"A hundred million! Even if all your organs were sold, they wouldn't be worth that much. Yet you're not happy to marry into a wealthy family and become a wealthy daughter-in-law?" Zhang Cuihua hit the fire poker, making a clanging sound.
"Ye Xiaoxi, if it wasn't for your father and I buying you back, you would have been sold to some poor farmer in a remote mountain area as a baby-making machine by human traffickers. Don't you know what gratitude is?"
"Mom, a hundred million was for buying Ye Qing Qing." Ye Xiaoxi had been locked in the damp storeroom for three days and three nights. She was feverish, but her rational thinking was clear, "You want me to replace your own daughter and marry a vegetative man. Aren't you afraid that the truth will come out and the wealthy family will hold us accountable?"
"Accountable? Accountability for what!" Zhang Cuihua twisted her ear. "The people sent by the Yu family said they want a girl from the Ye family..."
She slowed down, "If you don't say anything and I don't say anything, who would know that the secret lover of the young master Yu is Qing Qing? Now that Yu Mingxing is a vegetative man, will he resurrect and expose you?"
"Yu... Mingxing?" Ye Xiaoxi's burning brain suddenly cleared up, she overturned Zhang Cuihua to the ground and grabbed her hand, "Are you saying that the Yu family sent someone to marry a wife for Yu Mingxing?"
"Ah!" Zhang Cuihua screamed in pain, shocked by the fierce heat in the girl's eyes and shouted for help.
The next moment, Ye Qing Qing rushed in anxiously, hurriedly pulled Ye Xiaoxi away, her delicate makeup couldn't hide the contempt and anger in her eyes, "Ye Xiaoxi, have you gone mad? You dare to hit mom?"
Ye Xiaoxi looked coldly at the fashionable girl, pressing her against the wall with a great force: "Did Yu Mingxing have a relationship with you? When?"
"What do you... what are you doing? Let me go." Ye Qing Qing struggled in vain, as she had bullied Ye Xiaoxi so often, but she couldn't break free now. How did this woman suddenly become so strong?
All the times, she just stood there and took it, right?
"So what if I had a relationship with Yu Mingxing? He was never sincere to me. Back then, he was rich and powerful, and he said he hid my identity to protect me..." Ye Qing Qing sneered.
"Now that he has become a vegetative person, he's useless... and the Yu family has the nerve to let me marry and be his caretaker. Why should I?"
Ye Xiaoxi's head was spinning, and she couldn't hear Qing Qing's complaints clearly. Her mind was filled with images of two children curled up in a big fire.
She had just found out that the boy in the fire was the eldest young master of the Yu family. She didn't have a chance to see him and ask if he remembered her, if he remembered their promise all those years ago...
He couldn't answer anymore!
"I'll marry!" Ye Xiaoxi interrupted Ye Qing Qing's incessant chatter, "I'll marry on your behalf and be a nanny, but remember this…"
She looked at the overjoyed Ye Qing Qing and her mother, "With this one billion, I've repaid all the debts I owe you for raising me! From now on, I have nothing to do with you."
"You unfilial daughter…" Zhang Cuihua wanted to object, but Ye Qing Qing's mind was filled with the thought of one billion, "Do you really think you're a precious golden lump? With this one billion, I'll be a big star right away. I should be the one cutting ties with you!"
She mocked, "Congratulations, Mrs. Yu!"
Ye Xiaoxi glared at the greedy mother and daughter with a blank expression, "Those who persist in evil will only bring about their own destruction. Seek blessings on your own."
With her secretly acquired skills over the years, she could have left this deformed and indifferent family two years ago…
But firstly, as a means to avoid suspicion, a village girl's identity wouldn't attract much attention; secondly, this land was where she first met Yu Mingxing, and she always wanted to wait a bit more…
Now, there was no need.
...
Three days later, Ye Xiaoxi stood in the study of the Yu mansion.
The old master of the Yu family glanced at the girl dressed in a floral cloth and pants. Her homespun attire was out of place in the grand and luxurious Yu mansion, but her calm and composed demeanor couldn't be hidden by her coarse clothes.
"I won't ask about your secret relationship with Ah Ming. Now that he has become like this…" The old master adjusted his reading glasses, his eyes filled with pain, "Even if it's for one billion, I appreciate your willingness to marry into our family."
He composed himself and resumed his authoritative manner, "I've already had the marriage certificate prepared. From today onward, you'll be known as the Young Mistress of the Yu family. The responsibility of taking care of both Ah Ming and everyone in the Yu mansion falls on your shoulders."
The young girl wore a simple high ponytail, and her natural beauty could not be concealed by her plain appearance. Even as a village girl from the countryside, she faced the powerful with neither arrogance nor humility, "I'll take good care of my husband, don't worry."
The Yumin Mansion was the residence of Yu Mingxing. The old master was accustomed to living in the old house, and after chatting, he left with his entourage.
Housekeeper Zhou led Ye Xiaoxi to a separate small building: "The young master is in the convalescent room. He has a dedicated medical team and nutrition team, and undergoes regular check-ups every day."
He opened the door, looked at the young mistress with a strong rural atmosphere, and said without changing his expression: "But from now on, I'll have to trouble the young mistress to follow the doctor's instructions, massaging and washing on time..."
Listening to what seemed like chores fit for a maid, the few people serving inside couldn't help but cast malicious and mocking smiles at this village woman, showing no respect at all.
Housekeeper Zhou noticed but said nothing.
Ye Xiaoxi glanced at them indifferently: "As a wife, it is only natural to take care of her husband... When I'm here, these people won't need to come in in the future."
Her eyes fell on the young man in bed, and a passionate light surged in her cold eyes.
The man's features were exquisitely unparalleled, angular and distinct. Due to his long-term illness, his skin had a faint pale white hue. He was wearing a black satin pajama, which accentuated his cold aura and obvious sickly appearance.
The familiar brows and eyes from his youth were faintly visible, causing Ye Xiaoxi's eyes to unconsciously soften.
What was infuriating was that on his porcelain-white chest, there was a wandering hand.
Ye Xiaoxi strode forward, grabbed the hand of one of the female caretakers, and closed the man's open collar. "I am the jealous type, and I don't like other women touching my husband's body."
Housekeeper Zhou looked at her unexpectedly, not expecting her ability to adapt to be so strong. Was she already in character? She really didn't mind her husband turning into a vegetable?
"I'm just providing a normal massage. You're just a country bumpkin! What do you know?" The female caretaker's face turned red in an instant as she tried to push Ye Xiaoxi away. "You have dirty thoughts and are vulgar."
Ye Xiaoxi grabbed her hands behind her back and threw her out like a sandbag. She ordered the bodyguards at the door, "This lustful woman wants my husband's body. Dock her salary and throw her out!"
She sneered, "Never to be hired!"
"What qualifications do you have? I'm a professional nurse hired by the Yu family with a high salary..." The nurse yelled and cursed on the ground, losing all face, no doubt like a shrew.
The bodyguards looked at each other and turned to Butler Zhou: "What should we..."
Ye Xiaoxi took out a freshly printed red booklet: "Butler Zhou, Grandpa entrusted me with the entire Yu mansion. As the mistress, if I have no say in the matter, would this marriage certificate exist?"
"Don't be angry, Young Mistress. It's my fault for not managing these people properly." Butler Zhou finally looked squarely at the seemingly unremarkable country girl. Yet, in her, he seemed to see the past young master.
Cold and composed, planning everything meticulously...
"In the Yu mansion, you undoubtedly have the ultimate authority."
After hearing this, the bodyguards' expressions toward Ye Xiaoxi gained a touch of respect, and they escorted the nurse out, restoring silence to the recuperation room.
The Yu mansion was fully equipped with servants, from chefs and nutritionists to gardeners and florists, all readily available. Even if the male owner was in a coma, the household still functioned in an orderly manner under the butler's guidance.
Butler Zhou only left after giving detailed instructions on how to take care of the comatose man.
Although he might still worry, this lady was the mistress of the Yu mansion, and out of respect, he must consider the old master's wishes.
Ye Xiaoxi held her breath and gently caressed Yu Mingxing's delicate eyebrows and eyes. She didn't immerse herself in the elation of having her beloved right in front of her, but instead quickly took his pulse and checked his body.
As the heir of the richest Yu family, the news of Yu Mingxing becoming a vegetative person was kept secret. Outsiders didn't know why he was in a coma.
Ye Xiaoxi inspected him thoroughly and found no external injuries, so it must be due to medication.
But she looked at the medical records given by the old master. Even the top domestic medical team couldn't find the reason for the coma. It might not be a simple drug-related cause.
After pondering for a moment, Ye Xiaoxi took out a medicine box from her suitcase, removed a specially-made acupuncture set, and blushing, stripped Yu Mingxing of all his clothes.
"I'm not taking advantage of you, doctors don't differentiate between men and women."
The man's breath was long and gentle, his eyebrows and eyes handsome and compelling, and his body was slender and white. Lying there quietly, he seemed to be just asleep, but the sight still made Ye Xiaoxi flush with embarrassment.
Finally calming her breath, she began to focus on inserting the acupuncture needles and probing the acupoints, testing for poison.
These skills were the unique secret techniques of the divine doctor, Master Qi. In this world, only Ye Xiaoxi, his last disciple, knew these techniques besides the old man himself.
An hour later.
Cold sweat covered Ye Xiaoxi's forehead, and without wiping it off, she removed the silver needles from the man's chest one by one. The tips of the needles were all dyed a bit blue-black.
At first, it was not obvious, but the further the needles penetrated into the internal organs, the darker the color became.
"As expected, he's been poisoned." Ye Xiaoxi's face turned serious. It must be a new drug researched by some expert, one she hadn't seen before. The metabolism is very fast, so it's normal that ordinary medical methods can't detect it.
If she hadn't come along, the poison would have permeated further, and Yu Mingxing would never wake up.
It won't be easy to prepare an antidote, though.
With lingering fear, Ye Xiaoxi held Yu Mingxing's hand, looked at him for a long while, and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "What kind of fate is this? I've seen you twice, and saved you twice."
She raised her hand and pinched Yu Mingxing's nose, whispering in his ear: "When you wake up, don't forget to repay me with your body."
...
One year later.
Holding the pregnancy test result in her hand, Ye Xiaoxi walked briskly towards the Yu Mansion, eager to share the news with the still unconscious man.
She had successfully conceived!