Chapter 2

“Aunt is awake!”

Ye Baosheng’s shout startled everyone in the courtyard who was busy sweeping snow.

Miao Cuifang walked in from outside, “Xiaoxiao, how come you’re up? Let me see if your fever has gone down. Don’t catch another cold.”

Although Ye Xiaoxiao had decided to stay at the Ye family, she was still unfamiliar with them. She just touched her nose and said, “My fever has gone down.”

“You still need to rest well. It’s too cold outside, wear something thicker before you go out.”

Miao Cuifang found an old cotton jacket for Ye Xiaoxiao. Although it had patches, it was washed clean and much thicker than the one she was wearing.

The original owner brought a suitcase with fashionable and beautiful clothes, but none of them were warm.

“Thank you.”

“We’re family, no need to be polite.”

Miao Cuifang was also a little helpless. She turned around and hugged her grandson Ye Baosheng, “Let’s not disturb your Aunt’s rest.”

Ye Baosheng was Ye Xiaoxiao’s elder brother’s son, five years old this year.

“I want to play with my Aunt.”

Ye Baosheng twisted his body, wanting to play. He was very curious about the new Aunt in the family.

But a few days ago, the Aunt ignored him.

“Be good.”

Miao Cuifang patted Ye Baosheng’s bottom. The child looked a little wronged.

“Let him play with me.”

Ye Xiaoxiao saw the sad child and spoke up.

“Then you two play for a while. There’s hot water in the thermos, wash your face first, and we’ll eat soon.”

This time, Miao Cuifang didn’t stop her. She thought it was good for Ye Xiaoxiao to get along with the family more. Before leaving, she tapped Ye Baosheng’s head, “Listen to your Aunt, be good, or I’ll spank you.”

Ye Baosheng nodded tearfully. As soon as Miao Cuifang left, he immediately beamed.

The little boy walked over and hugged Ye Xiaoxiao’s leg, “Aunt, you are so beautiful.”

Ye Xiaoxiao: “…”

This little rascal has two faces.

“You have such a sweet mouth at such a young age. Come on… Aunt will take you to wash your face.”

Ye Xiaoxiao filled a basin with water, washed her own face, and then washed Ye Baosheng’s face.

She took out the face cream from her suitcase and applied it to both of them.

Seeing her luggage, Ye Xiaoxiao thought to herself that she needed to prepare a lot of things if she wanted to stay here for a long time.

Ye Baosheng tilted his chubby face, obediently letting his Aunt put cream on his face. He felt that the Aunt who suddenly appeared in the family was different from the past few days, but he couldn’t tell what was different.

It wasn’t until dinner that Ye Xiaoxiao had a deeper understanding of the Ye family’s members and their situation.

At the dinner table were Ye Jianguo, Miao Cuifang, elder brother Ye Changqing, elder sister-in-law Zhang Xue, and two nephews, Ye Baosheng and the three-year-old Ye Baoyuan.

Ye Xiaoxiao knew that the original owner also had grandparents who lived with her uncle’s family in front of the house.

Her second brother was in the army, and he only sent some money and stamps back every month.

Her third brother worked at the forestry farm across the river. He had a rebellious personality and didn’t get along well with his father, so he didn’t come home often.

The Ye family’s life was considered good in this village. They had many sons, which meant sufficient labor. But even so, they only ate simple meals every day and rarely had meat.

The meat from hunting in the mountains was usually exchanged for money and food.

Ye Xiaoxiao also knew that when Hao Yan Yan left the Ye family, she took away Ye Jianguo and his wife’s life savings, putting the already poor family in even worse straits.

“Xiaoxiao, eat.”

Miao Cuifang handed the only bowl of egg custard on the table to Ye Xiaoxiao.

Ye Baosheng stared with big round eyes. It smelled so good! But Mom said it was for the Aunt because she was sick and needed to eat something nutritious.

Ye Xiaoxiao pursed her lips, her gaze sweeping over the family’s simple faces before landing on Ye Baosheng’s face, which was about to drool.

The youngest Ye Baoyuan didn’t know what was happening. He just stared at the egg custard with big eyes.

Ye Xiaoxiao picked up the egg custard and calmly divided it into three portions, placing two portions in the children’s bowls.

“Xiaoxiao, this is for you. They… they eat a lot usually, don’t mind them.”

Miao Cuifang hurriedly stopped her.

She knew that Xiaoxiao wasn’t used to the food at home. She hadn’t eaten properly since coming to the village, and she looked thinner.

Ye Baosheng also said in a sensible tone, “Aunt, you eat.”

Ye Xiaoxiao smiled at him, “I don’t like egg custard.”

Hearing this, Ye Baosheng widened his eyes. His Aunt was really strange, she didn’t even like egg custard.

He liked his Aunt even more!

Ye Xiaoxiao picked up her bowl and took a bite of rice.

It wasn’t polished rice, but sorghum rice, rough and hard. She chewed for a long time before swallowing, and it felt a little scratchy in her throat.

Ye Xiaoxiao thought to herself with a wry smile, this is a taste of hardship.

After dinner, Ye Xiaoxiao helped her sister-in-law collect the bowls and met with her surprised gaze.

Zhang Xue quickly snatched the bowl from Ye Xiaoxiao’s hand.

She hadn’t forgotten that when this little sister came to the family for the first time, she directly smashed the bowl, saying it wasn’t something for people to eat.

Ye Xiaoxiao: “…”

Miao Cuifang and Ye Jianguo were talking in the upper room. A few minutes later, Ye Xiaoxiao saw them carrying Ye Changsheng, who was still feverish, out.

Ye Xiaoxiao asked, “Where are you going?”

Miao Cuifang, “The fourth child is still feverish. Old Liu’s medicine didn’t work, we have to go to town to see a doctor.”

Hearing this, Ye Xiaoxiao remembered the plot described in the original book. Ye Changsheng, the fourth child of the Ye family, was originally a top student with excellent grades. But because of this high fever, he became paralyzed and had to drop out of school, living a miserable life at home.

Ye Changsheng’s tragedy was partly due to the medical malpractice of the doctor at the clinic, but more importantly, the Ye family’s money was secretly taken by Hao Yan Yan. They couldn’t afford to send Ye Changsheng to the county hospital for better treatment when he had problems, which led to his condition worsening and becoming irreversible.

After Ye Changsheng’s treatment failed, Ye Jianguo and his son brought him back to Baishi Village. On the way home, Ye Jianguo slipped and fell down a slope, resulting in his death.

Many years later, the heroine, who had already achieved great success, returned to Baishi Village, wanting to repay the Ye family tenfold for the money she had taken.

However, by then, the Ye family had either died or been injured, and even the courtyard had been lost.

The heroine felt guilty about this and used her connections to find the Ye family.

But as an insignificant character in the book, Ye Xiaoxiao didn’t know the final fate of the Ye family after reading the entire book. She only knew that they all had tragic endings.

Ye Xiaoxiao frowned. Could this accident be the reason why Ye Changsheng went from a brilliant student to a paralyzed man?

The mountain path was difficult to travel, and they could only use a cart to pull him to the town.

While everyone was still talking, Ye Xiaoxiao went into the house to get her wallet.

The original owner, although pampered, had a good allowance from the Hao family. She brought over 500 yuan with her when she came out, and after deducting travel expenses, she had about 400 yuan left.

Thinking of the family’s situation, Ye Xiaoxiao put the money in her pocket and ran out.

Ye Jianguo had already harnessed the cart, and besides Ye Changqing, his elder brother Ye Changyuan from the front courtyard also came to help.

The cart was covered with blankets, surrounding Ye Changsheng tightly.

Ye Xiaoxiao, “I’m going too.”

“Xiaoxiao, you and Mom and your sister-in-law stay at home. Even if you want to leave, you have to wait until the snow melts.” Ye Changqing looked troubled.

“I don’t want to leave. I want to go to the hospital with you.”

Ye Xiaoxiao said, pulling open a small gap in the blanket surrounding Ye Changsheng, revealing his delicate features and burning cheeks.

“Fourth brother’s condition is serious, he needs medicine immediately. If the medicine from the clinic doesn’t work, we have to go to the county hospital.”

Baishi Village was next to the mountains. The mountain path was rugged, and only the big truck from the forestry farm came and went a few times a month. But in winter, it stopped running. Once they reached the town, the road would be better, and cars could pass through. As long as they had money, it was easy to go to the county.

Ye Changqing looked at Ye Jianguo…