Chapter 1568 - 1557: Honest Fool

Chapter 1568: Chapter 1557: Honest Fool

The next day, the Ye Family was invited back early in the morning. Although she was a married woman, her husband’s family had prospered after she married into it. Nowadays, they not only had a general store in the county but also had a small courtyard with two entries. Ever since she had money, she returned to her parental home with confidence. Even though she looked down on it a bit, just buying something from the county and bringing it back made the villagers envious.

Furthermore, Ye Conghui was studying in the county. Sometimes, when the weather was bad or something, her family inevitably had to bother Ye Xia. So, although Ye Xia was not favored as a girl, her status in the Ye Family rose day by day after she married. Even Old Lady Wang was more courteous when speaking to her.

"Why did you and your husband come so early? Who’s managing the shop at home?" Old Lady Wang asked warmly, "Have you had breakfast? I’ll go make it for you."

"Why are you the one making it, Mother? What about elder sister-in-law and the Third Son’s wife?" Ye Xia frowned and asked, "Mother, Fourth told us early this morning that the family is going to divide the assets, and he said it was the Third Son’s family who brought it up first. What exactly is going on?"

"Who knows what madness your third brother’s wife is up to, saying we’re not treating your third brother’s illness and insisting on splitting the family to get the money for his treatment." Old Lady Wang sneered, "Would I ignore my own son? Didn’t I call the Divine Woman as soon as he fell ill? Do we have to make such a fuss, making our family disharmonious?"

"The Third Son is ill? What illness?" Ye Xia was utterly surprised, as she hadn’t heard about this, "I’ll go see Third Brother."

"It came on suddenly; what kind of illness could it be? Isn’t it just some unclean thing that attached itself to him? The Divine Woman failed to cure him because her skills weren’t sufficient. She insists on calling some doctor; who doesn’t know they’re just swindlers? Where does our family have the money for them to waste?" Old Lady Wang’s stomach was full of grievances and complained while her daughter listened.

However, Ye Xia inwardly rolled her eyes. Didn’t she know her mother well enough? Calling a doctor a waste of money—it’s just not wanting to spend it. If doctors were all tricksters, then are the city people all fools? Do they send money to doctors for nothing every time they get sick?

Ye Xia thought her mother was foolish. Who held this family together? Wasn’t it the Third Son’s couple? If they neglected the Third Son, who would do the family work later? It’s not that she looked down on her other two brothers, but the eldest and Fourth were spoiled rotten and hadn’t contributed much to the family. If the Third Son were gone, her parents’ retirement would likely be a problem in the future.

But she was a married woman, and she wasn’t favored back then. While her parents and eldest brother and sister-in-law respected her now because her husband’s family made money, when she thought of the tough days as a girl at her parental home, how her mother demanded a high bride price when marrying her off, and the difficulties when she first married into her husband’s family, Ye Xia always had some hard feelings.

Therefore, even though she was well aware of her parental home’s affairs, she didn’t speak. After all, what business does a married woman have meddling so much in her parental home? If she doesn’t manage it well, she might end up disliked.

She hadn’t planned on coming today, but since Fourth personally invited her and said it was the Third Son’s family who first proposed it, she decided to come with her husband, but also resolved not to meddle.

Ye Xia walked into the Third Son’s house with her mother and was immediately pierced by the sight of the broken door. She grimaced internally again. Her mother was really cruel. The Third Son was sick, yet she didn’t have anyone fix the door. What if the wind makes it worse?

She couldn’t help but think of herself. If her husband’s family weren’t wealthy, her mother probably wouldn’t even let her in the door. After all, in her mother’s mind, a daughter belongs to someone else’s family and is worthless. Want to come back and mooch off the family? Not a chance.

This is exactly why her mother didn’t like the Third Son; one reason was that he was caught in the middle and not likable, and more importantly, the Third Son only had two daughters.

However, no matter how unloved, he was still her son. The Third Son did so much for the family, and yet her mother felt no guilt for doing nothing?

But when Ye Xia entered the room and saw the Third Son’s weak complexion, she was brutally shocked. Although she knew from listening that the Third Son’s illness wasn’t light, she didn’t expect it to be this severe. No wonder her mother was reluctant to spend money on doctors.

Yet, even if it were this severe, they couldn’t just leave it untreated. Most of the family’s money was earned by the Third Son, after all; her mother’s conscience could truly rest easy.

"How did it come to this?" Ye Xia’s voice was a bit choked. When she was a girl in the family, no one liked her except the Third Son.

At that time, she had to do many things every day, often busy until midnight without being able to sleep. Yet the Third Son, who was equally busy, would always help her after finishing his work.

So when she heard the Third Son wanted to split the family, she came over. Although she couldn’t do much, at least she could comfort him.

"How did it come to this?" Ye Xia said, her voice choked. "Weren’t things good just some time ago?"

Ye Qiu opened his eyes blankly and, recognizing who was in front of him, let out a couple of ah-ah sounds, which made Ye Xia feel even worse.

Ye Xia hadn’t planned to intervene in the division of the family assets, but now decided not to let the Third Son suffer too much; otherwise, her conscience couldn’t rest easy.

Ye Qiu feigned confusion, but internally was clear. Ye Xia, his second sister in the previous life, had a relationship with their parental home that was neither good nor bad. Yet, when he was in the army in his past life, she gave him some silver for protection, making her probably the best person to him in the Ye Family.

Because he knew Ye Xia’s true nature, Ye Qiu said he wanted to go to the county to do business. A rural person suddenly doing business in the city would naturally face various obstacles, but it would be different with a familiar person introducing him.

Furthermore, he planned to join the army in this life again because business alone couldn’t fully guarantee the safety of his wife and daughters. In this era, no matter how rich the family was, it didn’t compare to having someone in the court.

But joining the army wasn’t a matter of one or two years. With his departure, Niu Xue Mei and her daughters would inevitably face bullying from the Ye Family, and Ye Xia and her husband’s family were a good safeguard.

Of course, relying solely on childhood friendship wouldn’t be enough. So Ye Qiu planned to expand the business later and give Ye Xia and her husband some shares, ensuring interests were involved. They likely wouldn’t ignore the situation, since who wouldn’t want more money?

Sacrificing a small bit of profit to ensure safety seemed quite worthwhile to Ye Qiu.

"Second Sister, don’t cry. Once I obtain my share from the division, I’ll use it to treat Ye Qiu’s illness. I’m sure he can be cured." Niu Xue Mei comforted, causing Old Lady Wang’s face to sour further. Was this indirectly calling her a heartless mother?

She just waited; once the Third Son perishes, these three would come begging her and she could better control them then.