Quick Transmigration: Drama Queen's Daily Life Chapter 1562 - 1551: Honest Fool

"What are you doing? Trying to die? Get up, or the whole family will be left starving." Seeing that Ye Qiu and Niu Xue Mei hadn’t come out to work yet, Wang Po banged on their door loudly.

"Sanlang, what do we do now?" Although Ye Qiu’s words had softened her resolve earlier, making her feel she shouldn’t endure the mistreatment from this family, the moment she heard her mother-in-law’s curses, Niu Xue Mei’s heart began to race.

"What’s the rush?" Ye Qiu smiled at her and the two kids. "In a bit, I’ll pretend to be sick. You then run out, panic-stricken, and tell everyone I need a doctor. Remember to look terrified, okay? Cong Ying, can you cry along with your sister? Think about the eggs you couldn’t have, think about how Grandma scolded and hit you, and cry as hard as you can."

Ye Congying seemed to understand and nodded, then turned to her sister Ye Congzi and said, "Don’t tell anyone that I pinched you, or I won’t take you out to play anymore."

For a child, the thought of not playing with siblings was a big blow, so three-year-old Ye Congzi nodded firmly.

But Niu Xue Mei looked troubled. "But I can’t act."

"You don’t need to. Just think of it as if I’m really done for. Think about you and the kids being thrown out, dragged back to your parents to remarry. Think of our two kids being lonely and helpless, or think that we’d have no one to take care of us in old age, living in a drafty house, gnawing on tree bark in the mountains."

Listening to Ye Qiu’s description, a wave of sorrow engulfed Niu Xue Mei so intensely that she burst into loud sobs without needing to act, scaring Wang Po quite a bit outside the door.

"What’s with the loud crying all of a sudden? Don’t want to work anymore?" Wang Po continued to scold, her voice growing louder, waking up Ye Chun’s family on the other side of the courtyard.

"Mom, what’s with all the noise so early? If Cong Hui can’t concentrate in school because of this, you’ll be to blame." Wang Hong, Ye Chun’s wife, opened the door and complained without a shred of politeness.

Niu Xue Mei hadn’t thought much of it before, but after Ye Qiu pointed it out this morning, she realized how unfair her mother-in-law was to their family. Why did she and her husband have to wake up at dawn to work while Ye Chun’s family could sleep until broad daylight and have ready meals?

They claimed that it was to avoid affecting the child’s studies, but the kids slept in their own room, not with them, didn’t they? And what about the fourth? He was single; what could he possibly influence? The more she thought about it, the more wronged Niu Xue Mei felt, and she cried even harder. Seeing her mother in distress, Ye Congying, who had just been instructed by Ye Qiu, also started crying, and pinched Ye Congzi, causing the cries of the three to wake the entire family.

"What’s with all the wailing? I’m not dead yet!" Old Man Ye, who was not in a good mood, cursed through the door.

"Mom, are you going to let people sleep or not?" Fourth brother Ye Dong came out with a sullen face and dark circles, his temper mirroring Old Man Ye’s.

Questioned by the family like this, Wang Po was also exasperated and started banging on the door again. "Isn’t it the third family? It’s so early and don’t know what’s going on. Open the door, the whole family is disturbed. I don’t think you should eat today either."

Just banging on the door wasn’t enough; seeing no response from inside, she started kicking it. The door, already made of a few broken wooden boards, couldn’t withstand the force, and half of it shattered immediately, revealing the room’s situation to Wang Po as the dust cleared.

Ye Qiu lay on the bed, pale and devoid of blood. In the faint morning light, one could just make out the cold sweat on his forehead. Niu Xue Mei clung to his arm, crying as if at a complete loss. The two sisters, either shocked or for some other reason, sat on their small bed, crying nonstop.

"What is it? Pretending to be sick to get out of work?" Wang Po felt inappropriate as soon as she said it, because her third son was never lazy. From the moment he understood things, he did all the work in the fields and land. She had spoken without thinking and couldn’t take it back.

Ye Qiu turned his head at the sound, a hurt expression on his pale face, as if he’d been wounded by Wang Po’s words.

Wang Po’s expression turned awkward, her demeanor softened as she stepped inside and asked, "What’s going on? Weren’t you fine yesterday?"

Ye Qiu seemed too weak to speak, his lips moved twice, and his eyes showed an anxious expression. Niu Xue Mei only knew how to cry, unable to respond to Wang Po’s questions.

Impatient for not receiving a response, Wang Po was even more annoyed as she never considered her daughter-in-law fully human. Seeing her just crying without explaining anything only made her more impatient. She shoved her, "I’m asking you a question, are you mute? What’s wrong with your husband?"

"I... I don’t know." Niu Xue Mei stammered through her tears, "Last night he was fine, but when Mom started shouting so loudly earlier, Sanlang seemed to be frightened and something went wrong."

Niu Xue Mei repeated what Ye Qiu had just taught her, staggering through her tears, which did not arouse Wang Po’s suspicion.

Hearing her own shouting scared him, Wang Po’s expression became awkward. "Nonsense, how could a normal person get scared like that?"

"Then what does Mom say it is? Clearly, he was fine when he came back from the field yesterday."

Wang Po’s mouth hesitated for a moment. "Maybe he’s possessed by something unclean."

"How could that be? Sanlang hasn’t done anything bad or gone to the graveyard. Mom, could it be that you scared him? I’ve heard that people can be frightened to death." Niu Xue Mei cried again. "Mom, let’s call a doctor. The doctor can surely cure Sanlang."

"Why call a doctor? Doctors cost money, don’t they?" Old Sa’s wife Wang Hong, hearing the commotion, stuck her head out and, seeing Ye Qiu looking really unwell, said with a glimmer in her eye, "Mom’s right, maybe he’s provoked something unclean. Is it a matter a doctor can solve? I think it’d be better to get the Divine Woman from the village’s end to take a look."

"Yes, the Divine Woman. Hurry, go invite the Divine Woman. Fourth, you’re fast on your feet, go get the Divine Woman." Wang Po instructed her youngest son.

"I have things to do later." Fourth brother Ye Dong said, unwilling.

"He’s your third brother, just go to the end of the village. How long can it take? Listen, didn’t you say yesterday you planned to talk business with a friend? Mom will give you money later."

"Alright, it’s a deal then." Immediately upon hearing about money, Ye Dong went out.

After the fuss caused by Ye Qiu’s act, it was basically dawn. Farmers were getting up, and when they saw Ye Dong passing through the village, they asked more questions.

Ye Dong was a big mouth without much restraint. He immediately said that his third brother might not make it, either scared by his mom or having provoked something unclean, so they were bringing the Divine Woman in to take a look.