last time she visited her Maternal family; it's worth quite a bit of Silver."
"What, you just want to swindle it away? Doesn't your conscience hurt? I think you're desperate for money! Xu Dongyang, you heartless man, why aren't you saying a word?"
Xu Jianing looked at her Father and Mother, who looked troubled, and sighed helplessly.
This was the first time she had seen her Mother; due to long-term malnutrition, her complexion looked sallow, and her whole demeanor was timid.
Compared to her stout and seemingly dominant Eldest Aunt, the two were not on the same level at all.
With their soft-persimmon nature, it was no wonder their Eldest Aunt dared to come to their house to cause trouble so fearlessly. But this time, with her here, it wouldn't be so easy for the Eldest Aunt to get her way.
Xu Jianing walked quickly to her Father and whispered to them, "Father, please help Mother rest first. Leave this matter to me."
Then, she turned to her Eldest Aunt and said, "Oh my, I wondered who it was. It turns out to be Eldest Aunt. Coming to our house so early in the morning to demand an explanation, how interesting!"
"Oh, Villagers at the door, you've all come too! Hurry up and come inside. Isn't watching the fun from inside more satisfying than standing at the door?"
When the Xu Family's Eldest Aunt heard this, she immediately looked toward the main entrance and saw quite a few people had gathered to Join the fun. For the sake of face, she had to stand up.
She hadn't expected that by coming to the Second Child's house so early, she would still be discovered by people.
Xu Jianing secretly rolled her eyes. If you know you're afraid, why come to our house to cause trouble?
Not giving the Xu Family's Eldest Aunt a chance to explain, Xu Jianing continued, "Since Eldest Aunt has come knocking, it's perfect. I can return the Pearl hairpin to you. Doctor Liu said that a man like him has no use for a woman's trinket. It might even lead to a misunderstanding. It's certainly not as useful as actual Silver."
"Yesterday, Eldest Uncle clearly stated in front of all the elders and villagers that no matter who injured this niece, he would uphold justice for me, and he would make the person who hurt me pay the medical fees."
"Everyone here—uncles, aunties—can serve as my witnesses for this matter. Since Eldest Aunt is here, let's calculate these medical fees properly!"
"Doctor Liu prescribed me five days of Herbal Soup and a bottle of Ointment..."
Before Xu Jianing could finish tallying the account, the Xu Family's Eldest Aunt felt a sharp pang of pain.
Damn it! It was just a little scratch. For a Country Girl, did she need to be so precious? This was clearly an outrageous demand. No, she absolutely could not pay this money.
Just then, a young woman carrying a sickle walked over, shouting loudly, "Who dares bully my sister?"
The woman was none other than the original owner's Eldest Sister, Xu Jiameng. She quickly stepped in front of Xu Jianing, holding the sickle, and glared fiercely at her Eldest Aunt.
"Oh my, a lunatic, a lunatic!" the Xu Family's Eldest Aunt screamed while taking the opportunity to rush out.
The event happened too suddenly; no one expected the Xu Family's Eldest Aunt, Madam Wang, to flee in disarray without gaining any advantage whatsoever.