Obsessive Tycoon and His Swan Girl
Chapter 316: Obviously Insulting Her by Saying She’s Sick

Chapter 316: Chapter 316: Obviously Insulting Her by Saying She’s Sick

Jiang Xiruo said with a smile, "Come on, I’ll take you to see them. I actually hadn’t planned on breeding new varieties, but the house here at the Xia Family is really well situated, with good direction and excellent humidity and temperature. Such a natural environment can’t be replicated by ourselves, and it would really be a waste not to make good use of it. That’s why I thought about cultivating some new ones."

Once inside her room, Jiang Xiruo immediately brought out her things.

It was apparent that Xia Tang and his wife were good people, for they had given Jiang Xiruo a room that was both large and spacious, especially suitable for her to work on these things.

No wonder she didn’t want to waste such good conditions.

The newly bred mushrooms had yet to be named. After studying them for a while, Jiang Zhe said, "Can you share some of these with me when they’re ready?"

"I can give them all to you. Right, you said you wanted to extract some substance..."

"I need your help with that." The substance Jiang Zhe needed could be used by Qin Feng.

Better safe than sorry.

Although Jiang Xiruo didn’t know what she would use them for, she immediately began to help and joined her in the extraction process.

All the necessary tools were readily available, making the process exceptionally convenient.

The entire room was filled with a faint and natural fragrance of mushrooms.

The extracted substance had an indescribably pleasant scent.

Jiang Zhe held it in her hand, a rare smile playing at the corners of her lips.

Jiang Xiruo asked, "This is really good. It can help people maintain their strength and energy to the greatest extent in a short time, to deal with sudden hemorrhage, surgery, and other symptoms. It’s also very good for daily health and strengthening the physique."

It wasn’t surprising that she could recognize its effects, as she had previously researched snow fungus and Cai’er, which had similar benefits.

Jiang Zhe nodded.

"Then I’ll cultivate more of this type of mushroom for you later."

"Thank you, cousin."

After the two were busy for a while, Jiang Xiruo went to check on Madam Xia.

Jiang Zhe followed to have a look and found that it was organ failure due to old age that was afflicting Madam Xia, and she could only be nursed along; other medicines were of no use.

No wonder Jiang Xiruo was cultivating new types of mushrooms. It seemed there was a reason related to Madam Xia.

By the time they were done it was already eleven at night.

As they came downstairs, they ran into the mistress of the house who had had a servant prepare a soothing herbal tonic. Seeing them, she asked with a smile, "Why haven’t you gone to sleep yet?"

"We were just taking care of a little something," Jiang Xiruo said with a smile. "Why haven’t you gone to rest either, elder sister?"

"I’m getting on in years, so I don’t sleep well at night. I got up to have some soothing tonic. There’s also bird’s nest soup ready; Li Ma, bring some for the third mistress and Miss Jiang to try."

After the mistress had finished speaking, she smelled a delightful fragrance: "What is that pleasant and elegant scent?"

She pointed towards Jiang Zhe.

Jiang Zhe replied in a calm tone, "Perhaps it’s the scent of fresh fruit, I just had some fruit."

"See, even the fruit shows favoritism to a beauty. I eat fruit every day, but my body never picks up this kind of fragrance."

Li Ma brought the bird’s nest soup over to Jiang Xiruo and Jiang Zhe.

Jiang Zhe ate slowly, finding the taste quite good.

As they were eating, the second mistress of the Xia family walked in and said, "Why do I smell something strange?"

"What smells strange?" asked the mistress.

"Clean up, haven’t you smelled it? The scent is coming from your courtyard, drifting into my backyard." Lady Xia said, "I was woken up by the stench. What on earth is that awful smell?"

Jiang Zhe saw her, his brows chilling a few degrees, as he continued to eat the bird’s nest in his bowl.

Lady Xia sniffed the calming soup of Madam Xia, then the bird’s nest of Jiang Xiruo, before pinning the source on Jiang Xiruo: "It seems to be this smell, truly foul. You all smell it."

The scent on Jiang Xiruo was that of freshly dyed mushrooms, which wasn’t unpleasant at all.

Jiang Zhe glanced sideways at Lady Xia.

Lady Xia shrank back the hand she’d extended to grab Jiang Xiruo’s clothes, but then felt some unexpected defiance. Why should she fear the displeasure of that young girl?

She immediately stood her ground: "It is this smell, it’s giving me a headache. What in the world are you doing?"

Actually, the smell wasn’t unpleasant, nor as severe as she was making out.

Even from across the courtyard, she couldn’t really smell it from her side.

It was nothing more than a deliberate attempt to belittle Jiang Xiruo and stir up some trouble.

"Perhaps it’s your nose that has a problem, how come none of us can smell it?" Madam Xia knew full well what Lady Xia was up to.

She had taken over the third branch’s house for herself and hadn’t attended to the Old Madam much, instead choosing to come and cause issues—an obvious ploy.

"Elder sister, you sniff it again. It wasn’t there before, so why does it appear now?" Lady Xia was relentless.

Jiang Zhe glanced at her slowly: "I heard that people with brain cancer smell things differently from others. Shouldn’t Lady Xia go and see a doctor?"

These words were clearly an insult, suggesting she was sick.

Lady Xia was annoyed: "What way is that to talk? Are you cursing me?"

"Not at all, just kindly reminding you," said Jiang Zhe, his tone casual yet carried with it an air of authority and an indisputable sincerity.

Lady Xia was momentarily unable to confront him and said, "Truly rude."

Having said that, she stood up and left.

Madam Xia hurriedly said to Jiang Zhe: "Sorry, she’s just like that, don’t take it to heart."

"No matter." Jiang Zhe was indifferent.

Jiang Xiruo, however, understood some of the underlying reasons. The second branch had taken over her room, and although she had only returned to take care of the elderly, in the eyes of the second branch, she was there for the inheritance, and Lady Xia inevitably had some issues with that.

Moreover, the most promising person in the whole Xia family used to be Xia Fang, who had always been hailed as the future star of the Xia family. Unfortunately, he met an untimely death.

Next was Xia Tang from the first branch, who was steady and hardworking with a respectable position.

The second branch had always been sandwiched between the eldest and the youngest, forever lukewarm and neglected.

But as Xia Tang aged and Xingzhi lost interest in his career, the first branch gradually began to decline.

After becoming an adult, Mingli from the second branch was savvy in dealing with people from all walks of life, and as Xia Mingzhu’s academic prowess became apparent, the fortunes of the entire Xia family had unexpectedly reversed in recent years. With the second branch slowly rising to prominence, Lady Xia, who had been suppressed for many years, finally assumed an air of vindication, and so she became somewhat proud.

With this pride came a loss of her former amiability and generosity, revealing a side of her that was narrow-minded and opportunistic.

Jiang Xiruo, having lived incognito for so many years, had long since developed a resolute and fearless disposition, unconcerned with these matters.

It was Jiang Zhe she was worried might feel aggrieved.

Her gaze rested on Jiang Zhe, noticing that he seemed even more unperturbed and indifferent than herself, which was worrying for the youngster.

The matters clear to Jiang Xiruo were also quite evident to Madam Xia.

She couldn’t help but shake her head in secret; Lady Xia was indeed indulging in petty thoughts. It was fortunate that both Jiang Xiruo and Jiang Zhe were so open-minded and forbearing, not stooping to her level.