Half an hour later, the doctor emerged from the room carrying his medicine chest, his expression complicated as he saw the few people waiting outside.
The doctor had also heard about the Xie family’s affairs.
Looking at Xie Jinzhu, who had suddenly become a girl but was still wearing a man’s robe, the doctor let out a long sigh.
“The old lady’s sudden rage has overwhelmed her heart for the moment. If we can find ginseng for the medicine, she’ll be fine once she pulls through.”
Compared to Old Mrs. Xie’s internal condition, which wasn’t visible on the surface, what looked even more horrifying at the moment was Xie Jinzhu’s hand.
She had placed her hand between the corner of the table and Old Mrs. Xie’s forehead, protecting the old lady’s skin from injury, but the back of her hand had collided with the table corner with terrible force.
In just a short while, the injured hand had swollen abnormally, and the exposed skin was covered in frightening blue-black bruises.
Noticing the doctor’s gaze, Xie Jinzhu instinctively withdrew her hand behind her back and said, “Let’s get the medicine first.”
The original owner’s sins were already deep enough—she absolutely couldn’t be saddled with the crime of angering her grandmother to death!
If anything happened to Old Mrs. Xie, she would really be forced to go meet the ancestors!
“Where would our family get the money to buy ginseng?”
Xie Wuni, her tear stains still fresh, stared at Xie Jinzhu’s swollen hand, which couldn’t be hidden, with a mix of satisfaction and pity, and spat: “All the money in the house was scraped clean by you. Not a single copper coin can be found now!”
Xie Jinzhu was suddenly stunned, overwhelmed by the wave of misery that washed over her.
The Xie family was truly poor.
Originally, they were just living beyond their means, barely scraping by.
But not long ago, for the sake of eloping with the scholar, the original owner had ruthlessly scraped together all the family’s money like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.
She had even forced the family to borrow from everywhere, incurring many debts.
Now Old Mrs. Xie was ill from anger, hanging by a thread.
And the money the original owner had taken—where was it?
Xie Jinzhu suddenly shuddered as she thought of something and decisively said, “You all stay home and take care of Grandma. I’m going somewhere and will be back soon!”
Madam Wang instinctively reached out to stop her, grabbing Xie Jinzhu’s injured hand before quickly letting go: “Where are you going?”
“Your grandmother, she…”
Xie Jinzhu endured the intense pain and said without looking back, “I’m going to find ginseng!”
“If I’m late, it’ll be too late!”
Enough time had already been wasted.
If she delayed any longer, that scoundrel who had swindled the original owner’s money might really run away!
Xie Jinzhu ran as if carried by the wind, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Third Master Xie and his wife stood there in a daze, unsure what to do.
Xie Wuni was stunned for a moment before shouting angrily, “She ran away! She must have run off to hide again!”
It was like this before, and it’s still like this now!
Whenever she caused trouble or faced problems, she would dump everything on the family and run off to hide.
She would never show her face until the storm had passed!
Xie Wuni was eager to go catch her but was stopped by Xie Dahua: “Don’t…”
“Elder Sister!”
Xie Wuni shook off Xie Dahua’s hand and said angrily, “Whose side are you on, anyway?”
“Father, Mother, and Second Uncle will be back soon, and Grandma was angered into this state by that impostor, yet you’re still siding with her!”
“I’d like to see how you explain this to Father, Mother, and Second Sister later!”
Xie Dahua opened her mouth, unable to hide her confusion, and finally turned her head away in pain, looking at Third Master Xie and his wife, who were bowing repeatedly to thank the doctor: “What do you know…”
“You don’t know anything…”
Xie Wuni was too furious to hear anything, shaking off Xie Dahua as she rushed to chase after the person.
Third Master Xie and his wife hurried off to gather money from all around to buy ginseng.
Xie Dahua stayed by the bedside of the unconscious Old Mrs. Xie. After a long while, she slumped over the edge of the bed and began sobbing softly: “How could it be a girl…”
“My only younger brother turned into a girl. With even this tiny bit of hope gone, how am I supposed to go on living after I return to my husband’s family…”
Even though Xie Wuni ran as fast as she could, she still failed to catch up with the impostor who fled at the first sign of trouble.
Xie Jinzhu was lucky—not long after she started running, she encountered the only ox cart in the village.
The cart driver, Uncle Wu, was a busybody eager to verify the rumors. He generously offered Xie Jinzhu a ride, free of charge, as long as she answered all his questions.
Penniless and forced to swallow her pride for a single copper coin, Xie Jinzhu sat on the bumpy cart floor, hugging her knees helplessly.
If she weren’t truly desperate, she would have jumped off the cart in an instant!
Uncle Wu chattered nonstop: “Good heavens, do your eldest uncle and second uncle know? Haven’t they gone mad?”
Xie Jinzhu: “…”
“They couldn’t have sons themselves, and they were counting on you, the only heir, to smash the mourning bowl at the funeral! Now that you’re just a girl, the Old Xie Family is finished!”
Xie Jinzhu: “……..”
“And your Second Aunt!”
Uncle Wu bared his teeth with a lingering fear, saying awkwardly, “Your Second Aunt is notoriously difficult. When she comes back and finds out about this, won’t she fight your parents to the death?”
“I heard your grandmother was so angry with you that she can’t be saved? Is that…”
“Uncle Wu.”
Xie Jinzhu cut off his endless stream with a wooden expression, saying coldly, “It’s enough to curse me alone. Isn’t it too much to start cursing my grandmother?”
She acknowledged the despicable things the original owner had done.
But she wouldn’t let anyone pin unfounded nonsense on her!
Just as the ox cart arrived at its destination, Uncle Wu grumbled, “What’s wrong with saying a few words?”
“Everyone in the village is saying it—the sky has fallen for the Old Xie Family. You’re just a fake boy, so how…”
“My parents and uncles may not have sons, but does having a son necessarily mean good fortune?”
Xie Jinzhu jumped off the cart and stood firm, giving Uncle Wu a mocking smile. “Grandpa Wu and Grandma Wu were truly blessed to have such a fine son like you.”
“It must have been hard for you, so filial that you moved heaven and earth. Every time meat was bought at home, you sent the two elders to work in the fields, afraid the greasy food would be too heavy for their stomachs. What great fortune for their descendants.”
Uncle Wu, having his sore spot exposed, glared angrily: “What do you, a lowly girl, know!”
“You… Ah!”
Xie Jinzhu raised her swollen, hoof-like hand and smiled slightly as she slapped the ox’s rump.
The ox lifted its hooves, and the previously stationary cart suddenly jolted forward.
The talkative Uncle Wu yelped in panic as he struggled to control the ox cart. Xie Jinzhu stood in place, flipping through the original owner’s memories, then turned directly into a narrow alley.
The original owner was foolish to the point of idiocy, but none of her malicious schemes were ever realized.
Before seducing that scholar, the original owner pretended to trust him completely but secretly followed him to uncover his background.
That scoundrel was indeed a scholar with Scholarly Honor to his name, but the situation was vastly different from what he had described.
The place where the other party had settled was not the one they had mentioned, but was hidden within this small alley.
The original host, coveting the title of a scholar’s wife, pretended not to know, but she never expected that the other party was simply after the money she had scraped together from home.
In the end, not only did she end up with nothing, but the silver was also taken away by the other party!
Xie Jinzhu was so irritated by the original host’s foolishness that her temples throbbed. Holding back her anger, she walked to a small door, just as it swung open and a person dressed in white stepped out.
Caught off guard, their eyes met, and the man in white instantly paled: “You’re actually still alive?!”
Xie Jinzhu laughed in disbelief.
“Am I still being alive such a disappointment to you?”