By transmigrating into this body, Xu Duoduo had already changed the original novel’s ending where Xu Duoduo was pushed by Xu Sanyou, struck her head, and died.
According to the timeline, in another six months, the female lead Lin Weiwei would marry into the family. They had to end all ties with the Xu family as soon as possible and change the tragic fate awaiting Xu Ergen’s family.
Her head hurt terribly, but Xu Duoduo chose to only take some painkillers from the storage space to ease the pain for now. Tomorrow, after going to the hospital, she could use crystal stones to heal the injury properly. If she recovered too quickly, she wouldn’t be able to use the injury as leverage anymore.
“Making your mother-in-law serve you breakfast? How shameless can you be? Any family unlucky enough to have such a lazy daughter-in-law must’ve suffered eight lifetimes of bad luck! Have your consciences been eaten by dogs? What’s the point of keeping useless troublemakers like you around?” The sharp shouting woke Xu Duoduo, who didn’t know when she had fallen asleep again.
“Oh no, I overslept!” Zhou Rong jumped up to start cooking.
Xu Bu beside her hurriedly got up as well.
“Mom, big sister, don’t go. Did you forget what we discussed last night? Today all we need to do is cry — cry as hard as possible.” Xu Duoduo quickly grabbed Zhou Rong and Xu Bu before they could leave.
Cook what? Everyone should just cry together. The crying child gets the milk.
“Little sister, while crying, keep shouting that Sanyou pushed me, that Sanyou is a murderer. And say that Eryou dragged Sanyou away.” Seeing Xu Ting sit up on the kang bed after being woken, Xu Duoduo immediately assigned her a crying role too.
“Oh heavens! My poor child! Somebody come look! My daughter’s been murdered!” Zhou Rong rushed to the doorway, pushed the door open, sat on the threshold, and burst into loud sobs.
“It was Sanyou who pushed my second sister! Brother Eryou even dragged Brother Sanyou away and ignored my second sister!”
“My poor little sister! Sanyou’s a murderer!” Xu Bu and Xu Ting also ran over and sat beside Zhou Rong at the doorway, crying and shouting along with her.
The wailing of the three females instantly stunned Old Madam Xu. It also dragged Chen Hehua, the eldest daughter-in-law, out of bed where she had been pretending to sleep.
Normally, she ignored how her four sons bullied the three girls from the second branch of the family. But this time, Sanyou had pushed Duoduo hard enough for her to smash her head, and the girl had been unconscious for two whole days. If someone actually died, things would become troublesome.
“Why are you crying like someone died this early in the morning? Duoduo… is she gone?” Old Madam Xu asked, bewildered, her voice trembling slightly. Hadn’t Duoduo woken up last night? How could she be dead this morning?
“Mother, after Duoduo woke up last night, this morning her body’s already gone cold. She’s hanging onto just one last breath.” Zhou Rong cried even harder. She blamed herself for being incapable and letting her daughter suffer.
“Mother, could it be that Duoduo waking up last night was just a final burst before death?” Chen Hehua whispered into Old Madam Xu’s ear.
“She absolutely can’t die at home! If she dies here, the neighbors will definitely say we’re cruel. Then the boys in the family won’t be able to find wives later!”
“She still has one breath left, doesn’t she? Here, take two yuan and hurry up and bring Duoduo to the hospital,” Old Madam Xu said, agreeing with Chen Hehua.
Better to move the dying girl elsewhere quickly. If she died at the hospital, they could just say the doctors failed to save her. They absolutely couldn’t let this affect their grandsons’ future marriages.
“Mother, how can two yuan be enough? Give us five yuan. We’ll take Duoduo to the hospital right away. If there’s any left over, I’ll definitely bring it back.” Zhou Rong knelt at Old Madam Xu’s feet.
“You people never stop causing trouble. Fine, fine! Hurry up and take that cursed girl away!” Old Madam Xu untied her waistband and pulled out a filthy little black handkerchief hidden in an inner pocket. Carefully unfolding it, she took out five yuan and threw it at Zhou Rong before turning and heading back into the main room.
“Eldest daughter-in-law, come get the grain and cook.” She certainly wasn’t about to let Duoduo’s situation stop her from eating breakfast.
Zhou Rong picked up the five yuan and hurried back into the room.
Inside, everyone was already fully dressed.
“Dad, carry me. Let’s go to the hospital.”
“Little sister, when Eldest Aunt and the others chase after us, once there’s nobody left in the room, sneak in and steal one of Sanyou’s shoes and hide it. Make sure you hide it well.” Lying on Xu Ergen’s back, Xu Duoduo quietly instructed Xu Ting.
Those four pigs slept so deeply that even thunder wouldn’t wake them right now.
“Don’t worry, second sister! I’ll hide it well. They definitely won’t find it!” Xu Ting patted her chest confidently.
“Well then, Dad, Mom… are you ready? Our performance is about to begin.” Xu Duoduo closed her eyes on Xu Ergen’s back.
“My poor daughter! Someone’s trying to kill you! You have to hold on!”
“Wuuuu… Second sister, don’t die! Sanyou’s a murderer! I’m going to plaster big-character posters everywhere exposing him!” Xu Bu cried and shouted at the same time.
This was bad. If they kept yelling like this, everyone would know Sanyou had injured Duoduo. If things escalated, Sanyou might actually get arrested.
Hearing the crying outside the front gate, Chen Hehua quickly dragged Old Madam Xu after them.
Xu Ergen deliberately walked slowly with Xu Duoduo on his back while Zhou Rong supported her from the side, crying as she walked. Xu Bu’s role was simply to cry and shout accusations.
By the time Chen Hehua and Old Madam Xu caught up, the surrounding area was already packed with curious neighbors watching the commotion.
Trying to stop Zhou Rong and Xu Bu from talking was already too late.
“Don’t talk nonsense! What does this have to do with our Sanyou? Sister-in-law, don’t make false accusations!” Chen Hehua hurriedly argued.
“It really was Brother Sanyou! I saw him push second sister! She hit her head and bled so much. Then Brother Eryou dragged Brother Sanyou back to their room without even caring about second sister!” Xu Ting shouted.
Great. Before Sanyou had cleared himself, Eryou got dragged into it too.
“There was so much blood! Second sister was unconscious for two whole days. Sanyou’s a murderer!” Xu Bu cried toward the neighbors.
“These past two days, Sanyou’s been hiding in his room and refusing to come out. He’s guilty!” Xu Bu knew Sanyou well. If he hadn’t done something wrong, would he really stay cooped up inside for two days straight?
“Hmph! Just because you flap your lips doesn’t make it true that our Sanyou did it! What evidence do you have? Just because you say he pushed her means he did? I could just as easily say Duoduo fell by herself! Don’t pin this crap on our Sanyou!” Chen Hehua shouted with her hands on her hips.
“Mmm… my head hurts so much…” Xu Duoduo pretended to wake up right then.
“Dad… Mom… my head hurts so badly! Sanyou tried to steal my egg and pushed me into the corner of the table. It hurts so much… Am I going to die?” Xu “White Lotus” Duoduo officially entered the stage.
“I’m telling you, eldest daughter-in-law, your Sanyou really is something awful,” said Auntie Wu next door, unable to stand it anymore. “He injured Duoduo this badly and just ignored her afterward. He’s already fifteen, right? That boy’s vicious.”
“Didn’t I just say it wasn’t Sanyou? You people believe whatever nonsense a few girls say?” Old Madam Xu snapped at the neighbors.
“Dad, Mom, I want some water. Let’s go home first. I have evidence proving Sanyou pushed me. Let’s report it to the police. If I die, Sanyou should pay with his life.” Xu Duoduo had heard Xu Ting shouting earlier and knew the shoe had already been hidden successfully.
“Come on, we’ll go back with you and look at the evidence. That brat Sanyou spends all day causing trouble. Now he’s injured you like this — he ought to be locked up behind bars,” said Uncle Liu, one of the neighbors.
“You can’t say things like that! My dear Duoduo, if you do this, how’s your cousin Sanyou supposed to live?” If one person in the family became a murderer, it would affect all the brothers.
“Oh my, Duoduo’s awake! With injuries this serious, she should still go to the hospital. How can she go back home now? Second brother, hurry and carry Duoduo to the hospital!” Chen Hehua quickly changed tactics. First get the second branch to the hospital, then go home and look for the supposed evidence.
“That’s right. Second son, go to the hospital. Even though Duoduo woke up, she still needs to be examined properly,” Old Madam Xu immediately understood Chen Hehua’s meaning.
She urged Xu Ergen to hurry to the hospital with Duoduo.
“Dad… my head hurts… I feel awful.” Seeing Uncle Liu volunteer to help as a witness, Xu Duoduo followed Old Madam Xu’s suggestion and prepared to head to the hospital.
The whole morning’s dramatic performance had been staged specifically to draw Uncle Liu out.
Uncle Liu was upright, warmhearted, and loved standing up for justice. Most importantly, his son worked as a police officer.
Seeing that Duoduo was awake and conscious, the neighbors gradually dispersed as Xu Ergen headed toward the hospital. After all, everyone still had to eat breakfast and rush to work. Being late meant deductions from their wages.