Gu Xiaoling felt that she was living a life akin to an immortal at Meng Chuyue’s place.
She also thought as long as she pretended to be sick, she could continue living this way... not forever, but for the time being, it was possible.
She believed it would be very difficult for her to be unmasked.
No matter how skilled Meng Chuyue and Shen Ci were in medicine, they were not immortals; how could they possibly cure all illnesses?
It was normal for them not to have cured her.
She even hoped that Meng Chuyue could arrange a job for her mother, so they wouldn’t be freeloaders; at most, it could be considered that Meng Chuyue had given them a discount.
She thought she had figured everything out correctly, little did she know that although Meng Chuyue wasn’t an immortal, she had Divine Medicine.
Since it could cure all diseases, it was impossible that it couldn’t cure Gu Xiaoling’s minor mental illness.
Furthermore, with Gu Xiaoling’s inherently poor character, Meng Chuyue and Shen Ci didn’t even need to think to see through her intentions.
The couple was quite angry: it was a total waste of that Healing Element egg; they would not have given it to her had they known.
However, angry as they were, they couldn’t just make her sick again, could they?
Meng Chuyue faced the issue head-on. She invited Gu Xiaoling and Mrs. Gu to her office and candidly said to them, "Gu Xiaoling, stop pretending, I know you’re already well. You want to escape reality by feigning illness, that’s your business, but I can’t let you freeload here. Get going, will you?"
Mrs. Gu was unaware of this, and she looked at Gu Xiaoling in surprise for a while before asking Meng Chuyue with little confidence, "Chuyue, is what you’re saying true?"
She knew her own daughter very well and, to tell the truth, she was quite capable of such shameless deeds.
But what if it wasn’t true?
Then Xiaoling would be so pitiful.
Meng Chuyue nodded, "Everything I’ve said is true. Of course, if you insist it’s not true, then, starting from today, you can pay for the treatment, hospitalization, and living expenses according to the rules."
The moneyless Mrs. Gu...
She hesitated for a moment, steeled her heart, and said, "Meng Chuyue, I know you’re saying this because we haven’t paid, but Xiaoling is your friend, and it doesn’t make sense for you to do charity for strangers but be so ruthless to Xiaoling."
Meng Chuyue scoffed, "First, when I say she’s been cured, it’s the truth.
When she was sick, I was willing to help a fellow villager, but it makes no sense for me to continue to support you after she’s recovered, especially now that she is feigning illness with a guilty conscience; second, she and I have never been good friends. Yes, we used to be neighbors, but we’ve never gotten along. I’ve never intentionally offended her, yet she has constantly maligned me everywhere."
Mrs. Gu was astonished, "...Really? No, Meng Chuyue, you can’t slander her just because she’s sick."
Meng Chuyue scoffed, "Do I have any reason to make false accusations against her?"
She said this as she turned on a recording pen, "Listen for yourself first, and see whose voices these are."
Indeed, Meng Chuyue had recorded many instances of Gu Xiaoling badmouthing her.
It wasn’t because she was obsessed or twisted, but because every time she went to the second-floor balcony of the Fruit Store, she could hear Gu Xiaoling speaking ill of her.
She didn’t have time to eavesdrop but wanted to know what Gu Xiaoling was saying; thus, she habitually left a recording pen turned on the balcony, tossing the recordings into a space after recording, which, over time, accumulated quite a collection.
At that time, people didn’t know much about recordings or voice changers, so Mrs. Gu didn’t challenge it by claiming "This isn’t Xiaoling’s voice" or anything.
When she recognized that it was indeed Gu Xiaoling’s voice, she burst into tears, "...This, what should I do?"
She had to admit to Mrs. Gu that this was a difficult situation.
After some thought, Meng Chuyue said, "I can give you a final aid of five hundred yuan for the travel expenses back to Hai City.
I said she’s well, and it’s true. Don’t think I’m deceiving you. Think about it, if I wanted to send you away, I don’t have to say she’s recovered; saying she’s incurable would also do the job."