"Let me do it."
Li Ce pleaded and prepared to stand up.
"I asked you to stay for a meal. How can I trouble you to do all these things?"
Lin Jinxiao, who was in the room, heard their conversation. Just as Chu Nanzhi finished speaking, his weak voice immediately rang out.
"Li Ce, could I trouble you to bring some food in?"
Both of them looked a little awkward.
Li Ce glanced at Chu Nanzhi in embarrassment. He panicked and scooped some food into a bowl, then said with a stiff smile, "Sister-in-law, you eat first. I'll feed Brother Jinxiao."
Chu Nanzhi did not argue further. Although she was always thinking of him, the fellow inside still felt uncomfortable when he saw her.
In any case, it was good to have someone to share with the hard work.
She focused on her own meal. Once the four children knew that their father was fine, their mood improved and they began to whisper to each other.
Lin Ruixi leaned over to Lin Ruiwen and muttered, "Brother, since when did bad women learn to treat illnesses?"
Lin Ruiwen also found it very strange. In the past, they have given the doctors who had visited them a lot of money. Today, not only did the old doctor not charge them, he had even given the bad woman money.
They had never seen such a strange thing.
More importantly, after the bad woman had applied ointment on him, the fiery pain in his back had subsided.
Lin Ruichong was a little worried. He went up to Da Bao and Er Bao and whispered, "Will the bad woman lie to us?"
"I don't think so."
Lin Ruiwen gnawed on his chopsticks and thought for a while. "Grandpa Doctor gave the bad woman money and even asked her for a prescription."
"Why is that bad woman suddenly so good to us? She seems to have become very outstanding. I'm afraid she's about to catch up with Father."
Lin Ruixi thought about the clumsy woman who only knew how to throw tantrums and hit people. He found it hard to believe.
At that moment, Chu Nanzhi was recalling how the rabbit had hit a tree today.
She had seen strange things before, but she had never seen anything so odd.
Was it really pure luck?
When she came back to her senses, she happened to see the children whispering about something.
She knew without asking that the children were discussing her.
She rapped the table lightly with her chopsticks. "Just eat properly. Why are you whispering to each other? Don't you have any manners?"
When the children heard that, they immediately stopped whispering and lowered their heads to continue eating.
After Li Ce fed Lin Jinxiao, he came out and happily sat in his original seat. He could not stop smiling.
"Brother Jinxiao looks much better now. I was really scared to death just now. Sister-in-law, you're really amazing. I didn't know that you were proficient in medicine."
He glanced at Chu Nanzhi. He wanted to say something, but hesitated.
After hesitating for a moment, he suddenly continued, "While I was escorting the doctor back, he even commented that he had not realized how capable you were the last time he came to the house. Today was an eye-opener for him."
He tried his best to speak naturally so that she would not discern his true intentions.
But Chu Nanzhi saw through his scheme immediately.
This guy was questioning her.
He seemed to have changed after feeding Lin Jinxiao. Someone had probably sent him on a mission.
Over the past few days, she had tried her best to hide her skills and not show off her ability. However, in the face of danger, she had no choice but to show her true ability. It was impossible for her to just stand by and do nothing like the Host.
After thinking for a moment, she pretended to be embarrassed and replied, "Actually, I'm afraid you won't like to hear this."
She deliberately looked at the inner room and purposely raised her voice. "When I was chatting with Priest Ximen in the past, I happened to hear him mention some prescriptions that could save the dying and heal the injured. The prescription I used just now was learnt from him."
She smiled and said, "It's no use to me anyway. Since the old doctor was willing to pay me, I gave him the prescription."
Since Priest Ximen was dead, they could not possibly ask the dead.
"Yes, that young Taoist priest was even treated as a distinguished guest by the county magistrate. He must be really powerful."
When Li Ce heard that she had learnt all this from Priest Ximen, he no longer had any doubts.
That fellow was quite talented although he had evil intentions. Both he and Lin Jinxiao knew this.
However, he still had other questions. He decided to brazen it out and ask again, "I see that Sister-in-law is also good at solving cases. I think you've often heard that priest talk about the county office and you were also influenced, right?"
"Hehehe."
Chu Nanzhi gave a fake smile.
As a graduate from the police academy, she had professional knowledge of the system. Why would she need to consult the little priest?
However, if he could think in that direction, it would save her the trouble of looking for an excuse. She replied frankly, "It's true that I heard some things from him."
He completely avoided the question of whether the two of them were having an affair.
After all, she had been willing to expose the priest for Lin Jinxiao. Because of that, Li Ce believed that she was innocent.
Chu Nanzhi knew that it was not beneficial to her to mention this matter, but when dealing with ambiguous matters, anything without evidence would become food for gossip.
If she wanted to continue working on investigations, she would inadvertently give herself away.
She had to find a valid excuse for herself.
You win some, you lose some. She did not care about the gossip.
If a person could not withstand rumors and the ups and downs of life, how could he become a strong person?
Looking at Li Ce, she forced a smile and pretended to be sincere.
"Actually, I'm usually lazy, but that doesn't mean that I'm really stupid. When I use my wits, I'm not inferior to you men. I think this crisis forced me to use my brains."
"Yes, yes, yes. Everyone knows how capable you are."
Li Ce smiled in relief.
"No matter what others say, I believe in you. Brother Jinxiao is my elder brother. He has been good to me since I was young. He found me a good job in the county office so that our family wouldn't starve. I'm grateful to him. My life is his. Sister-in-law, you saved my elder brother, which is equivalent to saving me. You're like a parent to me. From now on, you're part of my family."
These words touched Chu Nanzhi.
Actually, not many people in the village were as honest as this couple.
No wonder Lin Jinxiao trusted him so much.
In the room, Lin Jinxiao could clearly hear their conversation.
After thinking about it carefully, he felt that her words made sense.
When he heard Priest Ximen's name, he felt vaguely uncomfortable.
But in the end, she had personally gotten rid of that young Taoist priest.
No matter what her motive was, that fact remained.
After dinner, Chu Nanzhi packed the remaining mushrooms and rabbit meat for Li Ce to bring back, then cleaned the kitchen.
She placed the newly bought vegetables on a small shelf in a cold and damp spot in the kitchen. She placed the vegetables on top and a basin of cold water below. Although it was not as good as a refrigerator for maintaining freshness, items could still keep fresh for two to three days without wilting.
She counted the remaining silver. Together with the two taels of gold, she had a total of 115 taels.
This was already a huge amount for an ordinary family. Even if they did not work, it was enough to support them for several years.
The next day, the old doctor really sent someone with the remaining hundred taels of silver, along with some expensive herbs and ten old ginsengs. This gave Chu Nanzhi some new plans.
She decided to find time to go to the clothes shop in the county to buy new clothes for the family.
The four children were actually delicate and charming, but they were always wearing tattered clothes, so it was no wonder that others looked down on them.
She planned to send some of the remaining silver to Liu Yun's family in a few days and check on the Host's father's health.
However, when she thought of the Chu family's son-in-law, she felt uncertain.
She vaguely remembered that Liu Shuyang had been a good man when he first married into the Chu family. After hanging out with Qi Mochen, Lin Jinhong, and the others for two years, he had grown completely useless.
Chu Nanzhi was not someone who could just accept things submissively. Since she had decided to help the Chu family, she would see it through.
If this person was really hopeless, she did not want the entire Chu family to be dragged down with him.
A gambling addiction was a very scary thing.