CHAPTER 100: CHAPTER 100: ONE MUST NOT BE WITHOUT GUARD AGAINST OTHERS

As soon as these words were spoken, the Xue Family members not far away, who had been listening intently, became unhappy. Xu Hongzao, the third daughter-in-law of the Xue Family, was hot-tempered. "Doesn’t every family have its own share of major and minor matters? It’s not like Lin Fang is taking more work points from the team by asking for leave. How is it that others can request leave, but she can’t?"

"Xu Hongzao, what kind of tone is that? Besides, did I say something wrong? At the beginning, so many people wanted to go to the health clinic to learn medicine from Doctor Gong, but it just so happened that your Xue Family got the spot. What did your family promise to the brigade at that time, and what are you doing now? How is it that when you do something wrong, others can’t even speak up?"

"Who could have predicted Dr. Gong would run into trouble? You can’t blame Lin Fang for that."

At that moment, Hu Shanmei, the Branch Secretary’s wife, interjected, "Enough, let’s all speak a little less. Didn’t Chu Zhiqing just mention that the brigade leader is considering letting her fill in for a few days? Besides, Dr. Gong should be returning in a few days. Even if he is recuperating at home, if you really have an urgent medical issue, he would still help you, wouldn’t he?"

The brigade leader was unaware that as soon as he had left, Yunyi had set a trap for him. He had been waiting for Yunyi to come to him for help. But to his utmost surprise, when he was eating his dinner under the Willow Tree that evening, someone asked him, "Brigade Leader, when is Chu Zhiqing going to start working at the health clinic?"

His brow furrowed. "Who told you that?"

"Everyone in the fields was talking about it this afternoon."

His eyes darted around. "Did Chu Zhiqing say she was going to work at the village health clinic?"

The person squatted next to the brigade leader. "No, she didn’t. Chu Zhiqing only mentioned that the brigade cadres haven’t discussed it thoroughly yet. I was thinking, what’s there to discuss? We don’t have anyone else in our team who knows medicine. Since you, Brigade Leader, have already approached her in the field, it must be settled."

The brigade leader had it all planned. If Chu Zhiqing herself told people she was going to work at the health clinic, then he could deny it and teach her a lesson. But he hadn’t expected to be outsmarted by that young girl. It was clear she had orchestrated things so the villagers would pressure him. He would have no choice but to let her go. Not only did she avoid owing him a favor, but she had also completely outmaneuvered him.

What caught him even more off guard was that the Branch Secretary had somehow appeared beside him. "You told Chu Zhiqing, did you? Then I’ll give her the keys to the health clinic afterwards."

No sooner had these words come out, it was as though the village cadres had already decided. What could he say? He could only respond with a grim face, "Fine."

Yunyi had just finished dinner and was about to clean up when the Branch Secretary came over. "Chu Zhiqing, here are the keys to the village health clinic. You can go straight there to work tomorrow."

However, Yunyi did not take the keys. After all, it’s important to be cautious, she reasoned. "Branch Secretary, you should keep these keys for now. I’m only filling in temporarily, so we need to take inventory of everything inside. Otherwise, should anything go missing, it will be hard to explain."

The Branch Secretary thought about it and agreed. "Okay, you go directly to the health clinic tomorrow, take a proper inventory, and then you can take over."

Yunyi was now reassured. "Thank you, Uncle Branch Secretary."

The Branch Secretary shook his head and chuckled. This little girl is really something, now she’s calling me ’Uncle Branch Secretary’ again, he mused. But he didn’t make a fuss about it. "Alright, you get on with your things. I’ll be leaving."

Once the Branch Secretary had left, Yunyi returned to her room. She stored away the mushrooms she had dried over the past few days, planning to dry some more before sending them over to Beijing.

After securing the door, she went straight into the magical space.

Now with the bees pollinating, there were many large and small watermelons hanging on the vines, a sight that brought joy. The persimmon, black jujube, chestnut, and pear trees she had brought from the mountain and planted in the space might ripen soon, perhaps due to being watered with Spatial Well Water.

As for the growth patterns of the plants in the space, she would have to explore slowly. For now, she was content with collecting, planting, and enriching the space.

It was her first day doing agricultural work, and she was initially unaccustomed, not knowing how lightly or heavily to wield the hoe, which led to accidentally damaging a few soybean seedlings. She picked up two that she hadn’t completely chopped the roots of and brought them into the space.

She found a crevice in the rocks to plant the two soybean seedlings and watered them with some Spatial Well Water. Only then did she begin to practice martial arts in the space.