If the villagers find out about this, how could Liu Sumei ever hold her head up in the village again?

But under the current circumstances, at this critical moment, he really didn’t know what excuse would be best.

Liu Zheng furrowed his brow, thinking for quite some time.

"This... Sister Su Mei, I really have something important today. I finally found a partner in the county who is willing to buy the medicinal herbs I harvest at a high price. They even gave me a deposit, so I must hurry and gather the herbs I promised to supply to them," he said.

He purposefully glanced at the color of the sky outside and added, "So I need to make haste, you see the sky, if I don’t go now, it’ll delay matters!"

After saying this, Liu Zheng purposely looked at Liu Sumei’s expression.

Seeing that she was staring steadily at him, her face showed a very complex mix of emotions.

His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly added another sentence, "If there’s anything, can we wait until I come back, talk about it later? Besides, no matter what, you should heal up before discussing anything, right?"

Listening to Liu Zheng’s words, Liu Sumei finally managed to stop crying gradually.

She lifted her head to look at Liu Zheng.

With a deep sigh, she then retracted the leg that Liu Zheng had been holding.

However.

As she withdrew her leg, she deliberately brushed her toes against Liu Zheng’s sensitive area.

That sensation was like being electrified.

A tingling feeling instantly flowed throughout his entire body.

It was as if electricity coursed through him, making Liu Zheng feel as if he was about to fly.

Even at this moment, Liu Zheng could sense that if Liu Sumei continued to seduce him, he would probably surrender outright.

"Damn it, Su Mei really knows how to play, who could stand this?"

Liu Zheng blinked rapidly, feeling he really couldn’t handle this woman before him anymore.

As Liu Zheng was lost in his thoughts, Liu Sumei sighed softly again.

With a gentle shake of her head, she lamented, "Honestly, your sister-in-law is so useless. I wanted to find a job in the city, but no one would hire me. I wanted to treat you to a meal, but I can’t even scrape together a hundred or eighty bucks, it’s utterly embarrassing!"

Hearing these words, Liu Zheng’s heart couldn’t help but ache.

The image of his sister-in-law Wu Min came into his mind.

She was also someone who had suffered greatly in life.

Ever since she married his elder brother Liu Daniu, she never had a single good day.

Their life was so tight they sometimes couldn’t even afford meals.

Of course, the situation wasn’t much better for the other villagers.

And if they had children, things got even tougher.

Some people borrowed money from everywhere, others borrowed from relatives in the city to get by, which was common.

He didn’t know how many disdainful looks they had endured living like this.

It’s hard to raise one’s head in front of others, and that feeling of being looked down upon is truly uncomfortable.

Thinking back on his past, his family had gone through similarly hard times to get him through university.

Now that he had graduated and returned to the village,

if he didn’t do something tangible, if he didn’t contribute something to his fellow villagers, it would be indefensible.

Back when he went to university, the villagers had given all the help they could.

Now that he was capable, he certainly had to help his fellow villagers get rich.

With these thoughts, Liu Zheng felt his blood begin to boil.

Lifting his head, he looked at Liu Sumei and said loudly, "Sister-in-law, don’t worry. Now that I’m back, relying on what I’ve learned, I will definitely manage the clinic well. Once I’m settled, I will certainly lead our villagers to wealth and prosperity."

Upon hearing that Liu Zheng could lead everyone to prosperity, Liu Sumei was instantly overjoyed.

She grasped Liu Zheng’s hand tightly and shook it again and again, saying, "Really? Xiao Zheng, are you telling the truth?"

"Of course, it’s true, sister-in-law! Why would I lie to you about this?"

"Then, that’s really great!"

Excitement shone on Liu Sumei’s face as she nodded repeatedly, saying, "Xiao Zheng, just tell me, whatever you want sister-in-law to do, she’ll listen to you for sure."

Liu Zheng nodded, but he furrowed his brows.

"However, there’s one thing that’s not going to be easy to handle."

After contemplating for a moment, Liu Zheng thought it over and said, "The only problem is that the clinic is a bit run-down, so I need to renovate it a bit, and I also want to expand the house. The tricky part is... to expand, I must get the village chief’s signature, and that won’t be easy."

Scratching his head, Liu Zheng continued, "These past couple of days, I just had a fight with the village chief Liu Baishun’s son, Liu Kai. I’m not sure if he would be willing to sign for me."

"What?" Upon hearing Liu Zheng’s words, Liu Sumei was immediately startled, almost jumping up.

"How could you fight with Liu Kai, what are we going to do now?"

Seeing her anxious look, Liu Zheng smiled and comforted her, "Don’t worry, Sister Sumei, I have it under control."

What Liu Zheng was thinking was, even if Liu Baishun truly refused to sign for him, once he brought up the little affair between him and his daughter-in-law, he didn’t believe Liu Baishun would dare not sign.

If he really refused to sign, they could just part ways for good. Tearing off the façade would be the end of it.

After calming Liu Sumei down, Liu Zheng didn’t plan to delay any further and stood up to take his leave.

"Sister Sumei, I really have to go now, I can’t delay any longer. Otherwise, I won’t be able to go collect herbs."

Liu Sumei nodded, watching as Liu Zheng left.

However, her heart, throbbing with warmth, couldn’t settle for a long time.

"Xiao Zheng is such a good man! And truly worthy of a college education, so different from the other rough men in the village."

Liu Sumei sighed and couldn’t help but feel emotional.

The men in the village, every time they saw her, looked at her with lecherous eyes, drooling with desire.

But with Liu Zheng, even though she was so forward, he hadn’t taken advantage of her.

How could such a man not be attractive to women?

Thinking of this, Liu Sumei couldn’t help but think to herself that if Liu Zheng were willing to have her, even if she had to give herself for free all her life, she would be willing.

...

After leaving Liu Sumei’s house, Liu Zheng made a beeline for the mountains.

However, as he was walking, he pondered.

The lingerie Liu Sumei was wearing was obviously new, and quite flashy—it didn’t seem like something a village woman could afford.

She had just said she had no money, could she have been lying?

If she did have money, yet acted so intimately and forward with him, could she be pretending to have no money and then intend to...

While his mind wandered with random thoughts, Liu Zheng had entered the mountain.

Once inside the mountain, Liu Zheng put all other matters out of his mind and began to concentrate on collecting herbs.

He busied himself until the sun was about to set, when he finally came down from the mountain with a basket full of herbs.

Descending with the sunset, Liu Zheng’s mood was very pleasant.

The harvest was good today; he had gathered many valuable medicinal plants.

Happy at heart, his steps quickened.

Only.

As he had just entered the village, a figure flashed before his eyes, and he saw someone limping into a small grove next to the village.