“Grandpa, please calm down.” Shen Zhiqiu quickly poured Dong Hesong a cup of tea and handed it to him.
Dong Hesong took a few sips, his emotions stabilizing somewhat, and began to elaborate on Xu Lai.
“This Xu Lai was originally an apprentice at our family’s herbal medicine shop. He was kicked out by my father for stealing, and he’s held a grudge ever since.”
“In the years that followed, he seized every opportunity to retaliate against our family, labeling us all as ‘Black Five Elements’ elements.”
“My parents couldn’t bear the humiliation and hanged themselves. My wife, children, and I were sent to Huaibao Farm. My daughter died on the way there.”
As he recounted these painful memories, Dong Hesong’s expression twisted with grief, then turned bitterly cold. “After my rehabilitation, I went looking for Xu Lai, but he’d already disappeared. All I heard was that he later attended a Workers-Peasants-Soldiers University, studying traditional Chinese medicine—using our family’s medical books, no less.”
“If he’d become a decent doctor, I wouldn’t have cared that he studied TCM or took those books. But instead, he used his medical knowledge to recklessly take lives!”
Dong Hesong slammed his hand on the table. Shen Zhiqiu hurriedly grabbed his arm and shook her head. “Grandpa, don’t let anger over someone like this harm your health.”
“Once we find him, we’ll settle all the old and new scores together!”
Shen Zhiqiu then shared her thoughts: “During my postpartum confinement, someone put peach kernels and safflower in my porridge—exactly like what happened to my mother. I suspect Xu Lai is still in Guojing, and he’s not far from me.”
Wang Fengqin might have been in contact with Xu Lai all along. Following her trail would surely lead to him.
Dong Hesong frowned. “Zhiqiu, how did your family come to know Xu Lai?”
“Grandpa, my family didn’t know him. Someone else wanted to harm us.”
“Who could be so cruel?” Dong Hesong’s brow furrowed deeper. “First your mother, now you?”
“My father’s second wife.”
Shen Zhiqiu didn’t hide her hatred when mentioning Wang Fengqin. “Not only did she harm my mother and me, she even wants to harm Yaya!”
“She’s been trying to use some dark superstition on Yaya.”
Dong Hesong immediately understood. “She’s attempting to steal life and fortune.”
“Children have long lifespans and abundant blessings. There are secret methods to cause their early death and transfer their remaining years and fortune to another.”
“Back then, Qingfeng Daoist from Yunsheng Temple was also sent to Huaibao Farm. He once told me about such things.”
“We had some friendship between us. I’ll write you a letter—you can go see him. He knows how to protect the little one.”
“Thank you, Grandpa.” Shen Zhiqiu’s knees bent as if to kneel.
Dong Hesong quickly stopped her. “Child, there’s no need for such formalities.”
“Grandpa, you don’t know how much this has been weighing on me.”
Especially after Yue Mingde brought that embroidered pouch on Sunday, she’d felt utterly defenseless against Wang Fengqin’s schemes. She didn’t know whose hands Wang might use to harm Yaya.
These past few nights, she’d been waking up from nightmares in a cold sweat.
“You’ve suffered enough.”
Dong Hesong sighed softly, wrote the letter, and handed it to her. “Leave early in the morning, and take a man with you. The road to Yunsheng Temple is remote—it’s not safe for a young woman alone.”
“I’ll remember, Grandpa.”
After leaving Hexi Village, Shen Zhiqiu didn’t return home. Instead, she went to Li Guoxiang’s house in Yangxi Alley and found Wang Yuhua. “Auntie Wang, I need your help with something.”
“Zhiqiu, what is it? Just say the word.”
Shen Zhiqiu glanced toward the neighboring house. “Auntie, could you introduce me to the neighbors next door? I’d like to ask them something.”
“Of course. Let’s go.”
Wang Yuhua took four sugar-stuffed buns from the kitchen and led Shen Zhiqiu to the neighboring house—the very one their family had lived in before moving.
“Sister, busy with something?”
Wang Yuhua called out, and a woman emerged, smiling warmly. “Sister-in-law, I was just about to knead dough for noodles. Every day, it’s the same—never sure what to eat.”
“Exactly. Every household’s the same.”
Wang Yuhua handed over the plate of buns. “The other day, I heard Shitou say he was craving these. I just steamed a fresh batch—perfect for when he gets home from school.”
“Sister-in-law, you really shouldn’t have.”
“We’re neighbors, as the saying goes: ‘A close neighbor is better than a distant relative.'”
“True, true.”
The woman nodded, eyeing Shen Zhiqiu curiously. “Sister-in-law, who’s this lovely girl?”
“This is Shen Zhiqiu, Shen Daqiang’s eldest daughter. You remember Shen Daqiang, the one who used to live here?”
“Oh, yes, yes.” The woman nodded, turning to Shen Zhiqiu. “What brings you here, dear?”
“Auntie, I wanted to ask—after my family moved out, was there a medicine pot left behind?”
“Yes, there was. I kept it, thinking you might come back for it.”
The woman fetched it from the storage room and handed it over. “Is this the one?”
Shen Zhiqiu wasn’t entirely sure—medicine pots all looked alike—but it seemed correct, so she nodded. “Yes, this is it. Thank you, Auntie.”
“Don’t mention it.”
She’d discussed her mother’s poisoning with Elder Dong, who speculated that small doses might have been added gradually to the medicine. But if it was arsenic, controlling the dosage would’ve been tricky, while realgar and orpiment would’ve left a noticeable odor.
Since her mother had always brewed the medicine herself, without interference, that theory didn’t hold. Elder Dong suggested another possibility: the poison was in the pot itself.
If toxic substances had been mixed into the pot during its making, heating it would release toxins that seeped into the medicine.
Shen Zhiqiu had come on a whim, hoping to find the pot—and to her surprise, it was still there.
Testing it would require Li Xing’s help. Shen Zhiqiu went to Li Xing’s workplace and handed over both the medicine dregs and the pot.
As she was leaving, she ran into Yue Mingli.
“Second Brother.”
“Perfect timing—let’s head home together.”
Shen Zhiqiu told Yue Mingli about Xu Lai, hoping he could help investigate.
Yue Mingli grinned and waved a file folder. “Mingyuan’s people already dug up everything on him.”
“Tomorrow, I’ll take some men to question him and see what we can learn.”
Shen Zhiqiu froze for a moment, the image of a handsome, resolute face flashing through her mind. She murmured softly, “Mingyuan…”
Even when he wasn’t by her side, he still found ways to surprise her.
“Second Brother, can I go with you tomorrow?” she asked.
Yue Mingli hesitated. “Zhiqiu, you know our interrogation methods can be… intense. If you’re there—”
“Second Brother, do what you need to do. Just let me in afterward to ask him a few questions.”
