A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

Gu Xixi smiled and met the gaze of Widow Zhou, showing no sign of backing down.

Widow Zhou was both ashamed and angry. "What do you have to be so proud of!"

"He never said he liked you or that he wouldn't marry anyone but you! You two aren't even officially married yet!"

Gu Xi shrugged in a good-natured manner, "Then there's even less I can do. Who told him to be the man the county government sold to me?"

"What I think, and what he thinks..."

She gave Widow Zhou a bright smile and said, enunciating each word clearly, "What...thing...you...have...to...do...it?"

Once they reached the foot of the mountain, everyone had to go home, and Gu Xixi thanked everyone again.

Except for Widow Zhou, who remained silent with a livid face, everyone else was in high spirits.

"No need to thank me. You and Chen Fang have helped the village a lot. It's only right that we do this."

"Hey, he's still called Chen Fang? From now on, you should call him Mr. Chen!"

"That's right, hahaha, I never thought we could produce a schoolteacher."

Despite the relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, Lao Qian did not forget the reason for Gu Xixi's disappearance.

After everyone had finished laughing, he put on a serious face and said, "My dear niece, you said that when you fell into the trap yesterday at noon, you personally asked Gu Laosan's daughter to go down the mountain to ask for help?"

Gu Xixi knew that Lao Qian was going to settle scores later.

She said calmly, "Yes, I didn't want to trouble everyone. I just asked my cousin to go to my house and pass on a message to Aunt Zhang."

Aunt Zhang said, "Gu Qingye did not come to my house yesterday."

"At night, I noticed that Xixi and Chen Fang hadn't come back for dinner, so I had to go to their house to look for them."

"They've practically smashed the door, but they still won't let me in to see Gu Qingye. And they still say they have nothing to hide?"

Old Qian asked, "Did you see Gu Qingye again?"

Aunt Zhang nodded, "I saw her. She was lying in the room. She said she went down the mountain with my Xixi and Chen Fang, and then they parted ways. She didn't know where they went."

“I went to Gu Laosan’s house last night, and his neighbors can all testify to that.”

Gu Xixi feigned confusion, "That's strange."

"I was shouting from below the trap when I saw Qingye lying at the entrance of the cave asking us how we were doing."

"What did she say? That I've already gone down the mountain?"

Everyone else present had an expression of understanding.

Old Qian sneered, "What else could it be? It's obvious that the whole family is lying together, intending to let someone die!"

Someone said indignantly, "No wonder Liu claimed to be dizzy and refused to come up the mountain with us."

"She was afraid that Xixi and Mr. Chen were still alive, and that if they confronted each other, they would expose each other!"

Everyone looked at Old Qian, waiting for his decision.

Old Qian pondered for a moment and said, "The facts are basically clear. Everyone has worked hard today, let's all go home now."

He turned to Gu Xixi and said solemnly, "If you trust me, then your family should go back and rest. I will go to Gu Laosan's house to demand an explanation."

Gu Xixi bowed and said, "Of course I trust Uncle Qian, but I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you."

Old Qian said, "The occurrence of such a morally corrupt incident in the village is a dereliction of duty on my part as the village chief."

As Widow Zhou left, she deliberately swayed her hips to squeeze towards Mu Nanzhao.

She lowered her head and gave what she thought was a charming and alluring look.

As she walked up to Mu Nanzhao, she suddenly turned around, a fleeting glimpse of something in her eyes…something?

Her flirtatious glance, which she hadn't yet made outwards, met Mu Nanzhao's chilling gaze.

The petals seemed to be sliced ​​off by countless invisible blades, shattering into dust in the air.

Widow Zhou was stunned; a chill instantly ran from the top of her head to the soles of her feet.

Only after Mu Nanzhao left was Widow Zhou able to move her feet shakily...

Aunt Zhang went home, closed the door, and only felt relieved after confirming that Gu Xixi was not hurt anywhere.

"I was just about to ask, how did Widow Zhou manage to get on your good side?"

Widow Zhou's deceased husband once had a very unpleasant argument with Gu Bapi over a irrigation ditch.

The two families have had no contact for several years.

Although time has passed and both men have passed away, when Widow Zhou sees Aunt Zhang and Gu Xixi in the village, she still turns her head away as if she doesn't see them.

Gu Xixi had already clearly rejected Widow Zhou, and didn't want Aunt Zhang to find out about it, lest she get even angrier.

She laughed and said, "Who knows what got into her, that she suddenly started talking to me."

"It was just a few idle words, nothing more."

Aunt Zhang, unsuspecting, said, "The kind of person who fawns on the powerful and belittles the weak is the most snobbish."

"They probably want to restore relations because they see that our family is doing better now."

Gu Xixi said, "Anyway, she's a nobody, so why bother with her?"

She looked at Mu Nanzhao with a smile, her expression suggestive.

Seeing his dark expression, I can tell he must have heard what Widow Zhou said.

Knowing that the two had returned safely, the old doctor took Mu Nanzhao's pulse and then went to check on the medicinal herbs that Xixi had gathered for him.

Gu Xixi and Mu Nanzhao remained in the west room.

Gu Xixi glanced at his face and said with a hint of comfort, "She was indeed too insulting, but I have already righteously rejected her."

"Don't get angry over someone who's not worth it."

Mu Nanzhao raised his eyes, "You don't need to worry about it, I'll handle it myself."

"Solve it?" Gu Xixi exclaimed in surprise, "You don't mean to..."

She glanced outside and lowered her voice, "Are you going to kill me to cover your tracks?"

Gu Xixi, having grown up in a society governed by the rule of law, could not agree with the idea of ​​"killing whoever does evil."

"Her idea was too dirty, but she only thought about it and didn't put it into practice."

"Just teach her a lesson."

Mu Nanzhao said coldly, "She deserves to die if she dares to think like that."

He said the last three words through gritted teeth.

Gu Xixi took a deep breath. Actually, it makes a lot of sense. How should she persuade him?

In a moment of quick thinking, she said, "There hasn't been a murder in our village for many years."

"It's not worth it for us to attract the attention of outsiders just because of Widow Zhou!"

"Besides, you are about to meet General Meng, how can you cause trouble for such a person?"

Gu Xixi's use of "we" in her haste unexpectedly improved Mu Nanzhao's mood considerably.

"You do know how to weigh the pros and cons." His expression softened slightly as he looked up at her.

"I'll do as you say, let's put it aside for now."

Gu Xixi turned her back and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "You didn't sleep last night, so you should rest first."

The old doctor was delighted with the fruitful trip to the mountains and happily processed the medicinal herbs.

Aunt Zhang poured the food on the ground and sorted it by type. She saw that the wild fruits were fresh and juicy and thought of Gu Xi's love for them.

"Xixi, I don't have time to wash the fruit for yourself."

"No rush," Gu Xixi said happily, holding another small burlap sack.

"I need to deal with it first."

Gu Xixi risked falling into a trap to dig out the precious camellias, which are still packed in a sack.

Prepare half a basin of rooting and sterilizing water, then carefully remove the soil covering the camellia roots and soak the roots in the water at an angle.

Tomorrow, the piece of land that Lao Qian promised her will finally come in handy.

As Gu Xixi was making plans in her mind, she suddenly heard a woman crying outside the wall.

"Sister Xixi, I was wrong. I'm so sorry to you and Brother Chen. I'm kowtowing to you here!!"