Doctor and His Glamorous Sister-in-Law

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I never thought the beautiful Liu Yunxi would come to such a remote place. How unexpected!"

No sooner had Hu Jing spoken than Liu Yunxi cut her off.

"Where I go is none of your business. But you, why did you follow me here?" Liu Yunxi narrowed her eyes. "Don't tell me you missed me—even a ghost wouldn't fall for that! I was assigned to come here by my superiors. Now, what's your story? Spill it!"

Hu Jing just shrugged. "What other story could there be? I had a setback at work, so I decided to travel. First stop is my old hometown to have a look around."

Hearing this, Liu Yunxi raised her eyebrows in surprise, and a flicker of doubt appeared in Liu Ergou's eyes.

Hu Jing said Fengzhu Village was her hometown? That can't be right. Liu Ergou thought. I know everyone from this village. Even if someone left as a child, I'd still be able to recognize them, more or less. But as for Hu Jing... I have absolutely no memory of her.

Clearly, Liu Yunxi didn't believe her either.

"Cut the crap, Hu Jing!" Liu Yunxi said, rolling her eyes dramatically. "Where did your family live when we were in school? You told me before, remember? Do you really think I'd fall for your ridiculous story?"

"Out with it. Why are you really here?"

Hearing Liu Yunxi's persistent questions, Hu Jing shot an eye-roll right back at her.

"Believe what you want!" she said dismissively. "I'm going to change my clothes! If you want to hang out later, come find me at my second uncle's house. I'm leaving!"

Without giving Liu Yunxi another chance to speak, Hu Jing turned and walked away.

Watching her swaying hips, Liu Ergou asked with a puzzled expression, "Yun Xi, who is that?"

"A classmate of mine," Liu Yunxi replied without turning her head. "A very annoying one."

As she said this, she seemed to remember something and countered, "Er Gou, what happened between you two?"

Liu Ergou didn't hide anything and told her the whole story.

When Liu Yunxi heard that Liu Ergou had peed all over Hu Jing, she burst out laughing.

"Hahaha, serves her right! She's always picking fights with me. And what's this about her 'second uncle's house'? That's ridiculous. Who knows what she's really doing here!"

With that, Liu Yunxi turned to Liu Ergou. "Alright, let's forget about Hu Jing for now and get back to collecting samples. We have a lot of ground to cover. If we don't get started, we might not finish until tomorrow!"

Liu Ergou nodded without another word, and the two of them got busy.

Meanwhile, after leaving Liu Ergou and Liu Yunxi, Hu Jing headed straight for Liu Jingming's house.

Because she was soaked from Liu Ergou's... incident, she walked especially fast. In just over ten minutes, she arrived at Liu Jingming's home.

The moment she stepped through the door, Hu Jing yelled, "Second Uncle! Second Uncle!"

"Where's the bathroom? I need to take a shower right away!"

Liu Jingming, who had been sitting in his room with a troubled look on his face, came out when he heard her voice.

He was surprised to see her. "Jing Jing, what happened to you? You went out to test the soil, so how did you end up soaking wet? Did you fall in the river?"

At his question, Hu Jing couldn't help but let out a long sigh. "Ugh, don't ask, Second Uncle. I've had the worst luck today!"

She sighed again, then quickly changed the subject. "Let's not talk about it. Where can I take a shower, Second Uncle? I need to wash up first!"

Though puzzled, Liu Jingming showed her where the bathroom was.

Soon, Hu Jing emerged, having showered and changed into a fresh set of clothes.

She sat down at the dining table with Liu Jingming to discuss business.

"Second Uncle, let me ask you something. That stretch of wasteland to the east of the village—has it always been empty and uncultivated?"

Hearing this, Liu Jingming's heart skipped a beat.

"It has. Jing Jing, why are you suddenly asking about that?" Liu Jingming looked at her, confused.

Hu Jing explained, "Second Uncle, don't you remember what I told you before? The soil in Fengzhu Village is rich with trace elements, several times more than in other places. It's incredibly nutritious, almost on par with the legendary black earth."

"My field inspection just now confirmed it. So, I was thinking, if that wasteland isn't being used, you might as well give it to me. I want to plant some corn!"

Liu Jingming was stunned for a moment.

Then, he slammed his hand on the table and snapped, "Jing Jing, do you have any idea what you're saying? Your parents sent you to school so you could get a good job, not so you could come back here to be a farmer!"

"And you want to plant corn? Why don't you be like that Liu Ergou and plant medicinal herbs instead? Wouldn't that be great!" he added sarcastically.

The moment he said that, Hu Jing's eyes darted, and she instantly understood.

"Second Uncle, are you saying someone else has their eye on that wasteland? That someone wants to plant medicinal herbs there?"

Liu Jingming hadn't expected her to catch on so quickly.

"Ah... yes, that's right," he admitted. "There's a young man named Liu Ergou who's taken an interest in that land. He wants to lease it to grow herbs, and then..."

Before Liu Jingming could finish, Hu Jing cut him off.

"Second Uncle, you absolutely cannot lease that land to that Liu Ergou!"

Liu Jingming, who was still a little angry, now looked completely baffled.

"Huh? Jing Jing, what do you mean?"

Seeing his confused expression, Hu Jing quickly explained, "What else could I mean? It's obvious! Planting medicinal herbs is a dead end!"

This only made the already bewildered Liu Jingming even more confused. He might just be a village chief who didn't know everything, but he knew a thing or two about farming.

And Liu Ergou wanted to plant medicinal herbs! That stuff could sell for a high price. How could Hu Jing dismiss it as worthless?

Noticing Liu Jingming's deepening confusion, Hu Jing continued her explanation. "Think about it, Second Uncle. To sell medicinal herbs, you need connections, a sales channel!"

"Liu Ergou is just a guy from our village. What kind of connections could he possibly have?"

Hearing this, Liu Jingming remembered something and shot back at her. "You've got a lot of nerve criticizing others, Jing Jing. Do you have a sales channel for your corn?"

Roused by his challenge, Hu Jing's spirits lifted.

"Second Uncle, how can you compare me to him?" she said confidently. "My corn is a genetically modified variety. Once it's harvested, researchers will be lining up to buy it! I won't have to worry about selling it at all!"