Chapter 43: You Deliberately Target Me

After Su Ruo finished dissecting the mouse, she coldly glanced at everyone present.

Those who had previously sworn they would learn medicine from her were now pale-faced, legs weak, their eyes filled with deep fear and dread as they looked at Su Ruo.

A slightly braver girl stepped forward and accused: "Su Ruo, you actually slaughtered a mouse—you're terrifying."

Su Ruo sneered: "Is killing one mouse terrifying? Being this timid, you still want to study medicine! If your patient were now severely injured, organs ruptured, lying on the bed awaiting surgery, would you also shrink back in fear now, praying the patient dies on their own?"

The girl was instantly left speechless by the retort.

Su Ruo bluntly said: "This is your entrance exam—those who pass stay; those who can't, leave."

Several girls, seeing the box full of mice, quickly waved their hands: "We're not studying anymore."

After this, the only ones insisting on continuing to study medicine with Su Ruo were Li Yanhong, Li Shirou, Wang Qing Qing, and Li Zhaodi—four people.

Su Ruo expressionlessly asked: "Who among you will go first?"

"I'll go first!" Li Yanhong stepped forward trembling under the Battalion Commander's glare, but she tried several times and still couldn't muster the courage to reach into the box, even though she knew she wore gloves and the mice couldn't bite her, she couldn't overcome her inner fear.

Just thinking about using her hand to grab a mouse made her scalp tingle.

Finally, Li Yanhong took off her gloves, threw them down, and said: "I'm not studying anymore!" She turned and ran off, ignoring the Battalion Commander's calls.

If studying medicine required doing such terrifying things, Li Yanhong would rather not learn.

Su Ruo coldly watched Li Yanhong's retreating figure; in her past life, because Li Yanhong liked Li Zeyu, yet Li Zeyu chose Su Ruo as his free maid, Li Yanhong thus came to resent Su Ruo.

Li Yanhong believed Su Ruo must have used fox-like charms to seduce Li Zeyu, which is why he stayed with her.

Therefore, she harbored deep hatred for Su Ruo, often targeting and bullying her.

After Li Zeyu entered university and left, Li Yanhong's hatred for Su Ruo didn't diminish—it intensified.

Even Wang Tufu's later schemes against Su Ruo involved Li Yanhong's instigation and urging.

Su Ruo never imagined that the person who had so ruthlessly schemed against her in her past life would now be too afraid to kill a mouse—truly ironic.

Li Yanhong left, and Su Ruo turned her gaze to Li Shirou and the other two.

"Who among you three will go first?"

Wu Qingqing stepped forward trembling, but she was hardly better than Li Yanhong—her hand touched a mouse and she screamed, pulling back and giving up.

"Next!" Su Ruo's emotionless words made Li Shirou's body shudder.

Li Shirou thought Su Ruo was deliberately making things hard to drive them away, just to make them quit.

But Li Shirou didn't want to give up like this; she no longer wanted to do field labor, nor did she want to keep being compared unfavorably to Su Ruo.

Li Shirou knew that to surpass Su Ruo and completely outshine her, she had to overcome her inner fear; with that determination, she actually managed to take a mouse out of the box, though its soft touch made her break out in goosebumps.

The girls who hadn't left and stayed to watch the spectacle were astonished to see the seemingly frail Li Shirou be the first to pick up a mouse.

Li Shirou pressed the mouse down with her left hand on the cutting board, her right hand holding the knife trembling uncontrollably, unable to drop it.

Su Ruo stepped behind her, gripped her hand firmly, and sliced down in one motion—the mouse that had been struggling instantly had its head severed and lay still.

Blood spurted, splashing Li Shirou's face; she screamed and threw the knife away, looking at Su Ruo with eyes full of fear—at this moment she thought Su Ruo was nothing short of a devil.

"You're eliminated!"

Hearing Su Ruo's unfeeling words, Li Shirou could no longer control her emotions.

She angrily confronted Su Ruo: "If you don't want to take us, just say so—why torture us with this method? Who starts learning medicine by doing something this horrifying?"

The remaining girls also glared at Su Ruo dissatisfied, thinking she was deliberately making things difficult for them.

Facing Li Shirou's accusation, Su Ruo didn't get angry; she merely glanced at Li Shirou and said lightly: "You can't do it, which only shows you're useless—it doesn't mean nobody can."

"You've set such a perverse standard—no one could meet it." Li Shirou shouted at Su Ruo, venting her emotions wildly, discarding the gentle maiden act she'd previously put on.

"Is that so?" Su Ruo curled her lips in a mocking smile, looked at Li Zhaodi and said: "You come."

Li Zhaodi nodded, walked toward the box of mice; having seen Su Ruo perform surgery before, her psychological tolerance was far higher than these girls'.

Moreover, having witnessed Su Ruo's surgery, she knew Su Ruo wasn't making things difficult for them—she was training them.

She understood this was a hurdle she must overcome on her path to becoming a doctor.

Because she understood Su Ruo's intentions, Li Zhaodi didn't resent her like the other girls; instead, she felt respect, and her mindset naturally made her attitude toward the test different.

Li Shirou looked down on the plainly dressed, rustic Li Zhaodi with contempt, not taking her seriously.

In Li Shirou's mind, if she herself couldn't do it, then a country girl like Li Zhaodi definitely couldn't either.

But Li Shirou never expected that when Li Zhaodi reached the mouse box, she wasn't frightened like the others.

She carefully put on her gloves, reached in, grabbed a mouse, and then proceeded to dissect it following Su Ruo's earlier steps.

Although Li Zhaodi's movements weren't skilled, she indeed succeeded.

Li Shirou stared at Li Zhaodi in disbelief, unable to believe this village girl wasn't afraid of mice—how did she manage it? Even she herself couldn't do it, so why could this village girl!

Li Zhaodi was afraid, but unlike others, she had no choice or retreat; if she didn't want to marry an idiot, she had to seize this chance to study medicine.

With no way out, she had to succeed; though timid, she wouldn't allow herself to back down—just killing a mouse, could it be more terrifying than marrying an idiot and ruining her life?

A clear round of applause rang out in the quiet courtyard, startling the shocked crowd.

Su Ruo looked at Li Shirou with contempt and said: "See? You can't do it, which only shows you're incapable—it doesn't mean nobody can."

Su Ruo's words struck Li Shirou's face like a slap.

Hatred, anger, and humiliation surged wildly in Li Shirou's heart; she knew Su Ruo was doing this on purpose, deliberately humiliating her.