By the time the sun tilted westward, work on the rocky slope was nearing its end.
The three hooligans had completely turned into exhausted dogs, collapsed among the stones with their tongues hanging out. They had never done such hard labor in their lives—palms torn raw, arms cramping uncontrollably.
“Work’s over!” Su Jinxiu called out like a heavenly decree.
At that moment, a sneaky figure slipped under the cover of dusk and crept behind the temporary tea shed at the construction site.
It was Li the Widower.
He was clutching a small paper packet, his triangular eyes flashing with malice. He hadn’t come to work—he had come to poison someone. This pouch of croton powder had cost him dearly on the black market. Just a little bit of it could cause violent diarrhea, dehydration, and even cost a person half their life.
“Su Jinxiu, you little bitch… and that cripple too… daring to slap my face? Today I’ll ruin you completely!”
While no one was paying attention, Li quickly lifted the lid of the large water vat used for drinking water, poured the entire packet inside, stirred it with a wooden ladle, and slipped away.
Once this vat of water was consumed, those dozen strong laborers would all turn into weaklings by tomorrow. Then he would spread rumors that Su Jinxiu had poisoned them and go to the magistrate to accuse her of murder-for-profit.
He did all this without a single trace.
However, he did not know that shortly after he left, Su Jinxiu arrived at the tea shed.
As a doctor, she had an almost obsessive concern for hygiene. Checking the water source before leaving work was her habit.
Just as she was about to scoop water to wash her hands, a virtual interface suddenly popped up with glaring red text.
【Warning! High concentration of croton extract detected in water.】
【Analysis: potent laxative. Excess intake may cause severe diarrhea, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, and even shock.】
Su Jinxiu’s hand froze mid-air.
Croton?
She glanced around the empty surroundings, and several thoughts instantly flashed through her mind. Only one person would use such a despicable trick—Li the Widower, that old pervert.
“Oh? Trying to frame me?” she sneered, a cold glint flashing in her eyes. “Then I’ll let you experience what it means to shoot yourself in the foot.”
She did not expose anything. Instead, she casually called out:
“Brother Zhang, take this vat of water over there. Make a separate pot of soup for those three ‘most hardworking’ new brothers! Add extra salt—they’ve sweated so much, they need replenishing!”
Zhang the Butcher didn’t understand, but obeyed anyway.
“Got it! Those three really worked hard—they’ve been gnawing at rocks all afternoon!”
Dinner began.
Everyone gathered with bowls of coarse rice porridge.
The three hooligans were starving, and upon hearing Su Jinxiu personally prepared something for them, they were nearly moved to tears.
“This is real generosity!” the pockmarked man said while gulping down the specially “seasoned” salty soup. “I used to think Madam Su was a black-hearted lotus—turns out she’s practically a living bodhisattva!”
“Exactly! This soup is amazing!” the one-eyed man drank three bowls in a row.
Su Jinxiu sat nearby, smiling gently.
“Drink more if you like it. Don’t be shy. There’s plenty.”
Huo Chen, sitting beside her, looked at that “kind and gentle” smile and silently lit a row of candles in his heart for those three men. He didn’t know what was in the water—but he knew that whenever she smiled like that, someone usually suffered.
About two quarters of an hour later—
“Gurgle…”
A thunderous rumble broke the night’s calm.
The pockmarked man’s expression changed instantly. He clutched his stomach, cold sweat pouring down his face.
“My… my stomach…”
“I—mine too! It hurts like hell!”
In the next second, all three shot up like arrows and sprinted toward the nearby grass in a panic.
“Move! Move! I can’t hold it anymore!”
“PFFT—”
The sound was earth-shaking.
The villagers eating nearby froze, then burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! Did these guys poop their intestines out?”
“They must’ve done too many bad things—heaven’s punishing them!”
But things didn’t end there.
Hidden in the dark, Li the Widower—waiting to see Su Jinxiu become a laughingstock—misread the situation and thought everyone had been poisoned. He jumped out triumphantly.
“Everyone look! This is what happens working for the Huo family!”
He pointed at the three still violently relieving themselves and shouted righteously:
“This black-hearted woman, Su Jinxiu, fed everyone unclean food! She’s trying to kill you all! Stop working! Come with me to the magistrate and report her!”
The scene suddenly went quiet.
The villagers looked at Li, then at their own bowls, then at the three men still running to relieve themselves. Their expressions became strangely complicated.
“Master Li,” Zhang the Butcher stood up, face darkening. “What are you even talking about? We’re all eating fine. Only those three newcomers are having diarrhea. How is that Madam Su harming people?”
Li the Widower froze.
“You… you’re fine?”
That shouldn’t be possible! That entire packet of croton powder was enough to knock down an ox!
Su Jinxiu slowly stood up and walked over to him.
“Master Li, your information is really quite sharp. Nothing’s even happened yet and you’ve already rushed out to convict me?” She looked at him with a half-smile. “Could it be… you already knew what was in that soup?”
Li the Widower’s eyes flickered. “I… I was just passing by! I smelled something off!”
“Oh? You smelled it out?” Su Jinxiu pulled a silver needle from her sleeve, its cold light glinting in the firelight. “Coincidentally, I’m a doctor. The three patients clearly show symptoms of croton poisoning. And this croton—only your household keeps it around as a laxative, right?”
Of course, Su Jinxiu was bluffing, but in the original owner’s memories, this Li the Widower did have some… questionable health issues.
Li the Widower’s face went pale. “Nonsense!”
“Whether it’s nonsense, we’ll know once we check the footprints behind that water vat,” Huo Chen’s voice calmly interrupted.
He pointed toward the back of the tea stall.
After last night’s rain, the ground was muddy—and there, unmistakably, were a set of clear footprints.
Butcher Zhang ran over to take a look, then came back to compare them with Li the Widower’s cloth shoes.
“Identical!” Zhang roared. “Li the Widower! You damn old bastard! You poisoned our water? You’re asking for death!”
The truth was exposed.
The three gangsters who had nearly been crippled from diarrhea were helped back. Upon hearing Li the Widower was the culprit, they were so furious they almost passed out again. They had been hired by him—yet this old thing even poisoned his own men?
“Li Pi! You damned scum! I’m not done with you!” the pockmarked man yelled weakly, grabbing a stone and throwing it.
Realizing the situation had turned, Li the Widower tried to run—but he was immediately surrounded by furious villagers.
“Beat him to death!”
“Poisoning us? Hit him!”
Just as the scene was about to spiral out of control, Aunt Zhao—who had been watching the commotion—suddenly turned pale and collapsed, clutching her stomach.
“Ow… my stomach…”
She had secretly scooped a spoonful of water earlier out of greed.
Panic erupted instantly.
“It really is poison! Save her!”
Su Jinxiu’s eyes sharpened. She rushed over immediately.
“Everyone back! Keep air flowing!”
She quickly checked Aunt Zhao’s pulse with one hand while the other moved rapidly, inserting silver needles into points like the philtrum, Hegu, and Zusanli. Her movements were smooth and precise, too fast to follow.
Then she took out a black pill from her pocket (a strong absorbent detox tablet) and shoved it into Aunt Zhao’s mouth.
“Swallow it.”
Less than half a stick of incense later, Aunt Zhao’s pale face gradually regained color, and the cramping pain disappeared.
“A miracle doctor! She’s truly a miracle doctor!”
That display shocked everyone present. If anyone still doubted Su Jinxiu’s medical skills before, they were now completely convinced.
Seeing this, Li the Widower knew he was finished. While everyone’s attention was focused on the rescue, he bolted in panic, stumbling and scrambling into the darkness of the night.
The three thugs also had no face left to stay and limped away supporting each other.
“Dismissed!” Su Jinxiu pulled out her needles and stood up. Looking at the respectful, awed gazes around her, she knew she had firmly established her footing in the village.
Huo Chen watched her being surrounded by the crowd. Under the firelight, her face looked unusually vivid.
Skilled, medically talented, and ruthless enough.
“Su Jinxiu,” he silently repeated her name.
This woman was far more… interesting than he had expected.
And perhaps, increasingly dangerous.
But for him now, that danger might be the best shield of all.
PS: Li the Widower’s “I poison myself and my own people” operation—was that satisfying or not? If it felt satisfying, type “refreshing” in the comments so the author can see how many agents of justice are here!