Chapter 397 Consultation

Chapter 397 The Consultation

Wang Zhi, Lu Jie’s mom, immediately responded when Lu Hanchuan asked.

"The wife of the eldest son has always eaten in the kitchen. She’s got other chores."

Had Lu Hanchuan not mentioned it, Old Mrs. Lu and Old Mr. Lu wouldn’t have noticed. After all, they didn’t know the household well.

Old Mr. Lu remembered Lu Jiang had just married.

"Don’t put the girl to work at mealtime. It’s better for the whole family to eat together!"

Old Mrs. Lu added, "She shouldn’t stay in the kitchen every day. Have her join us."

It wasn’t until the elders spoke that Uncle Gui asked Lu Jiang to call his wife over.

Ye Xiaoxiao got her first proper look at the eldest daughter-in-law.

She was very thin and eerily quiet. She’d likely changed into clean clothes, looking cleaner than the quick glance Ye Xiaoxiao had caught earlier.

After sitting down, the woman remained silent, managing a faint smile at everyone.

Her smile was tight.

Old Mr. Lu thought the girl seemed off. Though the Lu family back home wasn’t exactly thriving, he’d helped out over the years, so they got by alright.

Lu Jiang’s wife was awfully quiet. Old Mr. Lu tried making small talk, but her replies were curt, like she couldn’t be bothered. He soon gave up.

Even at the table, the woman stayed silent, pushing the rice around her bowl without touching the dishes.

Ye Xiaoxiao elbowed Lu Hanchuan.

He asked Auntie Gui, "You mentioned yesterday she wasn’t feeling well. Does she need a doctor?"

"No, no," Auntie said. "Just a poor appetite."

Lu Hanchuan relayed this, but Ye Xiaoxiao knew she was lying.

The atmosphere had turned strange when the woman appeared.

After the meal, the daughter-in-law cleared the table. While others chatted with the elders, Ye Xiaoxiao slipped away to the kitchen.

"Hello."

This time she didn’t startle the woman, but got barely any reaction.

"Why are you here? If my mother-in-law sees you, she’ll get angry again."

At least Ye Xiaoxiao could understand her now.

"Why? Seems your relationship with them isn’t great."

The woman stayed silent, silently admitting it.

"Are they treating you badly here?"

Ye Xiaoxiao just felt the other woman's gaze was too vacant. As someone studying medicine, she was also quite sensitive to people's psychological states.

She had a strong feeling that the sister-in-law was someone who had completely lost hope in life.

This was very dangerous—there was no telling when she might do something drastic.

If Ye Xiaoxiao hadn’t noticed, she could have turned a blind eye. But now that she had, she felt she had to ask.

However, the sister-in-law was unwilling to talk. "There’s nothing unfair. That’s how all the wives here live. Since I couldn’t bear a child, getting to stay in this family is already good enough."

"But... didn’t you just get married?"

Not being pregnant yet was normal—it takes time, right?

The sister-in-law knew Ye Xiaoxiao had the wrong idea.

"I was pregnant before, but I had a miscarriage."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "..."

"They probably see me as cursed..."

"Because of that, you have to do the hardest work and eat the least?"

Ye Xiaoxiao thought it was messed up.

She wanted to say more, but Lu Jie came out of the house looking for her.

"Xiao Xiao, why are you with my elder sister-in-law? The kitchen’s gross—let’s get out of here."

Facing the two sisters-in-law, Lu Jie had different attitudes. Her elder sister-in-law used to be quite pretty, but now, you’d never guess she was educated.

As for Xiao Xiao, she had a gentle voice, was beautiful, with fair skin and a tall frame—obviously from the city.

Her presence in the kitchen looked totally out of place.

The sister-in-law lowered her head again. Before leaving, Ye Xiaoxiao said to her, "If you ever want a checkup, come find me. I’m a doctor."

Not knowing what the other woman was thinking, Ye Xiaoxiao tentatively offered help.

Though the sister-in-law didn’t respond, she froze mid-scrub.

That night, after returning home, Ye Xiaoxiao vented to Lu Hanchuan that Lu Jiang was awful to his wife.

Lu Hanchuan barely knew this cousin, so he had no idea what kind of person he was.

Lu Hanchuan hugged Xiao Xiao. "Don’t worry, our family definitely doesn’t have a tradition of mistreating wives."

Ye Xiaoxiao gave him a look.

"But this isn’t something we can interfere with easily. If the sister-in-law herself has no intention of changing, butting in could wreck their marriage and get us hated by everyone."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "Of course I know that. That’s why I just said she could reach out to me if she wanted medical help.

She had a miscarriage before and never bounced back, which is why she’s so skinny and pale as a ghost now."

As for children, unless she’s infertile, she could be pregnant again with the right care.

Lu Hanchuan figured he’d wait and see, though he could drop a word to Lu Jiang.

Here's the edited translation incorporating the expert suggestions:

But to suddenly tell him, "You should be better to your wife," would be really strange.

It might even have the opposite effect.

Because of this, Ye Xiaoxiao wasn't thrilled about going to Lu Jie's house for dinner.

Fortunately, they would be leaving soon—at most, two more days.

That same afternoon after Ye Xiaoxiao spoke with her sister-in-law, while no one was in the old house, Zhang Manqiu came to visit.

As if afraid of being seen, she had bundled up completely.

Grandma Lu was very surprised when she saw her arrive.

This girl, who had barely spoken a few words in the past two days, had actually come to their house.

"Manqiu, did your mother-in-law send you here?" Grandma Lu asked.

Zhang Manqiu shook her head. "I wanted your daughter-in-law to check on my health."

Grandma Lu: "Oh, I see. Xiao Xiao's napping. I'll check if she's awake."

Ye Xiaoxiao had nothing better to do, so she had been napping in her room.

By the time Grandma Lu knocked, she was already awake and brushing her hair.

Hearing that Zhang Manqiu had come, Ye Xiaoxiao put down the comb and went out.

Grandma Lu: "Xiao Xiao, give her a thorough check-up. I think she must have a lot of health problems—look how thin she is, just skin and bones."

Of course, this was said out of earshot, and Grandma Lu meant well.

"I know, Grandma."

Ye Xiaoxiao went downstairs and took Zhang Manqiu's pulse first to assess her condition.

"Your body is very weak. Since your miscarriage, you never fully recovered. If this continues, it'll be very hard for you to get pregnant again."

Hearing this, a spark finally appeared in Zhang Manqiu's dull eyes.

Without a child, she genuinely feared being abandoned.

"Then what should I..."

Ye Xiaoxiao wrote out a prescription. "If you start taking proper care of yourself now, you can still recover."