Seeing that Old Granny Zhang had stopped crying, Wang Yongzhu moved closer. The mother and daughter had a warm and affectionate chat about making gold bracelets and golden hairpins in the future, which cheered Old Granny Zhang up and put Wang Yongzhu at ease.
With her daughter’s promise, Old Granny Zhang, thinking of someone who could go out and come back with dozens of taels of silver, believed that talk of making a gold bracelet for herself one day wasn’t empty talk.
She might indeed wear a gold bracelet in this lifetime; with that thought, Old Granny Zhang felt like she had something to look forward to in life.
What were sons and men anyway? They were nothing but fart! Keeping them in made her bloated, while letting them out gave some relief!
Thus, Old Granny Zhang was no longer troubled about the matter of the silver bracelet.
When she saw that Old Granny Zhang had stabilized emotionally, Wang Yongzhu finally spoke up, "Mother, about Eldest Brother—"
Old Granny Zhang glared at Wang Yongzhu, "Why do you care about him? He said everything, compensation or not, talk of retribution, even kowtowing—I can’t say anything else. With the way he is now, what dare I say? He never listened to me from the start, and now that he’s old, I don’t have the spare heart to worry about it. Let him do as he pleases, just don’t come back in a few days with regrets."
For her daughter’s sake, she decided not to say anything else. After all, she had completely given up hope on her sons and the head of the household.
How can a heart once cold be easily warmed again? Besides, with Eldest Brother like that, what was the use of her scolding? Not for Eldest Brother’s sake, but his three sons were growing up and she was still counting on these three boys to earn money to pay back her daughter’s silver.
All this silver spent on her family—did they really think it wasn’t costing her daughter anything?
Don’t even think about it! While the Wang Family had a share from her daughter, what belonged to her daughter was hers alone; others should not even dream of taking advantage of her daughter by a single penny.
Wang Yongzhu didn’t know Old Granny Zhang’s thoughts, and seeing that Old Granny Zhang seemed to be letting go of the issue with Eldest Brother’s family, she felt relieved too.
In the third room, Jinhua was dazed ever since Lady Lin had left.
It wasn’t until she returned to her room that Lady Jiang noticed Jinhua’s off behavior, "Jinhua, what’s wrong with you?"
Jinhua snapped out of her daze, grabbed Lady Jiang tightly, and looked at her with deep concern, "Mother, you, you won’t..." She did not finish her sentence, but Lady Jiang understood.
Lady Jiang patted Jinhua and then ran her fingers through her hair, "Silly girl, Mother won’t leave you behind! You are the flesh that fell from Mother’s body, Mother would sacrifice herself before letting anything happen to you!"
Jinhua, alongside Jinpan, who was beginning to understand things, and Jinshao, who was still toddling around, clung to Lady Jiang. The drama that unfolded today with Lady Lin had only made the children of the third room cling to Lady Jiang more.
Eventually, Jinhua muttered, "Mother, even if by chance you and Father don’t stay together, I will still go with you!"
Lady Jiang rubbed her cheek, "Why?"
"Everyone says it’s better to follow a beggar mother than to stay with a father who’s an official! Once there’s a stepmother, there’s a stepdad! I sure don’t want to stay with Father—" Jinhua whispered, holding Lady Jiang tighter, "Mother, don’t be scared, when I grow up and earn money with Auntie, I’ll take care of you!"
Jinpan and Jinshao rushed to say, "Mother, I will take care of you in the future!"
"I will also take care of you!"
Lady Jiang’s eyes filled with tears, but she tried her best to hold them back and nodded, "Mother knows, Mother is waiting for you to take care of her in the future!"
Meanwhile, after appeasing Old Granny Zhang, Wang Yongzhu returned to her own room and began to worry.
She had originally planned that after settling back in Qilidun and making sure her father and Eldest Brother were comfortable, she would start thinking about getting the mountain goods business underway.
The mountain doesn’t produce much in summer, which is a perfect opportunity for everyone to sort things out and practice by buying in small quantities. By the time the autumn arrives and mountain goods are abundant, we’ll be well-prepared.
But because of what Lady Lin has stirred up today, I’m afraid no one at home will be in the right mindset for the next few days.
Moreover, it’s been five days since Wang Yongfu and Wang Laozhu fell ill; why hasn’t the Xiao Tiantian System completed its upgrade yet? It couldn’t have crashed during the upgrade, could it? I was counting on the System issuing a quest so I could get some medicine or something to bring Wang Yongfu and Wang Laozhu back from the brink.
Not to mention that with Wang Yongfu being practically paralyzed, he can’t work and needs someone to take care of him.
If I manage to get the mountain produce business off the ground, who would be there to look after him?
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
I was just thinking about it when the voice of the Xiao Tiantian System sounded in my mind, "Hmph, now you remember me? Didn’t you tell me to scram not so long ago? Let me tell you, if I really went far away—"
"Then just roll back here! You’re not about to tell me you got lost, are you?" Wang Yongzhu blocked the System with a quick retort.
The Xiao Tiantian System was irritated into anger, "Host, do you still want rewards? Do you still want quests? Do you still want to reach the pinnacle of farming? Let me tell you, even a System has its dignity—"
"OK, so what’s my reward? I’ve been waiting for half a month, give it here already!" Wang Yongzhu decided to give the Xiao Tiantian System a break for the sake of her reward.
The Xiao Tiantian System spoke reluctantly, "Congratulations, Host, for completing all Primary Level quests. You have been awarded a Primary Level gift pack. Please check!"
Wang Yongzhu immediately opened the System interface and, sure enough, in addition to the Mingmu Pills, there was a box.
She gestured to open the box, which slowly revealed a 10-milliliter light amber-colored liquid in a glass vial.
"Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the Intermediate Gene Evolution Liquid." Xiao Tiantian System introduced.
"Xiao Tiantian, are you kidding me again! Didn’t you already reward me with the Primary Gene Evolution Fluid? I’ve completed all the Primary Level quests and this upgrade is what I get as a reward? This is your so-called big gift pack? Return it, I don’t want it! Redraw!" Wang Yongzhu was almost ready to flip out—the Primary Level Genetic Liquid wasn’t even used up yet.
"Host, please pay attention to the remark behind this Evolution Liquid!"
Wang Yongzhu took a closer look, sure enough, behind the Evolution Liquid were two very small words: For Human.
Then, with another click, a line of text appeared below the liquid: Intermediate Gene Evolution Liquid for humans, improves physical fitness, enhances cellular vitality, achieving optimal cellular state, adjusting the body functions from the inside out, and enhancing the five senses of the human body. Consume immediately upon opening.
Wang Yongzhu pondered for a moment, "After taking this, my physical fitness and five senses will be enhanced? Which five senses?"
"Vision, smell, taste, hearing, touch! After the Host takes this Evolution Liquid, it’s equivalent to an overall 20% improvement in physical fitness, and all senses will evolve. The body cells will maintain their optimal state. To translate using your terms, it means: impervious to all poisons and as if one had cleansed the marrow and exchanged the tendons!"
Wang Yongzhu took out the vial of Evolution Liquid, held it in her palm to examine it, and while listening to Xiao Tiantian’s explanation, she couldn’t help but tease, "Careful, you’re a System from the scientific realm, are you trying to cross over to the realm of cultivation?"
"Host, the higher the realm, the more they converge to the same path. Genetic evolution in the scientific realm equates to cleansing the marrow and exchanging the tendons in the cultivation realm. The more advanced the stages, the more alike the development of all civilizations." Xiao Tiantian responded calmly.
Wang Yongzhu thought about it and realized there was some truth to it, but what she cared about at this moment was something else, "Can this Genetic Liquid cure diseases? Can it cure paralysis like Wang Yongfu’s condition?"