Zhou Jing'an, who was lying in the house, was quite surprised to hear the voices of the four little dumplings and Ning Huan in the yard.
He had initially thought that Zhou Lan had used the excuse of going to town to run away when she said she couldn't find Ning Huan.
But to everyone's surprise, she came back. Her voice grew louder as she approached, and soon Ning Huan and her four little ones entered the house.
The little ones rushed up to Zhou Jing'an excitedly and said, "Daddy, a doctor is here to treat you. You'll get better soon!"
Zhou Jing'an looked at Ning Huan behind the little ones. Although he knew that Ning Huan had gone to town to find a doctor for him, he just took it as an excuse for Ning Huan to go to town.
Surprisingly, she actually managed to find a doctor for herself.
Si Yan's carriage soon arrived at Zhou Jing'an's house, and Zhou Lan hurriedly welcomed him into Zhou Jing'an's house.
Ning Huan went to the kitchen to pour water and brought it to Si Yan and Zhou Jing'an. When she came back, she saw Si Yan taking Zhou Jing'an's pulse.
The village chief had also appeared on the side at some point, and many villagers were standing in the courtyard, peering into the house through the windows.
Si Yan frowned, then asked Zhou Jing'an, "Besides your injuries, is there anything else that's bothering you?"
Before Zhou Jing'an could speak, the village chief quickly interjected, "Oh, doctor, that's a very insightful question. Jing'an wasn't feeling well before the exam!"
As he spoke, he asked Zhou Jing'an, "Jing'an, you agree, right?"
Ning Huan said helplessly from the side, "Village Chief, let my husband say it himself."
Si Yan added, "Yes, I need to hear the patient describe his physical condition himself."
The village chief chuckled sheepishly, then scratched the back of his head somewhat embarrassedly, saying, "I was just being a little too concerned about Jing'an, hahaha, doctor, go ahead and ask, I won't say anything more..."
Zhou Jing'an explained his physical condition to Si Yan in detail, and it was the first time Ning Huan had ever learned about Zhou Jing'an's health.
In the original owner's memories, Zhou Jing'an's illness and injury were never taken seriously. It was as if he suddenly fell ill and was injured so severely that he couldn't even get out of bed.
In fact, Zhou Jing'an had always been very healthy because he had practiced martial arts with his grandfather, who had served as a guard in the palace, since he was a child. Therefore, he was not as weak as the average scholar.
Until the eve of the exam, whether it was due to studying too hard and overworking, or for some other reason, his health deteriorated.
At first, the villagers were worried that Zhou Jing'an's illness was serious and that he might not be able to take the exam.
But Zhou Jing'an still insisted on taking the exam. Although he didn't get a good ranking, everyone in the village thought it was because of his illness and that he would definitely win the next exam.
On the day the results were announced, Zhou Jing'an was robbed on his way back to the village. Not only did they steal his money, they also injured him.
Instead of finding a doctor to treat him, the Zhou family kicked him out, which only made his condition worse.
Ning Huan frowned. These were things that neither the original owner of this body cared about, nor even she, who knew the plot of the novel, understood.
As the story unfolds, it will soon reach the point where the original owner burned down the entire Zhou family. She has been hiding and has no idea what happened to Zhou Jing'an.
While Zhou Jing'an was seeing the doctor, Zhou Yan, who had just run away, went to a corner of the village.
No one noticed that she went to Niu Dadan's house in the village.
She knocked lightly on the door twice, and Niu Dadan, his voice slurred with drunkenness, called out impatiently, "Who is it! Stop knocking!"
He opened the door and was not surprised to find Zhou Yan there. Instead, he was happy and went to hug her, saying, "Who do we have here? It's Yan Niang!"
Zhou Yan slapped Niu Dadan across the face, instantly sobering him up considerably. She looked around and, finding no one watching, hurriedly went inside.
As soon as she entered, she smelled the unpleasant stench of alcohol in the room. She fanned the air in front of her nose in disgust: "You should drink less alcohol. You smell terrible. How can you treat people like this?"
Niu Dadan covered the half of his face that she had just slapped, not angry at all, and just chuckled憨憨地, "Okay, whatever you say!"
He smiled and leaned in to hug Zhou Yan: "Yan'er, I'll do whatever you say. So when will you let me come to your house to propose marriage?"
Zhou Yan pushed him away in disgust:
"How are you going to propose to me now? We originally agreed that you would seduce Ning Huan and make her run away with you. Then you would take the opportunity to get rid of her, and after my third brother died, I would take his assets. Only when we had a family fortune could we get married."
"Otherwise, how will you support me?"
She reached out and poked Niu Dadan's forehead with her finger, and Niu Dadan grabbed her hand and gently stroked it:
"Yan Niang, don't be angry. How was I supposed to know that Ning Huan, that bitch, was different from what we agreed on before?"
"And even after the truth came out, she wasn't afraid at all; she even came up with a way to mess with me. I've been completely fooled by this bitch!"
It turns out that Zhou Yan had always been eyeing Zhou Jing'an's money; he could earn quite a bit by occasionally selling calligraphy and paintings while studying at the academy.
Moreover, before the old master of the Zhou family passed away, he left several large boxes for him, saying that they would be given to Zhou Jing'an only after he passed the imperial examinations.
No one knew what was inside, but Zhou Yan believed it must be the dowry money her grandfather had been saving for Zhou Jing'an's future marriage.
She was just jealous before, but ever since Zhou Jing'an fell seriously ill, she has started to covet his things.
If her younger brother were to die, her older sister and grandmother would definitely not give her these things.
The eldest brother and sister-in-law are already married and can earn money to support their families.
Since she only has one unmarried daughter, she definitely needs to keep the money for her dowry.
In this way, Zhou Yan plotted to frame Ning Huan, having Niu Dadan deliberately approach her. Once discovered, Ning Huan would be punished by her parents and the village chief according to clan rules and family laws. Even if she escaped being drowned in a pig cage, she would definitely be driven away.
After Zhou Jing'an dies, all the money will be hers.
As for Niu Dadan, Zhou Yan sneered inwardly, knowing she had been lying to him. How dare a good-for-nothing village scoundrel like him dream of marrying her?
Don't you even look at yourself? Bah!
Although she felt contempt in her heart, she put on a wronged expression and deliberately showed the red mark on her face to Niu Dadan.
"Yan Niang, what happened to your face? Who hit you?"
Zhou Yan sobbed, feeling wronged, "It was my older sister who hit me. It's all that bitch Ning Huan's fault. I don't know how she bewitched my older sister, but lately my sister has been protecting her!"
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