Jiang Yan had no idea that a thief had broken into the house. She had taken a wild boar weighing more than six hundred jin to Shao Qing.
Once they had done business before, the second transaction went smoothly.
After selling the wild boar, Jiang Yan bought another two hundred jin of rice from Shao Qing. With the amount she could eat, she would starve if she didn’t stock up on plenty of rice!
“Boss, why didn’t you haggle with her?” one of Shao Qing’s underlings asked after Jiang Yan left, trotting over to him.
Shao Qing shot him a sideways glance. “Would you dare haggle with someone who can carry a wild boar weighing more than six hundred jin and walk around as if it were nothing?”
The underling’s eyes widened.
Sorry. He had overstepped!
Meanwhile, Jiang Yan returned home, put the rice away, stashed the remaining money in her little private fund, removed her makeup, and went to sleep!
The next morning, Jiang Yan was awakened by Xiaoxi’s cries.
She had been playing thief the previous night and had slept for less than two hours. Being woken up like this left her furious. She was just about to start cursing when Xiaoxi came running in, panic-stricken.
“Waaah, Stepmother, something’s wrong! Big Brother looks like he’s dying! I can’t wake him up no matter what I do! Waaah, Stepmother, what should we do?”
“I’ll go take a look.”
Jiang Yan couldn’t afford to be grumpy anymore. She hurriedly got dressed and rushed into the bedroom next door to check on Xiao Jin.
His eyes were tightly shut, and his face had turned bluish!
Jiang Yan’s expression darkened. She grabbed Huo Wenjin’s wrist and felt his pulse.
Snake venom!
Then she noticed a pair of deep-purple fang marks around Huo Wenjin’s ankle.
He had been bitten by a venomous snake and poisoned!
How had a venomous snake gotten into the house?
Jiang Yan didn’t have time to think about it. She searched frantically through the room and found several embroidery needles.
Huo Zhanting was a bachelor. Whenever his clothes tore, he usually sewed them himself, so he kept some needles around.
Jiang Yan sterilized the embroidery needles over a flame, then used them in place of silver needles, inserting them into the acupoints on Huo Wenjin’s lower leg.
Soon, beads of black blood began to seep from the snakebite.
Little by little, Jiang Yan waited until the blood turned red before removing the needles.
Xiaoxi obediently stood nearby without saying a word. He wasn’t crying anymore either.
In his mind, Stepmother was super, unbelievably powerful. She would definitely save Big Brother!
Most of the poison had been drawn out, but some still remained in his body. Jiang Yan didn’t have any medicine on hand, so she planned to take Huo Wenjin to the hospital for an antivenom injection.
But just as Jiang Yan bent down to pick up Xiao Jin and take him to the hospital, Old Madam Zhao stormed in and shouted at the top of her lungs:
“Regiment Commander’s wife! You—you actually poisoned Xiao Jin! My God, have you gone crazy?”
Her roar was like a thunderclap out of nowhere!
Jiang Yan ignored her and rushed outside with Xiao Jin in her arms.
Although she possessed a wood-type ability, Xiao Jin still needed to have the poison treated as quickly as possible!
But Old Madam Zhao had no intention of letting Jiang Yan go. She continued screaming:
“Somebody come! There’s been a murder! Regiment Commander Huo’s wife is killing someone!”
Murder?
My God!
The surrounding neighbors dropped whatever they were doing and rushed over to see what was happening. They also blocked Jiang Yan’s path.
“Old Madam Zhao, how did Regiment Commander Huo’s wife kill someone? Who did she kill? Hurry up and tell us! What happened?” someone asked.
After the wild boar incident, everyone already knew that Regiment Commander Huo’s wife was fierce and not someone to mess with.
They hadn’t expected her to actually dare to kill someone!
It was terrifying.
Old Madam Zhao wore an expression of profound grief.
“It’s my poor little Xiao Jin! He ended up with such a heartless stepmother. She found him an eyesore and actually poisoned him!”
What?!
Everyone’s expressions changed dramatically, and they all turned their eyes toward Jiang Yan.
Old Madam Zhao continued her performance.
“When I went inside just now, I saw the child lying on the bed, barely clinging to life. I don’t even know if he’s… already gone. Waaaah…”
“My heavens! How could Regiment Commander Huo’s wife do such a thing? Killing someone is against the law! Isn’t she afraid?”
Minor squabbles between neighbors were one thing, but once it became a matter of murder, everyone would turn against the culprit.
“How could she be afraid? Regiment Commander Huo isn’t even home. If I hadn’t happened to walk in today, who would have known she poisoned her stepson? Once the child died, she could just dump the body in the mountains. No one would ever find it…”
Old Madam Zhao continued wiping away her tears.
Someone suddenly seemed to think of something. He pointed at Jiang Yan in horror.
“Could it be… the regiment commander’s wife is taking the body to bury it?”
Some people actually believed him.
They anxiously shouted at Jiang Yan.
“Regiment Commander’s wife, put Xiao Jin down!”
“Regiment Commander’s wife, Xiao Jin is only six years old! How could you be so heartless?”
“They say stepmothers are vicious and cold-blooded, that they abuse their stepsons. Looks like there really is some truth to that!”
“Jiang Yan, put Xiao Jin down!”
“…”
More and more people began condemning Jiang Yan, but none of them dared actually snatch Huo Wenjin away.
They were afraid of Jiang Yan’s freakish strength.
Holding Xiao Jin in her arms made it inconvenient for Jiang Yan to fight, so she suppressed her temper and explained:
“Xiao Jin isn’t dead. I’m taking him to the hospital right now. Move!”
Old Madam Zhao was the first to jump out again.
“You expect us to believe you’re being kind? You just want to dump Xiao Jin’s body in the mountains to feed the wolves!”
“Exactly! Hurry and hand him over to Auntie Zhao. If he needs to go to the hospital, she can take him. We certainly don’t need a poisonous woman like you—”
Sister-in-law Zhang, eager to play the righteous hero, pushed her way to the front.
But before she could finish, Jiang Yan kicked her.
If they couldn’t understand words, then there was no point talking to them!
Jiang Yan was incredibly strong. Even though she held back, the kick still sent Sister-in-law Zhang flying several meters.
**Bang!**
She crashed to the ground.
“Ow!”
Sister-in-law Zhang screamed.
The others who had been preparing to call Jiang Yan a murderer suddenly seemed to have their throats clamped shut.
The memory of Jiang Yan kicking an entire group of military wives flying came flooding back.
Gulp, gulp…
Someone unconsciously swallowed, terror flashing in their eyes.
Jiang Yan’s expression turned cold.
“I did not poison Xiao Jin. I’m taking him to the hospital to get the poison treated. Can you understand that?”
This time, no one dared say a word.
Even Old Madam Zhao was intimidated. She instinctively moved aside to clear a path for Jiang Yan, and the others followed suit.
“Xiaoxi, come with me!”
Jiang Yan tilted her head and glanced at Xiaoxi, whose eyes were full of tears.
Xiaoxi had been abused and beaten by Old Madam Zhao for so long that he had developed a deep psychological fear of her. The moment he saw her, he had cowered trembling in a corner.
Only when Jiang Yan called him did he anxiously run out, grab onto her clothes, and follow her to the hospital.
On the way, Xiaoxi asked anxiously and fearfully, “Stepmother, Big Brother is going to be okay, right?”
“Mm. He’ll be fine!”
Jiang Yan carried Xiao Jin to the clinic.
Lin Weiwei happened to be on duty. When she saw Jiang Yan carrying Xiao Jin, she hurried over.
“What happened to Xiao Jin?” Lin Weiwei asked.
“He was bitten by a snake,” Jiang Yan explained.
Lin Weiwei’s expression changed drastically. She instinctively blamed Jiang Yan.
“How did he get bitten by a snake? How have you been taking care of Xiao Jin?”
The moment the words left her mouth, she seemed to realize that her tone had been too harsh. She apologized to Jiang Yan.
“I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just too worried about Xiao Jin.”
“Auntie Weiwei, it’s not Stepmother’s fault. A bad snake bit Big Brother, and that’s why he became like this!”
Not wanting his stepmother to be misunderstood, Xiaoxi tilted his head up and defended Jiang Yan.
He should have been brave enough to speak up just now, too. He shouldn’t have been so afraid of Grandma Zhao that he hid.
He had caused Stepmother to be misunderstood.
But didn’t that still mean Jiang Yan hadn’t taken good care of Xiao Jin?
Lin Weiwei grumbled inwardly, but she said nothing.
Saving Xiao Jin was more important.
“Give Xiao Jin to me.”
As she spoke, Lin Weiwei reached out to take him.
Jiang Yan sidestepped away.
“I’ll keep holding him.”
There was no way a venomous snake could have appeared in Xiao Jin’s bedroom for no reason.
This wasn’t simply an accident.
And Jiang Yan absolutely would not allow anything to happen to Xiao Jin.