At the same time, they decided to open up the barren sweet potato hillside to the public.
Despite its remote location, it was better than letting it lie fallow and neglected.
After all, the mere two rice paddies were far from sufficient for their needs.
Since few people trekked to the mountain, why not cultivate it themselves and plant crops legitimately?
Perhaps it would forge a new source of livelihood.
In this process, Su Yu witnessed firsthand the man spoken of by the villagers, Jiang Ziling, who despite his disability, worked unmistakably hard.
In just a few days, with his remarkable perseverance and wisdom, he had managed to carve out three well-ordered plots of land.
He did all the work himself, whether it was strenuous digging or meticulously setting up the irrigation system, Jiang Ziling did it all with painstaking care.
He only let Su Yu accompany Xixi by the side or rest under the shade of the trees, his attentiveness bringing a warm feeling to Su Yu's heart.
Despite being overwhelmed with work, Jiang Ziling, during breaks, could still swiftly draw his slingshot from his waist and precisely hit a wild rabbit that occasionally intruded into his field of view.
Su Yu, leading an overjoyed Xixi, would bounce along to collect the prey, cooking it into delicious meals at home, adding a touch of surprise to their otherwise mundane lives.
Jiang Ziling, a man of strong will but frail body, although not favored by fate, led a colorful and hopeful life through his resilient spirit and positive attitude.
As long as they weren't disturbed by Lady Zhao's vampire-like greed, he and Xixi had already found their peace and happiness between these mountains and rivers.
Speaking of the Zhao Family, they had recently fallen into an unusual silence, as if shrouded by an invisible gloom.
All this stemmed from Jiang Youfu's spectacularly shocking streak of naked running under the broad daylight through the village.
This incident, like a stone cast into a serene lake, caused ripples that quickly spread among the villagers, becoming a hot topic of conversation after meals.
Even more so, rumors had it that Jiang Youfu's naked and bruised frantic escape was due to an exposed affair, catching him red-handed.
This scandal, like a sword, pierced the dignity of the Zhao Family, causing them to lose face entirely.
The family since then shut themselves in, their home filled with a suffocating and angry atmosphere, arguments echoing endlessly.
For the bystander Su Yu, however, this family drama was like a freely watched series of human world comedies and tragedies.
Lady Zhao always harbored resentment against Jiang Xunzhong for unilaterally dividing the family's grain and fields in favor of Jiang Ziling.
Whenever she remembered this, she would find some pretext to scold Jiang Ziling to vent her frustration.
Jiang Youfu, on the other hand, vented his full rage on his wife, Fang Qin, frequently resorting to fists and feet, using her to release his unplaced anger.
Confronted with all this, Su Yu was far from avoiding it; instead, she calmly observed all the chaos as a spice of life, taking it as entertainment and watching coldly from the sidelines.
Jiang Youfu had long held a grudge against Su Yu, and now with the scandal boiling over, he had no way to seek redress, only able to grit his teeth and endure, letting the rumors slice at his dignity like knives.
What he found most unbearable was that the strange woman Jiang Ziling had rescued from the riverbank had now transformed into Jiang Ziling's wife, which to him was undoubtedly a conspiracy plotted by Jiang Ziling and the woman, causing him great humiliation in public.
Jiang Youfu's malicious thoughts grew wildly like weeds, and finally, on a dark and eerily quiet night, he couldn't suppress the urge within him, extending his hand of sin, attempting to take revenge on Jiang Ziling and Su Yu.
Although Jiang Ziling shared a room with Su Yu, he insisted on sleeping in separate beds.
Considerately, Su Yu proposed a rotation for taking care of their young daughter Xixi, where she would take care of her one night, and Jiang Ziling would take over the next night.
Although Jiang Ziling felt sorry for Su Yu sleeping on the hard table, he finally accepted the arrangement under her insistence, and they decided to take turns keeping watch at night.
That night, as Su Yu gently got up to relieve the exhausted Jiang Ziling, she inadvertently caught a glimpse of a sneaky figure outside the window.
She immediately became alert, carefully woke Jiang Ziling, signaled him to keep quiet with her eyes, and pointed towards the vague outline outside the window.
Jiang Ziling's heart skipped a beat, and looking intently, he saw the person squatting by the window, apparently holding something in his hand, stealthily peeping.
Afterward, he quietly got up and walked slowly towards the door.
Soon, a flickering cold light of a sharp knife appeared through the crack of the door, cautiously being manipulated by a trembling hand.
Seeing this, Jiang Ziling immediately protected Su Yu behind him, but Su Yu remained calm, "It's okay, leave it to me."
She swiftly took a wooden stick and a sack from behind the door and handed them to Jiang Ziling, instructing him to just assist her since he was not agile on his feet.
The two held their breath, clinging behind the door, their eyes firmly fixed on the latch. As it gradually loosened, their heartbeats intensified.
Finally, the latch came completely loose, and the person outside gently pushed open the door, quietly stepping into the room.
Su Yu, with her quick reflexes, immediately grabbed the arm with the knife, pulling forcefully, causing the knife to drop with a clatter.
Then, with a lightning-fast move, she grabbed the intruder's jaw, blocking any attempt to scream for help.
Under the bright moonlight, the intruder's face was clearly visible, it was indeed Jiang Youfu.
Su Yu sneered at Jiang Youfu, "You really forget the pain once the wound is healed!"
Before her words fell, she increased her grip, dislocating Jiang Youfu's jaw, making him emit only a muffled groan.
At that moment, Jiang Ziling showed no mercy, covering the head with the sack and striking hard with the wooden stick, shocking even Su Yu with the severity of his blows.
Jiang Youfu writhed in pain on the ground, unable to shout loudly due to his dislocated jaw.
Seeing Jiang Ziling not stopping, Su Yu hastily intervened, "Enough, hitting him more could be lethal!"
The usually gentle Jiang Ziling then, like a provoked beast, burned with rage, coldly uttering three words, "He deserves to die!"
Startled by Jiang Ziling's sudden fury, Su Yu hurriedly soothed, "Ziling, calm down! You shouldn't bear the burden of a manslaughter for such a person, it's really not worth it. Moreover, even if he deserves punishment, we can't let him die in our house, that would bring such bad luck!"
Calmly reassured by her, Jiang Ziling finally began to relax his grip on the wooden stick, his heavy breathing sounding particularly grating in the still of the night.
At that moment, the fear that washed over him was like a tide, leaving him tremendously shaken.
If Su Yu hadn't incidentally swapped beds with him tonight because she felt sorry for his leg injury, and noticed Jiang Youfu's malicious intent with the knife in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable.