Yu Xiaolian asked Madam Sun in confusion, "Mother, even the people in the neighboring village know that I'm their unlucky star?"
Madam Sun frowned. "Maybe the Qi family asked the matchmaker about you beforehand. In my opinion, your third uncle and this daughter of the Qi family might not succeed."
Yu Xiaolian thought to herself that they would really succeed. Moreover, in order to help Yu Changyu and the Qi family's daughter get married, Old Madam Yu had even chased their family out.
"Mother, someone from the Qi family is here. Why isn't my third uncle back?"
Madam Sun pulled the curtain closed and let Yu Xiaolian change her clothes. Then, she pulled Yu Xiaolian over to comb her hair. As she combed her hair, she said, "Your Third Uncle went to the Qi family some time ago. Now, it's Miss Qi's turn to come to our house to take a look. After they see the family conditions of both parties and agree to the engagement, the two of them can meet again."
After Madam Sun combed Yu Xiaolian's hair, Yu Xiaolian remembered to ask about Yu Changhe's leg. "Mother, can my father's leg recover?"
Madam Sun said with a bitter expression, "Chief Physician Zheng said that your father's hamstring has improved, so he prescribed a few medicines. It's just that a bone repair ointment is too expensive. We don't have that much money, so we didn't buy it."
Madam Sun continued, "I exchanged my embroidery work for some money. Today, I also used it to get medicine for your father. Your father's legs are inconvenient, and the two of us have had nothing to do recently. We have to go up the mountain to pick up more firewood. Otherwise, what will happen in winter?
"The two of us are weak and can't carry much firewood at a time. We can only go there a few more times a day and pick up more."
Yu Changhe interrupted from the side, "You guys can just create a pile. I'll carry it back! We need more firewood. Last winter, that widower Luo from the west end of our village froze to death in his little dilapidated house because he was lazy and didn't prepare enough firewood for the winter."
Madam Sun said, "It's too rare to see a man as lazy as him. He can't take care of his wife, and he sold his child. His broken house is exposed to the wind everywhere. He doesn't even talk about repairing it. He deserves to freeze to death!"
Yu Xiaolian saw that there was an oil paper bag of snacks and a stack of burning paper on the wooden box. She guessed that tomorrow might be Yu Zikuang's death anniversary, so she tactfully didn't say anything.
After the Qi family's daughter left in the afternoon, Madam Sun set up a small stove and began to boil medicine for Yu Changhe.
When Madam Sun wasn't paying attention, Yu Xiaolian dripped two more drops of blood into it. Then, she carried the clothes of the family of three to the river to wash them.
Coincidentally, a few girls were also washing clothes by the river. Among them was Zhao Erya, who was on good terms with Yu Xiaolian. However, after being taught a lesson by her family, Zhao Erya didn't dare to talk to Yu Xiaolian anymore.
The few little girls squatted on a large stone slab to wash their clothes. Yu Xiaolian didn't want to embarrass herself, so she carried the wooden basin and walked further away.
She had just washed a set of clothes when she heard a childish voice behind her.
"I heard that you can jinx people? Can you please jinx my stepmother to death?"
Yu Xiaolian turned around and saw a little boy who was only about five or six years old behind her. He was dressed in satin and his hair was combed neatly. His two big eyes blinked on his fair face.
Was this child from their village? He was so handsome!
Yu Xiaolian asked, "You are…?"
"My name is Su Jingyue. I'm from Xiahe Wan Village. I'm here to look for you!"
Xiahe Wan Village? Wasn't that the village where the Qi family lived? Could it be that this child secretly followed the Qi family here?
"What do you want with me?"
"They said that you're a monster who can use magic to subdue people. You're very powerful. Can you help me subdue Madam Yao to death? Madam Yao used to be my mother's dowry maid. Now, she's my stepmother."
"Why do you want to jinx Madam Yao to death? Did she treat you badly?"
Su Jingyue gritted his teeth and said, "Ever since my father married her, she has been treating us very well on the surface, but her attitude has changed in secret. Every time my father goes out to do business, she will always secretly scold my brother for being a sickly person and hope that he will die early. Sometimes, she even secretly scolded my mother, but I heard it. I hate her so much. I want her to die!"
"Then you can tell your father when he comes back!"
Yu Xiaolian didn't expect this little brat to treat her as a monster that could kill Madam Yao. The Qi family had probably gossiped about her in the village and this child had heard it.
"Every time my father comes back, she treats us especially well, so my father doesn't believe us at all. Now that she's about to give birth, my brother and I won't have a good life in the future."
The more Su Jingyue spoke, the sadder he became. He simply went forward and held Yu Xiaolian's hand. "Please, can you use magic to kill her?"
Yu Xiaolian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. If she had the ability, the first person she would kill would be Old Madam Yu, and then Jun Mobai.
Unfortunately, she didn't have that ability!
Yu Xiaolian was helpless. "Where's your brother? How old is he? Can't he protect you?"
Su Jingyue's eyes were filled with tears. "My brother is five years older than me. He's eleven this year, but his health hasn't been good since he was young. He can't bear to see the wind or dust. He stays in the house for seven days out of ten."
Seven days out of ten? This inexplicably reminded Yu Xiaolian of someone.
"What's your brother's name?"
"Su Jingchen!"
Oh my god, Su Jingchen!
Yu Xiaolian almost doubted her own ears. Su Jingchen was the top scholar with unparalleled wisdom in the book. Later, when Jun Yian ascended to the throne of the Great Liang Empire, he began to place Su Jingchen in an important position.
Later on, Su Jingchen rose through the ranks and became a first-class official of Great Liang.
In the book, Su Jingchen had suffered from asthma since he was young. Although his intelligence was unparalleled, he was a veritable invalid.
Not only was he sickly, but he also died young.
Due to Su Jingchen's stepmother's hypocrisy, he was affected very deeply, causing him to hate women to the extreme.
However, if it was just because of a stepmother who acted in front of him and behind his back, he wouldn't hate women so much. His fiancée, Ning Chuyu, also contributed to this.
After Su Jingchen's father went away for business in Jiangnan and passed away in an accident, Su Jingchen was engaged to the Ning family since he was young. When he saw that Su Jingchen had lost his mother and father, and was still ill, he broke off the engagement with Su Jingchen.
Coincidentally, there was a drought in the north that year. Su Jingchen's stepmother, Madam Yao, took her one-year-old son and took all the Su family's money. She abandoned Su Jingchen and his brother and fled alone.
Yu Xiaolian frowned. If she remembered correctly, the little brat in front of her, Su Jingyue, seemed to have died earlier than his sickly brother.
Yu Xiaolian asked, "You're six years old this year?"
Su Jingyue nodded. "Yes!"
Two years later, when Su Jingchen escaped with Su Jingyue, Su Jingyue died on the way to his maternal grandfather's house in Jiangnan because of illness and hunger.
The death of his only relative caused Su Jingchen to hate the Yao family to the core and take revenge crazily.
The more Yu Xiaolian looked at Su Jingyue, the more she pitied him.
She did not know what kind of changes and disasters would happen in his life two years later, but at this moment, she sympathized with Su Jingyue.
Sigh, her damn sympathy was overflowing again.
After thinking about it, Yu Xiaolian decided to help Su Jingyue. "Wait for me for a while. I'll write a letter later and you can bring it back to your brother."
Yu Xiaolian began to wash the clothes as quickly as possible, and Su Jingyue squatted obediently beside her, waiting for her.
"Sister, do you really know magic?"
Yu Xiaolian couldn't help but smile when she heard the childish and innocent voice. "Of course. Let me make you a piece of candy."
Yu Xiaolian saw that only she and Su Jingyue were left by the river. With a thought, a peach-flavored hard candy lay in her palm.
Su Jingyue clapped his hands in awe and jumped around happily. "Wow, Sister, what candy is this? Why is it pink? It's so beautiful, like a crystal."
Yu Xiaolian stuffed the candy into Su Jingyue's hands. "Eat it. It's very sweet!"