One afternoon.
Granny Wu was grinding herbs in the clinic when suddenly, several panicked shouts came from outside the door, "Doctor Wu, help! Save Aunt Donggua!"
Granny Wu immediately dropped the pestle in her hand and went out to see.
She saw a young man from the same village, carrying Zhou Donggua on his back, running rapidly towards her, followed by Zhou Donggua's husband, Li Guaizi, who was limping.
Li Guaizi also looked anxious, leaning on a crutch and staggering towards them.
"Doctor Wu! Quick! Save Aunt Donggua!" the young man rushed into the clinic and placed Zhou Donggua on the wooden bed.
Li Guaizi followed, panting, and pleaded, "Doctor Wu, please, you must save my wife!"
"I will do my best," Granny Wu nodded calmly.
Zhou Donggua's face was purple, frothing at the mouth, and her body was convulsing uncontrollably.
Granny Wu exclaimed, "She's been poisoned!"
"Poisoned?" The young man was clearly surprised. He had passed by Aunt Donggua's door when Li Guaizi suddenly called out to him in a panic, saying Aunt Donggua had fainted and asking for his help to take her to the clinic.
"Poison... poisoned?" Li Guaizi was also aghast. How could this be possible?
Granny Wu glanced at Li Guaizi, then immediately turned to the medicine cabinet behind her, took out a porcelain bottle, poured out a black pill, and quickly put it into Zhou Donggua's mouth.
"Fortunately, she was brought in time. If it were any later, Donggua would have died," Granny Wu said, looking at Li Guaizi with deep eyes. "What did she eat for lunch today?"
A flicker of panic crossed Li Guaizi's eyes as he nervously rubbed his hands. "A… coarse grain cake, and a bowl of coarse grain porridge."
Granny Wu's gaze grew sharper. "Who made lunch?"
Li Guaizi tugged at his loose clothes. "It was… my wife who made it."
"Did Donggua eat or drink anything else during that time?" Granny Wu continued to ask, her gaze towards Li Guaizi becoming increasingly distrustful.
Li Guaizi's legs began to tremble. He opened his mouth, his lips quivering, and said, "No… didn't eat anything else. But, that… that coarse grain cake was… given by Granny Chen."
"Granny Chen?!" Granny Wu and the young man exclaimed in unison.
Li Guaizi was still in contact with Granny Chen? Everyone knew that Granny Chen was the most disliked person in their Hongshu Village, as she had harmed the Li Zheng family in the past.
Li Guaizi was truly muddle-headed. It was a great loss for Donggua (Aunt Donggua) to marry him!
"This morning, I went to Huangsha—no, Qianfei Village. Granny Chen gave me two cakes, one coarse grain and one fine grain. She said the fine grain cake was specifically for me, and the coarse grain one was for… my wife. So, at noon, I… I ate the fine grain cake, and my wife ate the coarse grain cake…"
"How did you get involved with Granny Chen?" Granny Wu asked coldly.
"No… no," Li Guaizi, frightened, quickly shook his head and waved his hands, mumbling, "I… I'm not involved with her, it's just… Granny Chen said she was pitiful, and both her sons had abandoned her, so she hoped I would… take better care of her in the future."
The young man said with a sneer, "Uncle Li, I don't mean to be rude, but why would you take care of Granny Chen? What relation are you to her? If you behave like this, how can you face Aunt Donggua? Have you considered Aunt Donggua's feelings?"
"Don't talk nonsense! I… I'm not involved with her, we just chat occasionally," Li Guaizi's voice grew softer.
When he was younger, he had indeed liked Granny Chen. Although Granny Chen didn't fancy him, he still liked her very much.
Now, Granny Chen was in a bad situation, and she was willing to humble herself to talk to him and said many sweet words, which made him feel like he had regained his youthful spirit.
Seeing Granny Chen suffer, he felt a little unable to bear it, so he made a grand declaration that he would take good care of her in the future.
The young man rolled his eyes, too lazy to bother with him anymore. He turned to Granny Wu and said, "Doctor Wu, is Aunt Donggua alright?"
Granny Wu nodded. "She's taken the antidote, and should wake up soon."
"That's good," the young man nodded. "Then I'll trouble you, Doctor Wu. It's time for work, I'll be going to work now." With that, the young man left. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
Granny Wu glared at Li Guaizi with disgust and said irritably, "You can go back too. I'll take care of Donggua."
Li Guaizi shook his head. "No, I'm not leaving. I want to wait for my wife to wake up, and I'll take care of her."
Granny Wu snorted coldly, "Stop pretending! When she wakes up, you won't have a good time. I advise you to go back and think of a way to appease her. Your old flame, Granny Chen, poisoned her, intending to kill her. When Donggua wakes up, you'll be waiting to die."
"No… it can't be Granny Chen who poisoned her, can it? Why would she do that?" Li Guaizi gasped. He thought Granny Chen was a bit shrewish, but not to the point of poisoning someone to death.
"As for why she did it, you'd have to ask yourself. She probably wants to find a man to rely on, so she needs to make room for herself by getting rid of Donggua," Granny Wu said sarcastically.
Li Guaizi was so ashamed he couldn't lift his head. He rushed to Zhou Donggua's side, grabbed her hand, and said, "Wife, please forgive me. Granny Chen and I really have nothing. We just chatted. This matter hasn't been clarified yet. If… if she really drugged you, I… I'll settle the score with her!"
Zhou Donggua had already woken up. She wanted to get up and slap Li Guaizi hard a few times, but she had no strength, felt very dizzy, and nauseous.
Seeing Li Guaizi still sickening her with his presence, she slowly opened her eyes, spat at Li Guaizi's face weakly, and then, with all her might, she pulled her hand away and shouted, "Get out!"
"Donggua, please forgive me. Granny Chen and I really have nothing. We are innocent," Li Guaizi knelt before Zhou Donggua, weeping and wailing.
Zhou Donggua looked at Granny Wu as if for help. Granny Wu understood and unceremoniously kicked out the sobbing Li Guaizi.
The next day, Bai Sheng was playing with her little cubs at home when she suddenly heard the sound of drumming outside the door. After the drumming stopped, an unusually indignant woman's voice rang out.
"Everyone, come and see! Granny Chen from Qianfei Village seduced my man, Li Guaizi, and poisoned me to death! Then she got together with Li Guaizi. Today, I will make her pay dearly!"
That was Aunt Donggua's voice!
Bai Sheng had heard about Aunt Donggua's incident from her master last night, which had scared her and made her regret not "reasonably" eliminating Granny Chen sooner.
She immediately pushed the baby stroller and walked out.
The four cubs also widened their dark eyes, their ears perked up, their expressions clearly eager to gossip.
Outside the door, a crowd of onlookers had gathered, all looking towards the sand embankment.
Zhou Donggua had a broken drum hanging by her side and was holding a drumstick. Every time she beat the drum, she loudly proclaimed the glorious deeds of Granny Chen and Li Guaizi.