“Something more intimate!”
A loud boom rang through Xiao Yuan’s mind, and his body temperature rose rapidly.
“M-m-more… in-timate…”
The normally non-stuttering man was now truly stammering.
His face flushed red and hot as he looked at Su Yun, speech completely tangled.
Su Yun found it secretly amusing and pulled up his trouser leg.
“Since you’ve already decided to be my husband, then there’s nothing between us that can’t be seen.”
“Besides, I’m not only your wife—I’m also a doctor.”
“Unless…”
She deliberately paused, a bit mischievous, clearly trying to provoke him.
And it worked.
“Unless what?”
Su Yun lowered her eyes, her expression under the oil lamp looking slightly aggrieved and a little sad.
“You dislike me…”
“No, I don’t!”
He quickly explained.
Even though he knew she was provoking him, he didn’t want her to misunderstand.
“I don’t dislike you… I… I just… I dislike myself…”
These were words he had buried deep in his heart.
He truly despised himself.
A cripple who couldn’t do anything…
“Self-deprecation is something to avoid.”
Su Yun interrupted his thoughts.
“Besides, you weren’t injured doing anything bad. You were wounded defending the country. You’re a hero.”
“Not a cripple.”
“Xiao Yun…”
He looked at her intently.
Something flickered in his eyes.
She gently took his hand.
“You need to have confidence in yourself—and trust me, okay?”
For treating patients, trust was essential.
After a pause, he nodded.
He took the initiative to roll up his trouser leg.
Pulling off his torn socks, Su Yun finally saw his ankle injury.
The bones were misaligned and twisted, protruding sharply like a swollen gout lump.
Across his lower leg were multiple scars, crisscrossing like centipedes crawling over his skin.
“Is it ugly?”
His low voice came from above.
Su Yun looked up and smiled faintly.
“I once personally pushed someone’s intestines back into their abdomen. Do you believe me?”
He paused, then nodded.
“I believe you.”
Su Yun laughed.
“You believe something that ridiculous?”
“I work in the village doing farm labor every day. When would I ever see something like that?”
Her smile was bright and sweet.
But he gently held her hand tighter.
“Whatever you say, I believe it.”
He didn’t question her.
He trusted her unconditionally.
That moved Su Yun.
When she looked up and met his gaze, she saw his seriousness.
Something soft inside her was gently struck.
She curved her eyes and softly said, “Okay.”
The next morning.
After breakfast, Su Yun prepared to go into the mountains to dig medicinal herbs.
Xiao Yuan was a little worried and reminded her not to go to steep places.
Su Yun smiled.
“Okay.”
“Be good and wait for me to come back.”
“Mm.”
After a few words, she slung her basket over her shoulder, took a kitchen knife, and left.
Not long after, she ran into Wu Jiangtao, who had come to see Xiao Yuan.
“Going up the mountain, sister-in-law?” he greeted with a smile.
Su Yun nodded.
“Just going to gather some firewood.”
“Be careful,” Wu Jiangtao reminded her.
Su Yun smiled and walked off.
She guessed Wu Jiangtao was there to talk to Xiao Yuan about Qin Aiguo, and she wasn’t interested.
People like Qin Aiguo deserved whatever they got.
She climbed the mountain, following the path upward.
Coming from a medical family, Su Yun had grown up surrounded by medicinal herbs. Even though she later became a Western surgeon, she was still highly skilled in identifying and processing herbs.
Perhaps because this was a fictional world, the mountain resources were incredibly rich—there even seemed to be ginseng growing here.
She didn’t bother questioning whether ginseng in southern mountains made sense.
After all, she herself had already transmigrated into a book. What could be more absurd than that?
So she accepted everything calmly.
Soon after entering the mountain, she found a patch of dandelions by the roadside and dug some up.
With one hand holding a knife and the other using a stick to probe the path, she walked forward.
Not long after, she spotted some *Sanqi* (Notoginseng) and her eyes lit up.
She quickly started digging again.
As she moved forward, she kept harvesting herbs, finding all sorts of wild medicinal plants everywhere.
She worked with great enthusiasm, like a little busy bee.
While she was happily foraging, at the district office…
County officials and public security officers were conducting a public investigation and judgment of Qin Aiguo.
The villagers had all gathered, none of them going to work, all watching the proceedings.
The Qin Aiguo who had been full of energy just yesterday now looked as if he had aged more than ten years overnight.
His hair had turned white, and his eyes were dull and lifeless.
It was as if his spirit had been completely drained.
Supported by Wu Jiangtao, Xiao Yuan also arrived on crutches.
Zhang Chenggong, speaking with someone nearby, noticed him and immediately walked over.
“Old Xiao!”
He smiled and approached quickly.
But when he saw the crutches, his expression stiffened slightly.
“Old Xiao…”
Xiao Yuan knew what he was worried about.
He instead smiled calmly.
“I’m fine. I got injured, but I survived.”
Compared to those who had lost their lives, he considered himself extremely lucky.
Zhang Chenggong patted his shoulder.
“Good brother, you’ll get better.”
If it were before, Xiao Yuan would have thought that was just polite talk.
But now, because of Xiao Yun, he had firm faith.
He would recover. He *must* recover.
After a few words, Zhang Chenggong had to return to work.
From a distance, Xiao Yuan watched.
Wu Jiangtao stayed beside him, worried he might be knocked over by the crowd.
On the edge of the crowd, the Qin family stood as well.
Qin Jiao tugged at Xu Dongmei, spotting Xiao Yuan talking with Zhang Chenggong.
An idea suddenly formed in her mind.
“Mom! Mom! I’ve got a way to save Dad!”
“What way?”
Ever since her husband was taken away the day before, Xu Dongmei had been restless all night.
She hadn’t slept at all.
Now she looked exhausted, her hair messy, eyes swollen and bruised.
When she heard there might be a way to save her husband, she clung to it like a drowning person grabbing a rope.
She looked urgently at Qin Jiao.
Qin Jiao pointed toward Xiao Yuan in the distance.
“I just saw that the city public security officers know that cripple.”
“Mom, go beg him. Ask him to speak to the police and get them to release Dad.”