Chapter 2: Gathering Medicinal Herbs

After buying the shop, Si Qingyu hired people to renovate it, purchasing cabinets with hundreds of drawers for storing medicinal herbs. Once everything was ready, Si Qingyu didn’t immediately open the shop.

Si Qingyu bought a set of bamboo houses not far from the town to serve as her residence. The surroundings were lush with green grass and trees, providing a serene environment. Si Qingyu was very satisfied with the place, as it was quiet enough for gathering medicinal herbs and also convenient.

After moving in, Si Qingyu took all the medicinal herbs to the courtyard to sun-dry them, and then sat in a chair in the yard to read a book.

This tranquility, as if isolated from the world, made Si Qingyu absentmindedly recall her previous life. When she was in the modern world, she also enjoyed such quietness, but didn’t have this kind of leisure. Every day, she repeated the same routine of going to work and coming back home, without any attachments in that world. When she died in a car accident, she had no regrets and passed away quite peacefully.

When she woke up and found herself in this world, having been picked up and raised by her adoptive mother, Si Qingyu was slightly surprised to learn that in this world, women were dominant and men were subservient. However, she thought it had nothing to do with her and didn’t pay much attention to it. In this world, her only attachment was her adoptive mother. Later, when her adoptive mother had passed on all her medical skills to Si Qingyu during her growing up and then passed away, Si Qingyu was just eighteen years old. After her adoptive mother’s passing, she devoted herself to practicing medicine and opened a medical clinic in the capital. However, after only two years, due to some troublesome matters, she had to relocate the clinic to Huixiang Town.

Nevertheless, Si Qingyu was quite satisfied with this place.

…

Compared to the tranquility on Si Qingyu’s side, Huixiang Town was lively and bustling at this time, with everyone discussing a particular matter.

“Have you heard? That Divine Physician Si from the capital is coming to our town to open a medical clinic!”

“I heard about it! I also heard that even when the current empress wanted to invite her to the palace to be the imperial physician, she refused. Now, it’s uncertain whether it’s true or not that she has moved to our small town!”

“How could it be fake? I heard that Divine Physician Si has already bought a place!”

“That’s really great then!”

“Why do you think Divine Physician Si didn’t stay in the capital and instead came to our small town?”

“Who knows? Anyway, this is a great fortune for Huixiang Town!”

“Absolutely! We should properly celebrate!”

The residents of Huixiang Town were discussing enthusiastically, each of them excited as if they had picked up a great bargain, all of them beaming with joy. They were just waiting for the medical clinic to open so they could meet this Divine Physician Si.

However, the protagonist of all this, Si Qingyu, was completely unaware of the townspeople’s sentiments, or perhaps it could be said that she wouldn’t care about these things.

At this moment, she was carrying a basket on her back and heading into the mountains to gather medicinal herbs.

She greatly enjoyed the process of gathering medicinal herbs because there weren’t many entertainment options here, and she was a person who enjoyed quietness and disliked crowded places. For her, gathering medicinal herbs was an activity that allowed her to sweat and also experience the joy of discovering new herbs.

There were many gotu kola plants on the mountain, which had the effects of clearing heat, removing dampness, and detoxifying. Si Qingyu gathered quite a few and put them into her basket before walking deeper into the mountains.

…

Si Qingyu had been gathering herbs for about two hours. She stood up and lightly wiped away her sweat. Just as she felt she had gathered enough and was about to head back, the corner of her eye caught sight of a familiar plant. She walked over and took a closer look, feeling delighted and the corners of her lips curling up slightly. It was a stalk of bai ling cao, the main ingredient in many antidotes for poisons. This herb was extremely difficult to find, so she hadn’t expected to discover it here. Si Qingyu carefully dug it up, roots and all, and placed it in her basket.

Today’s bountiful harvest put Si Qingyu in a good mood, a faint, elegant, and otherworldly smile gracing her lips.

She stood up, ready to return, when suddenly she noticed a person standing not far ahead of her. It was a young gentleman who looked to be around thirteen or fourteen years old. His slightly tanned skin and deer-like, shining eyes were fixed on her, his face flushed red and dazed. He was holding a chopper in his hand, likely having come up the mountain to chop firewood.

Si Qingyu politely nodded at him and turned to leave. She had long been accustomed to such gazes, knowing that people were simply captivated by her appearance.

The young gentleman’s face was completely red, his deer-like eyes gazing infatuatedly at that tall and straight figure. His heart was pounding incessantly. In all his years, he had never seen such a beautiful miss. She was as stunning as the fairy maidens from the heavens that his father had described.

“I wonder if she has taken a husband… She must have, being so beautiful… Even if she hasn’t, it wouldn’t be my turn anyway…” He muttered softly to himself. How could such a beautiful miss ever take notice of him? The young man’s face slowly turned from red to pale, and in the end, he walked down the mountain in a daze.

On the other side, Si Qingyu, who was walking home, was completely unaware of this young gentleman’s awakening of love. At this moment, she was pondering the matter of opening the medical clinic tomorrow.

***

“I know she doesn’t love him.” (Female-dominant)

I’ve read this novel twice already. Sis, I’m highly recommending it to you!

The female lead? Not a good person.
The second male lead? Not a good person.
The male lead? Willingly plays the third party, breaking up the female and second male lead’s relationship despite all the warnings from his friends—so yeah, he’s definitely not a good person either.

Basically, nobody in this novel is simple-minded or without scheming.

The female lead starts off as the male lead’s secretary, but don’t worry—later on, she takes over the company while the male lead steps back to support her. He won’t steal her spotlight, overshadow her, or dull her shine.

I love novels where men are out here snatching wigs, tearing each other down, and going to war just to win the female lead’s affection. And this is exactly that kind of novel. Most of Hai Dai Ran’s works have this dynamic. You’ll see the male characters’ emotions being pushed to the absolute extreme.

There’s even a scene where the second male lead exposes the male lead online for being a homewrecker. The brotherhood immediately gangs up on him, dragging him through the mud. I find it compelling —it completely flips reality on its head, where usually, women are the ones fighting over a man and getting torn apart by the sisterhood.

For me, female leads in the novels I read should only struggle in their careers, not in love. But if the brainless romantics in the story are all men? I have zero complaints.

I’ve pretty much read all of Hai Dai Ran’s novels and even translated all of them—her works are just my thing. I’ll slowly upload everything here. One day, when my website is official, I hope I can invite her to join as one of the star authors.

Here’s the story synopsis:

One-line summary: She is his lifelong obsession, to the point where he was willing to be a third wheel, scorned by society, just to wedge his way into her relationship with her fiancé.

Cold-hearted and indifferent female lead + Scheming and subservient CEO male lead

Intro 1:

“I know she doesn’t love him.”

With blood trickling from his clenched fist, Rong Xiu gazed at the woman before him, his eyes clouded with anguish. Hidden in the wardrobe, he had witnessed Fan Xia – the woman he desperately loved – in an intimate embrace with her fiancé. Yet his heart still yearned for her, defying all reason.

Fan Xia, the elegant and composed assistant, carried something mysterious in her eyes whenever she looked at her fiancé, Wen Lan Sheng. Strange occurrences began to surface – secret meetings with the young Gu Jin Yi, an unexplained withdrawal of 5,000 yuan… Then suddenly, her fiancé’s sister, Wen Jing, violently attacked her.

In this matriarchal society, Rong Xiu had risen to become the chairman of a powerful healthcare conglomerate, breaking through gender prejudices. But for the first time, he willingly stepped into the shadows as the other man, disregarding his friends’ warnings to become her secret lover.

Because he had discovered the truth – Fan Xia wasn’t the pure angel everyone believed her to be. And perhaps, he was the only one capable of helping her execute her mysterious plan…

Intro 2:

Rong Xiu’s biggest regret in life was missing out on Fan Xia.

He secretly loved Fan Xia for 7 years.

Watched her go public with her boyfriend.

Watched her kiss her boyfriend at their wedding.

Until that man blissfully nestled in Fan Xia’s arms, obtaining everything he could only dream of.

The crazy jealousy stripped away his hidden secret love, layer by layer, burning like wildfire.

Fan Xia, how can I have you!

【Reading and Trigger Warning Guide】

1. Female dominant, male submissive, male pregnancy

2. Male lead schemes his way to the top, male competition

_____

Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.

If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.