Chapter 3: Oddball Relatives, Same Old Show

"No." Gu Xixi's tone wasn't high, yet she didn't beat around the bush.

"What?" Liu Shi heard the negative answer, not only not angry but laughed out loud, "Hey, I'm telling you, you little girl are still being silly!"

"Nowadays, it's only me and your uncle who feel sorry for you, unafraid of hardship and willing to help you farm."

"Without our help, you'll starve to death by next year; hurry up and agree—it's all for your own good!"

Liu Shi behaved so rudely because she never took Gu Xixi seriously.

An orphan girl with no parents, pampered by her father since childhood, is lazy and can't tell grains apart.

Obviously destined to be a country lass, yet she pretends to be a city miss; who in the village doesn't gossip about her behind her back?

Liu Shi guffawed a few times, then saw Gu Xixi coldly staring at her, her face completely lacking a smile.

She felt bored, stopped laughing, frowned, and demanded, "Why are you glaring at me?"

Gu Xixi said in a low voice, "I said no—did Aunt not hear, or not understand?!"

Liu Shi gasped, opening her mouth wide.

Gu Xixi had no time to waste on her, pointing at the door, "I'm still busy; Aunt knows my family is short on grain, I can't keep you for dinner—if there's nothing else, please leave!"

Liu Shi came to her senses, her face flushing red with anger, "You wouldn't dare think that having a man backing you lets you talk to elders like this, would you?"

She stepped forward a few steps, craning her neck and shouting loudly.

"Call him out! It must be him stirring you up to disrespect your natal family!"

"For a penny's worth of goods, I told him to work as livestock or a long-term laborer; if he dares say no, I'll take the matter to the County Office!"

Gu Xixi was about to retort when she suddenly felt a pang of dread, noticing Liu Shi's big foot had actually stepped onto a sand pile!

Before Liu Shi could put down her second foot, Xixi's body moved faster than her thought, summoning all her strength to shove Liu Shi away.

Liu Shi staggered back a few steps, fell flat on her butt on the brick ground, gritting her teeth in pain.

Yet Gu Xixi didn't care how Liu Shi had fallen; she first bent down to check what was in the sand.

Liu Shi watched Gu Xixi's retreating back without turning, nearly overcome with anger, pointing and shouting curses:

"You little wretch! How long has your father been dead and you've already rebelled against heaven!"

"Wait till I go back and tell your third uncle, so he can inform the clan elders: you not only laid hands on me, your aunt, but you're also helping a wild man squander our Gu Clan's fortune!"

As Liu Shi was spitting fury, a thick black-and-yellow rope flew in from somewhere.

*Pat*—it landed on her skirt.

In her rage she grabbed it to fling it away hard, but suddenly felt it was wet, slick, and cold, as if it might move.

Liu Shi lowered her gaze; a pair of brown snake eyes locked with hers, the snake's mouth opening as it hissed and flicked its tongue.

Her whole body froze, only her lips trembling, a gurgling sound coming from deep in her throat.

Gu Xixi confirmed that the treasure she had buried was undamaged, and let out a sigh of relief.

Only then did she notice that the noisy chatter behind her had stopped at some point.

She turned around, puzzled, and just saw Liu Shi leap up like a firecracker.

"Snake! A snake! I've been bitten by a snake!"

Gu Xixi calmly watched a snake fall to the ground, then swiftly slither into the grass at the wall's base.

At the same time, Liu Shi clutched her head and fled out the door, leaving a trail of wails and howls.

Gu Xixi shook her head, "Just a yellow-banded snake; it only bites, it won't kill you."

When gathering herbs in the wild, you always encounter all kinds of snakes; I'm long used to it.

She walked toward the west room.

As expected, she saw Mu Nan Zhao standing inside the doorway.

"You did this?"

Mu Nan Zhao's expression was indifferent, "The snake got into the house; I just found it an eyesore."

Xixi thought for a moment and said, "One thing you can rest assured of: I alone run my household, and it has nothing to do with them."

"So they have no right to point fingers at you."

"If anyone gives you trouble like this again, you can keep doing the same to them, even go further, and it's fine."

Mu Nan Zhao lifted his eyes, his gaze mocking, "Using my hand, to help you clear away meddlesome, greedy relatives?"

Gu Xixi smiled, meeting his gaze, "That's up to how you interpret it."

In the evening, at Gu Lao San's house west of the village.

Liu Shi lay stiffly on the kang, "Am I about to die?"

"I told you, a man too handsome must be a fox spirit reborn; he'll attract evil things!"

"It's all your fault for letting me go alone; ow, it hurts, I'm dying..."

Gu Lao San picked up his white copper pipe and knocked it hard a few times on the kang's edge, "It's been all afternoon—you're not still alive and well, are you?"

"If you keep humphing, believe it or not I'll whip you!"

Gu Qingye came in carrying water, hurriedly urging, "Father, please don't be angry."

"Mother, don't be scared either; the dirty blood from the wound was squeezed out right away."

"I've heard that if the skin around the wound doesn't turn black, it wasn't a poisonous snake bite."

Upon hearing that, Liu Shi felt that aside from a slight ache in her bitten wrist, she seemed to have no other discomfort.

She was like someone who'd taken a calming pill, instantly regaining her composure.

"His father, Gu Xixi is so disobedient—you really ought to let me vent my anger!"

"Especially those fields—can't let them go cheap to that exiled outsider!"

Gu Lao San inhaled deeply, his face dark, "Our family's seven mu of land— the wheat isn't ripe yet."

Gu Qingye covered her mouth and smiled lightly, "Father, rest assured—Xixi Jie never cares about this; she doesn't know."

Gu Lao San shook his head and sighed, "That girl is probably not someone easy to deal with."

Gu Qingye sneered, "So what if she knows?"

"The land may be hers, but the wheat is ours; what can she do?"

Gu Lao San fell silent for a moment, then said, "Tomorrow I'll go find a few uncles and brothers to talk it over."

Liu Shi suddenly recalled that when she stepped on the sand pile, Gu Xixi had a strong reaction.

She spoke of this, her eyes gleaming with secret delight and greed, "When Xixi's father was alive, he always said he had saved no money; I never believed him."

"Do you think his wealth and treasures are all buried under the sand?"

As midnight approached, Gu Xixi could barely keep her eyes open, and only then did she get up to wash up.

The long table by the window in her bedroom was filled with bottles and jars.

Agricultural pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and seed-soaking growth promoters…

All were prepared as water-soluble solutions from natural ingredients she had gathered.

Their strength is far inferior to that of modern agrochemical products.

But ancient pests and diseases had low resistance, so the actual effectiveness was still decent.

Xixi lay on the bed, thinking of her thirty-two mu of land, and in the blink of an eye fell asleep.

The clouds covered the moon; two black shadows leapt over the courtyard wall and ran toward the sand pile.

But they didn't notice that in the darkness, a pair of eyes shone like a hawk's, fixed on them…

Early in the morning, Aunt Zhang rushed into Xixi's room, glanced outside mysteriously, and shut the door tightly.

"This morning someone saw Gu Lao San and his wife tied up and hung from the big locust tree at the village entrance."

"It looks like they were hung up during the night."

Gu Xixi glanced sideways, "Hanged from a tree?"

Aunt Zhang nodded, "Nothing serious happened, but what they said… it concerns our family."