Everyone froze.
The men waited anxiously, while the women looked on with suspicion.
Hu Yinglian, however, stubbornly refused to be saved. She clung even tighter to Xia Kunshan’s trouser leg, crying as she repeatedly signaled Xia Min with her eyes.
“I don’t want to be saved! I just want Qin Yuan to pay with her life! Xia Min, none of these people will help us! What are we supposed to do?!”
Xia Min was anxious too.
She wanted to put on an act and cry, “Mom, don’t die!”
But she also knew that right now, she needed to cooperate with her mother and let her “die” for a while.
So she even forgot to fake her tears. Instead, she simply helped her mother cling tightly to Xia Kunshan’s trouser leg while cursing Qin Yuan.
“This is all your fault! You have to compensate us! Hurry up and agree to compensate us!”
One person tugging at his trousers had already nearly pulled them off. Now there were two.
The pressure on Xia Kunshan was immense.
He no longer cared whether Hu Yinglian’s poisoning was real or fake and simply roared at Qin Yuan,
“If you know how to save her, then hurry up and do it! What are you standing there for? We can discuss compensation later!”
Qin Yuan was still burning with a high fever, and her head felt as though it were splitting apart.
But at this moment, she was incredibly excited.
Every shout made her throat ache, yet she willingly raised her hoarse voice.
“Fine! I’ll save her! Uncle Captain, hurry and scoop up a big ladle of manure! Pouring it into her mouth will not only make her vomit, but it’ll also neutralize the pesticide toxins in her stomach!
“Hurry! This is the best remedy I learned when I worked as a health worker! Hu Yinglian drank so much dichlorvos just now that there’s no way we’ll get her to the clinic in time. Hurry up and get it! Make sure it’s a full ladle!”
Everyone fell silent.
“…”
They suspected she was lying.
Unfortunately, they had no proof.
After all, drinking pesticide wasn’t exactly unheard of in the countryside. Everyone knew that even after being sent to the hospital, the first thing doctors would do was induce vomiting and then wash out the stomach.
As for manure…
Just hearing the word was enough to make people imagine the smell.
Surely it would be extremely effective at inducing vomiting.
So…
Should they fetch it or not?
Qin Yuan shouted again in her broken, raspy voice,
“Hurry! The longer you wait, the harder it’ll be to save her! There’s such a cheap and convenient remedy right here, yet none of you are moving. Are you planning to just stand there and watch her die?”
The production team captain actually moved.
After all, he wasn’t the one who had to drink it!
Scooping up some manure was no big deal. But if he refused, he might be accused of standing by and letting someone die.
As the team captain, how could he not know which choice was better?
When Hu Yinglian saw that he had actually gone out to fetch manure, the mask of agony she’d painstakingly put on instantly cracked.
She abruptly released Xia Kunshan’s trouser leg, pointed at Qin Yuan, and erupted into curses.
“You animal! You wretched little bitch! You’re doing this on purpose! Who makes someone eat manure?! You’re vicious! I don’t want to live anymore! I’m going to kill you!”
But Qin Yuan immediately pointed at her and shouted to the crowd,
“Quick, hold her down! The pesticide toxins have already taken effect! She’s starting to talk nonsense! This is already a medical condition—we have to treat her!
“Hurry and pour the manure down her throat to make her vomit! There’s still time to save her! If we wait any longer, it’ll be too late!”
This was the countryside.
Other supplies might be scarce, but manure?
There was as much as anyone could possibly want, available whenever needed.
In summer, you could even get it fresh and warm.
The team captain rushed to the neighboring household’s manure pit in just a few strides, grabbed the long-handled manure ladle, scooped up a huge, heaping portion, and hurried back inside.
“It’s here! It’s here! Everyone, move aside! The manure’s here!”
Revenge truly was intoxicating.
The moment Qin Yuan saw the captain rushing in with the ladle, she instantly forgot that she was still running a high fever.
She became more energetic than ever.
She hurried to the doorway of the main room and voluntarily took the manure ladle from his hands.
“I have experience! I’ll pour it in!
“Quick, hold Hu Yinglian down! If you don’t hold her properly and this splashes all over everyone, don’t blame me!”
The instant those words left her mouth, every woman Hu Yinglian had brought with her rushed forward without hesitation and pinned her down with all their strength.
It wasn’t that they were heartless.
Anyone with even a little experience of rural life knew that a manure ladle was nothing like the small porcelain spoons used for eating.
Its handle was long and thick.
Swing one around, and anything within several meters could become collateral damage.
Right now, Qin Yuan was standing in the doorway with the manure ladle in her hands, blocking the only convenient escape route.
There was nowhere for the people inside to hide.
If Hu Yinglian struggled wildly and caused the contents to splash everywhere…
Everyone present could suffer the consequences.
Seeking good fortune and avoiding disaster was only human nature.
At a moment like this, helping restrain Hu Yinglian was obviously the wisest decision.
And so, countless hands reached toward Hu Yinglian.
Then the overwhelming stench of manure assaulted her nose.
Every last bit of her act vanished instantly.
If she didn’t tell the truth now, she was really going to eat manure.
It wasn’t as if she were some heroic woman who would rather die than surrender.
She didn’t dare hide the truth any longer and desperately begged for mercy.
“Ah! Let go of me! I’ll tell the truth! I didn’t drink dichlorvos! It was sugar water! Let me go! I don’t want to drink manure!”
Too late.
If anyone else had been holding that manure ladle, perhaps there would still have been room for negotiation.
Unfortunately for Hu Yinglian, the person holding it was Qin Yuan.
In Qin Yuan’s previous life, every single day she remained alive, she had been forced to wait on Hu Yinglian hand and foot, even cleaning up her urine and feces.
Not even the final stages of Qin Yuan’s cancer had spared her from that humiliation.
Even until the moment she died, Qin Yuan remembered what Hu Yinglian had done when she had become too sick to get out of bed.
Hu Yinglian had taken the chamber pot filled with an entire night’s worth of waste and dumped it directly onto Qin Yuan’s bed.
And the reason?
Qin Yuan had failed to get up and empty Hu Yinglian’s spittoon.
Back then, Qin Yuan hadn’t even possessed enough strength to clean herself or the bed.
In the end, she had died without even a shred of dignity.
Remembering that alone, how could Qin Yuan possibly spare Hu Yinglian after being reborn?
“Everyone, pay attention! The patient is determined to die, so she’s starting to lie and make excuses! We must administer the medicine immediately!
“Don’t let go until I count to three!
“One—
“Two—”
Qin Yuan shouted loudly.
Her arm suddenly swung upward in one swift, decisive motion.
She didn’t even finish counting.
The manure ladle had already come crashing down over Hu Yinglian’s head.
Only then did Qin Yuan loudly finish the count.
“Three!”
Ahem…
Perhaps she had been just a tiny bit early.
But the results were outstanding.
Hu Yinglian was completely caught off guard and immediately found herself covered from head to toe.
Her arms and shoulders were firmly pinned down, leaving her unable to do anything except thrash her head from side to side.
Filth splattered everywhere, covering the faces and clothes of the women surrounding her.
The scene descended into indescribable chaos.
And the result was—
Hu Yinglian vomited.
Xia Min vomited.
Fourth Aunt Mao vomited.
Every auntie who had come over to support Hu Yinglian failed to escape.
They all vomited until they were dizzy and weak.
Among all the women present, only Ming Shuangfeng, who had hidden in a corner and hadn’t dared approach, and Qin Yuan, who was still holding the manure ladle, remained completely untouched.
Qin Yuan even held the ladle high like a victorious general raising her battle flag.
She turned toward Xia Kunshan and the other men and proudly claimed credit.
“See?! I told you it would work! She vomited, so she’s fine now!”
The men stared at her.
“…”
No one dared speak.
Under circumstances like these, anything they said would be inappropriate.
They were all terrified that one wrong sentence might cause one of the manure-splattered women to turn on them.
After all, the women were already arguing among themselves.
Any man with even the slightest experience of married life knew one thing—
Women in this state absolutely could not be provoked.
Just look at them!
Those who had only been lightly splattered immediately pointed at Hu Yinglian after they finished vomiting and cursed furiously.
“Pah! Third Xia’s wife, we came here to help you, and you splattered manure all over me!”
Those who had been hit worse were still dry-heaving, their eyes filled with regret.
If they’d known they would suffer like this, they never would have come over to join the commotion today.
Xia Min had been standing closest to Hu Yinglian.
And since Qin Yuan had deliberately given the mother-and-daughter pair some extra “attention,” the two of them were now vomiting so violently that neither could even speak.
Only Fourth Aunt Mao remained clearheaded enough to maintain her unwavering loyalty.
While retching so hard that she could barely breathe, she raised a trembling finger toward Qin Yuan.
“Y-You… didn’t count to three… Ugh!”
Unfortunately, she was exhausted from vomiting, and her voice was barely audible.
Her complaint disappeared beneath the surrounding chaos and arguments.
Exactly zero people cared.