Chapter 14: Trouble Ahead
Even though she'd caught the snake, Su He was still scared of it. She tossed the snake and tongs into her basket—actually, into her storage space.
She wanted to head back down the mountain; it was just too dangerous up there. If anything happened to the kids, it wouldn't be worth the risk.
They had already crossed from one mountain to another, with the mountains stretching on endlessly.
After being here for so long, they had encountered animals worth system points, but not a single rare plant.
Su He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Last time, they had at least found some mushrooms.
"Let's head back," Su He said.
"Mom, are we going home already?" The two kids thought the mountain was way more fun than home.
"Yeah, we're heading back." Su He planned to take a different route home, hoping to scavenge something useful along the way.
This time, however, walking in this direction actually led Su He to discover an extremely valuable medicinal herb called Paris polyphylla.
The system flagged it as highly valuable—this herb had significant research potential. Though she had only found one plant, it was already priced at 5,000 points.
Su He was thrilled. Such a huge point haul made the trip worth it.
After that, she found nothing else worthwhile, but Su He didn't mind.
She wasn't greedy—slow and steady suited her.
Su He descended the mountain from the other side. She had a great sense of direction and knew exactly which way led home.
But unexpectedly, this time, going home meant cutting straight through the village.
Their home was at the far end of the village, so they had to walk through the entire thing.
When Su He entered the village, it was around three or four in the afternoon. Now, most men were out working, and weeding didn't need many hands, so most women were just at home.
Eyes turned toward them as villagers saw Su He walking into the village with her two kids.
"Isn't that Wu Yanhua's son's wife?"
"Seems like it. She doesn't look as heavy as before."
"She's still plump, though. Ah, Ting Hua is so handsome—how did he end up marrying such a plain wife?" Their voices dripped with mock pity.
"Hey, watch it—Wu Yanhua might hear you and get mad."
"Scared of her? Bring it on. We'll see who's better at arguing. So what if her son is outstanding? Marrying a wife like this is just embarrassing."
A group of them openly discussed this loudly in front of Su He, as if they had a bone to pick with the Fu family.
In this era, villagers were a jealous bunch. Back when Fu Tinghua became the village's only college student, the Fu family had been the talk of the village.
Other families watched as their own sons could only herd cattle or farm, while the Fu family had produced a scholar who eventually became a doctor in a big city hospital, on the government payroll.
At the time, it was considered an immense honor—having a "state job" meant prestige and stability in people's eyes.
But then came an unexpected twist: Fu Tinghua suddenly got married, and to a pudgy, plain wife at that.
It's said that Su He is the daughter of Fu Tinghua's mentor. Without her father, Su Chengming, Fu Tinghua wouldn't be where he is today.
But if the price of going to university was marrying such a fat and ugly wife, they'd be better off sticking to farming.
Many thought this way, growing increasingly smug. They mused: Look, what's the use of all that education? Marrying such a wife means staring at her for a lifetime—the very idea is revolting.
They weren't afraid of Su He overhearing their gossip. It would've been fine if she hadn't come to the village, but she had to go and show up.
The Fu family despised her, and here she was, a woman alone with two kids—who else would they pick on if not her?
The gossiping women looked at Su He with pure contempt—so fat and ugly, no wonder Fu Tinghua fled to the border with the army rather than stay with this woman.
Su He had planned to endure it, but they got louder and nastier, not just letting her hear but even saying such things in front of her children.
She stopped in her tracks, her frosty glare zeroing in on the gossiping village women.
Seeing Su He dare to glare at them, the woman who had insulted her the most immediately started spewing curses.
"What are you looking at? Keep staring like that, and I'll gouge your eyes out!"
The woman herself was obese, her belly fat spilling over in folds, her face darkened and rough from years of farm work under the sun.
"Go ahead and try. Let's see who gouges whose eyes out first," Su He retorted, stunning everyone present.
Who knew such a fierce voice could come from this hulk of a woman?
"You little bitch, who do you think you're scaring?" The village woman, furious at being challenged in public, hiked up her sleeves and came at Su He.
Where does she get off acting so tough? No husband's love, no parents' backing, no in-laws' respect—and yet here she was defying her.
"Liu Yi's mom, drop it. It's not right to talk about people like this in front of them," another woman urged, seeing the situation escalate.
If a fight broke out, it would be because of their gossip.
The Fu family had many siblings. They might not care about Su He, but they had just badmouthed Fu Tinghua—the Fu family's golden boy—and if things got out of hand, the Fus would surely come after them.
"Why should I drop it? Where does she get off acting so tough? She hasn't even been married into the Fu family for long, and they don't even acknowledge her. Today I'm gonna put her in her place!"
With that, she plowed through the others and charged straight at Su He.
Her bulk made her unstoppable, leaving everyone to watch helplessly as she went for Su He.
"Oh hell, this is about to get ugly."
"Here comes the catfight!"
Gawkers outnumbered those trying to intervene, most of them women.
Most men were either out working or minding the crops, while the women had returned home to prepare dinner.
Su He had already pushed her kids aside when the argument started—she wasn't afraid of a fight.
Having lost her family early, Su He had put in hard hours learning kickboxing and street fighting to protect herself.
Now, though her bulk slowed her down, she packed more punch in her strikes now.
Having been bullied in school, Su He knew one thing: never give bullies an inch.
This was the first time someone had dissed her to her face—and in front of her children. She refused to back down, not wanting to set a bad example.
She wasn't sweating it if their families or husbands came after her. At worst, she'd just bail on this podunk village. She was a refugee anyway, with no deep ties here.
It was crackdown season—she figured they wouldn't have the balls to kill her.
Besides, with her stash of defensive gear, she truly wasn't afraid.