Widow Niu, in order to get out of that situation, kept chattering nonstop, speaking without leaving Zhang Cuihua any face at all. She wasn’t a good person herself, but the second branch of the Gu family was even worse—barely human. Cursing them a couple of times was already going easy on them.
Zhang Cuihua was so enraged by those words that her face turned alternately green and white, the corner of her mouth twitching as if she might explode at any moment.
Seeing this, Widow Niu softened her tone a little and coaxed her patiently. “Look, it may seem like I’m asking you to do dirty, hard work, but it’s actually for your family’s own good. After what your family has done, life in the village definitely won’t be easy in the future. Instead of worrying every day about being targeted by others, you might as well make things harder for yourselves on your own. When everyone sees how miserable you are, they won’t hate you quite as much.”
You had to admit, although Widow Niu’s image wasn’t great, her mouth really was slick. She spun the talk of dirty and exhausting work into something that sounded surprisingly reasonable.
Zhang Cuihua had lived here for decades—how could she not know what kind of person Widow Niu was? She was so angry that she cursed loudly. “If this work is so good, then you keep doing it yourself! Why are you spouting this crap in front of me?”
When Widow Niu saw that Zhang Cuihua still dared to be so tough, her expression changed immediately. She sneered, “You people with such vicious hearts dare compare yourselves to me? No matter how dirty my body is, it can’t compare to how filthy your hearts are. Whatever I am, I’ve never harmed anyone in the village. You murderers still want to compare yourselves to me—who gave you the nerve?”
Zhang Cuihua felt a mouthful of blood stuck in her throat. Her vision went black and white in waves, and even her steps became unsteady.
Seeing this, Widow Niu didn’t dare keep talking, afraid that if she cursed any more she might actually curse her to death. She snorted and said, “Fine, you won’t go, right? Then I’ll just wait and see what good outcome you get working in the fields. When the time comes, don’t come begging me to switch.”
After saying that, she shot Zhang Cuihua an extremely contemptuous look and walked away with exaggerated swagger.
Zhang Cuihua’s face darkened completely. She clenched her teeth until her eyes turned red, and when no one was around, big tears fell one after another. She looked unbearably lonely and helpless.
This was all caused by that wretched girl Gu Rou. Bitch—just wait. Your whole family, just you wait! I definitely won’t let you have an easy time.
When Gu Rou returned home, she handed 200 yuan to Li Xiufang, keeping 200 yuan for herself.
“Xiao Rou, what does a young girl need so much money on her for? It’s better for me to keep it. When you need to spend money, just come ask me,” Li Xiufang said. It wasn’t that she was unwilling to give it to her, but 200 yuan was a huge sum at this time. Some families in the village couldn’t save that much even in two years. Letting a girl carry that much money would invite trouble.
“Mom, this money is absolutely safe with me. If it’s with you, it’ll just get spent however you like,” Gu Rou said. What she didn’t say was that if all the money was kept on her parents, she’d be even more worried. If they let their guard down one day and got tricked out of it, the whole family would be left drinking northwest wind.
Li Xiufang thought the child was joking. Money was obviously safer with adults; with a child, there was no guarantee at all.
“Xiao Rou, if you want to spend money, take 50 yuan to buy things. The rest has to be given to me, otherwise I won’t be at ease.”
Gu Rou was about to say something, but Li Xiufang directly said, “There’s no discussion about this. You still need to pay tuition later, and Gu Chuan has to go to school too. Your past schooling cost a lot of money from your maternal grandfather’s side—we also need to give them some back.”
Hearing this, Gu Rou immediately wilted. It was true—Gu Jianguo and Li Xiufang weren’t very forceful in personality, but they were genuinely good parents. In these times, very few people were willing to let their daughters study. Let alone supporting the original owner all the way through high school—this was practically unheard of in the surrounding areas.
Fine, fine, she’d give them the money. If they squandered it, so be it. It wasn’t like she had no way to earn more.
After handing over the money, Gu Rou looked at the three people in the house and couldn’t help saying, “Money should be spent on yourselves to really count. If you have it, buy clothes when you should, and don’t be reluctant to buy meat either.”
“When I make money in the future, I’ll definitely take you all to live it up—eat well, drink well, change clothes every day, never wearing the same outfit twice.”
Gu Rou spoke with great bravado. Although Li Xiufang was frugal to an extreme, she had never been stingy toward the original owner—she never let her go hungry and even supported her through high school. Truly conscientious parents were rare.
“See? I was right to take the money from you. Who spends money as recklessly as you? Changing clothes every day—having something to wear at all is already good enough,” Li Xiufang said with a laugh. After securing the bulk of the money, she still left Gu Rou with one hundred yuan. Gu Rou had asked for it back, and she really did need to nourish her body properly.
Thinking of what this girl had gone through before, Li Xiufang still felt terrible. Her tone softened. “Your dad and I are going to work. Don’t run around this afternoon—stay home and rest properly. If you want to go out, wait until you’ve recovered.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely behave,” Gu Rou immediately promised.
Those words were just to reassure them. But telling her not to get busy was impossible—the rice and flour at home were pitifully little, and there was no meat. She had to quickly replenish the household supplies.
After getting Gu Rou’s promise, Gu Jianguo and Li Xiufang reminded Gu Rou and Gu Chuan of a few things and then went out.
Now there were only the two kids left at home. They looked at each other.
“Sis, you stay inside. I’ll go cut pig grass,” the child said. Even though he was small, he was good at finding work for himself. He helped with chores every day, already sharing the family’s burdens at such a young age.
Gu Rou called out to Gu Chuan, gave him two biscuits, and told him to be careful before letting him head out. She herself slung a bamboo basket over her back, took a wood‑cutting knife from the house, and headed up the mountain in another direction.
She didn’t linger at the foot of the mountain, but went straight into the depths of the forest, searching for the poisonous herbs she needed, as well as medicinal plants that could be sold to a purchasing station.
In March, the mountains were a lush green. The air carried faint wafts of floral and grassy scents. When working alone, she became even more focused, and her pace quickened.
Gu Rou kept moving deeper into the mountains. The farther in she went, the denser the trees became and the less bare earth there was. After walking for a while, her sharp eyes spotted several patches of fo‑ti (He Shou Wu) on the ground. She immediately bent down and started digging them up.
After finishing with the fo‑ti, she went even farther in, where there was even more of it. This place even had saffron—really good stuff. Whether sold or used herself, it was worth a lot.
Looking at the half basket of herbs, Gu Rou planned to continue deeper when suddenly there was a sound from the side.
She first thought it was a small animal like a wild rabbit or a bird, but in the next instant, her keen eyes caught sight of a snake in the corner—its back emerald green, with black markings on its head, flicking its tongue.
“This is… a ‘pheasant neck’…”
Gu Rou’s entire body immediately went on alert as she silently selected a suitable tool from her spatial storage.
Just as the snake slithered sideways toward her, the needle in Gu Rou’s hand shot out instantly, pinning the snake to the ground. She moved in a flash, grabbed it at the vital point behind the head, and with a sharp smack, viciously slammed it onto the ground.
Watching the little creature continue to hiss fiercely and flick its tongue, Gu Rou suddenly had a flash of insight.
Her Poison Spirit Spring seemed not to be limited to herbs alone. The venom from poisonous snakes could also be used. And snake meat or the gallbladder could both be sold for money.
Wasn’t this much faster than picking herbs?