First Assistant's Petite Wife Has Space

by Usui Takumii

not mine, readwn dot org.

3. 31 to 45

Who didn't know how to be a Scammer?

Widow Li was only a countryside woman and didn't understand any of the words said. After she heard Lu Jiao speak, she simply extended her neck long and screamed, "Children play around all the time. What do you mean they stole? Your kids hurt my grandchildren so you need to pay up."

Just then, her son, Shen Xiaoshan jumped to his feet, "Pay up! Your four children are boys. My children are girls. Your boys are stronger. Pay up!"

Many people from the crowd judged Shen Xiaoshan at this point.

Shen Xiaoshan was Widow Li's son and was very spoiled growing up. He never worked and got by through cheap tricks and scams. Many people hated him.

Lu Jiao snickered and stared at Widow Li. Then, slowly, her gaze landed on Shen Xiaoshan, and the curl on her lips deepened.

"The fault of the children is the fault of their father. Shen Daniu and Shen Erniu learned to steal at such a young age all thanks to you. Your daughters hit my sons and now you're asking me for money? Come, come, let me give you money."

Then, she extended her hand and pulled on Shen Xiaoshan's collar.

She stomped her foot towards Shen Xiaoshan's knee, which caused him to kneel. Then, she pressed into Shen Xiaoshan and started to hit him.

Everyone in the yard was stunned. Widow Li was the first to react. She screamed and grabbed onto Lu Jiao's hair. Lu Jiao slapped her and shoved her away. Widow Li then fell to the ground.

Lu Jiao raised her hand and continued to hit Shen Xiaoshan, "Your daughters are little so I cannot hit them. But that doesn't mean I cannot hit their father. Hehe, you hit my sons and have the audacity to come over here to scam me? Just look at how capable you are. Come, come, you want money? Let me disable you then we can talk money."

Lu Jiao continued to strike and aimed her fists at all the most painful points on Shen Xiaoshan's body.

She was a medical doctor and knew which spots would cause the most pain and wouldn't leave a scar.

Shen Xiaoshan started to cry then. As he cried, he cursed, "Damn you fat b!tch! Let me go! Ahhh, it hurts, let me go!"

Widow Li cursed and wanted to rush over. However, the aggressive way Lu Jiao acted scared her.

She turned her head and saw her daughter Shen Xiu and pushed her forward, "Are you a dead woman? Go stop her! Do you want your brother dead?"

Shen Xiu didn't dare to go up there. Right now, Lu Jiao's behavior terrified her. Her chubby cheeks quivered with every violent movement and the way she slammed her fat fists made her look like a yaksha. When she shoved Widow Li, Widow Li practically flew away. If Shen Xiu went over there right now, she would be hit.

Shen Xiu could only stand on the side and howl, "Lu Jiao, let go of my brother. Hitting people is illegal."

Lu Jiao ignored her and continued to beat him. At this point, Shen Xiaoshan was rolling around in pain and shrieked uncomfortably. In the end, he started to beg.

"Fat b!tch, stop hitting me. I won't ask for money anymore. I won't. Let me go!"

Outside the yard, the Village Leader, Xie Fugui came over. Terrified that someone might die today, he shouted, "Yunijn's wife, stop!"

Lu Jiao respected the Village Leader and therefore stopped. She then picked up Shen Xiaoshan like he was a dead dog.

Shen Xiaoshan's entire body was in pain. His pale face produced much tears and sobs and he appeared extremely tired.

But the arrival of the Village Leader made him want to curse again. Just then, unexpectedly, Lu Jiao reached into her sleeves and pulled out a small blade and held it against his neck.

"Pay up."

Who didn't know how to be a scammer? Let's go. Let's all scam each other. Let's see who ends up with more money.

Inside the yard, everyone watched in a daze and nobody dared to move. All they could think about was how terrifying Yunjin's wife was.

Everyone stared at Lu Jiao and thought that compared to now, the old Lu Jiao wasn't considered scary.

Shen Xiaoshen instantly started to cry out of fear. As he cried, he begged, "Yunjin's wife, put down the knife. I don't want the money anymore. I don't."

The Village Leader raised his head and asked Lu Jiao, "Yunjin's wife, what's the meaning of this?"

Lu Jiao raised her head and said, "His children stole from my home today and hurt my children. Afterward, she came to my door asking for money. Yunjin was worried and managed to struggle his way out of bed. His condition had worsened as a result. This means all the money I spent on his medicine has gone to waste."

"He's now unconscious and it's not clear how he's doing. So I cannot just let go of what happened here today. The Shen family can pay up, or they can go to the judge with me to see how the judge will rule this situation."

Widow Li trembled at the thought of going before a judge. However, she didn't want to pay anything so she screamed, "You hurt my son like this and you want money? We are not going to pay."

Lu Jiao waved around the surgery blade in her hand and coldly laughed, "You're not paying up? Then let's go to the judge. You claim my quadruplets hurt your Shen Daniu and Shen Erniu? I'm sure the judge can tell right away whether or not my children hurt yours."

Widow Li's face turned white. She glanced at her granddaughters then at the four little beans. Only now did she realize the position she was in.

However, she refused to pay up so with a thump, she sat onto the ground and screamed, "You hit my son and you ask us for money? We have no money to give you. Oh my god, heavens, how can someone be like this? I might as well die."

Lu Jiao ignored her. Today, she planned to make it clear to every villager here that she was not someone to be taken advantage of.

Lu Jiao snickered and said, "No money? Then let's go to the judge. You said I hit your son? Then let's let the judge see if your son is injured."

At those words, Widow Li stood up and walked to Shen Xiaoshan.

Shen Xiaoshan started to cry, "Mom, it hurts. My entire body hurts. Everything is swollen."

Widow Li started to check out her son but did not see any flesh injuries.

She couldn't believe this and continued to search. In the end, she found nothing.

Lu Jiao chuckled, "I'm a woman who just saw her husband vomit blood and her own children get hurt. Out of fury, I hit him a few times. How could he be swollen all over?"

Widow Li was in a daze. The villagers were also stunned.

Shen Xiaoshan continued to shriek in pain.

Village Leader Xie Fugui narrowed his eyes at Lu Jiao. She has changed. She was so different from before and was now so capable. The Village Leader didn't need to think too hard to realize what Lu Jiao intended.

She didn't really want to fight the Shen family or go to a judge. She simply wanted to use the Shen family as a case study so the villagers know not to mess with her.

Xie Fugui exclaimed silently how strategic and tactful this woman was. Though Xie Yunjin is now disabled, his family will continue to do well. He must make peace with this woman. After all, he didn't want today's fight to alert the judge.

Xie Fugui made his decision and said to Widow Li, "You need to pay Yunjin's family."

Widow Li would never accept this and wailed, "No! We have no money. She hurts my son and then asks for money? We have none!"

Lu Jiao Shares Silver

Xie Fugui was angry. The Xie Village was rather peaceful but there had been these few rats who infuriated others.

Xie Fugui stared at Widow Li coldly and said in a low voice, "If you don't pay up, then you need to get out of the Xie Village. This village refuses to house families like you. You might lead the village children astray."

The color drained from Widow Li's face right away. She wanted to argue more but Xie Fugui's heavy expression stopped her. The Village Leader was determined to go through with his threat. Just where would the Shen family go if they're shunned out?

The Xie Village was the home of the Xie bloodline. They may have accepted others with different surnames, but these people will never root in the same way as the Xie's.

Xie Fugui ignored Widow Li and asked Lu Jiao, "Yunjin's wife, how much do you want?"

Lu Jiao narrowed her eyes at Widow Li and faked a smile, "One tael of silver is enough. Leader, as you know, Yunjin's medicine is around one and a half taels of silver per portion. The good quality one costs as much as five taels of silver. This one tael of silver from her cannot even buy us medicine."

"I don't even really want her silver. I want her to learn a lesson and stop taking advantage of my family."

Everyone originally thought she was being greedy by asking for one tael of silver. However, once they heard that it wasn't even enough to get medicine, they suddenly thought of her as kind.

Many people spoke up on her behalf, "Yunjin did get hurt today. He vomited blood. One tael of silver isn't enough. It's really not."

"She didn't ask for too much. With Widow Li hurting Yunjin like this, Yunjin's family will need to spend so much more money."

Widow Li refused to give out any money and frowned, "We don't have money. We don't."

Just then, she saw Xie Lan on the side and grabbed her hand, "Xie Lan, go beg your third sister-in-law and ask her to stop asking us for money. You know what my situation is like at home."

Xie Lan heard Widow Li's words and thought that given she was friends with Shen Xiu, she needed to take a side and act now in order to make herself look like a kind soul.

Xie Lan turned her head. However, before she could speak, Lu Jiao had snapped, "Shut your mouth. The sight of you annoys me."

Then, she grabbed Shen Xiaoshan's hand and started to drag him out, "Since your family refuses to give us money, I'll take your mother and daughter to the judge. I will tell them you attempted to scam our money. Logically speaking, you will have to sit behind bars for a while."

"Ah, right. I remember now that you have a long history of bad habits. Since we are going to a judge, I will tell him all about it. It's better for society if he sends his investigators around and digs into everything. That way, you can stay behind bars for two more years."

Shen Xiaoshan's face was now pale with fright. Coupled with his physical pain, his whole existence felt like a burden.

He shrieked with his face blank, "Mother, give it to her. Go get money and give it to her. I don't want to go to jail."

Widow Li didn't dare to argue now that her son had spoken, "Don't take my son away. I will go get your money."

She then walked away in a hurry. Lu Jiao wasn't afraid of her running away and so she reasonably put away the blade in her hand.

Everyone in the yard sighed in relief. Yunjin's wife with a blade was a rather scary picture.

Widow Li quickly delivered that one tael of silver. She felt like her heart had been carved out when she gave up that money.

Lu Jiao didn't even take over the money. She gestured for Xie Xiaobao to take it. Then, she glanced at her quadruplets.

"First Born, who helped you out today?"

The First Born quickly pointed out the Second Grandma's family, the Village Leader's family, as well as this hunter family with the last name Xu.

Lu Jiao nodded and said to the Village Leader, "I don't want this one tael of silver. You three family take it and share it."

Her words stunned everyone in the yard. Everyone there started to discuss this.

"Oh my god, for real?"

"How come I didn't think to help her children before?"

"One tael of silver split three ways is more than 300 copper tokens. That's enough for a couple of pounds of pork. Oh my goodness."

Xie Fugui stared at Lu Jiao, "Yunjin's wife, there's no need to be like this. Yunjin is in need of money."

Lu Jiao shook her head, "I will figure out a way to get money for his medicine. Village Leader, as you saw, I know how to hunt, and I also know how to identify herbs. I don't have to worry about Yunjin's medicine. Please split the money. I'm giving it to you to thank your lot for helping my children today."

She didn't want to expand on what she already said, and she shoved away Shen Xiaoshan, "Get out of here."

Widow Li helped her son stand up and they didn't dare to stay.

Behind everyone, Shen Xiu's gaze threw daggers at Lu Jiao before she walked away. Xie Lan remembered Lu Jiao's words and angrily glared at her before she left.

Everyone left the yard while the three families who helped the quadruplets came over to convince Lu Jiao to take the money back.

Lu Jiao didn't let them give the money back to her. She had to threaten someone in order to get the money. If she took it, the village would view her poorly but if she didn't take the money, their opinions of her would be positive. Lu Jiao asked the Village Leader to handle the matter of splitting the money. She honestly didn't care for that one tael of silver.

Village Leader Xie Fugui took on the task and left with everyone.

His daughter, Xie Xiaoju however, didn't leave. She stayed and said to Lu Jiao, "Third sister, third brother, and the children are all hurt. I will stay and help you cook dinner while you tend to them."

It was rather late now, and it was time to cook dinner. However, Xie Yunjin and the four little ones got hurt and needed tending.

In the end, she thanked Xie Xiaoju and brought the four little ones into the living room.

"Wait for me. I will take out some rice for sister Xiaoju. Then, I will come back to clean your wounds."

The four little ones were anxious as they stayed in the living room. The moment Lu Jiao left, they ran to the east bedroom.

They knew that their father just vomited blood. As they stood by his bedside and watched him lie there unconscious, they felt terrified and tears started to roll down their cheeks.

Lu Jiao hid and took out half a bowl of rice from her space and handed it to Xie Xiaoju, "Xiaoju, thank you for this."

"No problem. You go and be busy."

Lu Jiao nodded. She first got a bucket of water before she headed to the east bedroom.

Before she could enter, she heard the four little ones cry, "Daddy, wake up."

"Don't sleep. We won't fight anymore."

"We won't ever fight anyone in the future. Don't get mad."

Lu Jiao entered and found the four of them in a line as they wiped tears off their faces.

Lu Jiao called them, "Come here and wash up first. Look at how dirty you all are."

The quadruplets turned their heads towards her. They remembered how she protected them before and felt close to her.

The First Born walked over in a hurry, "You feed daddy medicine first."

Lu Jiao took the only small seat in the house and sat down. She said to the First Born, "I already checked him out. He's fine. You guys stop worrying."

The Four Little ones were in disbelief, "Then how come he's not waking up?"

"He was already injured, and he got too angry, so he cannot wake up right at this moment. Don't worry though, he will be fine."

Lu Jiao Educating her Sons

Lu Jiao then checked out the four little ones and found cuts on all of their faces and bodies. Luckily, there were no broken bones or sprained muscles. Since they were so young and their skin was so tender, they scarred and bruised very easily.

Though they appeared very hurt, they were relatively okay. The two daughters from the Shen family were way more hurt.

Lu Jiao had no time to pity others. Everyone has their fate and she was no saint.

"If this stuff happens again, don't fight them on the spot. Just let her take the eggs and wait for me to come home to deal with her. You are all so small and if they hit you, they're likely to win the fight."

The First Born looked up at her and said with a serious expression, "You asked us to watch the chicken and the eggs before you left today. So we couldn't just let her take them."

Lu Jiao froze. This was all because she asked something of them? She felt a little bitter.

"Ah, I understand. You guys did well today. In the future, don't put yourself in a disadvantageous position again."

Then, she pulled eight candies out of her sleeve and handed them to the four little ones, "Here is the candy I promised you. Two each."

The four little ones stared at them. Wow, this really was candy.

All the sour spots on their bodies suddenly stopped hurting. The Fourth Born raised his head in surprise, "Mommy, you really brought us candy?"

The Fourth Born's words petrified the room, including Lu Jiao.

The other three children glared at the Fourth Born.

The Fourth Born was surprised as well. He quickly shot Lu Jiao a look and realized that she wasn't angry.

He then turned to look at the other three. Before, they had agreed never to call this evil woman their mother. He had broken that pact just now and wondered if his brothers were mad at him.

The Third Born was obviously pissed. He stared down at the Fourth Born angrily before he turned away to ignore him.

The Fourth Born wasn't sure what to do now. However, when he saw Lu Jiao, he smiled. He called her "mommy" and she didn't tell him to not do that. He has a mommy now!

"Mommy."

Lu Jiao thought he needed something and answered, "What is it? Do you need something?"

The Fourth Born shook his head and called again, "Mommy."

By now, Lu Jiao knew he just wanted to call out to her so she let him. Every time he called out, she responded.

The other three were getting madder and madder and refused to move for a while. Lu Jiao ignored them.

She wiped down their bodies using an old towel and left with the water once the four little ones were clean.

Afterward, the three children all glared at the Fourth Born, "Hmmph, you dare to call her your mom. We agreed to never call her that."

"I'm going to ignore you now."

"I'm going to ignore you now too."

None of the other three children acknowledged the Fourth Born afterward.

Later, Lu Jiao returned with their clothes that she had previously washed and dried for the kids to change into.

It was obvious to her that there was a conflict between the children. However, she pretended not to notice. After she changed them, she took out anti-inflammation medicine and applied it to their wounds. Then, she gathered their old clothes and walked out.

Since the brothers now ignored the Fourth Born, the Fourth Born ran out and grabbed Lu Jiao's hand, "Mommy."

Lu Jiao lowered her gaze and looked into his heart-shaped eyes. His eyes were full of affection and admiration. That look softened her heart into mush.

"What is it?"

"Mommy, I want to spend time with you."

"Okay." Lu Jiao walked out holding his hand. She originally didn't mind that the children didn't refer to her as their mother, because she had no plan to stay here long term. However today, the Fourth Born called her "mom". This lifted and brightened her mood greatly.

The First Born frowned deeply as he watched this. It was as if he contemplated a life-changing decision.

The Second and Third Born watched him and waited for him to make a decision.

Outside, Lu Jiao fetched a fresh bucket of water to clean Xie Yunjin with. She had no idea how he managed to make his way outside, but his entire body was dusty and dirty. He even got blood on it. It was for the best to clean him up and get him into new clothes.

Luckily today, she bought him two new sets of clothes.

Lu Jiao, along with the Fourth Born, got to the east bedroom and heard the First Born make an important announcement, "If he wants to call that woman mom, then let him. We can just ignore him."

Lu Jiao entered with the water and said in an unpleasant tone, "It doesn't matter what you refer to me as, I am your mother. Don't bully the Fourth Born."

The Second and Third Born felt they have been wronged, "You were the one who told us not to call you that."

Their words reminded Lu Jiao of all the bad things she's done before. That was true, the original host didn't allow them to call her mom. When they did, she would hit them. In the end, the children collectively decided to not call her their mother and would refer to her as "the evil woman".

Lu Jiao remembered that and dry laughed, "Then I was wrong."

She was terrified that the children would drag out that conversation, so she changed the subject.

"Second and Third Born, I didn't get a chance to ask you two – Second Born, who taught you to speak such ugly words? Words like b!tch… who taught you that?"

Lu Jiao was serious as she stared at the Second Born, which scared him a little. However, he had to defend himself, "Those are words you always used to curse at people."

Lu Jiao's face turned dark, "I am simply a woman from the countryside who doesn't know better. Therefore, I sometimes speak rather poorly. You boys are men, why learn from a woman how to curse at people? Do you ever see grown men curse at people the way I do?"

The Second Born thought about it and quickly chimed in, "Shen Daniu's dad curses like that too."

This angered Lu Jiao, "Shen Daniu's dad is not a good man. Nobody in the village thinks anything of him. You want to become a man that's hated by everyone, even dogs?"

The Second Born shook his head. He wanted to become someone like his father. Before, everyone in the village was so nice to his father.

"If that's the case, then don't go around cursing like that. Of course, I will stop cursing like that too."

Lu Jiao confirmed with the Second Born, "Do you hear me?"

Unconvinced, the Second Born peeked at Lu Jiao, "You really won't curse anymore?"

"Have I been cursing these last several days?"

The Second Born shook his head. These last few days, the evil woman didn't curse at anyone and she's been so nice. She cooked them nice meals, protected them, and even bought them candy."

The Second Born mumbled, "I got it. I won't curse anymore."

Lu Jiao nodded in satisfaction. She then looked over to the Third Born. The Third Born lifted his chest high, "I didn't curse at anyone."

Lu Jiao snickered, "Haha, you sure didn't curse. You sat on the ground and rolled around, saying your life is over."

Lu Jiao remembered that the original host used to do that and that was where he learned it. So she quickly shut up and hissed, "Don't do that anymore in the future. You're a man, so act like one. Have you ever seen your father cry and roll around like that?"

The Third Born shook his head and promised, "I won't lie on the ground anymore."

Satisfied, Lu Jiao took the water and walked up to the bed.

The Fourth Born has a Sweet Mouth

Xie Yunjin was still unconscious but his face and body had to be cleaned.

Lu Jiao used an old rag to wipe down his face and hands. Then, she planned to take off his clothes and clean up his body.

Just as she was about to untie the belt around his waist, an arm reached out and grabbed her hand. Then, a weak and cold voice demanded, "What are you doing?"

Lu Jiao looked up and saw that Xie Yunjin was awake. Right now, he stared at her unkindly as if she was an up-to-no-good hoodlum, and he was a proper woman about to be ruined.

Lu Jiao speechlessly raised an eyebrow, "Because you got out of bed, you got yourself really dirty. You also haven't bathed in a while. I want to clean you up a little and change you. Aren't you uncomfortable lying on the bed in your dirty clothes?"

She was a doctor and was used to all this. She never thought much of it.

Lu Jiao rolled her eyes, hard.

Xie Yunjin didn't let her go even after she explained. Instead, he grabbed onto his own belt. Though he was weak, he still struggled, "I will do this myself."

Lu Jiao didn't force him, "Okay, okay, you do it yourself. Untie your belt first."

Xie Yunjin didn't move and simply stared.

Lu Jiao realized what he meant by this and turned around, so she couldn't see him.

Behind her, Xie Yunjin sighed in relief and struggled with difficulty to get out of his clothes. He had vomited blood and his body was incredibly weak. His hands shook and even after several minutes, he couldn't unbutton his shirt.

The quadruplets were anxious as they watched this and all eagerly volunteered.

"Daddy, let me help you."

"Let me help you."

Lu Jiao rubbed her temples helplessly as she wondered how she could solve this.

Outside, Xie Erzhu's voice echoed, "Third brother, how are you doing?"

His voice made Lu Jiao sigh in relief. She called out, "Second brother, come on in."

Xie Erzhu entered and was asked to help Xie Yunjin get cleaned up. Lu Jiao then went to the storage room to take out a new set of clothes, "Change Yunjin into this. It's more comfortable."

Xie Erzhu carefully checked out Lu Jiao. He had always been terrified of his sister-in-law but today, he feared her more. He had heard that today, his sister-in-law dealt with someone as difficult as Widow Li and managed to get silver out of her.

In the end, she split the money and paid the three families who helped the quadruplets. This event was heavily gossiped about by everyone in the village and a lot of people regretted that they did not help the quadruplets. Mostly, however, people complimented Lu Jiao's generosity.

When his own mother heard the story, however, she cursed for an hour at how her son was a failure.

Xie Erzhu answered carefully, "Alright, I got it."

Lu Jiao nodded and turned around. Behind her, the Fourth Born shot his father one last look and decided to follow Lu Jiao. As he ran, he shouted, "Mommy, I come with you."

Behind him, the other three children angrily glared at him. Then, they started to tattletale to Xie Yunjin, "Daddy, the Fourth Born calls that evil woman 'mom'."

"Hmmph, we are going to ignore him from now on. We won't play with him anymore and we won't talk to him anymore."

"We won't protect him anymore."

Xie Yunjin frowned and scolded, "What are you talking about? She's your mother no matter what. Just because you don't want to call her your mom, doesn't mean others shouldn't."

The Second and Third Born said sadly, "She told us not to call her that."

Xie Yunjin's eyes flashed with exasperation. However, he quickly remembered that Lu Jiao was different now and felt better.

"She's treating you nicely now, isn't she?"

The Second and Third Born did not speak further. Xie Yunjin stared at the three little beans and said meaningfully, "You don't have to call her 'mom'. I won't force you. But you cannot get mad just because the Fourth Born wants to call her 'mom'. Remember, you guys are supposed to be good brothers to each other."

The three children exchanged glances and nodded, "Okay, we got it, dad."

Lu Jiao didn't know about this as she headed to the kitchen with the Fourth Born.

The pig head, organs, and hocks from this morning haven't been dealt with. Though they won't go bad while in her space, they shouldn't be left there forever.

Lu Jiao decided to leave the ribs there for now and make the other parts first. However, since they only had one pot, she had to wait until after dinner before she could cook.

Inside the kitchen, Xie Xiaoju had cooked the rice into porridge.

"Third sister, the porridge is ready. Should I scoop some out for the four little ones?"

Lu Jiao nodded and said, "You should stay for dinner as well. There are no other dishes for dinner so it's simple. Hope you don't mind."

Xie Xiaoju shook her head and headed outside right away, "Third sister, I'll go home first. If you need me, just call for me."

Lu Jiao wanted to ask her to stay but she ran away really quickly.

Helpless, Lu Jiao went back into the kitchen and placed the scooped-out porridges onto the small table. Since it was late, she didn't have time to cook vegetables. She decided to take out the red bean baked goods she bought today.

The Fourth Born was stunned as he stared at the red bean cake, "mommy, what is this?"

"Red bean cake. I bought it for you guys. Later, each one of you can have a slice of that and a bowl of porridge."

The little man's eyes lit up and he raised his head to compliment Lu Jiao, "Mommy, you are so great."

This mommy of his was so nice, so much better than the mom he had before.

His cute little face made Lu Jiao giggle. She couldn't help but bend down and pinch his cheeks, "You think I'm nice when I have food for you. If I have no food for you, you wouldn't say these nice words."

The Fourth Born shook his head and his eyes turned into crescents from smiling so big, "Mommy is great with or without food."

Lu Jiao's heart popped like popcorn. She couldn't help but kiss the Fourth Born on the cheek.

The Fourth Born was shocked. He covered his face and started to laugh. His mommy kissed him, she kissed him.

Lu Jiao started to giggle as well. Since it was late, she took the table with the food outside. As she walked, she reminded, "Be careful, don't fall."

"I know, mommy."

The Fourth Born had forgotten that his brothers were mad at him. His mommy was so great. She bought them candy, red bean cake, and even kissed him. What a happy day.

Inside the east bedroom, Xie Erzhu had cleaned Xie Yunjin up and changed him into clean clothes.

Xie Yunjin felt comfortable right away. Though Xie Erzhu had cleaned him before, he'd worn that same old set of clothes for weeks. Now that he had changed into clothes made out of cotton, he felt very comfortable.

The aura that emitted from Xie Yunjin softened as a result.

Lu Jiao entered with the table of food. His face didn't turn cold right away. It didn't matter where this woman came from, so far, everything she's been has been nice. Therefore, for now, he will not ask her to reveal her true identity.

The Apple doesn't Fall Far from the Tree

Just then, the Fourth Born skipped his way to the other three children and shouted excitedly, "First, Second, and Third Born, not only did mommy buy us candy, but she also got us red bean cake."

The three children looked at the table in surprise and really saw the cake there. There were even multiple pieces.

Their eyes brightened and their heads snapped towards Xie Yunjin. Xie Yunjin gently said, "Go and eat."

The First Born ran to the table and picked up a piece of cake, "Daddy, you eat."

Once daddy eats cake, he will lighten up.

Xie Yunjin shook his head, "I don't want it. You guys eat."

Lu Jiao said, "Try a piece. I bought more than two pounds of those. Second brother, you should try a piece as well."

Those words made Xie Erzhu stand up. This red bean cake must have been expensive. How could he eat that? He should save those for his third brother.

"I… I will go home and eat."

Lu Jiao stopped him, "Second brother, stay here for dinner. However, we only have porridge and red bean cake. I had no time to make other dishes. I will need some time to clean up the pig organs and pig head."

Though she had her space, if she doesn't clean those up today, Xie Yunjin may get suspicious. It was summer, and the pig would stink up if not dealt with properly.

Lu Jiao then asked, "Second Brother, do me a favor and feed Yunjin. After he's done, you should stay and eat with us."

Lu Jiao then left the room. She was in a rush because she really needed to clean the pig organs and head. It was already late and she needed to cook them separately one after another.

Inside the room, Xie Yunjin glanced at the table. There were six bowls of porridges there which indicated that one of them was for Xie Erzhu.

Xie Yunjin said, "Second brother, you eat first."

How could Xie Erzhu do that? He picked up a bowl and started to feed Xie Yunjin.

The quadruplets also sat down and started dinner happily. The Fourth Born mumbled as he ate with a smile, "Mommy is so great. She got us candy and red bean cake."

This young boy's heart-shaped eyes squinted into crescents as he smiled. His cute face made everyone feel fuzzy and warm.

The other three children, however, were very unhappy with him. Hmmph, he made it sound like that woman was his mom only when they shared that mother!

Inside the kitchen, Lu Jiao put the cleaned-up pig organs into the pot. After she added in the ingredients she bought from town this morning, she lit up a fire and started to boil it.

While the firewood burned, she used the time to eat her dinner.

What a busy day today was.

Though it exhausted her, she also felt fulfilled. Especially when she remembered how cute the Fourth Born was when he called her mommy, she was over the moon happy.

As she thought about it, she heard the Fourth Born's sticky voice, "Mommy, have you had dinner?"

Ah, he remembered to care about her. Lu Jiao felt even happier.

"I just ate. Have you eaten?"

The Fourth Born entered slowly. The oil lamp in the kitchen wasn't the brightest and Lu Jiao was terrified that he would fall, so she went to pick him up and placed him on a rock behind the giant burner.

The mother and son duo sat down together. The Fourth Born extended his arm and reached for Lu Jiao, "Mommy, here's the red bean cake, I brought it for you."

Lu Jiao's heart was now in a disarray.

"You eat, I don't need to eat."

The Fourth Born grinned ear to ear, "Mommy, I've already eaten. I saved this piece for you."

Lu Jiao nodded and took a bite, "Yum, this is good."

The mother and son duo then consecutively took bites until the piece of cake was gone.

Outside the kitchen, the Second and Third Born peeked in. When they saw how the Fourth Born acted, their eyes darkened, and they mumbled, "Kiss ss."

"Could it be that she only likes the Fourth Born, and not us?"

The Second Born was not happy to hear what the Third Born had to say and ran away. The Third Born followed him.

Inside the kitchen, Lu Jiao naturally heard those two but didn't mind it.

The smell of braised pig intestines quickly expanded throughout the yard. Luckily, Xie Yunjin's place was very east of the village so not a lot of people smelled it. Their neighbor, the Second Grandma's house, however, smelled it. Everyone inside their home sucked in the air and discussed, "What is this? It smells delicious."

"It really does. I've never smelled anything like it."

Xie Xiaobao wrinkled his nose, "I think third aunty is cooking. I will go check it out."

Xie Laifu wanted to scold his son but he had run off at lightning speed. He arrived soon and asked Lu Jiao, "Third aunty, what are you cooking? It smells great."

Lu Jiao had always liked Xie Xiaobao and knew that he protected the quadruplets today, she liked him even more now.

"I'm making pig intestines. Once I'm done, I'll give you some to try."

"Alright, alright!"

Xie Xiaobao was greedy for food and circled around the stove. Lu Jiao found this funny.

Since she made the intestines first, it didn't take long for them to cook. It was really late now so Lu Jiao took out the intestines once they were cooked through, instead of slow cooking them.

Once she fished out the intestines, she cut a piece and fed it Xie Xiaobao.

"How is it? Is it good?"

Xie Xiaobao nodded his head aggressively, "Delicious! Third aunty, how did you make this? It's so yummy."

The Fourth Born watched this and pulled on Lu Jiao's clothes, "Mommy, I want a piece. I want to eat too."

Lu Jiao cut a piece for him as well.

The Fourth Born ate in satisfaction. As he ate, he evaluated, "Delicious. Mommy, you are a great cook."

Outside the room, Second and Third Born saw this and bolted in like little bullets. Without thinking too much, they asked straight away, "Mommy, I want some, I want some."

"Mommy, I want."

The two of them opened their mouths like baby birds as they waited to be fed. Lu Jiao was too stunned to move.

These two had also called her "mommy". That meant out of the quadruplets, three of them had accepted her as their mother. Only the First Born hasn't.

Lu Jiao's mood continued to lighten. This feeling truly made her lightheaded.

She efficiently cut up some more intestines to feed her sons.

After she fed the Second and Third Born, she found the First Born by the door. However, this guy simply pouted and appeared to be unwilling to speak.

Lu Jiao wanted to laugh but didn't give him a hard time. She waved for him to come in.

"First Born, come on in, I will give you a piece."

The First Born, with a straight face, thought about it. Then with a serious expression, came in and opened his mouth.

Lu Jiao giggled at his seriousness.

However, she didn't tease him, just in case he got embarrassed and angry. She quickly cut some up for the First Born and asked, "How is it? Is it good?

The First Born took his time to do the taste test before he commented, "Meets expectation."

His mannerism reminded her of Xie Yunjin and she couldn't help but roll her eyes. The apple truly does not fall far from the tree.

I Can't Say It

Since the four little ones had both porridge and red bean cake, Lu Jiao didn't want them to eat more so she told them, "You cannot eat any more food today. If you eat more, your stomach will hurt. You can have more tomorrow. Go and play with brother Xiaobao."

Xie Xiaobao then brought the four little ones to play in the living room.

Lu Jiao divided up the cooked pork intestines and started to boil the pork head with the seasoning. It usually took more time to get the flavors into the pork head.

Once the pot began to simmer, Lu Jiao went to chat with Xie Erzhu.

"Second brother, can you help me out?"

Xie Erzhu stood up right away and asked, "Third sister-in-law, what do you need from me?"

"The weather is far too hot and it's bad to leave the cooked pig intestines around. So I want to ask you to deliver some to the families who helped us today. Once you're done, bring some back home so sister-in-law can have some too."

Xie Erzhu heard that and started to brandish his hand, "There's no need to give that to me. Leave it to my third brother and your kids."

Lu Jiao smiled, "We have a pig head as well. You don't need to worry about us."

Xie Erzhu wanted to decline again but Xie Yunjin chimed in, "Second brother, you've helped us out tremendously so just take it. But be careful and don't get sister-in-law and the kids in trouble."

He was cautioning Xie Erzhu to hide it from the Xie family. If they found out that they sneaked around food, the rest of the family would skin them alive.

Xie Erzhu's pale and old face immediately turned bitter. The thought of his wife and kids pained him. Sometimes, he really wanted to just leave that family behind. However, he knew very well that that was impossible. His parents counted on his entire family to do all the laboring work and there was no way they would let them go that easily.

If he forcefully moved out, he was sure that his mom would stink up his reputation until it was unsalvageable.

If that happened, nobody in the village would accept him. The Xie Village never housed anyone with an awful reputation.

The only reason why his Third Brother was able to move out was that he was heavily wounded, and the family didn't want to spend a single cent on him.

Xie Erzhu was in deep thought when Lu Jiao's voice interrupted him.

"Second brother, then please help me deliver these. I have divided them up."

"Okay."

Xie Erzhu walked out then. Behind them, Xie Yunjin watched them leave with his eyes narrowed. The existence of this woman benefited his entire family. Like a ray of sunshine, she shone on them.

Lu Jiao packed up the intestines into four portions. One for the Second Grandma, one for the Village Leader, one for the Xu family, and the last one for Xie Erzhu's family.

Once Xie Xiaobao saw there was food being delivered to his family, he ran back home.

It was late so Lu Jiao brought the four quadruplets to the east bedroom. As she walked, she lectured, "It's late and you should sleep right away."

She washed up these four little ones and applied some more medicine. When she brought the four little ones to sleep on Xie Yunjin's bed, the Fourth Born suddenly reached out and wrapped his arms around her neck, "Mommy, I want to sleep with you tonight."

The other three angrily glared at the Fourth Born. Why was he everything?

Lu Jiao didn't agree. She had slept on the ground in the east bedroom. The floor was humid and wasn't good for the children.

"I still have to cook the pig head. You guys go to sleep first."

The Fourth Born's eyelids started to get glued together but he still mumbled, "Then I will wait for you."

Lu Jiao patted his head, "Okay, go to sleep then."

The Second and Third Born stared at Lu Jiao wide eyed. They suddenly asked, "Mommy, can we eat the braised thing you're cooking tomorrow?"

Lu Jiao knew that they wanted to eat meat so she nodded, "Okay, you can have it once you wake up."

The Second and Third Born cheered, "Then we are going to sleep right away."

After she settled down the quadruplets, Lu Jiao glanced at Xie Yunjin, "I'm going to cook the pork head. If you need anything, just call."

"Okay."

Lu Jiao studied Xie Yunjin's cold gaze and glanced at the First Born. They were speechlessly identical.

She then left the room. After she left, the Second, Third, and Fourth Born fell asleep very quickly while the First Born lay by his father with his eyes open. He couldn't sleep.

Xie Yunjin was in a weakened state but he wasn't that exhausted. How strange. To have gone through the chaos he did today, he should be tired and require some time to recover.

At the very least, he thought it would take two to three days until he could wake up. Who knew he woke up so quickly. Was his body this strong?

Xie Yunjin pondered but had no answer. When he saw that his son hasn't slept, he asked gently, "First Born, why aren't you sleeping?"

The First Born placed his hands behind his head and said bitterly, "They all called her 'mom'. But I can't say it."

Xie Yunjin raised an eyebrow. He was not against the quadruplets calling Lu Jiao "mom", but if they didn't want to, he wasn't going to force them either.

He wanted everything to happen naturally and he wasn't going to force the children to do anything.

"If you can't, then don't. Let it be. If there comes a day when you want to, then you can call her 'mom'."

The First Born's face relaxed and he stared at Xie Yunjin, "Daddy, do you think she'll be this nice always?"

Xie Yunjin wanted his children to be bright and optimistic so his eyes turned kind, "Since she's changed for the better, she'll remain this way."

"Mhmm, that's great."

Lu Jiao had no idea that these two had a deep conversation. When the pork head was half cooked, she remembered an important matter. Xie Yunjin hasn't had his medicine. She quickly took out the medicine she bought this morning.

When she brought the medicine to the east bedroom, Xie Yunjin was just about to go to sleep. When his peripheral vision caught the chubby woman bringing in his medicine, he suddenly felt warmth flood over him.

But when his vision focused on her face, Xie Yunjin's face turned cold. Though he knew this woman wasn't the same woman from before, her face still disgusted him.

Even if that woman no longer existed, he still felt so much hatred toward her. If it weren't for her, he never would've gotten paralyzed. He was angry, and that anger was difficult to control.

A few years ago, he had fallen for someone's scheme. This woman snuck into his room in the middle of the night and being drugged and woozy, he had no idea what he did that night.

In the end, he woke up in the morning with a fat woman beside him. Back then, she stared at him with much affection but he on the other hand, almost fainted from the sight.

After that night, the woman became pregnant. Without an alternative, he had to marry her. Originally, he figured that he was okay with giving her a title and just having her live in his house. Who knew that the night of the wedding, the woman saw his lack of action and reached out to strip off his clothes.

The history he had with this woman created so much hatred and disgust in him.

When Lu Jiao entered with the medicine, she saw how the originally kind-looking man turned stone cold in an instant. The eerily unpleasant ways he looked made her shudder.

Lu Jiao couldn't help but silently complain. What a greedy man. She'd fed him food and water yet he constantly gave her the cold shoulder. He better heal soon so they could separate.

She then decided to add two more ingredients to tomorrow's medicine, Ganoderma and ginseng.

"Drink up."

He Sure was Unappreciative

The disgust in Xie Yunjin's eyes dissipated after he heard Lu Jiao's words.

Lu Jiao helped him sit up and fed him some medicine.

Under the dim light, the man's eyes had gathered some liveliness. His already delicate eyes appeared especially structured. While he lowered his head, his long lashes fanned up and down. His nose was high and straight. Though there was no color to his lips, they looked sexy.

Him without his normal coldness looked just like a well-taken care wealthy young master.

Lu Jiao watched him and suddenly remembered how the book described him: The First Assistant, even when he reached his middle age, was a rare handsome man in the Zhou Dynasty.

Such an intelligent and good-looking man turned out to be a great villain.

Lu Jiao mourned for the First Assistant when Xie Yunjin looked up in disdain, "I'm done."

Lu Jiao instantly pulled back to reality. What was she being sad about? This guy hated her. The way he looked at her made it clear that he wanted her dead as soon as possible. So it was her priority right now to cure his legs.

Lu Jiao took away the bowl and placed it on the broken side table. She then helped Xie Yunjin lie down.

Just then, she asked thoughtlessly, "Is the medicine bitter? Do you want a piece of candy?"

Xie Yunjin looked at her and hissed, "No."

Lu Jiao cursed at herself. However, when she remembered how Xie Yunjin forced himself out of bed and went outside, she lectured him in a serious manner.

"From now on, don't get out of bed. You need to heal and how do you do that if you are out of the bed?"

Though she's decided to perform surgery on him, she needed to wait for his concussion and his internal bleeding to subside.

On the bed, Xie Yunjin heard her but said nonchalantly, "I think my body is much better. I should be fine."

Lu Jiao's face turned cold. That was not because his body was strong, it was because she fed him spiritual water. Spiritual water can only help nourish the body but it couldn't cure concussion or bleeding.

Lu Jiao couldn't speak of that of course, so she only warned Xie Yunjin, "I don't care if you are healed or not. From now on out, you must be bedridden and pee and poo in bed."

Xie Yunjin's face drastically changed. What did she say? Was that a phrase a woman should say?

At that moment, Xie Yunjin suspected that there might be a man inside that person's body.

"Are you a woman?"

Lu Jiao laughed, "What is it? A woman can't?say eat, pee and poo?"

Xie Yunjin stared at her. He realized that when she spoke, she sounded genuine and not fake. Now that he thought about it, this person never really acted like a man. So she really was a woman?

Just then, Lu Jiao left the room. Xie Yunjin figured she had more chores to do.

Later though, Lu Jiao came back in with a strange thing made out of bamboo. She waved it around, "Do you see this? You can use this to poo while lying in bed."

Xie Yunjin glanced at the object and his face turned black while coldness covered his eyes.

"What a weird thing."

Lu Jiao wasn't scared of the negative and dismissive way he acted. On the contrary, she felt rather happy about it.

"Ah, this. If I place this below you, you can…?"

Before she could finish, the man in the bed gritted his teeth, "I don't need it, get it out of here."

He was confident that he wouldn't be able to go with that thing beneath him.

Even if he got hurt, he could force himself to get out of bed. There was no way he would stay in bed and use that thing to relieve himself. It was obvious that he wouldn't be able to do it.

Xie Yunjin suspected that this was a prank. With an emotionless expression, he asked, "Are you doing this on purpose?"

Lu Jiao rolled her eyes. On purpose? To be nice, she made him a portable potty yet he suspected her intention? He sure was unappreciative.

Lu Jiao unhappily took away the portable toilet and headed out, "Whatever you want then."

As she got out of the door, she suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Xie Yunjin curiously.

The look on her face signaled to Xie Yunjin that she got another idea and he wanted to shoo her away.

But Lu Jiao managed to speak, "Xie Yunjin, I want to ask you… when you got out there from the east bedroom, did you crawl out of bed, onto the floor, then out the door, or did you walk to the door and then collapsed?"

Lu Jiao was worried that he had put too much weight on his legs and thus had broken them another time. So she preferred it if he crawled today. However, the moment she spoke, Xie Yunjin clenched his teeth, "**** off."

Lu Jiao didn't humor his ferocious response and walked away.

Inside the room, Xie Yunjin drowned in fury. Today, his children got bullied right outside this room and he was too hopeless to help.

He never expected there to come a day where he couldn't even protect his own sons. Therefore, he didn't think twice about his broken legs and tried to walk out while he used the wall as support.

However, there was not the slightest strength in his legs. So he collapsed. When he heard his sons cry out, he crawled out of the room.

He imagined how awful and defeated he must've looked and darkness eroded his mind and his eyes subconsciously turned red. For the first time, he was impatient to heal his legs. He needed his legs to get better so he could protect his sons. Then, he would be able to stand up again gloriously.

Before, Doctor Zhou had told him that there were military doctors who could perform the surgery. Only then could his legs heal. So he must find such a person.

Xie Yunjin suppressed the negativity he felt and pondered hard over ways to find the person he needed.

Though Lu Jiao had offered to find him a doctor, Xie Yunjin just didn't trust her. Why would a stranger who came out of nowhere help him find a doctor? So he had to fend for himself with this.

Inside the kitchen, the pig head was fully braised. Lu Jiao took out the pig head. Worried that the heat would make it go bad, she closed the kitchen door and snuck the braised pork into her space.

Nothing in her space went bad. Just like the medicinal herbs, fruits, and vegetables she grew there. They will always be fresh and only grow stronger.

Lu Jiao entered her space. She felt comforted by the space she was in and relaxed instantly. Not far away, she saw her peaches, grapes, watermelons, strawberries, and cherries.

She couldn't help but pick off a few peaches to try. She ate a few grapes too. Honestly, she very much wanted to feed these to the four little ones.

But it would be too hard to explain where she got this stuff from. These were all rare items that were hard to find in town.

Lu Jiao ate her grapes and thought, tomorrow, she could pick a few peaches for the kids.

She's been to town before, so she could say that she bought these there. Xie Yunjin wouldn't think too much of it.

Tore his Eyelid

After Lu Jiao ate, she bathed in the spiritual stream.

Though her space was perfect, she couldn't stay there for long. She was capped out at three hours each time. Even if she didn't want to get out yet, the space would force her out. So normally, she would stay at most three hours before she left.

After she bathed, she drank a cup of spiritual water. She felt her exhaustion disappear and felt every cell and every hair on her regenerate.

It was late now so she quickly exited her space. She cleaned the kitchen and finally headed to the east bedroom.

When she entered, Xie Yunjin, who was originally already asleep, opened his eyes to gawk at her. He looked cautious and defensive. However, when he realized it was Lu Jiao, his eyelids subsequently dropped.

Now that he settled down and the annoyance he showed was gone, Lu Jiao rolled out her blanket on the floor and went to sleep.

The next morning, Lu Jiao woke up very early. The sun hasn't risen yet so she quietly got up to go into the mountains.

The moment she headed out of her home, however, her neighbor, Xie Xiaobao rushed over to her.

"Third aunt, are you going into the mountains this early?"

Lu Jiao nodded and asked Xie Xiaobao curiously, "Do you not sleep in in the morning?"

Xie Xiaobao giggled, "Third aunty, the braised pork you made yesterday was so delicious. I want to go up to the mountains to hunt animals. If I can hunt something down, my mom can braise it for me. Ah right, third aunty, can you teach my mom how to cook that?"

Lu Jiao laughed, "I saved the seasoning I used last night. If you want, tell your mom to come and take some. You can just pour it into a pot and cook meat in there."

Xie Xiaobao skipped around in excitement, "Hurray, third aunty, you're the best."

Lu Jiao found this funny. What an innocent child.

The two of them headed to the mountain. Since Lu Jiao already told Xie Xiaobao she would teach him how to make a trap, she didn't conceal any information and taught him as they walked.

"There are many different types of traps. The one I made before was the simplest one. You dig a hole that's small at the opening but big at the bottom. Then, you shave some bamboos until they're super sharp and stick them into the hole. You lay a layer of grass on top to conceal the hole, then finally, place something bloody or meaty on top."

"There's another type of trap you can make. You can use barbed wire to trap animals. You shape the wire so there's only one opening for them to enter. You place a piece of bait in the middle so they come in. Then, when they try to run with the food, they'll be strangled by the wire."

"Another one is a trapping device. If you put meat in the middle of it, the animal would be lured to go eat it and the device would clamp it and trap it. Of course, those devices need to be concealed by grass so the animals don't see them."

"You can also make a trap using a fish net. You put the fish net on the ground and hang each corner of the net onto different branches. You put meat in the middle of the net and of course, conceal the fish net. Animals can be very smart, and if they get a feeling that something's wrong, they wouldn't fall for the trap. When the animal runs into the fish net trap, the four branches would get pulled and the fish net would pull up. They then wouldn't be able to escape."

Lu Jiao taught him many different types of traps and the information made Xie Xiaobao dizzy. In the end, he asked Lu Jiao, "Third aunty, which type of trap did you choose?"

"I used the easiest one. I dug a hole and stuck in some sharp bamboo sticks. I used meat to lure in prey."

Honestly, Lu Jiao didn't even dig a hole. She found a naturally formed hole and stuck sharp bamboos on over the bottom.

The reason for her success was mainly due to her spiritual stream water. That stuff was highly attractive to preys. Of course, she couldn't tell that to Xie Xiaobao.

Xie Xiaobao was in shock, "But I didn't bring a shovel. Third aunty, let me go get a shovel so I can dig a hole."

Xie Xiaobao then ran off. Lu Jiao wanted to call him and tell him to just use the hole she found. However, Xie Xiaobao ran faster than a rabbit and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Lu Jiao continued to head up the mountain to gather firewood. Today, she wasn't interested in her traps. The squirrel that was in the trap before had disappeared so there was no way any prey would've fallen for her trap.

She didn't need meat anyway, so she wasn't interested.

Lu Jiao was quick to gather the firewood. When she saw that it was rather late, she put everything into her basket and started to descend the mountain.

Before she could get down, however, she ran into a rather sly-looking man around a concealed corner.

Lu Jiao recognized him right away. This man was one of the hoodlums in the village who stole and tricked for a living. He was the same kind of person as Shen Xiaoshan. She remembered his name was Luo Wangcai.

Though Lu Jiao knew this man, she didn't want to talk to him. So slowly, she tried to surpass this guy.

However, the moment they got close, Luo Wangcai revealed a smile and posed in a way he thought was flirtatious.

"Lu Jiao, you here to get firewood?"

Lu Jiao narrowed her eyes at this man. Why did he stand like that? Did he have something planned?

Lu Jiao didn't stop and nodded, "Yes. You're up here because…?"

The sun hasn't even risen so why would this dishonest man be up here if he had no ill intention?

Her words widened Luo Wangcai's grin. He personally thought his smile was very attractive since several young wives from the village had fallen for it before. A fat chick like Lu Jiao was basically his to have.

He remembered what Shen Xiu had told him. If he could successfully seduce this fat woman, Shen Xiu shall grant him 500 copper tokens.

Luo Wangcai was happy with just the thought of it. Though he didn't find this fat woman attractive, the money made it worth it.

He said in a tone that made him sound sad, "My heart aches that you have to do this alone. I was planning on helping you with it."

Lu Jiao was speechless. She was already done yet he said he wanted to help her?

"Are we close enough for you to ache for me?"

Luo Wangcai raised an eyebrow and then winked at Lu Jiao.

Lu Jiao's temples jolted. What was that wink? It looked more like he tore his eyelid. He must have thought of himself as attractive, but she almost wanted to puke.

Luo Wangcai didn't know what was on her mind and said in a gentle voice, "We may not have been close, but we will be. Jiaojiao, I want to spoil you."

He then lifted his arm to pull Lu Jiao close. Lu Jiao picked up her foot and stomped him away by more than three meters.

Luo Wangcai was a lazy man who never did anything so he had no muscles. He couldn't handle this kick and his face turned white from pain.

He angrily struggled his way up, "Lu Jiao, damn you, you fat woman."

After he cursed, he remembered the money he was promised, and his expression changed, "Jiaojiao, you are making me very sad. My heart aches for you that you have to take care of a disabled man. I wanted to help you so how could you treat me this way?"

Lu Jiao wanted to puke again after she heard his greasy words. Whatever, she had no time for this.

She walked over and straight up lifted Luo Wangcai off the ground. Then, she shoved him into a tree and slammed her fist into his stomach.

This Woman was a Little Stupid

Luo Wangcai's face twisted up. He struggled and wanted to curse but Lu Jiao looked so mean he was too scared to.

Lu Jiao didn't care about him and punched him again. Luo Wangcai cried out in pain.

"Lu Jiao, stop it, stop it."

Lu Jiao hit him again. Luo Wangcai's body curled up like a shrimp and his face was now squished together.

Lu Jiao raised her arm again. Terrified, Luo Wangcai hid his head behind his arms and cried.

Speechlessly, Lu Jiao stopped and asked coldly, "Speak, who asked you to come and seduce me. You better give me a good reason or else don't blame me for hitting you again. Oh right, we are in the mountains and there aren't a lot of people around. If I hit you dead and throw you in a ditch, nobody would know."

Only now did Luo Wangcai realize how ridiculous this woman was. He didn't dare to hide anything from her and spilled the beans.

"Shen Xiu. She offered me 500 copper coins for me to come and seduce you. She told me to seduce you until you were willing and then find a time to get all the villagers to catch you red-handed. When that happens, you wouldn't be able to stay in the Xie Village anymore."

Lu Jiao laughed coldly with a dark face. She then said to Luo Wangcai, "Luo Wangcai, so you want a wife."

It was Luo Wangcai's dream to have a wife. Though he was a dog and enjoyed fooling around with young wives, he wished he had a wife to take care of all his needs. He could also do it whenever he wanted. That was way more convenient than having to go out and hunt someone down.

But nobody wanted to marry him. He was poor and he had a blind mother. Some days, he didn't even have the money to buy food. Who would want to marry into that family?

"Nobody wants to be with me."

Out of the goodness of her heart, Lu Jiao inspired him, "Can't you think of a way? There's a perfect candidate right in front of you. You are close to her brother and often visit her home. If you spend some energy on figuring out a way, you could catch your prey."

Luo Wangcai immediately knew who Lu Jiao referred to.

Shen Xiu?

Luo Wangcai and Shen Xiaoshan were good friends and they often visited each other. How come he's never thought of getting it on with his sister?

Now that Lu Jiao had reminded him, he was highly tempted. He was more than willing to be with Shen Xiu. Her waist, her body… if they do it, it must be an out-of-body experience.

But Widow Li was not someone to be messed with. He had no money so where would he go to get the money?

Luo Wangcai thought this suggestion was a no-go.

Lu Jiao said with a smile, "Can't you figure out a way to get yourself some money? If I'm right, Shen Xiu has money. Or else there's no way she gets to stay with her mother without complaints. If you get money from her and give it to Widow Li, I'm sure you'll get Widow Li's blessing to marry her daughter.

"If you ask her directly and she says no, then you can simply get the money in secret."

Luo Wangcai's eyes continued to brighten as Lu Jiao spoke. He had forgotten the physical pain he felt and excitedly shouted, "I'll go take care of that now. If successful, you can come and eat at our wedding."

Lu Jiao slowly let Luo Wangcai go and she clapped her hands, "You have to make it work even if you fail. Got it? If you fail…?"

She brandished her fists in front of Luo Wangcai.

Luo Wangcai was so scared his legs quivered. So she wanted to beat him? The pain returned to his body and he started to run away.

"Don't you worry. I'm going to succeed."

As if he was chased by a wolf, he ran away at Olympic record speed. Lu Jiao ignored him and put the basket of firewood back onto her back.

Towards Shen Xiu, she felt zero guilt about it. That woman deserved it. For her to plot against Lu Jiao? She had asked for death.

The Sun was up by the time Lu Jiao got home. The four little ones were already up and about. When she got through the gate, three out of the four dashed towards her.

"Mommy, I want to eat that good-tasting thing from yesterday."

Lu Jiao was in a spectacular mood as she responded, "Sure! You can eat braised meat and an egg for breakfast."

She had bought white flour from town, so she could make some noodles with that. That plus meat and an egg… not bad at all.

The three little boys cheered happily. They ran off to tell Xie Yunjin the good news while Lu Jiao went to cook.

She added some spring onions and cilantro to the pork noodles and added an egg on top. The dish looked, smelled, and tasted great.

The four little ones didn't even want to put down their chopsticks as they ate. The Fourth Born started to kiss ss again.

"The noodles mommy makes is good looking and good tasting."

Lu Jiao's heart flew due to all the compliments. Her gaze then fell to the Second and Third Born.

They acted as if they received the signal and instantly chimed in as well.

"He's right. The food is delicious. The noodle is delicious. The candy is delicious and the cake is delicious."

They continued to flatter.

The Third Born added at the end, "Not only is mommy a good cook, but mommy also got prettier as well."

Subconsciously, Lu Jiao went to touch her face. Was that true?

On the other side of the room, Xie Yunjin found all this so embarrassing. How could an adult be tricked by a bunch of kids just because they flattered her? How speechless.

Xie Yunjin and the First Born exchanged glances and silently signaled to each other.

This woman was a little stupid.

Lu Jiao's mood was over the moon. She scooped some noodles and fed Xie Yunjin. As she fed him, she said, "I have something I want to tell you. Tomorrow, I want to go to my mother's."

Her words made everyone in the room stop in their tracks.

Xie Yunjin glanced at her but continued to eat. He knew this woman wasn't really the daughter of the Lu family so there was no way she would stay there long-term. He wasn't worried.

The four little ones, however, were worried. What if their mommy never comes back?

Suddenly, the food tasted bland to the children. The Fourth Born stopped and got up to stand by Lu Jiao. He pulled on her sleeve, "Mommy, I go to grandma's house with you."

Lu Jiao shot that idea down. It was four hours of walking in the mountains. Of course, she could hold him but it wasn't ideal to just bring one child instead of all four.

So it was better to not bring any of them. Plus, she was only going to go for a day and it wasn't convenient to carry a child.

"I'll bring you next time."

The Fourth Born's eyes fogged up. He wanted to cry but suppressed it hard.

Lu Jiao felt bad and wondered if she could bring him along? However, if she did, what about the other three?

As she thought about it, the Second and Third Born all rushed over, "Mommy, when are you coming back?"

Lu Jiao only realized then that they were scared that she wouldn't come back. Was that why they were worried? So they viewed her differently now.

Lu Jiao was very happy and said to the kids, "I will leave early in the morning and return at night. Don't worry. Eat your noodles. Once you're done eating, I have another treat for you."

The three of them instantly started to guess, "Candy?"

"Red bean cake?"

The Fourth Born grabbed onto her thighs and pouted, "Mommy tell me, what is it?"

The Villain is a Pretty Good Guy

Lu Jiao patted his head and rushed, "Eat up first. I'll give it to you after you're done."

To get more food later, the Fourth Born went back to eat breakfast. Lu Jiao turned back to Xie Yunjin and he asked, "How come you want to go back?"

This woman married into this family four years ago and it was rare for her to go home. Especially this person here now was not really someone from the Lu family. So why did she plan to go back?

Lu Jiao said quickly, "Last time, my mother gave me five taels of silver so I could buy you medicine."

Xie Yunjin stared with disbelief in his eyes. Sarcastically, his lips curled up.

There truly was nothing bad he could say about his mother-in-law. Due to Lu Jiao's behavior, he never once visited his mother-in-law. However, when he got hurt, his mother-in-law came over to give him money and asked Lu Jiao to behave.

Look at his own parents. They've never liked him since he was a child and only started to acknowledge him after he did well in his studies. What was the result of all that? The moment he got hurt, they disowned him.

He thought about all the silver he'd brought home the past few years, he felt like he had fed his blood and heart to the dogs. So to his family, he's never meant anything.

The only reason they were ever nice to him was due to the silver he brought home and the honor he brought to the family. And there he was, thinking that he meant more to his parents now that he was older.

Once again, his handsome face became coated with frost.

Lu Jiao saw this change in him and realized this was bad. She stayed silent until he calmed down.

"As you know, my family doesn't have much money. The five taels of silver were likely money my mom borrowed. I'm worried that the family isn't happy with her because of the silver so I want to return the money as soon as possible."

Xie Yunjin listened to this and nodded, "As you should."

It was obvious that he didn't want to talk. He didn't want to eat the noodles either anymore because of his bad mood.

He wondered if there'd come a day where his legs heal. If his legs never heal, he'd never be able to repay the debt he owed to those who cared about him.

Lu Jiao knew he lost his appetite and she didn't force it. She brought up something else.

"Before I go home tomorrow, I'll cook your lunch and tell the Second Grandma to come and take care of you. plus, I plan on looking around the village to see who has dogs to give away. I want to bring home one."

After she spoke, the four little ones all froze again and stared at her in unison.

This time, even the First Born acted excited. The Second Born was the first to speak, "Mommy, you want to raise a dog?"

"Yes, with a dog protecting you, I can worry less."

The Second Born nodded aggressively, "Yes, I want one."

The Third Born happily skipped around and promised, "Mommy, I will eat less so there's food for the dog."

The Fourth Born put down his noodles, "Mommy, I won't eat this anymore. Save it for the puppy."

Lu Jiao found this funny. There was no dog in sight yet and these little boys were already so excited. So it appeared that puppies and kittens had their grip on children in every era.

"Eat up. After eating, I will go around the village and ask."

"Okay."

The four little ones focused on their food then, scared that if they were too slow, Lu Jiao would ditch them.

Since Xie Yunjin didn't object, Lu Jiao took out the leftover noodles and went to the kitchen. She also took out five peaches from her space, rinsed those, and brought them to the east bedroom.

The reality was that she had a lot of different fruit in her space. Peach, grape, watermelon, strawberry, cherry… sadly, there was no way she could take those out.

The four little ones were stunned as they gawked at the peaches in Lu Jiao's hands. They recognized peaches. There were peach trees in the village. But those peaches were small and green and very sour. Even if they do survive long enough to ripen, they were tiny.

The peaches in their mom's hand were giant and red. It was obvious that they would be yummy.

Lu Jiao indicated for the quadruplets to eat the peaches and said to the First Born, "Give one to your dad."

Xie Yunjin didn't eat much today so she needed him to eat more to heal.

The First Born instantly brought his dad a peach, "Daddy, eat up."

Xie Yunjin stared at the peach. He knew what a peach was but he's never seen one this fresh, fuzzy, and red.

There have been instances where vendors in the big cities sold these. However, they were really expensive. How could their little town get peaches like this?

Lu Jiao saw Xie Yunjin's narrowed eyes and knew he was suspicious. So she quickly added, "I went to sell the Ganoderma in town and saw the manager had some. I wasn't sure where he got these from but since he had these, I asked him to sell me a few. I wanted the four babies to try some."

Xie Yunjin thought about it. The manager from Baohe Tang came from a big city. It was no surprise that he had peaches like this.

He gently said to the First Born, "First Born, eat it up."

The First Born shook his head, "I have my own."

Xie Yunjin saw the four peaches on the table and said, "Give it to your mom then."

It didn't matter where this woman came from, so far, she had done nothing to harm this family. On the contrary, she had been more than supportive and therefore, he had to be kind back.

Lu Jiao raised an eyebrow at his words. Woah, the big villain knew to save some food for her? Not bad at all.

She had a lot more of these in her space so she really didn't care for this one peach.

"You eat it. I already ate one before. It's alright."

Lu Jiao then lowered her head to eat her noodles. The First Born persisted in feeding the peach to Xie Yunjin so Xie Yunjin took a bite.

The First Born happily inquired, "Daddy, how is it? Is it yummy?"

Xie Yunjin was speechless due to shock. This peach was extremely sweet. The bite he had made him feel physically great. This was the first time he had a peach like this. What was this about?

"It's sweet. Go eat."

The First Born eagerly walked back to the table and the four children each took a peach to eat. All of their faces lit up as they chewed.

Yummy. These were so sweet.

The Fourth Born took the peach to Lu Jiao and held it by her mouth, "Mommy, you eat too."

Lu Jiao declined, "You guys eat. I have already eaten these."

The Fourth Born refused to move. Lu Jiao found this little guy to be very stubborn at times so she faked a bite.

The Second and Third Born also came over to give her their peaches so Lu Jiao quickly said, "You guys eat quickly. I'm going to go around soon asking to see who has dogs to give us. I won't be bringing anyone who doesn't finish eating."

The children didn't dare to delay after that. Efficiently, they finished their peaches.

Lu Jiao gathered the dirty bowls and the four little guys followed her out. The First Born was the last to leave. He was a little hesitant.

If he left, what would his daddy do?

Chapter 41: Women should Protect the Children

Translator: CokeZero Editor: Rainystars

Xie Yunjin realized what the child was worried about right away and said, "First Born, you go as well. I'm going to take a nap at home. We can spend some time together once you return."

The First Born thought about it and nodded, "Okay."

Xie Yunjin watched the First Born leave. Out of the four children, the First Born looked like him the most. The First Born was also the most sensitive, so it was good for him to hang out with children his own age.

After Lu Jiao cleaned up the dining utensils, she picked up her ax and went to the Second Grandma's place with the quadruplets. She first returned the ax, chitchatted with the Second Grandma, then finally brought up the matter about the puppies.

The Second Grandma was supportive of Lu Jiao's idea of getting a dog, "You guys really do need a dog. Or else how can you sleep peacefully when the children are home without you? It's impossible to be with them all the time and your children might get hurt if someone with bad intentions trespasses."

"Would you know someone from the village who has dogs?"

The Second Grandma smiled, "Your Third Grandpa's family just got a new litter of three to four. They just turned a month old. Yesterday, they were asking around to see if anyone wanted one."

Lu Jiao's father-in-law, Xie Laogen, was born into a family of six children – four boys and two girls. The eldest brother died young due to illness. One of the sisters also passed away a while back. Now, there were only three of the brothers and one of the sisters left.

Xie Laogen was the youngest so Second Grandpa and Third Grandpa were his elder brothers. He also has an older sister. But due to Lady Ruan's distant and cold behaviors, the siblings didn't really keep in contact with Xie Laogen.

This Third Grandpa's family mentioned here essentially treated Xie Laogen as their enemy.

Rumor has it that before the family branched away from each other, one of Third Grandpa's sons got sick and so he asked his parents for money. Lady Ruan objected to that and threw a tantrum. The parents didn't have the guts to allocate money without everyone's approval and ended up not giving Third Grandpa the money needed to treat his son. In the end, their son died.

Due to the death of their son, the Xie siblings branched off and lived separately. Third Grandpa's family and Xie Laogen's family became nemesis and never interacted with each other again.

Lu Jiao bitterly grinned, "It's probably better that we don't go?"

Why would that family give up a dog to their nemesis?

The Second Grandma took Lu Jiao's hand and sighed, "Your Third Grandpa and Grandma are very kind people. It was your mother-in-law who was in the wrong back then. For the money, she was willing to let someone die. Your Third Grandpa ended up having three daughters before having another son."

The Second Grandma sighed while she spoke about the past. But after a while, she smiled again, "That was so long ago. Your Third Grandpa feels bad over what happened to you. Why would they hate the young generation?"

Lady Ruan treated her own son so poorly, it wasn't difficult to imagine how poorly she treated others.

The Second Grandma started to walk, "Come, come, I'll bring you over to their place and fetch you a puppy."

Lu Jiao wasn't confident and worriedly said, "Are you sure?"

She was scared that a fight might break out. That would not be very pleasant.

The Second Grandma patted her own chest and promised, "Don't worry. That old man won't lecture you."

Lu Jiao wanted to say something more but the four little ones all stared at her with high hopes. What else could Lu Jiao say at this point? She could only go and try to get those puppies.

In recent years, people didn't even get to eat until they were full, let alone dogs. So, in this village, it wasn't likely that another family had dogs.

The Second Grandma lived close to the Third Grandpa's place so the group quickly arrived.

The Third Grandpa and Grandma had three daughters and two sons. Their first son died, their daughters all married off, and now, they lived with their youngest son here in the village.

Inside their home, the old man and his son weren't home. The Grandma and her daughter-in-law were cleaning up the garden. When they saw the Second Grandma come in with Lu Jiao and her four children, the Third Grandma froze. Her face was a little numb but she didn't say anything over the line.

The Second Grandma glared at her, "What are you doing? There are children here. Don't put on that stinky face."

It was obvious that these two Grandmas were rather comfortable with each other.

The Third Grandma was skinny but appeared high energy. After she heard what the Second Grandma had to say, she smiled and waved, "Yunjin's wife, how rare for you to visit with the children."

She took out two little stools for the adults to sit on, then shouted into the room, "Gousheng, come out and play with your little cousins."

A thin and dark boy ran out of the room. He was shocked to find the quadruplets here. However, he quickly rushed over and happily asked, "I heard from Datou and Maomao that your bamboo copters were made by your mom?"

The Fourth Born nodded, "Yes, my mommy made it."

Gousheng looked at their hands and saw that they were empty. Disappointed, he turned to Lu Jiao, "Third aunty, can you make me one too?"

Children these days didn't have many toys to play with. A simple craft was enough to be a hot commodity.

The Third Grandma angrily lectured, "Do you want a beating?"

Gousheng's mom pulled her son over and told him to stop asking for things.

Lu Jiao checked out Third Grandma's daughter-in-law. Her name was Jiang Zhaodi.

Jiang Zhaodi also checked out Lu Jiao. She was there yesterday when the commotion happened at Lu Jiao's place. Lu Jiao's tactful behavior yesterday stunned Jiang Zhaodi. Due to that, she was scared to even look at Lu Jiao right now.

The Third Grandma noticed how scared she acted and didn't like that.

Lu Jiao smiled at the Third Grandma, "Yesterday, Widow Li went to my house. I'm sure you heard of that?"

The Third Grandma nodded. She admired Lu Jiao very much for how she dealt with that woman. She'd been thinking about it ever since she heard about it.

If her son was Lu Jiao's son, would Lady Ruan dare to refuse them money? Lu Jiao would've beaten Lady Ruan to death. At the end of the day, the death of her son was her own fault. She was too weak and that ended up costing her son's life.

The Third Grandma looked at Lu Jiao and didn't find her actions to be at all too violent. Women should protect their children. Even the wildest animals knew to do that.

"You are a good kid."

Lu Jiao didn't expect that from the Third Grandma and she felt relieved.

"Though I taught Widow Li a lesson yesterday, it's impossible for me to stay home to take care of my children every day. Yunjin also can't move around right now, so, when I heard that your dog gave birth, I wondered if I could take one of the puppies?"

The Third Grandma agreed, "Okay."

But Gousheng wouldn't have it, "No way."

Hmmph, he had asked his third aunty to make a bamboo copter and his grandma got mad at him.

The First Born heard that and walked over, "Can I trade my bamboo copter for your puppy?"

They had four bamboo copters at home. With his gone, they would still have three. He could share with his siblings.

Gousheng instantly laughed joyously at that suggestion, "Alright then! Let me bring you to the litter and you can pick."

He then ran to the dog's house while the four little ones followed.

The Third Grandma speechlessly looked at her own grandson. So their puppy was only worth one bamboo copter?

Chapter 42: Take Responsibility for your Puppies

Translator: CokeZero Editor: Rainystars

The four little ones quickly picked their puppy. The puppy had black fur all over its body with a ring of yellow fur around its neck. The First Born cuddled the puppy, overjoyed. The other three excitedly looked over at him.

The funny thing was that the litter's mother followed the little ones around. She wasn't angry at all and followed around the children docilely.

When Lu Jiao saw that the First Born had already taken his pick, she embarrassingly said to Third Grandma, "Third Grandma, I'm sorry for this."

The Third Grandma waved around her hand, "We can't afford so many dogs. I even asked around to see if anyone wanted one. Since you want it, take it home with you."

Lu Jiao raised a brow and asked, "Are you giving away the other puppies too?"

The Third Grandma realized that Lu Jiao wanted another one and didn't decline. She really couldn't afford to have so many puppies. Her dog gave birth to four puppies. It would be too cruel to abandon any of them or starve them to death. It was good that someone wanted them.

"If you want, you can take home another one to raise."

The quadruplets excitedly looked over to Lu Jiao, "Mom, we get two?!"

Lu Jiao smiled, "Do you want two?"

"Of course!" The quadruplets turned their heads towards Gousheng. Gousheng was a little hesitant to let the puppies go but he knew that Grandma wanted the puppies gone. Rather than give them away to strangers, he preferred the quadruplets.

"It's fine to give you another one. However, if the third aunty makes any more fun toys, give me one."

The First Born thought about it and respectfully nodded, "Okay."

The young friends came to an agreement and the quadruplets ended up picking a white dog with black spots.

With the puppies picked, Lu Jiao prepared to leave with the four little ones. Before they left, she asked the four little ones to say bye to Third Grandma and Gousheng's mom.

She decided that from now on, she was going to correct all the bad habits the four little ones had. She was going to teach them to be respectful and polite.

Though she was going to separate from Xie Yunjin in the future, she could try to correct as many bad habits as possible.

The mother and sons, along with the two puppies, walked their way home. Of course, Gousheng followed them because he wanted the bamboo copter.

Lu Jiao thanked the Second Grandma. If it weren't for Second Grandma, she never would've mustered the courage to go to the Third Grandma's house. She ended up getting two puppies and a good relationship with Third Grandma. What a good deal.

The quadruplets happily carried back the two puppies and went to gloat to Xie Yunjin.

Xie Yunjin couldn't believe that Lu Jiao agreed to bring back two puppies. These days, there wasn't even enough food to go around for people, let alone two dogs.

Xie Yunjin raised an eyebrow and asked the quadruplets, "Your mother didn't get angry?"

Lu Jiao walked in then and heard him. Angry, she explained, "I was the one who suggested getting dogs. Why would I be angry? You think of me so lowly."

She glared at Xie Yunjin and then said to the First Born, "Give the bamboo copter to Gousheng."

Gousheng happily waved around the bamboo copter in his hand, "Third aunty, I got it here."

He excitedly waved the toy around.

Lu Jiao thought about it and decided to make more toys for the quadruplets. There wasn't a lot of fun entertainment for children during this era.

As for the two puppies, they had to be the four little ones' responsibilities.

Lu Jiao looked over to the four little ones and said seriously, "From now on, you are responsible for the two puppies. Taking care of these puppies isn't just a temporary fun thing you do. You can't give up after just two days. Since you've decided to take in these puppies, you have to take care of them forever. You have to feed them and clean their home, understand?"

The four little ones nodded aggressively and promised, "Mommy, we promise to take good care of Soot and Marble"

Lu Jiao was surprised. They've already named the dogs?

"Soot and Marble?"

The First Born picked up the black dog, "This is Soot."

The Second Born picked up the white dog with black spots, "This is Marble."

"Alright, you are free to name them. Just remember to feed them. You also have to remember to keep them clean. Once the dogs get accustomed to our home, give them a bath. You can only hug them after they're clean."

Gousheng instantly chimed in, "Third aunty, there's no need to bathe dogs. They can go into the river to clean themselves."

Lu Jiao raised an eyebrow and explained to them why dogs need bathing.

Without bathing, the dogs could easily get fleas. The puppies are still young but once they're older, they'll get fleas when they get too unclean. After she explained, she let Xie Yunjin know of her plans before she left.

"Keep an eye on the kids. I'm going to do some gardening."

Xie Yunjin watched her leave then looked over at the five happy children in the room. His feelings were complex.

She's only been here for so many days and now his children were fed with good food, good drinks, and even got puppies. No longer the anxious and unsettled four little ones, they were now happy and confident.

All these changes were because of that woman.

Xie Yunjin couldn't help but think that it might not be the worst thing if the woman stayed to raise the four little ones.

Outside the room, Lu Jiao found a thick wooden stick and made it into a hoe. She then started to loosen up the soil around the fence in preparation for gardening.

She didn't go ask around for vegetable seeds as she had those in her space. She had onion, green onion, lettuce, spinach, dill, and so on. She even had long beans, eggplants, and tomatoes.

She originally planned on planting all that into her space but she realized she had little room in there and it would be a waste to fill it with food. So in the end, she didn't plant those in there and only kept the seeds.

Nothing rots in her space so nothing bad has happened to her seeds.

After half a day, Lu Jiao managed to make two plots of soil work before going to the back and plowing two more.

She was strong so using the hoe was easy peasy.

After the soil was prepared, she placed the seeds into the soil and watered the land. For the water, she infused some of her spiritual stream water in there.

With the nourishment from the spiritual stream water, the seeds would quickly sprout. She didn't dare to use too much, scared that it might cause unusualness and garner too much attention.

For lunch, she made rice and cut up the already braised pig head. She also gave pig heart to Xie Yunjin but didn't give him too much of it. In addition to that, she made him a bowl of steamed eggs and a bowl of egg soup.

The four little ones each had a bowl of soup.

After lunch, the Fourth Born rubbed his belly and bloated to Lu Jiao, "Mummy, my belly is looking like a drum."

Worried that he might get too bloated, Lu Jiao told him to stand up and walk around.

"Go take a stroll with Marble and Soot in the yard."

The four little ones felt energized by the idea and happily went on a walk with the dogs. Sadly, the puppies were unfamiliar with this place and were very scared to walk around. In the end, the four little ones carried the dogs and went to build them a home.

Inside the room, Lu Jiao fed Xie Yunjin while she informed, "When the four little ones nap later, I plan on going up the mountains to hunt some animals. I'll bring those to my mother's tomorrow. It's bad to go back empty-handed."

Xie Yunjin noticed how Lu Jiao hadn't even taken a break today and couldn't help but to check her out.

He realized that Lu Jiao had slimmed down. Not only was she slimmer now, her skin was also better. Since they were so close to each other, he could smell the sweetness of her skin. How refreshing.

Chapter 43: Don't Flatter Yourself

Translator: CokeZero Editor: Rainystars

Xie Yunjin suppressed that thought and scolded himself for even thinking that. With his eyes clear, he looked up to Lu Jiao, "Do you need to rest?"

Lu Jiao shook her head, "I'm not tired."

Xie Yunjin didn't believe her. She has worked so much that she has gotten skinny. How could she not be tired?

She was in charge of maintaining the entire household, no wonder she never rested.

Xie Yunjin thought this over. She really could take it easier. It wasn't like he would blame her for taking it easy. However, she's been working very hard to care for the four little ones. Just what was her intention?

Could it really be that she wanted to take care of them before their separation? But if they were going to separate, there was no need for her to work so hard. Xie Yunjin didn't believe in selfless deeds.

Oh well, if she comes up with some kind of demand later on, he will agree to it as long as it's not too ridiculous. Even if she asks to stay later, he may just agree to it.

Xie Yunjin felt better after making that decision.

Lu Jiao had no idea how much thinking he had done and continued to feed him.

"Before, I said I could teach the villagers how to identify herbs. Let's wait until you are better before doing that. I have to take care of you every day, and take care of the little ones every day. I don't have the time right now.

Tomorrow, I will go back to my mother's and see how she's doing first. I don't want my mother to be in a bad situation because of five taels of silver."

Xie Yunjin listened to her suggestion and felt that it made sense. He nodded but then warned, "Be careful on your way home. There are lots of venomous snakes on the way there. A lot of people died from those."

Lu Jiao nodded, "Okay, I will be careful."

She suddenly realized what he was saying and mumbled, "Are you caring for me?"

Xie Yunjin's face turned cold and muttered angrily, "If something happened to you, what would this family do? Don't flatter yourself."

Lu Jiao pouted and ignored him. She honestly didn't overthink it and was just poking fun at him. She was aware that this First Assistant had a destined wife who will appear later in the book.

"Okay. I got it. I won't flatter myself anymore going forward."

She then cleaned up her table. Behind her, Xie Yunjin didn't look at her and closed his eyes.

After she got things in order, Lu Jiao readied herself to go up the mountain to hunt. Before she left, she went to Second Grandma's house and asked her to look after the quadruplets while she made a quick trip up the mountain.

The Second Grandma of course agreed and told her to tell Xie Xiaobao to come home and eat if she runs into him.

Xie Xiaobao's been obsessed with trap setting and hasn't even come down for lunch.

Lu Jiao nodded then went up the mountain with her basket.

At the foot of the mountain, she ran into Xie Xiaobao, who was covered in dirt. Xie Xiaobao had a rabbit in hand. While it wasn't a big rabbit, it was enough to make Xie Xiaobao scream in happiness.

"Third aunty, look, I caught this! I caught it! When I go home, I will ask my mom to braise it for me."

Lu Jiao looked at the relatively small rabbit and applauded him, "Go home and tell your mom to clean it up. Tonight, I will bring you the seasoning I put together. You can use it to cook the rabbit."

"Okay!"

Xie Xiaobao carried the two-pound rabbit down the mountain. Before he left, he reminded in a friendly manner, "Don't worry third aunty, I'll look after the babies when I get home."

"Thanks. Once I hunt down some animals, I will give you one."

Xiao Xiaobao felt even happier after that. With his third aunty's luck, she will for sure get large prey and he will have meat to eat.

Once Lu Jiao was up the mountain, she first went to the natural trap she discovered before. She took out the braised meat she made from her space and rubbed some spiritual stream water on it. Then, she tossed it in and left it alone.

She went to the other side of the mountain to pick out some herbs.

She wasn't planning on selling these herbs today. She was picking them in order to help the sick who lived in the village. Since she was just waiting, she will harvest some herbs and keep them in her space.

It didn't take long for Lu Jiao to get a whole bunch of herbs. She put a small amount into the basket and placed the majority of it into her space.

By the time she was done, it was already pretty late so she hurried to her trap.

Before she even reached the trap, she could hear a commotion coming out of the trap.

Delighted, she rushed over.

There was a wounded deer inside the trap! This deer was around the same size as a pig and weighed around 40 to 50 pounds.

This deer was heavily wounded and it was obvious that it was near the end of its death.

Lu Jiao saw the blood that sprayed out of its neck and she hurriedly carried it out of the trap. After she took out a plastic bowl from space, she saved the deer's blood in it.

Deer blood was a rare and great find. It was great for healing and an excellent medicine for Xie Yunjin.

However, because the deer was so heavily hurt, the deer died after the bowl was only half full.

She quickly put the deer and the deer's blood into her space. She looked down into the trap and saw two dead rabbits pierced by the bamboo sticks.

Lu Jiao quickly took the dead rabbits. She placed one into her space, the other into her basket.

She promised she would give Xie Xiaobao something. One wild rabbit was perfect.

After this was all done, Lu Jiao descended the mountain. She gained a lot today and that put her in such a good mood.

Before she got far, however, she heard a series of chaotic footsteps, followed by flustered screams, "Brother Xu, hold on. You have to hold on!"

"Uncle Xiao, Brother Xu's face isn't looking right. I don't know if we can make it down the mountain."

"Oh my god, how was he so unlucky to be bitten by a ringneck snake?"

"If something happens to him, what will happen to the entire Xu family?!"

"Brother Xu came up the mountain today for brother Yunjin. If he didn't, he wouldn't be suffering so much right now."

Lu Jiao listened to all this from afar. Once she heard the mention of Xie Yunjin, she frowned and picked up her pace.

Very quickly, she saw five to six people climbing down the mountain while carrying some prey. Two of those people were carrying a stretcher, where a man lay.

Lu Jiao noticed who it was right away. It was the village hunter, Xu Duojin, who made a living through hunting. Despite this, his family often remained hungry.

Some time ago, Xie Yunjin introduced him to two wealthy families from the city. Only after that, did the Xu family's quality of life improve.

To thank Xie Yunjin and repay him, he often brought gifts to the Xie family.

Lu Jiao remembered that the Xu family was one of the families who protected the four little ones.

What happened to him?

Lu Jiao walked up to check and saw right away that this man had been bitten by a snake. His calf had swelled up to the same size as his thighs and the affected area was swelling.

This kind of poison came from a snake that could destroy someone's nervous system. After being bitten, the patient had eight to 72 hours to be treated. The earlier the treatment was given, the better, due to the nature of the poison.

If nothing's done to help right away, he will never fully rid himself of the poison in the future. He will age faster than normal, lose teeth, and may even be paralyzed from the waist down.

All this information flashed across Lu Jiao's brain and she quickly shouted, "Hold on a second."

Chapter 44: Detoxifying Snake Venom

Translator: CokeZero Editor: Rainystars

Those that rushed down the mountain heard Lu Jiao's voice and turned to look. It didn't take long for them to recognize Lu Jiao.

Detest flashed across each one of their eyes. If it weren't for the fact that this woman refused to spend money on Xie Yunjin, Brother Xu never would've come up this mountain today to hunt animals and sell them for money.

While they caught a big animal, who knew they'd get attacked by a snake near the end of their trip? From the way Brother Xu was behaving, he wasn't going to make it. Those bitten by a ringneck snake normally don't get cured. Even if they do survive, they become disabled.

Brother Xu's life was practically over.

Everyone here grew more and more frustrated as they thought about it. There was so much rage in their eyes as they looked over at Lu Jiao. Lu Jiao, however, didn't mind them and headed straight toward Xu Duojin.

Before she reached the stretcher, someone blocked her, "What do you think you're doing?"

Lu Jiao looked up and saw that it was an older man who had stopped her. He was also a hunter for the Xie Village and people called him old man Xiao.

Right now, Lu Jiao was more concerned about Xue Duojin.

"We need to get the venom out of him. It's best not to delay it. If we delay it, he won't make it down the mountain. And even if he does make it, he'll become paralyzed waist down."

Old man Xiao froze at those words.

Lu Jiao ignored him and stepped over him. Beside her, someone else cursed, "You wanna die?"

Old man Xiao stopped that man and in return, the man looked back in surprise, "Uncle Xiao?"

Old man Xiao had his eyes glued to Lu Jiao.

Lu Jiao now used small silver needles to stop the spread of poison by stabbing around the affected areas.

Once she was done, she turned to ask old man Xiao, "What kind of snake bit him?"

Old man Xiao noticed how well practiced she appeared and knew right away that she had medical training, "It was a ringneck snake."

Lu Jiao nodded. She quickly took out a scalpel from her space inside her sleeve, then made cuts on the bitten area. She then squeezed out the poisoned dark blood.

If she had an antidote, she could've just given him a shot. Sadly, she didn't have that stored in her space. She did originally but once that was used up, she never replenished it.

After the bad blood was squeezed out, Lu Jiao took out a water bottle and cleaned the wound again and again.

Once clean, she quickly jumped and announced, "You guys wait around here. I'm going to pick some medicinal herbs to help with the poison. I'll be right back."

The truth was that she had some herbs in her basket that could be helpful. However, she didn't want to reveal her secret in front of everyone and she was missing some herbs. Therefore, she decided to pick some fresh ones.

Lu Jiao quickly left.

Behind her, the hunters all looked over to old man Xiao, "Uncle Xiao, let's hurry and bring him down the mountain."

"How could that fat woman know how to cure snake bites? She better not kill him."

"Yeah, let's just get him down the mountain."

Old man Xiao studied Xue Duojin, who had fainted, and concluded that it was too dangerous to move him.

He glanced at the others and said with a heavy heart, "Duojin is very hurt. If we keep moving him, he may die before we arrive. Right now, his best chance is Yunjin's wife. Maybe her way can save his life."

The others wanted to argue but the unconscious Xue Duojin made them have second thoughts.

Lu Jiao didn't take long to find the herbs she needed. At the same time, she took out some of the herbs she put in her space.

She crushed a combination of herbs and applied them directly onto Xu Duojin's bite wound.

At the same time, she crushed half a lotus stem, gentian, and some other herbs and shoved them into Xu Duojin's mouth.

The others saw her work and voluntarily stepped up to help. Lu Jiao didn't stop them.

Though passed out, Xu Duojin still involuntarily swallowed as Lu Jiao fed him the medicine she made.

Seeking the perfect opportunity, Lu Jiao slipped a few drops of the spiritual stream water into his mouth.

After all that, the darkness that gloomed Xu Duojin's face lightened up a little. This made Lu Jiao sigh in relief. She removed the needles around the wound and looked up to the others, "Okay, he's no longer in critical condition. You can carry him down the mountain. Once I'm back home, I'll write him a prescription and you can have someone put it together for him. He'll need to take the medicine three times a day for several days. Then he should recover."

She then stood up soaked in sweat. How exhausting.

Old man Xiao and the others all gawked in disbelief, "He'll really recover?"

Lu Jiao looked up to the sky – it was getting late. She hurriedly nodded, "He'll be fine."

Old man Xiao asked again, "He won't be paralyzed?"

"No. Ringneck snake venom is a fast-working poison. As long as we give him the proper treatment quickly, he wouldn't be paralyzed or have any other lasting symptoms."

She then put her basket back on and descended the mountain.

Behind her, old man Xiao gestured for everyone to help carry Xue Duojin down the mountain.

After the group left, three people walked out from behind the trees. The head of the group was a well-dressed young master. His features were handsome but his eyes carried some aloofness. His every movement made it apparent that he was born from a wealthy family.

Beside him stood a kind-looking man, who excitedly said, "Lingfeng, isn't that the lady who sold us ganoderma last time? I didn't expect her to be so knowledgeable about medicine! She seemed to know how to cure ringneck snake bites. Do you think it's true?"

Ringneck snakes' venom hurts the human nervous system. Even if there's a good antidote, there are usually long-lasting side effects such as fast aging, teeth loss, slumped back, or paralysis. That lady claimed that he will be fine? Was that true?

Qi Lei was tempted to chase after her to ask her if there truly won't be any long-lasting symptoms.

Zhao Lingfeng turned to peek at his good friend. No matter what day it was, that friend of his was passionate about medicine.

"She simply made that claim. We'll never know if it's true."

Qi Lei quickly grabbed Zhao Lingfeng's hand and said, "Then, ask someone to keep an eye on the man who was bitten. If he truly makes out without major symptoms, then it's news for all the citizens. As you know, there are so many people who die from snake poison each year and even more who get paralyzed from it."

Zhao Lingfeng realized the importance of this then, "Okay, I'll keep an eye on the wounded."

The three then chatted as they climbed down the mountain and left the Xie Village.

Lu Jiao didn't know what had happened. She headed home and went straight to the east bedroom to look for paper, brush, and ink.

Xie Yunjin was a scholar so they didn't lack any of those. However, when they were being forced to move out, those stuff got packed away randomly by the original host.

Inside the east bedroom, Xie Yunjin and the four little ones stared at Lu Jiao, uncertain what she was looking for.

The Fourth Born was rather fearless these days. He stumbled his way to Lu Jiao and asked in a sticky voice, "Mummy, what are you looking for? I will help you."

Lu Jiao glanced at him and asked, "Have you seen your daddy's paper and brushes?"

Chapter 45: I don't know how to Read

Translator: CokeZero Editor: Rainystars

The Fourth Born heard Lu Jiao and in lightning speed, turned to look at the First Born.

The First Born pursed his lips and went to the corner of the bed. He shoved his hand between the bed padding and the frame and searched. Soon, he found a set of paper, brush, and ink and brought them to Lu Jiao.

"Here you go."

These were daddy's stuff. Before, he was afraid the evil woman would throw them away so he hid them.

Honestly, the First Born was still worried that she would throw this stuff out. But since this evil woman has been nice these days, he decided to give them to her. If she dared to throw them out, he would ignore her for the rest of his life.

The First Born silently made a series of decisions.

Lu Jiao lit up at the sight of the paper and brush. She took them over and placed them onto the little broken table in the middle of the room. She then fetched some water to mix with the ink, and readied herself to write the prescription.

Once the brush and ink were all ready and she was ready to start writing…

She blinked, stunned. As she stared at the blank sheet of paper, she couldn't write out a single character.

She didn't know how to write traditional Chinese. She didn't even know how to read them so how was she going to write an entire prescription?

Inside the east bedroom, everyone stared at Lu Jiao. They were all curious as to why she was so desperate to find writing utensils just to end up not doing anything with them.

Xie Yunjin asked, "What's wrong?"

Lu Jiao thought of the injured Xu Duojin and gritted her teeth. She looked over to Xie Yunjin, "You know Xu Duojin? He got bitten by a ringneck snake."

Xie Yunjin's expression changed and his tone turned heavy, "How's he doing now?"

Brother Xu was a good friend. When Xie Yunjin first got hurt, Brother Xu visited with lots of food. At the time, Xie Yunjin was half conscious and thought he heard Brother Xu say things like, "Going up the mountain to hunt" and "Selling the meat for money for medicine". Who knew he would get hurt today?

The more Xie Yunjin thought about it, the colder the air turned.

Lu Jiao thought about it. If she told him that she knew how to treat snake venom, what would he think of her?

But the situation didn't allow her to lie. So she explained, "I ran into him at the foot of the mountain so I helped him contain the poison. His life isn't in danger anymore. I just need to write him a prescription."

Xie Yunjin listened to her and raised an eyebrow. His gaze was eerie and dark.

Lu Jiao noticed it and her brain worked hard. What could she say now to complete the lie? Before she could say anything however, Xie Yunjin spoke, "Then, hurry and write the prescription."

Lu Jiao carefully shot Xie Yunjin a look. That was it? He wasn't suspicious?

Probably because the priority right now was to get the prescription.

With a rather bitter smile, Lu Jiao said to Xie Yunjin, "I can't really read, so I don't know how to write."

This surprised Xie Yunjin and shock flooded his face.

This woman carried much confidence with her and it was obvious that she was well educated. Now, she was telling him that she didn't know how to write?

How come he found that hard to believe? But if this woman knew how to write, why would she pretend that she didn't?

Just then, Lu Jiao whispered, "I can read some. But most I can't understand."

The original host's mom taught her some and she herself knew some. However, that knowledge wasn't enough to write out an entire prescription.

On the bed, Xie Yunjin had regrouped his feelings and calmed down. Right now, he was mostly worried about the snake poison, not whether or not this woman could read.

"Hand over the writing utensils. You speak and I write."

Lu Jiao was worried, "Can you move enough to write?"

Xie Yunjin clenched his teeth, "Bring it over."

Lu Jiao knew that the snake venom couldn't afford to wait and very soon, someone would come to get the prescription from her. So she better get the writing done and start treatment as soon as possible.

So she picked up the writing utensils and walked towards the bed.

Xie Yunjin pushed himself to turn his body and started writing while lopsided.

Lu Jiao told him all the ingredients, "Lotus stem, 10 grams. Wild chrysanthemum, gentian, arisaema, tendrilleaf fritillary bulb, parsnip, white aconite, raw licorice, 3 grams each. Aristolochia root and bunge auriculate root, 4 grams each. Raw rhubarb, 6 grams. Whole scorpions and centipedes, 10 each. Boil everything in water before eating. Morning, afternoon, and night – three times a day.

Xie Yunjin only got through half the list before his expression started to look unbearable. His hand was shaking badly and couldn't even hold the brush properly. Lu Jiao could tell he was experiencing headache and dizziness and quickly ordered, "Stop and take a break."

Xie Yunjin rejected the idea and ended up writing the whole list. Then, his body quivered and he collapsed.

The quadruplets surrounded him and started to shout, "Daddy!"

Xie Yunjin had been eating well and taking the good medicine along with the spiritual stream water. Therefore, despite his headache and dizziness, he didn't pass out. After breathing deeply a few times, he recovered quite a bit.

Seeing the four little ones were worried, he weakly turned to look at them, "I'm okay."

Lu Jiao checked him out and decided he was okay. So she put back the writing utensils.

She thought the Xu family would send someone over right away for the prescription. However, nobody came.

Lu Jiao was surprised but soon realized that it was because those people didn't trust that she helped treat the poison. It was very likely that they sent the wounded to the city to get emergency treatment.

Lu Jiao put away the prescription and went to cook dinner.

It wasn't that she didn't want to save him. It was those people who didn't want to trust her. She had done everything she was supposed to do and owed the Xu family nothing.

Lu Jiao went to cook dinner and gave a task to the four little ones.

"Give the rabbit to brother Xiaobao."

The Second Born volunteered, "Mommy, I will go."

Lu Jiao smiled at him. The children were not scared of her anymore and started to reveal more and more of their unique personalities. She wondered what would happen in the future.

Lu Jiao glanced at them, "You guys go together. Remember to be polite. You know what to say when you get there?"

The four little ones nodded, "We know."

"Okay, go ahead."

Since the family didn't lack meat these days, the four little ones didn't feel too bad giving up the rabbit. The Second Born held the rabbit and the four kids walked their way to the Second Grandma's house.

Since the two were neighbors and so close to each other, Lu Jiao wasn't worried.

Due to the hot weather, she decided to make cold noodles for dinner. Cucumber with cold noodles, chives with eggs, and a plate of chopped-up braised pork.

Once she was done, the four little ones returned.

Of course, they brought back Lady Zhao and Xie Xiaobao.

When Lady Zhao saw Lu Jiao, she appeared embarrassed, "I can't keep on eating the meat you give us."

Xie Xiaobao was grinning on the side, "Third aunty, where's the seasoning you mentioned? Can we have some?"

Lu Jiao said yes and took over the bowl Lady Zhao had in hand. She went to the kitchen and poured them a bowl of seasoned braising juice.

"Add some water and let it boil. The longer you boil, the softer and more flavorful the meat."

"Okay, I got it."

Lady Zhao then leaned in and whispered to Lu Jiao, "Did you know? Xu Duojin was bitten by a snake today and his family sent him into town to get treated. I wonder how he's doing?

I heard he was bitten by a ringneck snake. Normally, those bitten by that snake die or become paralyzed. How unfortunate for the Xu family!"