Xu Ziyan was startled when she opened the door and saw them all outside. She quickly adjusted her expression. “Is something the matter?”
‘Let me check the plot. Right, the original host made the two nephews wash clothes, but they didn’t get them clean. So she punished them by making them stand under the noon sun. The parents-in-law couldn’t bear it and came to plead for them. She instead berated the parents-in-law and made the nephews continue standing, until they got heatstroke. Xu Xiuyun next door saw them and took them to the clinic. After that, the original host’s reputation got even worse.’
Xu Ziyan felt this plot point was strange. ‘001, do you think Xu Xiuyun is a White Lotus, a Green Tea Bitch (a two-faced, scheming woman)? How is it so coincidental that she’s involved every time? All the good deeds are hers, all the bad deeds are the original host’s.’
001: 『Host, this type of story is built on this kind of plot. How else could there be a control group? The point is to be entangled; the relationship can’t be severed.』
Xu Ziyan just felt a headache coming on. ‘In the last world, at least the male lead was just too rotten, and I could warn my family to be careful. The female lead in this world is like a saintly White Lotus, and my family seems cursed with bad luck. What do I do? Is my good luck alone enough?’
The four people stood stiff-faced before her, unable to utter a word. Whenever they tried to ask anything, they felt suffocated. This filled them with alarm, making them think some Great Immortal had possessed Xu Ziyan.
It was the five-year-old child who, being less sensible and not so scared, felt that Xu Ziyan didn’t seem as fierce anymore. He tentatively asked, “Second Aunt-in-law, the yard is so hot. Can I stand in the punishment spot under the eaves?”
The two elders snapped back to reality. The urgent matter was resolving the children’s punishment. Fang Mother said, “Xiao Yan, the children are still young. They had to wash so many clothes and bedsheets, they didn’t have the strength. They accidentally dropped them and got a little dirt on them. I’ll wash them for you. They’ve been punished enough, haven’t they? Shouldn’t they go back inside?”
The two children were bright-eyed and sturdy, quite cute actually. In her previous life, Xu Ziyan had been surrounded by many beauties, enjoying life to the fullest. She never married or had children, but she had often played with the Fu family’s children. Now, seeing the kids’ faces flushed red and sweaty, she instinctively wanted to let them inside to cool off.
But she suddenly thought, ‘I can’t fail the very first plot point after transmigrating, can I? Let me think what to do. Got it!’
The four of them stared at her intently. They saw Xu Ziyan frown and speak loudly to the elders, “Is dropping them on the ground the main issue? The main issue is they didn’t confess honestly and tried to fool me! I’m teaching them life principles. Don’t interfere! You have to understand, children must not be spoiled. A young tree must be pruned to grow straight! Go, continue your punishment standing!”
【Congratulations, Host, for completing the plot point: Berating the parents-in-law and continuing to make the nephews stand in punishment! Reward: 1 Skill Point. Host, are we still adding it to the Luck Attribute?】
Xu Ziyan hurriedly replied, 『No, save it for now. Let’s see what this world is lacking. Looking at this bare house, I feel like I’m lacking money and food right now. Maybe I need to increase my intelligence.』
The two elders wanted to say something, but hearing this internal dialogue, they quickly shut their mouths. Although they were a little scared—the person before them clearly wasn’t Xu Ziyan anymore—she didn’t seem to want to harm them. On the contrary, she seemed to want to help them. Could this be a Great Immortal helping them resolve their troubles as part of their cultivation?
Xu Ziyan then whispered to them, “Listen to everything I say today. After this, I won’t punish them anymore. I’ll even be good to them.”
The elders thought that if the Great Immortal was displeased, she might just deal with them. They hurriedly nodded and nudged the two children. The brothers glanced at each other and went to stand in the sunniest spot.
They were still young and didn’t fully understand. They just felt that if they followed the plot Xu Ziyan was thinking about, she would get rewards, rewards that would make the family rich. So, getting heatstroke didn’t seem like such a big deal.
Xu Ziyan, however, was experienced at exploiting loopholes. She stood on her tiptoes and glanced over at the neighbor’s yard, spotting Xu Xiuyun sweeping under her eaves. She narrowed her eyes. ‘001, I remember you said the plot isn’t written in full detail; many details are automatically filled in by reality. Is it possible that Xu Xiuyun is very scheming? She heard me punishing the kids here, deliberately waited for them to get heatstroke, then took them to the clinic so the whole village would know I abuse children? Otherwise, tell me, her ground is already so clean, she swept it this morning. What has she been sweeping all this time?’
Fang Father was taller. Hearing this, he peeked over at the neighbor’s yard and nodded to Fang Mother, indicating Xu Ziyan wasn’t wrong—Xu Xiuyun was indeed sweeping pointlessly over there. Their hearts sank. Could those tragic outcomes they had overheard be true? Was Xu Xiuyun the one who harmed them?
They used to think heaven was blind. If they had to marry someone into the family, it should have been a good girl like Xu Xiuyun. How did they get saddled with Xu Ziyan? Now they didn’t dare think that way. They’d have to wait and see how things unfolded.
Xu Ziyan’s eyes lit up with an idea. She raised her voice, “You two, go stand outside. Far away from me, where I can’t see you.”
She approached the two children, pointed to the right side of the main gate, and whispered, “Fall down and say you have heatstroke. Have Auntie take you to the clinic. Tonight, you’ll get meat and candy. Don’t tell anyone. When something happens later, just cry as hard as you can. Understand?”
The right side was right by Xu Xiuyun’s front gate. Having heard both her spoken words and her inner thoughts, the two kids already understood what to do. They nodded, a mix of fear and excitement, and ran out to stand right in front of Xu Xiuyun’s gate.
The five-year-old younger brother, Fang Bei, whispered, “Brother, should we listen to her?”
The eight-year-old older brother, Fang Nan, whispered back, “Listen. It’s better than washing clothes and doing chores, right?”
And so the two brothers stood straight there. They were at an age where they loved to play. Even without fully grasping the situation, they instinctively felt this was fun and played along.
As soon as Xu Ziyan went back inside, and the two elders, still conflicted, returned to their room, Fang Bei suddenly collapsed. Fang Nan anxiously called out twice, “Little brother! Little brother—” Then he too fell down.
Xu Xiuyun was taken aback. She looked over at the neighbor’s yard and saw that Xu Ziyan and the others had gone inside, unaware of the children. She hesitated for a moment, then ran out, patting the two children. “Xiao Nan, Xiao Bei, what’s wrong with you two?”
Fang Nan put on a dazed look, holding his head. “Auntie, I’m so dizzy. Do I have heatstroke?”
Fang Bei also made a pained face. “Auntie, it hurts. Take us to the clinic.”
Xu Xiuyun touched their faces—both felt a bit hot. She was convinced they must have heatstroke. They’d been standing in punishment for so long already; how could children withstand that? A flicker of joy rose in her heart. She said, “Don’t be scared. Auntie will take you to the clinic. Let’s go.”
To show her urgency, she carried Fang Bei in front and piggybacked Fang Nan behind, gritting her teeth as she trudged toward the clinic. She was sweating profusely after just a hundred meters.
No one was out wandering at noon, so Xu Xiuyun had gone quite a distance before she ran into the kind-hearted Sixth Aunt. Sixth Aunt was, of course, surprised. “Xiu Yun, what are you doing? What’s wrong with the kids? Aren’t those Old Fang’s family’s children?”
Xu Xiuyun gave a bitter smile. “The children have heatstroke. I don’t really know what happened. Seems they washed too many clothes and didn’t get them clean. My younger sister got angry and made them stand as punishment. The sun was just too fierce, so they got heatstroke. I can’t chat now; I need to hurry and get them to the clinic.”
Sixth Aunt quickly reached out. “Let me carry one for you. With your slight frame carrying two kids, you might throw your back out.”
Xu Xiuyun hurriedly thanked her. Sixth Aunt waved her off. “No need for thanks. That Xu Ziyan is truly wicked. Making such young children wash clothes and then leaving them under the blazing sun. Isn’t that just tormenting them? You two are sisters from the same family; how can the gap be so big?”
Xu Xiuyun hung her head without a word, seeming ashamed of her cousin’s behavior. Sixth Aunt didn’t press further, but in her heart, she felt even more that Xu Xiuyun had good character, while Xu Ziyan was utterly terrible.
【Congratulations, Host, for completing the plot point: The children get heatstroke from standing in punishment and are taken to the clinic by the female lead, worsening the host’s reputation. Reward: 1 Skill Point.】
The house was small, and Xu Ziyan’s room was next to the elders’, so the distance was close enough for them to hear the inner thoughts. Hearing that Xu Ziyan’s reputation had worsened, they grew worried. What kind of plot was this? How did it end up harming her? Following this plot meant suffering losses themselves?
Then they heard Xu Ziyan shout in the yard, “Dad! Mom! Come out quick! The two kids are missing!”
The two elders were stunned. They looked at each other, then walked out in a daze. Didn’t Xu Ziyan tell the kids to go to the clinic? Why was she saying they were missing? Where were they missing from?
Xu Ziyan was already knocking on the neighbor’s door. “Auntie, have you seen my two boys? They were playing outside just a moment ago, and they vanished in the blink of an eye.”
The neighbor aunt came out, puzzled. “Haven’t seen them. I just woke up. Did they go play somewhere else? Kids run around all the time; why are you so anxious?”
Xu Ziyan said urgently, “Impossible. I said I was going back inside to find them some candy. It was only a short while. How could they possibly run off?”
That was true. If children heard there was candy, they’d definitely guard the door waiting, not go play elsewhere. Now the two elders understood. Although they felt a bit hesitant, feeling like this was scheming against Xu Xiuyun, remembering the inner thoughts they’d overheard, they gritted their teeth and chose to trust the Great Immortal in their house. They hurriedly put on anxious expressions to cooperate. “Sister-in-law, please help us look. Could an outsider have come into the village? Could someone have taken the children?”
Their commotion drew more people out. In no time, everyone nearby knew that Old Fang’s family’s two children were missing!
Their first suspicion fell on Xu Ziyan. After all, Fang Lihai had recognized his elder brother’s sons as his own, making the young Xu Ziyan a stepmother. She had never treated the two boys well. But upon hearing that the children were just playing at the door, Xu Ziyan went inside to find candy, and then the kids went missing—with the two elders testifying that it was truly a matter of minutes—everyone felt something was off. Could a child snatcher have entered the village to steal kids?
This was a major incident. Xu Ziyan said fearfully, “If the children are really lost, how will I explain it to Fang Lihai? He’ll skin me alive! No, I have to tell the village chief!”
Watching Xu Ziyan’s retreating back as she ran off, the two elders fell silent for a moment, thinking to themselves that the Great Immortal acted quite well. Though their second son had a decent temper; he wouldn’t actually do something like skinning anyone.
The village chief, after hearing Xu Ziyan’s account, hurriedly gathered a bunch of people to help search. Xu Ziyan’s parents, hearing the news, also rushed over to help.
Everyone split into several groups, searching the village entrance, the mountains, the riverbank—all the dangerous places. But they couldn’t find anyone.
Just then, Sixth Aunt walked over. Seeing so many people, she was startled. “Village Chief, what’s going on?”
The village chief said, “Old Fang’s family’s two children are missing. We’re searching for them.”
Sixth Aunt was even more shocked. “Which Old Fang family?” She saw Xu Ziyan and Fang Father and Fang Mother and ventured, “Battalion Commander Fang’s children? They’re not missing. They got heatstroke after Xu Ziyan punished them. Xu Xiuyun took the children to the clinic. I ran into them halfway and just helped carry them there!”
Xu Ziyan’s face turned cold. “What did you say? Xu Xiuyun carried my two children off?”
Sixth Aunt emphasized, “Not ‘carried off’—she saved the children! If you hadn’t made the children wash clothes and stand in punishment, would they have gotten heatstroke? Not to criticize you, but you’re a grown woman. If you’re going to be a mother, do it properly. Don’t torment the children.”
Xu Ziyan snorted coldly. “Did you personally see me torment them? Or did Xu Xiuyun tell you that? You believe everything she says? Since we were little, she’s never said a single good word about me! I did make the children do chores. Don’t children in your family do chores? I did make them stand in punishment. But after a while, I told them to go play by the door while I went back inside to find them candy. My parents saw it all.”
Fang Father and Fang Mother braced themselves and nodded, confirming that what Xu Ziyan said was true.
Xu Ziyan pressed on, “My children were perfectly fine. How could they possibly have heatstroke? Who said they had heatstroke?”
“This…” Sixth Aunt faltered, looking at the village chief, then at Fang Father and Fang Mother. “The doctor said he didn’t see any signs of heatstroke…”
“I knew it! Xu Xiuyun can’t stand to see me doing well! I’m going to confront her!” Xu Ziyan stormed off toward the clinic with fierce determination. The others quickly followed.