She knew the itching powder she'd concocted best.
While not absolute, it wasn't something ordinary people could counteract.
So, where did the village chief get this so-called antidote?
"Thank you, Aunt Shen Er. I have a plan for this. Be careful on your way back, don't let the villagers discover you."
Aunt Shen Er repeatedly cautioned Tao Lengshuang to be careful, suggesting she apologize to the village chief if necessary.
Apologizing was out of the question. Tao Lengshuang, who knew she was in the right, smiled, saw Aunt Shen Er out, and then began her slimming exercises, contemplating how to resolve the situation.
The village chief was the local bully. If he led the village in ostracizing them, not only would their family's lives be severely impacted, but they would also face various troubles and dangers when out in the village.
Moreover, it seemed someone was backing the village chief.
Given the village chief's stingy and petty nature, he wouldn't give medicine to villagers, nor would he spend his own money to buy it.
It was likely someone had instructed the village chief to act this way.
If that were the case, who would it be, and for what reason would they be doing this?
"This matter is not that simple."
The sudden, slightly cold voice of Mo Lingxi startled Tao Lengshuang, causing her to stumble and nearly fall.
"Are you sick?"
Tao Lengshuang's face flushed with anger. "You want to scare me to death by speaking behind me. Just say it if you do."
Mo Lingxi sneered, "Such a coward, yet you dare to stir up trouble?"
"Who's stirring up trouble? Clarify, who is?"
"Aren't you?"
Tao Lengshuang truly didn't want to talk to the person in front of her. Every conversation with him left her infuriated. "Where am I stirring up trouble?"
"You, Mo, clarify this. If you don't, don't expect me to detoxify you!"
Mo Lingxi glanced at her indifferently. "Don't you want the law books?"
Tao Lengshuang really wanted to defiantly say she didn't, but in her current state, she couldn't afford all the law books.
Furthermore, she still hoped to obtain more good things from Mo Lingxi.
"Give them to me," she said sternly, extending her hand.
Mo Lingxi let out a scoff. "Detoxify."
"Go get undressed."
The moment Tao Lengshuang finished speaking, she heard her son's delighted exclamation, which caused her to choke on her own saliva.
"Mother, are you and Father going to have a sibling for me?"
Tao Lengshuang turned red and coughed uncontrollably.
She wanted to say something but was overcome by coughing.
Good heavens, how could Xiao Feng have such an idea?
Mo Lingxi glanced at her indifferently, finding her affectation hypocritical.
"Xiao Feng."
He patted Xiao Feng's head meaningfully. "You will have siblings in the future."
Xiao Feng, believing his parents were truly going to have more children, clapped his hands excitedly. "Hooray, hooray! I'm going to have siblings too."
"Father, don't worry, I will take very good care of my younger siblings and won't trouble you."
He had always envied other children in the village who had brothers and sisters, unlike him, who was alone.
Mo Lingxi hummed in response.
Tao Lengshuang, understanding the implication, sneered. "Mo Lingxi, I won't stop you, but don't think about taking Xiao Feng away."
Mo Lingxi ignored her, handed Xiao Feng a copy of the Three Character Classic, and told him to go back to his room and read.
Xiao Feng happily took the book and returned to his room, eager to study and practice martial arts so he could teach his future siblings.
Mo Lingxi glanced at Tao Lengshuang, then lay down on the kang in her room, removing everything but his underpants.
Tao Lengshuang was furious, once again wanting to poison him. How could there be such an annoying person in the world?
She suppressed the urge to kill him, but with a surge of anger, she entered the room.
Seeing the instigator lying on the bed, staring at her as she detoxified him with such composure, she almost couldn't resist sprinkling poison.
She extended her hand. "Bring the law books."
Mo Lingxi handed her the stack of law books from the kang.
Seeing the stack, as thick as modern law books, Tao Lengshuang's hands softened as she caught them. How many laws were there in this era?
She placed the books aside, and seemingly from her sleeve, but actually from her spatial medicine garden, she took out silver needles. With a blank expression, she began to acupuncture Mo Lingxi while also checking the status of her spatial medicine garden.
Seeing that two more field ridges had appeared in her spatial medicine garden, her eyes curved upwards, and she formed a hypothesis.
Whether this was true would require her verification.
If her guess was correct, she would be devastated.
"Mo Lingxi."
She looked at him with a smile, her attitude exceptionally pleasant. "How about we coexist peacefully?"
Mo Lingxi's eyes were suspicious. "What mischief are you planning now?"
Hearing this, Tao Lengshuang's smile faltered, and she tightened her grip on the silver needles. "I want to coexist peacefully with you. What do you mean by 'mischief'? Can't you speak properly?"
Mo Lingxi didn't believe a word and retorted sarcastically. "You suddenly want to coexist peacefully with me. Dare you say you have no ulterior motives?"
Tao Lengshuang felt righteous indignation. "What ulterior motives could I possibly have?"
"If I truly wanted to harm you, would you still be lying here talking? I could poison you in minutes."
If it weren't for the experiment, she truly wouldn't want to talk to this man.
Mo Lingxi's face showed mockery, and he closed his eyes, ignoring her.
Tao Lengshuang really wanted to storm off, but she forced a bigger smile. "Mo Lingxi, look, our constant arguing isn't good for Xiao Feng's growth, is it?"
Mo Lingxi's eyes remained closed, and he scoffed, "You look so ugly when you smile."
Tao Lengshuang gritted her teeth and glared at him fiercely. "You just wait!"
Once she lost weight, she'd see how she could blind this scoundrel.
After finishing the acupuncture, Tao Lengshuang went to Xiao Feng's room. "Xiao Feng, shall Mother accompany you to recognize characters?"
"Are Mother and Father done? Then when can I have a sibling?"
Xiao Feng's delighted question caused Tao Lengshuang's expression to crack inch by inch. What kind of son had she raised?
"Xiao Feng, things aren't what you think..."
Seeing her son's expectant look, Tao Lengshuang faltered. She thought she would gradually make her son understand that she and Mo Lingxi could not have a sibling for him.
"Let's recognize characters," she said, changing the subject and slowly teaching Xiao Feng with the Three Character Classic.
Xiao Feng looked blissful, nodding in agreement from time to time. It was wonderful, his mother was teaching him.
After teaching Xiao Feng, Tao Lengshuang indeed discovered that the area of her spatial medicine garden had expanded slightly, with the field ridges extending forward by about five to six meters.
However, she couldn't feel happy.
She rested her chin in her hand and sighed in the room. This damned life.
She finally had the spatial medicine garden as a cheat, only to find that she needed to build a good relationship with Mo Lingxi and his son to expand its area and obtain more valuable medicinal herbs.
Xiao Feng was easy to handle, but the problem was Mo Lingxi, this scoundrel who was constantly guarding against and wary of her. Building a good relationship with him was truly too difficult.
Yet, faced with the temptation of countless medicinal herbs in her spatial medicine garden, she couldn't bring herself to give up or turn a blind eye.