Jiang Chen looked up.
Seeing Luo Yanran’s impatient, dying-to-know expression, he flashed a deliberate grin.
“Well, lunch should be ready.
Let’s eat first!”
“You!”
Luo Yanran stomped her foot in anger.
“Hurry up and tell me!”
As Jiang Chen walked toward the dining table, he chuckled, “Give me a kiss, and I’ll tell you!”
“You shameless rogue!”
Luo Yanran glared at him, marched over to her chair, and sat down.
She pulled all the bowls and chopsticks in front of her.
“If you don’t tell me, nobody eats!”
Jiang Chen grinned.
He reached out, pinched a piece of braised pork with his bare fingers, and popped it into his mouth.
“Wow, so delicious!”
“Are you going to tell me or not?!” Luo Yanran was getting genuinely angry.
Munching on the pork, Jiang Chen said, “It’s actually very simple.
Just take Shenjin Grass, Earth Dragon, Aconite, and Living Stone Vine—some of the most common Chinese herbs—toss them into a wooden barrel, and have him soak in it for an hour.
He’d recover perfectly!”
“It’s that simple?” Luo Yanran asked in surprise.
Jiang Chen snatched a pair of chopsticks from in front of her and smiled.
“Yep, that simple!”
Luo Yanran carefully pondered his explanation and the proposed solution.
Once she thought it through, she realized it actually made a lot of sense.
However, she was still a bit puzzled.
“But if it could be cured with such a simple method, why did you use an Acupuncture Technique?
The more advanced the Acupuncture Technique, the more mental energy it drains.”
Jiang Chen spread his hands and smiled.
“Acupuncture works faster.
Besides, didn’t you find it incredibly satisfying to see their utterly stunned faces when I used the Trembling Needle?”
Luo Yanran was suddenly speechless.
After all that fuss, he was just showing off!
And it was a flex so flawless that no one could even argue against it.
After all, others might want to show off with the brilliant Trembling Needle too, but they actually had to know how to use it!
Fang Mei walked over, carrying a bowl of soup.
“Come on, come on, time to eat.”
The “family of three” enjoyed a “harmonious” lunch together.
Well…
it felt a bit awkward to phrase it that way, but if this were five years ago, they truly would have been a family of three.
Having eaten his fill, Jiang Chen stood up and stretched lazily.
“Right then, you guys take your time.
I’m a bit tired after working all morning, so I’m going to take a nap.”
With that, he headed straight for the side hallway.
The clinic was attached to the living quarters where Luo Yanran and her mother stayed.
There were only two bedrooms—one for Luo Yanran and one for Fang Mei.
The clinic area was an extension built later, connected directly to the living room.
Jiang Chen passed through the living room and glanced at the two bedrooms.
Noticing that one of them had an en-suite bathroom, he walked right in.
He took a quick look around and flopped directly onto the bed.
“Mmm, smells so good!”
As soon as he lay down, that familiar, natural scent of hers washed over him.
Lying there in absolute comfort, Jiang Chen felt ecstatic.
He drifted off.
An unknown amount of time later, a sharp, feminine shout suddenly rang in his ear.
“Who said you could sleep in my bed?!”
Jiang Chen opened his groggy eyes, rolled over, and mumbled, “It’s not like I haven’t slept in it before.”
“You scoundrel, get up!”
Luo Yanran marched over and yanked on his arm, trying to drag him out of bed.
But with her meager strength, how could she possibly move Jiang Chen?
She pulled too hard.
Jiang Chen’s body rose halfway before gravity pulled him back down.
In that instant, Luo Yanran lost her balance and fell squarely on top of him.
OOF!
Without deviating an inch, she landed perfectly in his embrace.
Their eyes met, and their lips pressed tightly together.
Luo Yanran’s beautiful eyes widened in shock.
She recoiled backward.
“You…”
“Such a familiar kiss.” Jiang Chen looked like he was savoring the aftertaste, his hands still resting on her shoulders.
“Hooligan!”
Luo Yanran swatted his hands away and pounded her little fists against his chest.
However, their intimate posture was witnessed in its entirety by Fang Mei, who was just walking in to call them.
“Yan…
you two…
Jiang Chen, let go of my daughter!” Fang Mei scolded, her face flushed red.
Hearing this, Luo Yanran hastily scrambled to the side and stood up.
Her face was even redder than her mother’s.
In the past, she had been held by Jiang Chen more than once.
But after five whole years, being embraced by the man she had once deeply loved felt truly…
indescribable.
Jiang Chen twitched his mouth and shot a rather displeased glance at Fang Mei.
What a perfect opportunity he just had.
And it was ruined by this woman.
“What is it?” he asked.
Fang Mei rolled her eyes at him.
“Zhang Rou is looking for you.
It seems something happened.
You two better go take a look.”
“What exactly happened?”
“Go see for yourselves.” After saying that, Fang Mei turned and headed back outside.
Luo Yanran glared at Jiang Chen.
“This is all your fault!”
“You took the initiative to jump on me, how can you blame me?” Jiang Chen grinned.
“Let’s go.
Let’s see what’s going on.”
They didn’t dwell on the topic any further.
Together, they walked out of the bedroom and into the clinic’s living room.
As soon as they entered, they saw Zhang Rou pacing anxiously.
Seeing her distressed state, Luo Yanran hurriedly went over.
“What’s wrong, Sister Zhang?”
Zhang Rou turned around and grabbed Luo Yanran’s hands.
“The people from the neighboring village are here.”
“So what if they are?” Luo Yanran asked in confusion.
“You know that no one outside wants to hire the villagers of Xianhuang Village for manual labor, so they rely entirely on farming to feed their families.
But those fields don’t actually belong to Xianhuang Village; they belong to the neighboring Liu Family Village.”
“I know that.
What about it?” Luo Yanran asked again.
“Originally, the annual rent for a mu of land was five hundred yuan.
But for some unknown reason this year, they sent people over saying the rent is going up, and they’re straight-up doubling it!
“It’s just a village full of women here,” Zhang Rou spoke bitterly.
“No matter how hard we farm, the harvest from a single mu is pitifully small.
Now they’re demanding a thousand yuan—they might as well be sentencing the whole village to starve!”
“Why the sudden price hike?
And why so much all at once?” Luo Yanran asked, baffled.
“I don’t know.
After they came over and announced it, Granny Tan told me that since you came from a big city and have seen the world, I should come find you to see if you could come up with an idea.” Zhang Rou sighed.
“Yanran, what do you think we should do?”
Luo Yanran thought for a moment.
“Where are they right now?”
“Right at the foot of the mountain.
Everyone else has already headed over there.”
“Let’s go take a look.” As Luo Yanran spoke, she grabbed her coat from the side.
“I’ll go with you,” Jiang Chen suddenly chimed in.
“You?” Luo Yanran looked at him.
Jiang Chen shrugged with a smile.
“Having a bunch of women go negotiate with them while I, a grown man, hide at home doesn’t seem quite right, does it?”
“That’s right, let Jiang Chen come!
He might be a huge help!” Zhang Rou agreed.
“Alright!”
After mulling it over, Luo Yanran agreed.
She had heard some things about the people from the neighboring village.
They were infamous for having a lot of local ruffians and scoundrels.
A group of women standing off against them would indeed be at a serious disadvantage…