The onlookers were far away, but from the way they whispered toward their direction, Zhao could imagine exactly what they were saying.
This made her even more furious, but since they weren’t saying it to her face, there was nothing she could do. Furthermore, having suffered such a significant loss of face, Zhao found herself lacking the energy to do much of anything else.
Her party went to town, but since they couldn’t find any evidence, the matter had to be dropped.
The incident with Zhao falling into the latrine pit yielded no clues. Even though Zhao remained convinced someone had pushed her, she had no choice but to let it go. Having suffered this blow, Zhao could only vent her anger on Wang. However, over the past few days, Wang seemed to have changed her ways; she began trying to resist Zhao’s unreasonable demands.
Although her words were still soft and lacking firmness, making it easy for Zhao to brush them aside with a few sharp remarks, the mere act of resistance infuriated Zhao, who was already brimming with suppressed rage. She began to curse and insult them constantly, using metaphors to attack them indirectly.
However, Wang and Lin Guangfu were exceptionally patient. They had grown accustomed to such words over the last dozen years; even before they were married, they had been subjected to similar treatment in their own homes. Moreover, since Zhao never scolded them by name and could do nothing but complain, they didn’t feel much pressure.
Conversely, Wang and Lin Guangfu were terrified whenever Old Madam Lin scolded them. Seeing the contrast, Zhao, who was as sharp as a fox, grew even more frustrated.
After some time, her temper became increasingly volatile.
Even her husband, Third Uncle Lin, couldn’t help but advise her: “That’s enough. With you cursing all day, the whole village is laughing at us.”
Cursing used to be fine, but now that their Qiong’er’s marriage prospects remained uncertain, it was a problem. Although they planned not to let the Xu family break off the engagement just like that, Third Uncle Lin naturally wanted his son to marry the best match possible; he was looking for better options to keep as a backup. While they didn’t care about their image in front of the Xu family, since the Xus were easy to bully, they couldn’t let their parental behavior ruin their child’s future marriage prospects.
Zhao knew this logic, but she argued, “Qiong’er says Lin Qu from the second branch and Xu Qiu have already gotten close.”
“What?” Third Uncle Lin was stunned, then dismissed it firmly: “That’s impossible.”
“Tell me, exactly what did Qiong’er say? Did he see it with his own eyes?”
“There’s no mistake,” Zhao replied. “Qiong’er saw Xu Qiu give Lin Qu a steamed bun while he was cutting firewood, and he only offered Qiong’er a pear when he noticed him, which Qiong’er refused. Another time, he saw Lin Qu and Xu Qiu talking together. They aren’t usually close; what could they possibly have to talk about?”
“Look at Lin Qu. He’s always lecturing us, yet he doesn’t see how shameless he is himself.”
Third Uncle Lin frowned, pondering for a moment before saying, “Xu Qiu shouldn’t be that type of person. We’ve watched him grow up. Even if he doesn’t seem to like our Qiong’er, he shouldn’t be capable of such things. He probably just felt sorry for Lin Qu being so pitiful and gave him the bun out of sympathy. Since Qiong’er was there, he wouldn’t dare act like that in front of him.”
“But Lin Qu, on the other hand, is a different story.”
Like Zhao, Third Uncle Lin viewed Lin Qu as a vengeful person. He always suspected that their recent misfortunes were likely Lin Qu’s doing. Moreover, Lin Qu always looked at their family with such hatred that it seemed entirely possible he would do anything.
Besides, everyone knew Xu Qiu was the person Qiong’er liked. If Lin Qu could snatch Xu Qiu away, not only would he gain a fiancé from a well-off family, but he would also make Qiong’er suffer. It was a lucrative deal for Lin Qu.
Though Zhao was shrewd, her cleverness was superficial. Third Uncle Lin was generally the smarter of the two, and after hearing his analysis, Zhao felt it made perfect sense.
“What should we do then?” she asked anxiously. Although Qiong’er didn’t absolutely have to marry Xu Qiu, he couldn’t afford to lose this backup option. In this countryside, good families were hard to come by, and pushovers like the Xu family were rare gems.
Third Uncle Lin said, “Don’t worry. Xu Qiu doesn’t go out all the time, and we often work with the second branch. For this period, we’ll just have to work harder and keep an eye on them.”
They couldn’t possibly be making contact under their noses.
If the engagement hadn’t been dissolved, they wouldn’t need to be so vigilant, but now that the constraint was gone, Xu Qiu might really be seduced by Lin Qu. After all, not many young ge’er in these times were that proactive.
Zhao nodded. “Okay.”
As she spoke, she suddenly realized something. “You know, why hasn’t Qiong’er gone to find Xu Qiu lately?” It had been nearly two months. “Even if he wanted to change his approach, he shouldn’t have changed this drastically.”
They had asked Lin Qiong before when he stopped visiting Xu Qiu frequently. Lin Qiong had replied that Xu Qiu didn’t like him constantly bothering him, which was why he wanted to change his strategy. Zhao and her husband had initially thought this made sense, but they hadn’t expected him to overcorrect to this degree.
Even a ge’er who needed to remain reserved shouldn’t go to this extent.
Third Uncle Lin said, “Could they have had a falling out? Or maybe someone told Qiong’er about the dissolution of the engagement?”
Zhao mused, “I’ll ask later.”
Third Uncle Lin cautioned, “Don’t bring up the engagement dissolution suddenly. If Qiong’er can’t accept it and throws a tantrum, that would be bad. We’ll find a way; the Xu family is easy to fool.”
“Fine,” Zhao agreed.
The Xu family was unaware of the Lin family’s schemes, and Lady Li had never feared them. The Xu family and the Lin family were different. In the Beiyue region, the Xu family was an ethnic minority, while Zhao was a migrant. Even if the Xus were in trouble, the clan would protect them. Furthermore, Lady Li had already reported the engagement dissolution to the clan leader. If things escalated, the Lin family would likely be driven out of the village.
All Third Uncle Lin’s couple relied on was the Xu family’s kindness and Lady Li’s soft heart. However, the only people in the Xu family who were easily provoked were Lady Li and Xu Qiu, neither of whom were truly ruthless people.
Xu Qiu had been busy lately. After working for so long, he finally achieved results. At dinner, he took the items out: “Father, this is the hemostatic medicine my master and I developed. Take a look.”
“Hemostatic medicine?” Xu Father took the small bottle, inspected it, and popped the wooden cork to take a sniff.
“Yes,” Xu Qiu said. “The clotting speed is incredibly fast, much better than any existing hemostatic medication. You can take it and try it out.”
He didn’t sound overly serious. The Xu family didn’t have the awareness that their youngest child was a genius, so they didn’t think too much of it. Xu Father agreed to take it tomorrow and test it if the opportunity arose. If nothing else, they trusted the medical skills of the old doctor and his son. They weren’t sure if he was a miracle doctor since they didn’t have any major illnesses, but it felt better than the skills of the doctors in town.
Xu Qiu wasn’t in a hurry. Efficacy would be proven through testing.
He wanted to open a pharmacy, but one product wasn’t enough, and he didn’t intend to sell the hemostatic medicine in his pharmacy. His target was the military; the imperial army was stationed not far from them, and both he and the old doctor were often summoned to help. He could hand this medicine directly to the army, which would have a great need for it.
But first, he was an ethnic minority.
If the medicine’s efficacy were ordinary, he could directly approach the military, as he knew several of the officers. However, since this was a highly effective specialty hemostat, if he bypassed the clan leadership and the main Xu family branch to deal with the military, then in this place that prized unity and exclusionary behavior, his father’s family would likely not survive. Other factions would also laugh at the main Xu branch.
It was better to simply hand it to his father, who worked for the main branch, making things much easier.
The clan wouldn’t erase his contribution and would value his input. A portion of the profits would inevitably go to the clan, but their family’s status within the clan would also rise. Considering the unusually united nature of the local clans, Xu Qiu felt that sharing a portion wasn’t a bad idea.
He didn’t want to become the richest man alive; he just wanted a comfortable life, enough silver to open his shop, and the ability to live in town or the prefectural capital. Once he established himself, he could sell his other medications himself, which would be the real source of wealth for Xu Qiu.
Currently, Xu Qiu had already perfected several finished medicines: cold medicine, scar removal cream, burn ointment, laxatives, and digestion aids. These were all common household remedies, using formulas taught by the old doctor, which he had then improved. The biggest benefit since acquiring his special abilities was his finer sensitivity to the properties of medicinal herbs.
Moreover, the medicinal herbs he grew in his space seemed to have even better effects if he channeled his energy into them. The old doctor had also provided significant assistance with his research.