“Cough, cough, cough! It’s so bitter it’s killing me! What kind of medicine is this? Are you trying to poison me?!”
Zhang Guihua was choking on the medicine, tears and mucus streaming down her face. She rolled desperately on the heated brick bed, her tongue sticking out like a dying old dog.
That bitterness shot straight from her tongue to the top of her skull—it was so bitter she felt like she could spit out her gallbladder.
Wang Dajun wiped the medicinal liquid off his face, still completely stunned.
“Su Wan, what kind of medicine did you make? Why does it taste so strong?”
Su Wan stood by the bed holding the remaining half bowl of medicine, looking innocent and panicked.
“Dajun, this is exactly the medicine you brought back! I didn’t dare waste any of it—I boiled it all!”
She blinked, her eyes slightly red, looking extremely wronged.
“The doctor said good medicine tastes bitter but works. Mother is suffering from anger and heat in the body, she needs strong medicine to suppress it. The more bitter it is, the better it clears heat!”
“Mother, just bear with it. For your health, we can’t waste it—it cost several yuan per prescription!”
At the mention of money, Zhang Guihua suddenly became more alert than ever.
Even though it was so bitter she wanted to die, once she thought of the money it cost, she gritted her teeth and stopped spitting it out.
“I’ll drink it! I’ll drink it!”
She glared at Su Wan with eyes that looked like she wanted to swallow her whole.
“You little bitch, are you doing this on purpose?!”
“Mother, how can you say that? I’m just hoping you get better soon so we can go find the pigs,” Su Wan replied calmly.
She deliberately emphasized the word “pigs.”
At the mention of pigs, Zhang Guihua felt another sharp pain in her chest and nearly passed out again.
In the end, under Su Wan’s “filial” care, she forced herself to drink the entire bowl of medicine that was ten times more bitter than coptis.
After finishing it, Zhang Guihua collapsed completely. The only thing left in her mouth was bitterness—she didn’t even have the strength to curse anymore.
Because Zhang Guihua had fallen ill, all the household work fell entirely on Su Wan.
Carrying water, chopping firewood, feeding the remaining two pigs, and even taking care of Zhang Guihua’s bodily needs.
Although Su Wan was pregnant and being nourished by Lei Deshui’s supplements, she still couldn’t handle such exhausting labor.
When carrying water, the shoulder pole pressed painfully into her shoulder, and her stomach felt heavy and uncomfortable.
That afternoon, Su Wan was struggling to fetch water at the well.
Suddenly, a strong hand reached out and snatched the bucket from her.
“Oh my, isn’t this sister-in-law? How can you be doing such heavy work!”
Su Wan was startled and looked up.
It was a rough-looking young man in a floral shirt—the village’s well-known loafer, nicknamed “Gousheng” (Dog Remaining).
He usually followed behind Lei Deshui and was known for petty theft and mischief; everyone in the village avoided him.
“Gousheng? What are you doing?” Su Wan stepped back cautiously.
Gousheng grinned and winked at her.
“Sister-in-law, don’t be scared. I saw Accountant Wang (Wang Dajun) working hard calculating accounts for the village, so I came to help!”
Without waiting for permission, he picked up both heavy buckets and walked quickly toward the Wang household.
“This little work from now on—leave it to me!”
At the Wang courtyard, he poured out the water and then grabbed Su Wan’s axe to chop firewood.
Clack! Clack!
The axe swung with great force, quickly piling up a large stack of firewood.
Wang Dajun came out after hearing the noise and froze.
“Gousheng? What are you doing…?”
Gousheng straightened up, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and leaned toward Wang Dajun with a flattering grin.
“Brother Wang! You’re the village’s intellectual—the guy with the pen! If anything ever comes up for me, I’ll still need you to say a good word for me in front of the village secretary!”
“How could we let sister-in-law do all this rough work? From now on, as long as I’m free, I’ll come help your family! For free!”
When Wang Dajun heard this, his vanity instantly swelled.
In the village, he was just someone who ran errands and handled accounts—when had he ever received such “underworld brother” style flattery?
“Oh, this… this is a bit embarrassing…”
He said modestly, but his face was blooming with smiles, and even his back straightened.
“Alright! You’ve got good sense! If you ever need anything, just tell your brother!”
Su Wan stood aside watching this scene and nearly laughed out loud.
Of course she knew—Gousheng had been sent by Lei Deshui.
This was Lei Deshui’s clever strategy.
It not only helped her with the work and protected her pregnancy, but also inflated Wang Dajun’s ego so much that he thought he was important and wouldn’t suspect anything was going on.
In the next few days, the Wang household became lively.
Today Gousheng came to fetch water, tomorrow Er Mazi came to sweep the yard.
Each of them claimed to “admire Accountant Wang” and ended up taking over all the heavy labor in the house.
Su Wan instead became the most idle one—she only needed to cook meals, and spent the rest of her time sitting in the courtyard basking in the sun and taking care of her pregnancy.
Zhang Guihua’s illness had improved a bit and she could get out of bed again.
Seeing all these “free workers” in the house, she was overjoyed and kept praising her son for being capable and influential.
But the thorn in her heart was still there.
All the misfortunes in the house.
First their second dog got beaten, then a chicken went missing, then the pigs ran away, and finally she herself fell ill.
Zhang Guihua was superstitious, and the more she thought about it, the more something felt wrong.
“There must be something dirty messing with us!”
She slapped her thigh and made a decision.
She spent a large sum of money hiring a so-called “extremely powerful” witch doctor from the neighboring village to exorcise evil spirits.
At noon that day, the Wang courtyard was filled with swirling smoke.
The witch doctor wore a colorful Taoist robe, her face painted red and green like a monkey’s butt, holding a peach-wood sword while chanting and jumping around the yard.
“Heaven and earth respond! Supreme Lord, show your power!”
Wang Dajun and Zhang Guihua followed behind with devout expressions.
Su Wan stood under the eaves, watching the ridiculous scene coldly, finding it nothing but laughable.
After a while, the witch doctor suddenly began convulsing violently, rolling her eyes as if possessed.
She abruptly turned around, the peach-wood sword pointing straight at Su Wan.
“Ahhh! Evil energy! Such strong evil energy!”
She screamed and stepped toward Su Wan.
Zhang Guihua was startled. “Master, what evil energy? Where is it?!”
The tip of the sword slowly moved closer to Su Wan’s face, then gradually lowered and stopped at her lower abdomen.
“Here! It’s right here—in this belly!”
The witch doctor stared wide-eyed, her voice sharp and stern.
“This woman is a jinx! She is carrying an evil creature in her womb! It blocks your Wang family’s fortune and drains your family’s vitality!”
“If you don’t get rid of this evil creature, your family will suffer more deaths—and lose even more wealth!”