After becoming a widow, I became the apple of a rough man's eye.

The tire tracks on the ground are still there, some deep and some shallow, as if they have crushed the hustle and bustle of the past few days into the soil.

Li Dongye plopped down on the millstone, twirling the cigarette in his hand without lighting it.

"It's better that they've left."

He never minces words, even when he's feeling empty inside, he still has to keep up that nonchalant attitude. "If he stays two more days, he'll take all this dried meat from our house. Mu Wenbin is like a greedy pig, he only takes in and never gives out."

After he finished speaking, he glanced to the side.

Nobody responded to him.

Normally, Jiang He would have jumped out and started arguing with him by now, but instead, Jiang He was squatting by the wall, holding a rusty sickle and sharpening it on a whetstone.

"Fifth brother, do you have a grudge against that sickle?" Li Dongye couldn't help but kick the dirt next to him. "Why are you sharpening it so fast? There's no wheat to harvest this season."

Jiang He didn't even raise his head, his hands didn't stop moving, his eyes were fixed on the blade, as if he wanted to stare the piece of iron into a flower.

"Mowing the lawn."

"Cutting grass to feed the pigs?" Li Dongye chuckled. "If our pigs knew how hard you're working, they'd be laughing in their sleep."

Jiang He finally stopped, lightly scraping the blade with his thumb, and a line of blood instantly appeared.

He ignored it, put his finger in his mouth and sucked on it, then stood up. The look in his eyes at that moment made Li Dongye pause for a moment.

That wasn't the look of a child who used to just whine and act cute; there was something hard in it now, like a piece of charcoal that hadn't been fully burned.

"I'm going to train!" Jiang He threw the sickle aside, turned around and ran out of the courtyard gate.

Li Dongye watched his retreating figure, clicked his tongue, and stuffed the cigarette in his hand back into the cigarette pack.

"These people are all obsessed."

Under the big locust tree at the village entrance, Wang Dazui was cracking sunflower seeds, spitting the shells all over the ground.

Once the road was built, the construction team left, and the village returned to its stagnant state.

The only thing we talked about was the two cars that had just left.

"I knew it! What good could that rich girl from the city possibly have up her sleeve?"

Wang Dazui's lips moved up and down rapidly, spitting everywhere:

"Sending her this and that, I bet she just has her eye on Lin Qingqing's face. She probably wants to take her back to the city to be a maid for some rich family, or maybe even make her some old man's concubine!"

The women nearby stared wide-eyed: "Really? I thought that girl and Qingqing were quite affectionate."

"Affectionate? That's like a weasel paying respects to a chicken!" Wang Dazui scoffed. "These days, who would be nice to a widow for no reason? Only those foolish boys from the Qin family treat a worn-out shoe like a treasure. Just wait and see, they'll be crying sooner or later."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a loud "bang" was heard.

A sickle flew past Wang Dazui's trouser leg and embedded itself in the tree trunk behind him.

Wang Dazui jumped up with a scream in fright, scattering sunflower seeds all over the ground.

Jiang He stood not far away, covered in sweat. His faded vest was soaked and clung to his body, revealing the boy's thin yet firm muscle lines.

His face was gloomy, and his usually well-behaved eyes were now filled with hostility.

"This...this little brat!" It took Wang Dazui a while to recover.

Everyone could tell that Qin's fifth son was acting a bit strange today.

He used to be just a mischievous monkey following his older brother around, but today's incident makes him seem like a wolf cub that has suddenly grown fangs.

After a long morning of fussing, the whole family took a nap in the afternoon, and as night fell, the mountain breeze finally cooled down.

Having just finished dinner, Xiao Yong was slowly moving around the yard with his crutches, grumbling and complaining that his leg was healing too slowly.

"Knock knock knock!"

The silence was broken by urgent knocking.

"Dr. Gu! Dr. Gu, help me!"

The woman's cries were terrifyingly shrill.

Gu Qiangying was wiping his glasses in the room when she heard the noise. She stopped what she was doing, grabbed the first-aid kit next to her, and got up.

Lin Qingqing was clearing away the dishes when she saw this, so she took off her apron and followed.

Standing at the door was Sister Liu from the east end of the village, holding a child in her arms. The child's face was burning red, and his body was twitching, clearly indicating that he was having a seizure.

"Come inside!" Gu Qiangying's face darkened, and she stepped aside to make way.

The light bulb in the main room was somewhat dim.

Gu Qiangying placed the child on the octagonal table and deftly unbuttoned the child's clothes. The child was only three or four years old, burning hot all over, and his jaw was clenched.

"Hold him down." Gu Qiangying took out silver needles from the box.

Aunt Liu's hands were shaking so badly that she couldn't hold the restless child down at all.

Lin Qingqing walked over and grabbed the child's shoulders and legs. "Sister Liu, go boil some water, quick!"

Aunt Liu was stunned for a moment, as if she had found her pillar of support, and ran to the kitchen wiping away her tears.

Gu Qiangying's silver needles fell, quickly and accurately piercing the child's philtrum and ten acupoints.

After a few injections, the child's convulsions gradually stopped, but the burning temperature still didn't come down.

"His temperature is too high; we need to use physical methods to lower it." Lin Qingqing looked at the child's chapped lips and suddenly remembered what she had seen in Gu Qiangying's barefoot doctor's manual. "Do you have any alcohol at home?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Qiangying pushed up her glasses, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.

"Big Brother!" Gu Qiangying shouted towards the west room, "Bring me a bottle of strong liquor!"

Qin Lie came in carrying a bottle of wine, and seeing the scene, he handed over the wine without saying a word.

Lin Qingqing poured half a bowl of wine, added some warm water, rolled up her sleeves, revealing two sections of her fair arms. With the wine in her hands, she gently but firmly wiped the child's armpits, palms, and soles.

The room was filled with a strong smell of alcohol, mixed with the sour smell of the child's sweat.

Gu Qiangying watched from the side.

Under the lamplight, Lin Qingqing's profile was focused and serious, with fine beads of sweat glistening on the tip of her nose. Every movement she made exuded composure.

This composure made her radiate light.

Gu Qiangying tightened her grip on the stethoscope.

Half an hour later, the child burst into tears.

That cry brought him back to life.

Aunt Liu knelt down with a thud, about to kowtow to Gu Qiangying and Lin Qingqing: "You are living Buddhas! You are the saviors of our Tiger!"

Lin Qingqing quickly helped her up, saying, "Sister-in-law, what are you doing? It's good that the child is alright."

After seeing off the profusely thankful Sister Liu, Lin Qingqing was so exhausted that she could barely straighten her back and leaned against the door frame, panting.

Something was suddenly shoved into my hand.

It's two hot eggs.

"Sister Liu insisted on giving it to me." Gu Qiangying stood beside her, slowly wiping her hands. "Take it; it's her kind gesture."

Lin Qingqing held the two eggs and smiled. "Did I embarrass you tonight?"

Gu Qiangying turned her head to the side, her eyes slightly narrowed behind her glasses.

"It's alright," he said. "It wasn't a waste of time reading my book."

He paused, then suddenly reached out and gently brushed Lin Qingqing's nose with his somewhat rough fingertips.

"It's covered in dust here."

The movement was so fast and natural, carrying a secret intimacy.

Lin Qingqing was stunned, and her face flushed red instantly.

Gu Qiangying withdrew her hand, casually pushed up her glasses, and said, "Go to sleep early, we'll get up early to collect herbs tomorrow."