"What!" Zheng Erlian was startled. Just as she was about to speak, she heard a knock at the door.

Zheng Erlian quickly said to Su Mei, "Meizi, you go and clean yourself up. Mom will go see who’s knocking."

"Okay." Su Mei felt she was a complete mess and nodded quickly.

Zheng Erlian opened the door to see two or three neighbors craning their necks to look inside as they asked, "Erlian, what’s wrong with your Meizi? Why’d she come running back in tears? Did she have a fight with her boyfriend? It looked like she had something splashed on her head."

Zheng Erlian cursed the gossipy neighbors in her heart but kept a smile on her face. "It’s nothing, the kid was just a little upset. Nothing serious."

"Really nothing?" one neighbor said. "She looked like she was crying her eyes out."

"Really, it’s nothing, it’s nothing. I can’t talk right now. It’s the middle of the day, you should all go get some rest." Zheng Erlian said with a chuckle before closing the door.

Su Shengguo had been resting in his room after lunch. Hearing the commotion outside, he came out. "What’s going on?"

"You have the nerve to ask." Zheng Erlian said angrily to Su Shengguo. "It was that ’good’ niece of yours! She actually hit Meizi! Meizi is her older cousin. Does she have no respect for her elders at all?"

Su Shengguo’s brow furrowed the moment he heard this. He was truly starting to detest Su Qing. He had a nagging feeling that she would be detrimental to his career.

Su Mei, having cleaned herself up a bit, came out of her room, tears streaming down her face again. Zheng Erlian asked anxiously, "Meizi, why did that damned girl Su Qing hit you?"

Su Mei pouted and cried, "I was having a meal with Wu Tao and we were just talking. I only mentioned to him that Su Qing had moved out of the old family home. Then Su Qing threw a bowl of soup in my face and slapped me twice! Waaah..."

Zheng Erlian was furious. "Why didn’t you hit her back?"

"Wu Tao was right there! I couldn’t get into a fight with Su Qing like some shrew, could I?" Mentioning Wu Tao made Su Mei feel even more wronged. "And that damned girl Su Qing was trying to seduce Wu Tao! When she hit me, Wu Tao didn’t even help me."

"What!" Zheng Erlian flew into a greater rage. Rolling up her sleeves, she made to go out. "I’m going to settle the score with that damned girl! It’s bad enough she hit her own cousin, but she’s also trying to seduce her future cousin-in-law? How can she be so shameless?"

"Hey, don’t be rash." Seeing that Zheng Erlian was about to go find Su Qing to settle accounts, Su Shengguo quickly grabbed her. "This can’t be resolved so impulsively."

"Su Shengguo, didn’t you see that your daughter was beaten?" Zheng Erlian said furiously to him. "And you’re stopping me? Are you siding with an outsider to bully your own daughter? Who’s more important, your daughter or that ’good’ niece of yours?"

"What nonsense are you talking?" Su Shengguo was angered by her words. "You think I’d help that damned girl? You need to think about the consequences of being so rash! What if that damned girl asks Fu Yuzhen to stand up for her? If the deputy director of our factory decides to come after me, I could lose my job! When that happens, are we supposed to pack up the whole family and go back to the countryside to farm?"

Hearing Su Shengguo put it like that, Zheng Erlian calmed down. She had been in the county town for several years and had long since grown accustomed to city life. The thought of going back to farming now... the work would kill her.

"Then what do you think we should do?" Zheng Erlian was still angry. "We can’t just let our daughter suffer like this, can we?"

"Dad, that damned girl Su Qing slapped me twice and poured soup all over my head in public." Su Mei couldn’t stomach it either; she wanted her parents to get revenge for her.

’Su Qing dared to hit her, her older cousin, but would she dare to hit her parents? They’re her elders!’

"I’m trying to figure something out. Let’s put this aside for now," Su Shengguo said after some thought. "Let that damned girl be arrogant for a few more days. Once I’ve got things arranged on my end, then we’ll deal with her."

"Dad—" Su Mei whined, unwilling.

Su Shengguo glanced at Su Mei. "Meizi, the most important thing for you right now is to hurry up and settle the marriage with Wu Tao. Once it’s settled, not only will you live a comfortable life, but our family won’t be in such a passive position anymore. Understand?"

Su Mei pressed her lips together. "Mom, Dad, you don’t understand. That damned girl Su Qing is definitely seducing Wu Tao. Today, Wu Tao brought her up several times on his own, and I think he’s really interested in her. Besides, he didn’t even help me when I was getting hit today."

"That can’t be," Su Shengguo found it impossible. "The scar on Su Qing’s face is so obvious. How could Wu Tao be interested in her?"

"I just have a feeling something’s off with Wu Tao," Su Mei said with a pout. "He seems very focused on Su Qing. I think that damned girl Su Qing must have seduced him when I wasn’t looking. Otherwise, how could she have made such a deep impression on him?"

"If something’s off with Wu Tao, then you need to grab onto him even tighter." Su Shengguo shot Su Mei a look. "You need to make him focus all his attention on you. Remember, your goal is to marry Wu Tao, to settle your engagement as soon as possible. Got it?"

"I get it," Su Mei nodded, but she was still unreconciled. "So I just got beaten by Su Qing for nothing today?"

"Not for nothing." Su Shengguo narrowed his eyes. "Once I’ve got things arranged on my end, we’ll deal with that damned girl."

"Meizi, listen to your father," Zheng Erlian added, trying to persuade Su Mei.

Su Mei took a deep breath. "Fine. I’ll let that damned girl off the hook for now."

Zheng Erlian looked at her wronged daughter, at the red, swollen mark on her face, and her heart ached. "Meizi, let Mom put some medicine on your face."

With that, Zheng Erlian found the Jingwanhong Ointment. As she helped Su Mei apply it, she cursed Su Qing viciously, which finally made Su Mei feel a little better.

While Su Mei was at home crying and complaining, Su Qing had already arrived at a pharmacy in the county town. It was a state-owned pharmacy that carried some traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. Her main reason for coming was to ask if they had any informational pamphlets on the herbs.

After all, even though she had a Wood Ability, she hadn’t studied traditional Chinese medicine and didn’t recognize many of the herbs. While she could use her Wood Ability to combine various plants into juices and powders with different effects, her methods were ultimately self-taught.

For example, the prescription the doctor had given her for her scar included an herb called Chicken Blood Vine, which needed to be at least eighty years old. She could determine a plant’s age, but she had no idea what a Chicken Blood Vine looked like.

"Young lady, are you here to buy herbs?" In the pharmacy’s main hall, a rosy-cheeked old man in his seventies was weighing herbs behind the counter. He asked when he saw Su Qing come in. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Hello, sir. I was wondering, do you purchase medicinal herbs here?" Su Qing quickly put on a smile and asked the old man.