Chapter 94: My Sister’s Little Darling

Tang Xinyi gave Mo Ling a meaningful look. Mo Ling understood at once. “You’re Xiao Wen, right? Xinyi brought Little Sister some things. Come with me to fetch them.”

As he spoke, he half-forced, half-led Wen Mubai out of the courtyard.

Once they were gone, Tang Xinyi’s expression hardened. “Spill it. What exactly happened?”

Tang Banxia: ...

The Tang family’s legendary face-changing was no exaggeration.

“Well... I was the one who forced him,” Tang Banxia mumbled. “I drugged him.”

“Tang Banxia!” Tang Xinyi slapped the table. “You’ve really grown bold!”

“You’ve even learned to drug people!” Still unsatisfied, she reached out and twisted Tang Banxia’s ear. “Do you even know what kind of man he is? And you dared drug him anyway?”

“When are you going to fix that rotten habit of yours, judging people by their looks?”

“Ow, ow!” Tang Banxia cried out in pain. “Sis, gentler!”

Tang Xinyi, her eldest sister, was thirteen years older than she was. Tang Banxia had grown up trailing after her all her life; compared with their mother, who was often away from home, she was much closer to her elder sister.

“Sis, I was wrong. Let go first!” Tang Banxia carefully freed her ear and darted away.

Tang Xinyi glared. “Wrong where?”

“I shouldn’t have judged by face alone.” Tang Banxia rubbed her ear, looking aggrieved. Seeing her sister’s brows knit and her rising again, she hurried on, “But I was fooled too.”

“It’s true.” She nodded earnestly. “I’d just received word that our parents were being sent down, and I was terrified.”

“You were both away, and I... I must’ve lost my head back then. I believed what someone told me, and that’s how I ended up drugging him.”

Better for a friend to suffer than oneself. That blame could rest on Liu Liyun’s shoulders perfectly well.

Besides, this mess had been caused by Liu Liyun in the first place. Why should she be the one to suffer?

“I think you’re just stupid!” Tang Xinyi said, furious beyond words. “Someone says something and you believe it? Where is your brain? Have you forgotten everything I taught you?”

“I was scared...” Tang Banxia defended herself in a tiny voice.

Hearing that, Tang Xinyi could no longer stay angry. “Come here.”

Tang Banxia eyed her warily.

“Come here. Don’t make me say it twice.”

Tang Banxia pouted, then sat back down. “You’re not allowed to hit me again. I’m already grown.”

“Some grown-up you are,” Tang Xinyi scoffed. “Enough. On to business.”

“That drug of yours, the Muscle-Binding Powder, I handed it in when I got back. Is there anything you want?”

“I’ll listen to Sister,” Tang Banxia said obediently. “Sister decides.”

Tang Xinyi snorted. “If you’re letting me decide, then I’m going to secure some benefits for the family.”

“Then I do have one little request,” Tang Banxia said at once.

“Go on.” Tang Xinyi picked up a piece of amber-glazed walnut and put it in her mouth. Her eyes lit up; she picked up another.

“I want some medicinal herbs.” As she spoke, Tang Banxia took out three large sheets of paper, densely covered with a list of herbs.

“No problem.” Tang Xinyi agreed without even looking.

“I also want some prescriptions.” Tang Banxia said. She had been able to formulate the Muscle-Binding Powder entirely because of the transparency of modern medicine’s formulas.

Now that the improvement of the powder had hit a bottleneck, she needed to see more prescriptions and stir up some inspiration.

“Leave that to me. I’ll negotiate for them,” Tang Xinyi said, just as readily.

Thinking it over, Tang Banxia realized there was little else she needed. “Oh, right. I’d also like a full set of medicine-making tools, including the ones for processing herbs.”

“That’s easy,” Tang Xinyi said.

“One last thing.” Seeing that her sister liked the walnuts, Tang Banxia pushed the plate toward her. “For these Muscle-Binding Powder batches, I used herbs supplied by Director Yu.”

“I don’t know how the family plans to handle it, but I wanted to ask whether Director Yu can be included in the credit.” She carefully watched her sister’s expression.

The herbs had been provided by someone else. To reap the results and then kick them out felt rather ungracious.

“Do I need you to tell me that?” Tang Xinyi finished the last walnut piece. “I’ll go speak to him when I get back.”

The Yu family had some connections in the area, and besides, she didn’t want her little sister burdened with a reputation for biting the hand that fed her.

“Anything else?”

Tang Banxia glanced at the empty plate. “Yes, yes, yes!”

She hurried down to the cellar and brought up a jar of amber-glazed walnuts.

Some time ago, her second brother and Wen Mubai had been full of energy with nowhere to spend it, so Tang Banxia had sent the two of them to crack walnuts.

They had saved up two whole jars of walnut kernels. At Wen Mubai’s request, she had turned one jar into amber-glazed walnuts.

She had limited how often he could eat them, though, because one ingredient in Wen Mubai’s medicine clashed with walnuts. As a result, there were quite a lot left.

Tang Xinyi pressed a hand to her forehead. “I asked for requests, not snacks.”

“Then I don’t have any more.” Tang Banxia froze for a moment, then slowly hugged the jar and started to put it back.

She absolutely could not let Wen Mubai see this.

“Wait.” Tang Xinyi called her back.

Tang Banxia looked at her in confusion.

Tang Xinyi pointed at the jar and crooked a finger. “Bring it here.”

Tang Banxia had no choice but to carry it back over.

Tang Xinyi dragged the jar to her side just as Mo Ling returned with Wen Mubai at the exact right moment.

Wen Mubai saw the familiar jar at a glance, and looked at Tang Banxia in disbelief.

Tang Banxia yawned and stared at the sky.

“Little Sister, your sister and I brought these back for you from the south,” Mo Ling said, setting the bundles down in the main room.

One by one, they were unpacked, revealing the contents inside: specialties from the southern regions.

Dried seafood and preserved fruits, fresh fruit, fruit powder, pretty little dresses fashionable in the south, and finally some medicinal herbs from there.

As a woman doctor, Tang Banxia had to admit her sister and brother-in-law were truly thoughtful.

“Sis, you’re the best! I love you to death!” Tang Banxia felt as though her eyes could hardly take it all in.

Wen Mubai: ...

That word “best” seemed to come up very often.

He wondered when it would be his turn.

Still, thinking of the surprise on its way, he figured it probably wouldn’t be long before it reached him.

At last, Mo Ling produced a small box. “Want to open it and see?”

Tang Banxia opened it. Inside was a wristwatch, its dial exquisite, the kind not found on the market. “Brother-in-law?”

“Grandmother gave it to you,” Mo Ling said, closing the box.

Tang Xinyi added, “Grandmother said a gift should be returned with a gift.”

“Grandmother really...” Tang Banxia said, though her hands moved to accept it without the slightest hesitation.

“All right, it’s about time.” Tang Xinyi stood up. “Your brother-in-law and I are leaving first. We’ll come see you again once we’ve settled in.”

“So soon?” Tang Banxia felt a little reluctant to let them go.

Tang Xinyi tapped her on the forehead. “What are you thinking? We’ll have plenty of time to meet in the future. For now, stay out of the county seat, understand?”

She and Mo Ling had been abruptly transferred in, and there would be plenty to deal with. The county seat was bound to be in turmoil for a while.

“When Nian and Xiao Su come in a couple of days, I’ll send them over to keep you company.”

“All right.” Tang Banxia was no longer a child. “Just be sure to tell me when you’ve finished with everything.”

“Good.” Tang Xinyi motioned for Mo Ling to take the jar, then headed out.

At the courtyard gate, she seemed to remember something. “Oh, and with me taking over as director of the Revolutionary Committee, remember to spread the word for me!”

Tang Banxia was deeply moved. “Sis, there’s no need for that. I...”

“Fine, fine. You don’t need to do anything. Leave it to me.” Tang Xinyi made up her mind on the spot.

When she left, she stopped by the village committee and greeted the village chief, casually mentioning that she had been transferred to the county seat to serve as director of the Revolutionary Committee.

Naturally, Chief Hu and the others were not fools. They understood at once that this was another case of someone backing up the educated youth Tang.

Her words were impeccably phrased.

Tang Xinyi left Guyue Village having dropped a small bombshell, satisfied.

At the same time, Tang Banxia’s friend Lin Yu also brought her a piece of news...