The Wei family came with a large group, so carrying two cabinets was a breeze. Old Man Wei also had to take Chun Mian to the county town to finalize the divorce.
If Old Man Wei had harbored any hesitation before coming, seeing through this family's true colors had completely dispelled it. He felt that his daughter must have possessed an incredible amount of tolerance to endure living in this household for a whole year. With his explosive temper, he wouldn't have lasted a single day. Therefore, this divorce had to happen!
Gao Hongyang had originally wanted to persuade them otherwise. After all, people usually encouraged couples to make peace rather than divorce; life would be difficult after a separation. However, seeing that the two families had completely torn each other apart, he realized that not divorcing would only lead to endless trouble. It was better to make a clean break early on to prevent future incidents.
Gao Hongyang swiftly found a horse-drawn cart and finally sent the group off. The Wei family split into two groups. Old Man Wei, Wei Qifeng, and Chun Mian headed to the county town to process the divorce, while the other Wei brothers took the cart with the two cabinets back to Xiao Wo Village.
Once everyone was gone, Old Mrs. Gao finally stretched her neck and wailed at the top of her lungs, "Oh, heavens! How are we supposed to live now..."
Losing over a hundred yuan all at once was practically like carving flesh from her own body. She only had a little over three hundred yuan to her name. Giving away nearly half of it in one go—it would be a miracle if Old Mrs. Gao's heart didn't ache. But she was someone who bullied the weak and feared the strong. With so many people from the Wei family present, if she really refused to pay, they would have absolutely torn her house apart!
The disgusting things Old Mrs. Gao did were too much even for the neighbors to stomach. Thus, as soon as the Wei family left, the crowd dispersed as well. Stay behind to comfort Old Mrs. Gao? They were afraid of being extorted by her! In the past, everyone only knew that Old Mrs. Gao spoiled her youngest daughter, but looking at it now, this wasn't just spoiling—this was practically worshipping her! So, it was better to slip away.
Chun Mian's group had a very smooth trip. Gao Jianmin felt some regret on the way, but seeing that Chun Mian showed no signs of remorse, he felt deeply displeased. He thought Chun Mian was just putting on a brave face. He was waiting for the day she came back crying and begging him. When that time came, not only would he demand back the hundred-plus yuan he gave away today, but he would also force the Wei family to cough up another hundred yuan. Otherwise, there was no way he would take Chun Mian back!
Chun Mian had no idea that someone was daydreaming about such utter nonsense.
Wei Shumei had never thought of revenge. She understood in her heart that she couldn't blindly blame the Gao family for how her life turned out. It was true that the Gao family was rotten to the core, but the root cause also lay in how she had constantly lowered her boundaries, enduring everything without ever standing up for herself. After walking on the edge of life and death, Wei Shumei saw things clearly. Therefore, she didn't think about revenge; she only wanted to climb higher.
The domestic economy was currently just recovering. Wei Shumei's education level was not very high, and it would be unrealistic for Chun Mian to suddenly become incredibly knowledgeable. Therefore, taking a path related to academics was probably not feasible. But what kind of path should she take to build her fortune? Chun Mian tapped her thigh lightly, pondering these matters.
In the county town, since both parties had no objections, the procedures were completed smoothly. With the divorce certificate in hand, they parted ways, severing all ties. Whether they would both find happiness going forward was unknown. Regardless, Chun Mian was quite delighted.
The cart driver Gao Hongyang found brought the Wei family back to Beigang Village, and from there, they returned to Xiao Wo Village. The surrounding villages all grew two crops a year. In two days, the summer harvest rush would begin, followed immediately by the autumn planting. This was considered the busiest time of the year for the villagers. Despite this, the Wei family members didn't begrudge losing half a day's work. From this, one could see they were all decent people.
The more she thought about this, the more Chun Mian felt that Wei Shumei's suffering had been entirely unworthy. With such a supportive maiden family, what was she trying to achieve by soaking herself in a sea of bitterness? For someone like Gao Jianmin? Heh! This was why romantic love was the most counterproductive thing in the world. Why on earth would anyone believe in it?
Chun Mian sneered inwardly, but on the surface, she looked exceedingly well-behaved.
That evening, after everyone returned from working in the fields and finally sat down to eat together, Mrs. Wei asked Chun Mian what her plans were.
"In the past, when Grandpa taught Dad and Uncle how to identify medicinal herbs, I listened and memorized a lot of it. Over the past year at the Gao family, I did some experimenting and got some results. I could give that a try." At this point, Chun Mian pursed her lips and continued, looking a bit troubled. "Although Gao Jianmin didn't hit me all the time, he was heavy-handed. My skin is pale, so whenever he struck me, I'd end up covered in bruises. I used a medicinal wine I formulated myself to rub on them, and the pain-relieving effect was quite good. Once I try to improve it a bit, it will be ready to use."
The family didn't seem to understand what Chun Mian meant. Did she want to become a barefoot doctor?
The medical conditions nowadays were far worse compared to later generations. Several villages had to share a single clinic, and there weren't many medicines available. After all, their location was remote. Old farmers couldn't earn much money all year round, so few were willing to spend money on seeing a doctor or buying medicine unless they absolutely couldn't hold on anymore.
Seeing that everyone didn't understand, Chun Mian smiled faintly and explained softly, "If anyone in the village has a headache, a fever, or a physical injury, they can come to me for medicinal wine. However, since the wine is brewed from grain, they must at least trade grain for it. Plus, I just got back and have nothing on hand, so the wine needs to be brewed fresh."
"Mm, keep the money we got back from the Gao family today for yourself. This past year... you've suffered." As the head of the family, Old Man Wei's words left no room for anyone else to interject. What was more, when Chun Mian returned today, she truly looked battered, and everyone had seen it.
In the Wei family, aside from Chun Mian who had married out, her eldest brother had also married. He had already separated from the main family and was preparing to move out. However, because it was the busy farming season, his house hadn't been built yet, so he was temporarily still living at home.
Besides the eldest brother and Chun Mian, there was also a younger sister, Wei Shuxiang. She was only sixteen this year, had already stopped attending school, and worked at home. In addition, there were two younger brothers: the older one, Wei Qiming, was attending middle school in the county town, and the youngest, Wei Qilu, was only nine and still in elementary school. He had returned early and was obediently huddling next to Mrs. Wei. Children were the most sensitive and could sense when the atmosphere at home wasn't right. As a result, the usually mischievous child didn't dare make a peep right now.
The money retrieved today was actually mostly the subsidies the Wei family had given Wei Shumei. Now that it was back, most of it should have rightfully returned to the Wei family's communal fund. However, since Old Man Wei made the final call, it wasn't appropriate for anyone else to say anything.
"Mm, thank you, Dad. Thank you, Mom," Chun Mian thanked them obediently. Inwardly, she thought that since she had already made big claims about the medicinal wine, the next step was to figure out how to actually pull it off.
Chun Mian had never actually experimented with medicinal wine before, but she was extremely familiar with the composition of nutrient liquids from the interstellar era. Perhaps it was an innate talent. For all the nutrient liquids and restorative agents in the interstellar era, Chun Mian could analyze their ingredients just by smelling them. This sense of smell was entirely unique in the entire interstellar era.
If those profit-driven bigwigs of the Chun family had known, they probably wouldn't have been willing to banish Chun Mian to the backward Seventy-nine Stars. Thinking of this, Chun Mian could only sneer inwardly. Since she knew the ingredients of these substances, Chun Mian could use this knowledge to replicate a retro version of the restorative agent suited for this era.
The restorative agents of the interstellar era were incredibly effective, so Chun Mian felt that her replica wouldn't be too shabby either.