Chapter 66: If You Feel Uncomfortable, Just Say It

Coming out of Doctor Gu's house, Du Ruo tucked the kitchen knife back into her bosom, so as not to be too flashy and attract villagers to ask questions.

She thought quite thoroughly, but unfortunately, she was afraid of what would happen, and she ran into Auntie Lin head-on.

Auntie Lin was carrying a load of water home. Seeing Du Ruo, her eyes immediately lit up: "Jiang Li's wife, back from strolling?"

Du Ruo smiled awkwardly and said yes.

Seeing Auntie Lin put down the shoulder pole, looking like she wanted to have a long chat with her, Du Ruo couldn't just lift her feet and leave, so she could only deal with her patiently.

Auntie Lin looked at Du Ruo's belly with burning eyes.

Du Ruo instinctively blocked it with her hand.

She wondered in her heart, could she see the kitchen knife through her clothes? Or was she fat again, and her swimming ring had grown a circle?

Auntie Lin raised her eyebrows and smiled ambiguously at her: "It's not that I'm saying, among the few young wives who married in around the same time as you, you are the most promising. Jiang Li's kung fu must be quite powerful, right?"

Jiang Li's kung fu?

Du Ruo remembered Wang Bujiu's words, saying that not many people could beat Jiang Li, otherwise the county magistrate wouldn't have let him be a Bu Tou.

So she nodded: "It's not bad."

You couldn't say it too fully, you had to be humble, right?

Auntie Lin was full of envy: "Then you are truly blessed."

She leaned closer and lowered her voice: "But as someone who has been through it, I have to give you a reminder. No matter how powerful a man is, you can't let him have his way too much, you have to take care of your own body. If you get sick from too much movement, it won't be good."

Du Ruo was a bit confused. She understood every word, but how could they be so strange when put together.

Before she could ask, Auntie Lin had already picked up the shoulder pole: "I have to get busy, Jiang Li's wife, don't stroll for too long, you should still prioritize resting."

After speaking, the person walked away.

Du Ruo looked at her back, her brain really couldn't turn the corner, so she turned to ask Jiang Cheng: "Little San'er, did you understand her words?"

Jiang Cheng slumped his shoulders, his whole person as if shrouded in a bleak wind and rain, with no reaction to the surrounding things.

Seeing him like this, Du Ruo was also helpless.

This child had received too big a blow today, it was estimated that it would take a while to recover.

People, after all, have to learn from their mistakes. Jiang Cheng was too trusting of his master and mistress before, perhaps because of his lack of love since childhood, so he treated the Gu couple like his own parents, but he never thought that the people he respected the most would scheme against him like this, almost making him a fall guy!

But it wasn't all bad, at least the master-apprentice relationship between the two was completely broken.

And it was Doctor Gu who said it himself.

At that time, Du Ruo was preparing to beat the dog in the water, helping the Great Song family's tiger write a guarantee that Gu Fusheng was not allowed to take a concubine, when she suddenly remembered that she couldn't write traditional characters. The original owner knew a few, but she didn't write them well, after all, Xiao Liangchen had only taught her a little when she was young.

So she handed the pen to Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng was about to pick up the pen when Doctor Gu shouted loudly from the side: "Sanlang, if you help the evildoer today, don't call me master in the future. I don't have an apprentice like you who doesn't distinguish right from wrong!"

Jiang Cheng's hand shook at that time. Du Ruo thought he would be obedient to Doctor Gu like before.

As a result, this child actually hardened up, and after writing that guarantee, he left a sentence for Doctor Gu: "I won't come again in the future."

He turned and walked out of the Gu family's gate.

Although he left very decisively, it could be seen that the child's heart had been hurt.

Du Ruo didn't say anything more, and the uncle and sister-in-law returned home in silence.

After arriving home, Jiang Cheng locked himself in his room and bolted the door. Before long, suppressed wailing came from inside.

Chunhua didn't know what had happened, turning around outside the door at a loss, wanting to ask but not daring to.

"Don't worry about him, he'll be fine in a while." Du Ruo said.

She called Chunhua to the kitchen and started preparing lunch, teaching Chunhua how to cook by the way.

Du Ruo found that Chunhua had some talent in cooking. Simple dishes, she could basically master in one or two tries; more complex ones, even if she couldn't grasp the essence at the time, she could figure it out later.

In short, she was a talent that could be molded.

After the meal was ready, Chunhua went to call Jiang Cheng, but was shut out. The boy didn't know if he was autistic, but he didn't respond at all.

If he didn't eat, he didn't eat. Anyway, he wouldn't starve to death in one meal.

Du Ruo left him food and didn't care.

When Jiang Wan came back in the evening and asked, Du Ruo found an excuse to brush it off.

She thought the teenager's emotions came and went quickly, but who knew that by the third day, Jiang Cheng still refused to go out.

This made Du Ruo angry.

Being hurt, you can be decadent, but you can't be decadent forever. If this continues, the person will be completely ruined.

She walked to the door of the brat's room, patted the door *bang-bang*, and threatened in the most serious tone: "Jiang Cheng, I'll give you half a quarter of an hour now. If you still don't come out, don't blame me for tearing down your door!"

There was silence inside.

Chunhua wrung her hands nervously on the side: "Sister Ruo, will Brother Sanlang think of something stupid..."

Du Ruo shook her head: "Don't worry, it won't go that far."

People with simple minds have this point, they won't drill into the tip of the horn. Jiang Cheng should just be hurt, silently licking his wounds in the dark.

But he had been licking for too long, and if he continued, he would starve to death.

However, it was too long, and if he continued, he would starve to death.

Du Ruo was just about to break in when a familiar mechanical sound suddenly rang in her mind.

"Ding-dong—Youth is the future of the country! It is the hope of the nation! Please host, save the confused youth, make him cheer up, and move toward a beautiful future! After success, you will receive a reward of 6 points! Go, host, the country and the nation are waiting for you!"

Du Ruo: "..."

This mission was too simple, a free points question.

Fine, then she wouldn't be polite.

Du Ruo picked up a stool and was ready to smash the door. The system screamed: "Wait!"

Du Ruo paused: "What's wrong?"

"Great Scholar, please read the question carefully, okay?" The system was speechless: "It's not asking you to save his flesh, but to make him cheer up and rekindle hope for life. Are you sure smashing the door can save his soul?"

Du Ruo rolled her eyes: "But I have to get the flesh out first, right?"

Otherwise, wait for him to starve to death and go to the underworld to save his soul?

The system thought it was the same: "Then host, do as you please."

Under Chunhua's terrified gaze, Du Ruo raised the stool again.

The door creaked open, revealing the teenager's haggard face and swollen eyes.

"Sister-in-law..." His voice was hoarse, and his whole person exuded an air of hopelessness.

Du Ruo dragged him outside. The bright sunshine suddenly broke into his eyes, causing short-term stinging.

Jiang Cheng raised his hand to block it.

"Tell me, what exactly are you thinking? Are you really planning to starve yourself to death or what?" Du Ruo crossed her arms and looked at him sideways: "Just for that person who treated you as free labor and framed you?"

Jiang Cheng shook his head: "No, I figured that out a long time ago, he's not worth it."

He squatted on the ground drawing circles, looking like a little pitiful thing: "I just feel that I am too useless. In this family, Big Brother can hunt and make money, and now he is a Bu Tou; Second Brother is good at studying, and it's only a matter of time before he gets a title; Wan'er, although her body is weak, she has always been sensible and obedient, not letting people worry at all; only me, I seem to be unable to do anything. Hunting doesn't work, studying doesn't work, my brain is stupid, and I'm dark and ugly, not like them at all. Sometimes I even doubt if I was picked up."

Speaking of this, the teenager's tone dropped even lower: "I finally made up my mind to study medicine, but it turned out like this. I am basically a useless person, unable to do anything..."

Du Ruo understood in seconds. This was a lack of self-confidence, feeling that he had no value, so he lacked motivation.

No motivation, then create a motivation.

Du Ruo searched hard for Jiang Cheng's strengths in her mind, and finally thought of one.

"Who says you can't do anything? Aren't you good at farming?"

Mentioning farming, Jiang Cheng's eyes had some spirit, but soon dimmed again: "What's the use of being good at farming? Our family doesn't have land for me to farm."

Those few sandy lands behind the mountain couldn't grow crops, and those dozens of ghost-supervising-posts were easy, not needing anyone to manage them at all.

"There isn't any now, but there will be soon. By then, you can show off your skills."

Du Ruo thought for a moment and said: "How about this, you eat first, and in a while, I have a good thing for you. I guarantee you'll have energy as soon as you see it."

She ran into the room, closed the door, and began to call the system.

"Little System, help me buy 20 chili seeds."

"Host, are you sure? After buying, you will only have 3.5 points left to use."

Du Ruo's heart ached, but she gritted her teeth: "Buy!"

As long as she could make Jiang Cheng cheer up, she could get 6 points, so it wasn't a loss.

After getting the seeds, Du Ruo spent another point to buy a "Chili Planting Manual". After all, it was a new variety, and she was afraid Jiang Cheng wouldn't know how to handle it, and his fragile self-confidence would be hit again.

Du Ruo took these to the hall.

Jiang Cheng was drinking porridge at the table, still listless. Seeing her come out, he asked casually: "Sister-in-law, what good thing? Is it something to eat?"

After all, Sister-in-law was best at making delicious food.

Du Ruo sat opposite him and nodded: "It's something to eat, and it's something you've never seen before."

She took out a handkerchief, put it on the table, and spread it out.

Inside were pale yellow seeds, very small, flat.

"What is this?" Jiang Cheng curiously picked up one and looked at it carefully. It was a bit like an eggplant seed, but eggplant seeds were rounder than this.

"This is called a chili, an edible crop. It's much spicier than peppercorns. When stir-frying, just add a little bit, and it can whet people's appetite and make them crave it."

Saying this, Du Ruo took out the "Chili Planting Manual" from her bosom and handed it to him.

Jiang Cheng took it and flipped through a few pages. The more he flipped, the bigger his eyes became. His face was full of ecstasy, and in the end, he was completely lost in it, not hearing Du Ruo call him several times.

Du Ruo had to snatch the book back: "Little San'er, I'll give you the book and the seeds, and the vegetable plot in the backyard is also handed to you. But two months later, I hope to eat the chili you grew yourself. Any problems?"

Jiang Cheng stared at the book, afraid Du Ruo wouldn't give it to him, nodding like a chicken pecking at rice: "Good, good, good, no problem!"

Farming, it couldn't stump him.

Du Ruo exhorted: "Remember, don't tell anyone about this, so as to avoid outsiders coming to steal it. This can be sold for money."

Can be sold for money? Jiang Cheng widened his eyes: "How much can it be sold for?"

This...

"Things are expensive because they are rare. Our family is the only one in the entire Da Zhao that has chilies. How expensive do you think it will be? At the very least, more than what Doctor Gu earned in ten years."

Jiang Cheng opened his mouth wide, unable to close it for a long time.

So much? Then in that case, he was also someone who could make money now?

Hahahaha, great, he finally wasn't a useless person!

Jiang Cheng tucked the book into his bosom, carefully put away the twenty seeds, and ran toward the backyard.

Du Ruo hurriedly shouted: "Eat first!"

Laughing to death, he couldn't be called back at all.

Du Ruo shook her head, feeling relieved in her heart. No matter what, Jiang Cheng finally cheered up, and his enthusiasm was very high.

Actually, she had long wanted to grow chilies, mainly because she missed boiled fish and spicy chicken. However, she originally planned to wait until she bought land and earned enough points to grow them. She didn't expect to arrange it in advance this time to coax the child, which was also quite good.

In the next few days, Jiang Cheng, except for eating, drinking, and going to the bathroom, spent all his time on planting chilies, loosening the soil, raising seedlings, and was very busy.

Chunhua also gradually integrated into the family, no longer as constrained as before, and grabbed most of the work in the house, leaving Du Ruo with nothing to do.

All she could do was go to the back mountain to see the ghost-supervising-post, or teach Chunhua how to cook.

Thinking that her medicine was almost finished, Du Ruo planned to go to the county, and by the way, see Jiang Li.

Speaking of which, Jiang Li had been away from home for ten days, and not a single message had been sent back.

The Ya Men must be really busy...

The next day, Du Ruo set off. When taking the ox cart, Old Tietou looked at her happily and specially took a straw mat for her to sit on: "Jiang Li's wife, I'll try to go slow, if you feel uncomfortable, just say it."

Du Ruo hurriedly thanked him: "It's okay, Uncle Tietou, I can handle it."

Several women in the same cart covered their mouths and laughed, teasing: "Uncle Tietou, you are biased, we want to sit on mats too!"

Old Tietou laughed loudly: "Sure, whenever you are promising, I'll prepare mats for you too!"

Du Ruo also followed suit and laughed.

Sure enough, people are chameleons. Since Jiang Li became a Bu Tou, the villagers were much more polite to her, and more than once people had praised her for being "promising."

In her opinion, the one who should be promising was Jiang Li; she was just borrowing Jiang Li's light.

Arriving at Xiushan Zhen, Du Ruo bought two steamed buns to fill her stomach, then rented a carriage and headed straight for Wutou Xian.

The one guarding the gate was still the same Ya Men runner as last time.

But the attitude was worlds apart.

"Sister-in-law, are you here to find Bu Tou Jiang?" The Ya Men runner asked with a smile.

Du Ruo thought, the attitude was better, but the brain wasn't very good. Besides finding Jiang Li, who else would she find?

"Yes, trouble you to help me call my husband."

The Ya Men runner's eyes flickered, and his smile became even more amiable: "Oh, Sister-in-law, this is really a coincidence. Bu Tou Jiang went out to handle business again today, I reckon he won't be back until tomorrow."

Ah? Won't be back until tomorrow?

Du Ruo's face immediately collapsed, feeling very disappointed in her heart.

It was hard to come here once, but she didn't even see his face. Of course, she wasn't reconciled, thinking if it really didn't work, she would stay in the county for a night.

Du Ruo thanked him and turned to go to the Herbal Hall to get the medicine first.

Suddenly someone called her.

The person walked out of the Ya Men, in his thirties, of medium height, with rough skin and a black face, wearing the same Bu Tou uniform as Jiang Li.

"Is this Bu Tou Jiang's wife?" He first sized up Du Ruo and then smiled: "Bu Tou Jiang has just returned, he is currently eating with a few brothers in the Spring-character room of Zui Meng Ju, why don't you go find him?"

Zui Meng Ju? She didn't expect there to be one in the county, probably a branch.

Since Jiang Li was eating, it shouldn't affect his business, so Du Ruo asked for the specific location of Zui Meng Ju and went looking for it.

On the steps, the two looked at her back, their expressions different.

The Ya Men runner hesitated: "Brother Yang, is this okay?"