The poor girl from the 1970s was forced to kiss by the damp educated youth.

Song Zhaoyuan called Uncle Sun and Taoist Yang aside, and the three of them chatted about something.

Chen Zhi intuitively felt that it was related to herself.

"Don't be nervous, they are all very nice people and won't do anything to you," Song Yuanzhi comforted Chen Zhi.

Chen Zhi hummed in agreement. She wasn't nervous; she was just eager to see Xi Lang.

The three chatted for about ten minutes, then came over again.

"I'll have Aunt Liu take you to settle in. After you've washed up, I'll take you to see Mr. Xi," Song Zhaoyuan said.

Chen Zhi carried her two burlap sacks and basket and left with Aunt Liu.

The room that Aunt Liu arranged for her was on the second floor, right next to Xi Lang's room.

"Normally only the eldest young master lives here. The master, mistress, and second young master live in another place," said Liu Ma.

Chen Zhi: "Why does Xi Lang live alone?"

Instead of living with your parents?

Aunt Liu: "You'll find out later."

Chen Zhi looked towards Xi Lang's room, but unfortunately the door was tightly closed and she couldn't see anything.

Aunt Liu pushed open the door to the next room. "You'll stay here for now. The room has been cleaned and the bed has been wiped down. As for the blankets and such, Madam said there weren't enough at home, so she took these things away."

In a family like the Xi family, where even a single quilt is fought over, it's hard to believe.

Chen Zhi: "It's okay, I brought my own blanket."

Aunt Liu paused for a moment, then smiled. "You're a good child who knows how to manage a household. Let's go to the bathroom first, and I'll teach you how to use the things inside."

When Aunt Liu heard that the young master's wife was a country girl, she felt indignant for him and thought he had been wronged. But now that she saw her in person and saw that she was such a beautiful girl, Aunt Liu thought that the young master had good taste. Even if he married a country girl, she would be no worse than a city girl.

Chen Zhi washed herself thoroughly, inside and out, and then dried her hair.

When I came out of the bathroom, Aunt Liu was no longer there.

She walked straight out of the room and stopped outside Xi Lang's door. The door was already open, and she could hear voices coming from inside.

Chen Zhi took a deep breath and walked into the room.

Xi Lang's room was very large. Upon entering, you would first see a sofa, followed by a screen. On one side of the screen was a row of wardrobes, and on the other side was a bed.

Chen Zhi's gaze was immediately drawn to the person on the bed, and she couldn't look away.

It had only been a little over a year since I last saw him, but he had become so thin that he was unrecognizable and no longer looked the same as before.

"How could this happen?" Chen Zhi murmured.

No one answered, seemingly because they felt Chen Zhi wasn't worthy of knowing the reason.

Chen Zhi came to the bedside, took Xi Lang's hand. These hands, which used to be as beautiful as white jade, were now just skin and bones, hard and yellow.

"How could he have become like this?" Chen Zhi glared angrily at the three people present.

Song Zhaoyuan: "This is confidential; I cannot tell you."

Chen Zhi gritted her teeth, both angry and helpless, "Did you take him to the hospital for a checkup? What did the doctor say?"

"We can't find anything." Song Zhaoyuan said impatiently, "Mr. Xi's situation is unusual. I brought you here to take care of him. You don't need to ask any other questions or worry about anything else."

Chen Zhi chuckled coldly twice and then fell silent.

Song Zhaoyuan rubbed his temples. "We'll go out first. Take good care of Mr. Xi. If he needs anything, just tell Aunt Liu. By the way, Mr. Xi is weak, so please be careful with your movements. Also, don't touch the talismans around the bed."

Chen Zhi remained silent.

Song Zhaoyuan scoffed lightly, "You've got quite a temper. I advise you to be sensible; if anything happens to Mr. Xi, no one can protect you."

After Song Zhaoyuan and the others left, Chen Zhi was left alone in the room.

"Xi Lang?" Chen Zhi called softly.

The person on the bed didn't respond.

Xi Lang's eyes were tightly closed, his face was pale, and his breathing was very light, almost inaudible unless you listened carefully. At first glance, he looked like a corpse.

But according to Chen Zhi, even the corpses weren't as terrifying as Xi Lang.

Whose corpse has such a dense "black aura" that it almost materializes?

Even the zombie in the mountains of Sihe Village didn't have this much black aura!

Where did Xi Lang go, and what did he do to attract such a heavy aura of darkness?

Chen Zhi had no idea, but she was incredibly grateful that she had come. Otherwise, if the black energy had been allowed to linger on Xi Lang, it might have completely destroyed him.

She couldn't think of a way to deal with the black mist, so all she could do now was use the most basic method to drive it away little by little.

Downstairs, Song Zhaoyuan and the others were about to leave.

"Aunt Liu, keep an eye on her. If she shows any abnormality, call me immediately," Song Zhaoyuan instructed.

Aunt Liu asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"

Uncle Sun: "We're not entirely comfortable with this woman. Could you please keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't do anything that could harm the young master?"

Aunt Liu nodded thoughtfully, "I will keep an eye on her."

Upon reaching the door, Song Zhaoyuan and the other two stopped in their tracks and looked up at the second floor.

Uncle Sun: "I always feel uneasy."

Song Zhaoyuan: "I don't think her feelings for Mr. Xi are fake."

Master Yang frowned. "I can't see through this girl. My intuition tells me that she's not simple."

Song Yuanzhi, however, was quite philosophical about it. "The wife Mr. Xi has chosen must have some extraordinary qualities. If you don't trust Chen Zhi, don't you trust Mr. Xi's judgment?"

Song Zhaoyuan, Uncle Sun, and Master Yang were taken aback, but they found it to make sense.

Uncle Sun: "Alright, I'll make it a little harder and come over every day to check on things. If the young master's condition gets worse, I'll send her away immediately."

Inside the room, Chen Zhi was drenched in cold sweat; the stubbornness of this black aura exceeded her expectations.

Even more terrifying, despite her efforts to expel the black energy, it returned and went back into Xi Lang's body.

How could this happen?

Chen Zhi slumped by the bedside, wondering if there was any way to completely eliminate the black energy, or to prevent it from ever returning.

Are we going to send them to a very far place?

But that wasn't realistic; she was already exhausted every time she chased them away and didn't have the strength to send them off.

Moreover, her intuition told her that these dark energies had their eyes on Xi Lang, and no matter how far they went, they would return.

It's like being under a curse, unable to break free.

Chen Zhi's gaze darkened. If she couldn't drive him away, what about diverting him?

A bold idea sprouted in her mind—to transfer all this dark energy onto herself.

She helped Xi Lang with half the burden, so that Xi Lang would wake up.

Chen Zhi planned to try it once she had rested.

When Chen Zhi came out of Xi Lang's room, it was already dark outside.

Aunt Liu prepared dinner: a plate of fried tofu and a plate of stir-fried bean sprouts, but no meat.

Chen Zhi sat down at the table and asked Liu Ma to eat with her, but Liu Ma said she had saved her own portion and would eat it in the kitchen.

Chen Zhi sat alone at the large dining table, eating two bowls of rice with a plate of fried tofu and a plate of stir-fried bean sprouts. When she finished eating and was about to wash the dishes, Aunt Liu hurriedly came over to stop her, saying that it was her job and that Chen Zhi shouldn't do it.

Chen Zhi thought of landlords, who used to never have to work.

Won't the Xi family be reported for hiring Aunt Liu?

Chen Zhi was puzzled, but no one gave her an answer. She went back upstairs and took out quilts from the sack to make the bed. She had brought two quilts, one for the mattress and one for the cover, and she even brought pillows.

Villagers have a habit of bringing blankets when they stay overnight at someone else's house. She didn't know if they had prepared anything for her when she arrived, but she thought it was always good to bring more. In the end, she really needed them.

After making the bed, she took out her change of clothes and put them in the cabinet next to her.

After finishing all that, she also went to wash the clothes she had changed out of that day.

This room has a private bathroom and a balcony, where you can hang clothes to dry on the balcony railing.

She's still missing a pair of slippers; she'll go see if they sell any outside tomorrow.

Chen Zhi lay in bed, and the thought that Xi Lang was next door made her feel inexplicably at ease, and she fell asleep without realizing it.

I slept without any dreams.

When Chen Zhi woke up in the morning, she went to check on Xi Lang. Xi Lang's condition seemed to have worsened; his breath was so weak that he looked like he might die at any moment. Chen Zhi's heart clenched. It seemed that removing the dark energy from Xi Lang was an urgent matter.

Chen Zhi didn't want to waste a second. She grabbed Xi Lang's hand and tried to guide the black energy into her body. At first, it was just a wisp. The black energy was drawn away from Xi Lang and "drifted" toward her. It looked like it was about to enter her body, but it avoided her.

What happened?

Her body couldn't contain this black energy?

Chen Zhi was puzzled. Why?

She tried again, but the black mist still avoided her.

I thought it was a "good idea", but it turned out that it didn't work.

Chen Zhi's face darkened.

Breakfast consisted of vegetarian steamed buns and soy milk. After finishing her meal, Chen Zhi asked Aunt Liu, "Is there a supply and marketing cooperative nearby?"

"What would the young mistress like to buy?" asked Liu Ma.

"Buy a pair of slippers," Chen Zhi said.

Aunt Liu: "I'm going to buy groceries in a little while, you can come with me."

After Liu Ma washed the dishes, Chen Zhi and Liu Ma locked the door and went outside together.

"This location is great. Just walk fifty meters ahead, turn the corner, and you'll find a shopping mall right outside. It used to be even more bustling, with the whole street lined with businesses. This house is a quiet oasis in the heart of the city, making life very convenient for the young master," said Aunt Liu.

Chen Zhi nodded upon hearing this. The streets here were wide, with shops on both sides. Even she, who had never lived in the city, could tell that this was a good place.

"What are those people doing?" Chen Zhi asked, pointing to the people carrying loads on shoulder poles and pushing tricycles.

"They're doing small business," Aunt Liu said. "The regulations aren't as strict as before, and some stalls are starting to appear, selling small things. There are also vendors selling vegetables, and their vegetables are fresher and cheaper than those at the supply and marketing cooperatives."

Aunt Liu walked towards a middle-aged man pushing a tricycle. "What kind of vegetables do you have today?"

Chen Zhi didn't go forward. She saw an old woman carrying a load of eggs and a hen.

Perhaps we should buy some to help Xilang recover.

Chen Zhi walked towards the old woman and asked, "How much is your hen?"

"Two yuan a pound, this hen weighs over six pounds, just give me twelve yuan," the old woman said.

Chen Zhi took the hen, weighed it in her hand—it should weigh at least six pounds—and said, "I'll buy it. What about the eggs?"

The old woman said, "Eggs cost one cent each, no coupons required."

Eggs are more expensive than those sold in Bayuan Town.

Chen Zhi thought for a moment, "Give me twenty more eggs."

Chen Zhi took out some money, counted out fourteen yuan, and gave it to the old woman.

Seeing that she had no bags or baskets, the old woman simply gave her her own basket, saying, "It's a broken basket, it's worthless, so I'll give it to you."

It was indeed a broken basket; the edging was frayed, the bamboo was moldy, and it didn't look very sturdy.

Chen Zhi took the basket but only dared to use it to hold the eggs, while carrying the chicken in her hand, worried that the basket wouldn't be able to support the weight of the chicken.

Just as Chen Zhi was about to go find Aunt Liu, she saw a young man sneaking towards her. "Hey, I have something good here, do you want it?"