Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The two children had started learning to read and even studied English from a very young age, so they naturally knew the contact was dad.

Wei Sixiang was about to call Yan Xue to answer the phone, but before he could, his brother’s hand suddenly covered his mouth.

Wei Siao whispered, “Don’t call her. We’ll answer it ourselves and tell dad what’s happening. When dad comes back, he’ll definitely deal with her.”

“But…” Wei Sixiang certainly listened to his brother, immediately silencing himself before asking in a hushed tone, “But what if she finds out? She’ll definitely hit us. Brother, can dad come back right away?”

Wei Siao didn’t know if their dad could come back immediately, but if they kept going like this, they would definitely be beaten senseless.

He didn’t even know if they could last until dad came back. Dad had told them to wait, and when he returned, he would take them home.

Besides, he’d wondered why that bad woman was being so nice to them today. She must have known dad was going to call.

It was probably just another one of her schemes to ask dad for money; that woman only ever cheated dad out of his money.

He’d seen her secretly take dad’s watch when they were still at home, though at the time he’d thought she wasn’t stealing it, but just taking it to wear for a couple of days because she liked it.

After a long hesitation, the phone stopped ringing at some point.

As the brothers wrestled with their thoughts, Yan Xue had already quickly finished washing the dishes and entered the room with a few pieces of firewood.

She was a little puzzled by the two children’s dodging expressions, but she quickly lit the stove. Even with such thick shoes, her feet felt cold from walking today. The two children would surely freeze if they stayed like this.

After a bit of a struggle, just as the stove was ready, the phone started ringing again.

As Yan Xue went to retrieve the phone, she found it tucked in the quilt behind the two children.

The two children’s expressions were clearly unnatural.

Her eyes flickered, but she said nothing, simply picking up the phone.

The sight made her hand tremble, and a chill ran down her spine.

The name Wei Heng lit up on the screen.

Yan Xue instantly sobered up. The book’s ending, where the vicious original Yan Xue was tortured by the male lead, Wei Heng, until her limbs were broken and she was thrown back into these mountains to rot to death, replayed in her mind.

She quickly pressed accept and said, a little anxiously, “Hello?”

“Hm, where’s Er Bao*?”

*Note: Wei Sixiang/Little Xiang

This was the first time Yan Xue had heard the male lead’s voice—clear yet deep, like the voice matched the person.

Yan Xue froze, her thoughts immediately snapped back to reality. If she handed the phone to the two children now, she would probably die a miserable death.

If she didn’t want to die, she could only threaten them into silence. That was a common method used by the Book Yan Xue, but Yan Xue didn’t want to use it.

She didn’t want to leave the two children with more trauma at such a critical moment, but she also didn’t want to die…

So, in a flash of lightning, she took the phone, quickly walked away, and replied, “The two children are doing well. They just finished eating and are watching TV right now.”

“It’s not a good time to talk?”

Wei Heng’s voice carried a hint of easily discernible fatigue, and a heavy sense of weariness. Even through the phone, it made Yan Xue feel a lingering pressure.

Now, having paced into the courtyard, Yan Xue shivered twice, chilled from the inside out.

“Oh, yes, they’re really enjoying what they’re watching. They haven’t seen their dad in so long; if they suddenly answer the phone, they’ll probably start crying for you again tonight, so let’s just not, okay?”

There was no immediate response from the other end.

In those short dozen seconds, Yan Xue’s heart turned cold. She felt like she’d already walked through a graveyard.

The book had mentioned that the original Yan Xue’s disguise in front of the male lead was that of a virtuous and gentle woman. Plus, she was attractive and very good at feigning innocence, deceiving the male lead for a long time.

It wasn’t until the male lead seized control of the Wei Family, and they were brought back from the countryside to the Wei Family, that the original Yan Xue’s past actions were exposed.

The main thing was that the original Yan Xue never expected the male lead to actually seize power, let alone that she had previously caused the male lead’s already ailing leg to become completely crippled. Although the male lead later got a prosthetic leg, it was never as good as his own.

The current her hadn’t yet caused the male lead to lose his leg, hadn’t had illicit affairs with other men in the village, and hadn’t caused Wei Sixiang to develop vertigo.

So, changing her ways now should still give her a chance to live…

“Yan Xue, you’d best think about how you’re going to live from now on.”

Beep, beep, beep.

The other person hung up after saying that, leaving Yan Xue bewildered in the courtyard.

Although the male lead and she had no affection, they hadn’t broken up yet, so he shouldn’t be so cold, right?

According to the book’s plot, the male lead currently didn’t know her true actions and felt guilty and grateful for “her” bringing up the two children alone in the village. So, whatever the original Yan Xue wanted, even if the male lead was in distress, he would try his best to fulfill her requests.

But this call felt… wrong.

Wei Heng’s last words sounded like an ultimatum, as if he already knew something.

After pondering for a long time, Yan Xue thought she might be overreacting. Perhaps Wei Heng’s tone was just like that?

Agreeing with her own thought, Yan Xue shivered and turned back into the room.

Just as she extended one foot into the room, something tripped her, and she couldn’t dodge in time.

Thump.

She hadn’t even entered the door before she fell flat on her face, landing directly on the cold concrete floor of the room. She didn’t need to look to know she looked disheveled. Her knees ached, but thankfully, her hands had caught her fall, preventing her face from scraping.

Yan Xue frowned and painfully looked up. She saw the two perpetrators sitting quietly on the bed.

Wei Siao and Wei Sixiang sat warily on the bed, feigning composure in a way that might fool children but certainly not an adult.

They were trying to pretend they hadn’t placed the stool there, but the small stool had clearly been next to the table when she went out to answer the phone.

It dawned on her that these two children were treating her like an idiot.

Yan Xue felt a pang of sadness. Not only had she transmigrated from her own world into the book’s world today, but she had also become such a villainous character. Fearful and anxious, she now had to face the cruel fate of the original Yan Xue.

She sighed internally, got up from the floor, dusted herself off, and sat on the small stool.

“You two—”

Before she could finish, the two children started shaking again, trembling like sieves.

“It has nothing to do with my brother. If you want to hit someone, hit me,” Wei Siao said, quickly jumping off the bed while trembling and kneeling by the table, feigning calmness.

Yan Xue’s heart skipped a beat. She remembered that in the book, Wei Siao grew up to be a ruthless, cold-faced villain who particularly hated having his pride challenged and could kill without batting an eye.

How could he be so slippery as to kneel before her, just because the original Yan Xue had beaten him so severely?

Seeing this, Wei Sixiang also quickly ran off the bed and knelt beside his brother, crying out to her, “Don’t hit big brother! I did it! Big brother’s leg injury isn’t healed yet, don’t hit him, please, Mom—”

“Little Xiang, don’t cry. Get up, it has nothing to do with you,” Wei Siao stubbornly pulled his brother.

“No, I don’t want to! Little Xiang wants to be with big brother!”