Chapter 10: Auntie Likes Second Uncle

Ye Xin Ran wasn’t about to let Aunt Zhang take advantage of the situation.

Although she wasn’t particularly skilled at fighting, she had the foundation of her past experience in free fighting.

Seeing Aunt Zhang charging at her, Ye Xin Ran kicked her in the stomach with all her might.

Aunt Zhang was sent sprawling onto the ground.

“Ah, ah, she’s killed someone! She’s killed someone!” Aunt Zhang cried out in pain, lying on the ground.

“Everyone, come quick, the new bride of the Xiao family has killed someone!”

She screamed with her eyes closed, planning to make a scene, but suddenly felt a chill at her neck.

When she opened her eyes, she saw a rusty kitchen knife pressed against her throat.

Chang Sheng was standing over her, glaring fiercely as though he was about to strike and end her life.

“Chang Sheng! Chang Sheng! What, what are you doing back here? What do you want to do?”

Aunt Zhang’s voice faltered in fear.

“Get the knife away from me, get it away!”

Ye Xin Ran hadn’t expected Chang Sheng to return. She quickly grabbed his trembling hand, her voice cold: “Chang Sheng, don’t dirty your hands.”

But Chang Sheng was staring at Aunt Zhang, his eyes blood shot with rage: “You hurt my brother and insulted my family. You deserve to die!”

Aunt Zhang was terrified.

She didn’t dare shout anymore, afraid that even the slightest noise would make Chang Sheng really kill her.

After a moment, she cautiously opened her eyes just a crack and saw that Chang Sheng’s hand was still tightly gripped by Ye Xin Ran. He quickly got up from the ground and ran off.

After running a few steps, still unwilling to leave without saying more, she turned and shouted, “You ungrateful lot! When you needed me, you spoke to me kindly and asked for help, but now that you don’t, you hit and curse me. I’ll let the whole village know about your behavior, and then let’s see who’ll help your family again!”

Ye Xin Ran was tired of hearing her, so she kicked a stone at Aunt Zhang’s ankle.

Aunt Zhang collapsed again, landing in a pathetic heap like a deflated frog.

When she got up, blood was trickling from her nose.

Behind her, she heard Ye Xin Ran’s voice: “Aunt Zhang, where are you running? We haven’t settled our accounts yet!”

Aunt Zhang didn’t dare respond, scrambling and crawling away.

Seeing her struggle, Chang An stretched out his little legs and kicked at her retreating figure.

“Bad person! Stinky bad person!”

Chang Sheng shot a sharp look at his two younger brothers, anger flashing in his eyes.

“You two should’ve told me about this sooner!”

Seeing his big brother upset, Chang An immediately lowered his head and said nothing.

“It’s my fault,” Chang Ping quickly answered, “I didn’t let Chang An say anything. I was afraid it would cause trouble for Second Uncle, and I didn’t want you to hate me!”

He lowered his head in shame.

“Fool,” Ye Xin Ran said softly, “We’re family. How could we ever hate you?”

Chang Sheng felt a bit down.

He had come back to fetch the book he had left behind and just happened to overhear Chang Ping crying.

He had lived with his two younger brothers every day, and if he hadn’t heard it with his own ears, he wouldn’t have believed that they had been hiding such grievances.

“Second Brother! Second Brother! Big Brother says you’re silly!”

Just as Chang Sheng was about to comfort his brother, he heard Chang An shouting.

The two brothers couldn’t help but laugh at the words.

Chang Ping scratched his head awkwardly. “I am silly!”

Chang Sheng, rarely showing a child like smile, pushed him lightly. “Silly? You’re actually very smart!”

“Chang Sheng, are you going or not!” The three brothers were laughing together when Er Dan, who had been waiting outside, was already hopping in frustration.

Chang Sheng looked up at the sky, then hurriedly ran. “Oh no, I’m definitely going to be late!”

Ye Xin Ran watched Chang Sheng leave, his clothes much more worn than Er Dan’s, even though they were the same age.

Looking around the yard, it seemed like they had nothing at all.

Being well-fed and properly clothed had become her biggest concern.

After checking the space yesterday, she had an idea for making money.

Whether it’s Xue Yan ointment or Hu Xin Ning, there’s definitely a market for these in this era. As long as she could produce them, she could make money from it.

However, finding the right herbs wouldn’t be so easy. Before that, she needed to think of other ways to make money.

“Chang Ping, do you usually go to the mountain?” Ye Xin Ran asked while the three of them were eating.

Chang Ping looked at the distant mountain and shook his head. “Second Uncle doesn’t let us go up the mountain. We can only go to the foot of the mountain to dig wild vegetables.”

“Then after we finish eating, take me to have a look!” Ye Xin Ran suggested.

She wasn’t familiar with the road to the foot of the mountain, so she’d let Chang Ping lead the way since he had been there before.

“Auntie, are you going to dig wild vegetables?”

Chang Ping asked with some concern. “It’s really dry now, and all the wild vegetables have already been dug up.”

After saying this, he quickly added, “Auntie, don’t worry. I know the food at home is running low. I’ll eat less from now on.”

Chang An also raised his head. “Chang An will eat less too.”

Ye Xin Ran smiled warmly at the two thoughtful children. “You two, no one is allowed to eat less! You need to eat enough to be chubby and cute!

I’ll figure out the food situation.”

After they finished eating, Ye Xin Ran and the two children set off.

It was the busy farming season, and the villagers were constantly complaining about the weather, but they didn’t dare delay their work in the fields.

As the three of them reached the road outside, they encountered several groups of people.

What struck Ye Xin Ran as strange was that as soon as these people saw them, they immediately crossed to the other side of the road, maintaining a significant distance from them.

Ye Xin Ran raised her head.

She noticed that while the people had moved further away, they were still pointing and whispering about her direction.

“Look, the young lady from the Yuan family is alive again!”

“Wasn’t she about to die yesterday? Why is she still out today with kids?”

“Who knows, maybe she’s interested in Xiao Huai’an’s looks. Although Xiao Huai’an is poor, he’s quite handsome. There’s no man as good-looking as him in our village.”

Another woman chimed in, “What’s the use of looks? His leg is crippled, and who knows if he’s capable in other areas.”

“Exactly! If you’re looking for a man, it should be someone like your second son, honest and capable.”

“To be honest, this will only last two or three days. After that, the young lady might start causing trouble again!”

“Ah, really, she’s so restless!”

The women thought they were speaking in low voices, but their words carried easily in the wind, reaching five or six meters away.

Naturally, their comments were heard by Ye Xin Ran and the two children.

Chang Ping frowned upon hearing it.

Chang An looked at Ye Xin Ran with a confused expression and asked, “Auntie, do you think Second Uncle is good-looking?”

Ye Xin Ran thought for a moment. Xiao Huai’an was indeed quite handsome, the type that could be considered rare, so she nodded and said, “Yes, he’s good-looking.”

“Oh, Auntie likes Second Uncle!” Chang An clapped his little hands and said to himself, “Auntie says Second Uncle is good-looking, which means she likes Second Uncle. Auntie likes Second Uncle, so she won’t leave!”

Ye Xin Ran looked up helplessly.

Where did this child learn that?

Just because she thought Xiao Huai’an was good-looking didn’t mean she liked him! If that was true, she must have liked enough people in her past life to form a soccer team.

But she couldn’t explain that to Chang An, children had their own logic.

The three of them soon arrived at the foot of the mountain and found several women bent over, looking for wild vegetables.

The harvest last year had been poor, and the new crops hadn’t come in yet. Some families were already struggling to make ends meet.

Ye Xin Ran carefully observed the area and noticed some Ban Xia (Pinellia) leaves among the grass.

Though there were only a few scattered ones, it gave her a lot of hope.

There had to be more of the herbs she needed in this mountain.

“You two stay here and don’t move. I’ll go into the mountain to see if I can find any edible wild vegetables,” Ye Xin Ran told the children.

“But Auntie, there are snakes and wolves in the mountain, they’ll bite!” Chang An said, clearly worried.

“I won’t go too far. I’ll be back soon. Chang Ping, make sure to watch over your brother.”

After speaking, Ye Xin Ran couldn’t wait any longer and headed into the mountain.