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

Liu also solemnly claimed that Chen Fang was a fox spirit sent by Gu Xixi, and that the rats were also monsters who would eat people.

Although Old Qian decided not to pursue Gu Tiezhu's crime of bringing rats back to the village, considering that Gu Laosan's family had already been punished and that no one else had been harmed, he did not make the whole story public.

However, the little story of "Gu Tiezhu catching rats ruined his own family" has already been quietly circulating among the villagers.

The villagers, hearing Liu's utter nonsense, knew she was protective of her son and trying to frame others to exonerate him, which made them even more disgusted with her and her family.

Starting that afternoon, truckloads of oleanders were transported into the village.

Old Qian spent a day and a night running around, and the next day he brought back three large truckloads of soybean residue.

In addition, some villagers offered their own honey, as well as honey that was newly collected from the mountains.

Once everything was gathered, the old doctor and Old Qian led the men in taking turns to use all the stone mills and rollers, big and small, from the entire village.

Oleander branches and leaves are ground up and mixed with water to extract the juice.

The villagers carried away barrels of purified and concentrated oleander juice, which were then stored at the local temple.

After Lao Qian personally registered the quantity, a special person took turns guarding it.

The village chief's wife, Aunt Qian, was responsible for organizing the women in the village to learn from Gu Xixi how to prepare honey bait specifically for killing rats.

When they were making the honey bait, Gu Qingye actually came too.

With such a big thing happening in her family, some people thought she would definitely hide at home and cry, while others secretly watched with a gossipy attitude, thinking that with a brother like that, she would definitely not dare to go out and see people.

Gu Qingye remained as lively and cheerful as ever.

She was diligent and never cheated or shirked her duties, and she always addressed her sister-in-law and aunt with a sweet tongue.

Gradually, even those who had intended to make fun of her began to soften their hearts.

"Sigh, I think she really took the blame for someone else when Xixi and Chen Fang fell into the trap last time."

"That's right. Gu Tiezhu is so crazy that he even ruins his own home. What wouldn't he do?"

"She's beautiful, but it's a pity she was born into such a family. I don't think it will be easy for her to marry into a good family."

Such discussions naturally reached Gu Xixi's side.

Sister-in-law Qin nudged Xixi with her arm and whispered, "That girl has been telling people lately that she is herself and her brother is her brother, as if she's cutting ties with her family."

Gu Xixi lowered her head and continued kneading the fried pork fat meatballs, then smiled and asked, "What does sister-in-law think?"

Sister-in-law Qin pouted and said, "I've always felt that she's not that simple."

"I can't really explain it, but I just feel like she has too many hidden agendas, and I don't like that."

Gu Xixi thought to herself that Gu Qingye's decision to distance herself from her family was a plot point that corresponded to the original book.

The original setting was that the parents were greedy, vulgar, and favored sons over daughters. The older brother was vicious and bullied and exploited his younger sister.

Gu Qingye is the only one in their family who remains untainted by the mud.

Not long ago, after spending a night with Mu Nanzhao in the mountains, Gu Qingye broke ties with her family in front of them to refuse their blackmail of Mu Nanzhao.

When Mu Nanzhao later learned of this, in addition to his gratitude for her saving his life, he felt a deep sense of heartache.

and so……

What exactly is Mu Nanzhao thinking?

Everyone went home to rest at noon.

During the meal, Gu Xixi looked at Mu Nanzhao and casually asked, "People say that my cousin was born into a pitiful family, and that she is different from her family. What do you think?"

"Oh." Mu Nanzhao continued eating.

Gu Xixi was still not giving up, and even tried to imitate the health product salesmen of later generations by fabricating stories out of thin air.

At this point, Aunt Zhang and the old doctor finished eating and got up to attend to their own business.

Mu Nanzhao suddenly glanced at Gu Xixi, "Deception, lying, almost killed us. In the past, she would be a dead person today."

Gu Xixi opened her mouth with difficulty, "But everyone believes that she was coerced by Gu Tiezhu."

"You always criticize others, but what about you?" Mu Nanzhao retorted, "Do you believe them?"

His gaze was full of mockery, and Gu Xixi felt that she was about to be exposed. She stood up, holding the empty bowl.

"I'm stuffed!"

"Why?" Mu Nanzhao stared at Gu Xixi's retreating figure, his eyes as dark as ink.

“You are clearly not close to her, yet you always speak well of her in front of me.”

"Gu Xixi, don't you think this is strange?"

Gu Xixi couldn't escape the question. She took a deep breath and turned around before her polite smile had even finished.

Then Mu Nanzhao said, "If you want to distance yourself from me and let me know where to go, then you don't need to."

He put down his chopsticks and passed by her without turning his head to look at her.

“I am still a slave, penniless, and sickly, and could die at any moment.”

"I know my own limitations, so there's no need for you to constantly criticize or remind me!"

"Oh! I..." Gu Xixi watched helplessly as Mu Nanzhao walked away proudly.

She plopped down dejectedly, muttering, "That's not what I meant."

And his eyes, why do they look so hurt?

It's as if she's the bad guy who bullied him!

A series of chopping sounds echoed in the courtyard.

Aunt Zhang said loudly, "Xiao Chen, you've just finished eating, take a rest first. This much firewood is enough."

Gu Xixi lifted the curtain and saw that in just a short time, Mu Nanzhao had already chopped a pile of firewood.

He put down the axe, and without saying a word went to the well to draw water.

Aunt Zhang smiled broadly, "This child! He's been so diligent every day since he recovered from his illness!"

Gu Xixi watched Mu Nanzhao working silently, and for some reason, she felt even more upset.

She clearly only wanted to bring Mu Nanzhao and Gu Qingye together.

How did the facts become "Gu Xixi bullied Mu Nanzhao", "Mu Nanzhao suffered all kinds of grievances but still maintained his self-respect and self-reliance", and "he had to work desperately despite being seriously injured"?

Considering that he has lived a life of luxury since childhood, he probably has never even seen such manual labor, let alone done it.

Feeling guilty, Gu Xixi walked up to Mu Nanzhao and said, "Your injury hasn't fully healed yet, so don't do it."

Mu Nanzhao picked up a full bucket of water, calmly looked up, and even smiled at her, "It's okay, I've been eating and living in this house for free, so I have to do something."

Gu Xixi stared blankly as Mu Nanzhao carried water into the kitchen.

This time he didn't seem to be ignoring her out of spite, but why did she see... a sense of brokenness in him?

The rat infestation came earlier than expected.

In less than three days, villagers discovered groups of three to five rats.

The villagers used oleander water to splash the rats and irrigate their holes.

The fragrant fried pork cracklings are filled with plenty of oleander sap and rolled in sweet honey on the outside.

Such honey baits were placed throughout the village, especially at the village's only entrance to the outside world.

During the day, the adults in the village are busy exterminating rats.

To prevent the children from running away unsupervised and accidentally eating the honey bait meant for mice.

Mu Nanzhao was assigned a unique task.