“Are you brainless?” Li Hua was pulled back to her senses by her eldest daughter-in-law’s shouting and rolled her eyes at her. “What thief steals things and kidnaps people at the same time? Even if human traffickers came, they wouldn’t want the three of them—they’re nothing but dead weight.”
“Then, if it wasn’t a thief, where did they go? How could three people just disappear for no reason?”
Wang Xiujuan heard the commotion from the kitchen and casually wiped her hands on her apron. She still had no idea what had happened.
These two daughters-in-law of hers were both idiots. She really didn’t know how her sons had ended up marrying such foolish women!
Li Hua’s wrinkled face twisted with anger, and she nearly ground her back teeth to pieces.
She had been wondering why things had seemed so strange yesterday.
“What thief or no thief? Are your brains made of straw sandals, full of holes? The things that disappeared from the house were definitely stolen by that slut Su Yuanyuan! I knew it—she’s been getting bold lately! She probably hooked up with some other man a long time ago and ran off with him!”
Whether Su Yuanyuan had run away with another man wasn’t what Li Hua cared about.
What she cared about was the money that had disappeared from the house!
And her dowry!
“She cleaned out the whole house, then ran away with the children and some wild man today! Shameless slut! She even stole my dowry!”
Li Hua’s heart was practically bleeding.
Even during the hardest years the Old Lu family had gone through, she had never been willing to touch that dowry.
Back when she married into the Lu family, she had sold almost everything that came with her dowry. The only thing she had kept was that mother-of-pearl inlaid box.
She had never expected that Su Yuanyuan, that shameless woman, would steal it!
Only after hearing Li Hua’s accusations did everyone else finally realize what had happened.
That was right!
The family had only been robbed yesterday, and today the mother and her two children had all disappeared. The room had also been cleaned out so thoroughly that it was practically empty.
They were the thieves!
“Damn her! I knew she wasn’t honest. She pretended to be sick every day just because she wanted to be lazy. And you were actually fooled by her, afraid that if she died, Third Son would come back and cause trouble. Look at what happened now! She robbed the entire family and ran off with some wild man!”
Wang Xiujuan had always hated Su Yuanyuan’s sickly, delicate appearance. Especially the way her own husband looked at Su Yuanyuan.
Almost every day, Wang Xiujuan secretly cursed Su Yuanyuan, wishing that she would just stop breathing one day and die of her illness.
“What a disaster! She’s nothing but trouble! Why are you still standing around? Go find them! Do you think they’ll magically come back if you just stand here?”
Old Lu came out with his clothes thrown over him. When he saw that the room had been completely emptied, he nearly collapsed from anger.
Normally, his third daughter-in-law looked timid and submissive. He really hadn’t expected her to have the guts to steal from the family.
They had simply been too good to her before!
Old Lu stomped his feet furiously.
The New Year was only a few months away, and Su Yuanyuan had caused such a mess. What terrible luck!
Everyone hurried back to their rooms to get dressed, preparing to go out and search for them.
“That murderous slut! If I catch her, I’ll break her legs! I said from the moment she married into this family that she didn’t look like a good person!”
Li Hua continued cursing as she got dressed.
The commotion at the Old Lu family hadn’t stopped for the past two days. The neighbors had just gotten up and, hearing the noise, gathered around to see what was happening.
There wasn’t much entertainment in the countryside. Apart from working in the fields, there was usually nothing else to do.
Whenever something interesting happened at someone else’s house, everyone naturally felt curious and wanted to come over and see.
The wall around the Old Lu family’s courtyard wasn’t very high. By standing on a stone block, one could easily see over it.
The whole family was cursing someone, while the crooked door of the shabby room where Su Yuanyuan had lived hung to one side.
Whenever the wind blew, it swung back and forth.
There was no one inside.
Not only was there no one—there wasn’t a single thing left either.
“What happened? Did the Old Lu family drive their third daughter-in-law and the two children out?”
The neighbors were surprised by the sight.
Normally, the Old Lu family treated their third daughter-in-law terribly.
Could it be that after the family had been robbed and had nothing left to eat, they had simply driven the mother and children out?
That was certainly something the Old Lu family could do.
“If you ask me, the Old Lu family is really heartless. Third Daughter-in-law may be in poor health, and she has two children to take care of. It’s understandable if they’re unhappy about having to support her. But didn’t they take the children’s father’s wages? What else is there to complain about?”
The neighbors had heard some of the arguments in the past.
The children’s father, Lu Zheng’an, sent eighty yuan home every month, and he sent even more during holidays. Yet only ten or twenty yuan ever reached the hands of the mother and children.
They took all the money, but they didn’t even treat the mother and children decently.
At the very least, they should have given them enough food to eat.
Everyone in the village had to work hard to survive. Normally, no one had extra hands to spare. But when they saw the two children, so skinny yet looking at them with bright eyes and asking if there was any work they could do, their hearts softened.
They would give the children a little work and then pay them a few coins.
Everyone had their own hardships. That was about all the villagers could do to help the mother and children.
Li Hua came outside after getting dressed. She had barely slipped her feet into her worn cloth shoes when she heard what the neighbors were saying.
She planted her hands on her hips and began shouting:
“You gossiping troublemakers! What kind of nonsense are you spreading? That slut Su Yuanyuan cleaned out our entire house! She took the children and ran away with some wild man last night!”
She kicked the door open and pointed into the completely empty room.
“Look! All of you, look! She took everything! She even took the washbasin! Damn that woman! She’s nothing but a debt-collecting demon!”
As Li Hua cursed, she began wiping away tears.
Just thinking about everything that had disappeared from the house made her heart ache terribly.
The neighbors who had originally come to watch the excitement exchanged shocked looks.
But they weren’t fools.
After being stunned for a moment, they secretly rolled their eyes.
“Auntie, you can’t say things like that. You know what Third Daughter-in-law is like physically. And the two children are still so young. How could they possibly steal everything from your house without making a single sound?”
Once Auntie Zhang said this, the other neighbors began agreeing with her.
“Exactly. The mother and two children are all gone. Who knows whether they were kidnapped by human traffickers? Instead of hurrying to find them, you’re putting all the blame on the three of them. That’s really heartless.”
“Everyone in the village knows that the mother and children aren’t favored in that household. They can barely get enough food to eat. How would they even know where the money and dowry were hidden? Even if they’ve disappeared, you can’t just make things up and smear them like this.”
Several neighbors spoke up for Su Yuanyuan.
Afterward, they all felt that Su Yuanyuan was truly pitiful.
Her husband had been away serving in the military for years and hadn’t had time to return. At least he sent money home every month, which was a good thing.
But Su Yuanyuan was only one woman raising two children. She couldn’t possibly stand up against the whole family, while her parents-in-law kept such a tight grip on the money.
Her sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law weren’t decent people either.
It was truly miserable.
“Bullshit! What do you people know? Don’t you have anything better to do at home? Standing around someone else’s house gossiping about their business! Go, go, go! Hurry up and leave!”
Li Hua grabbed a broom and began chasing the neighbors away.
The people gathered at the doorway rolled their eyes and dispersed.
Li Hua threw the broom onto the ground, sending up a cloud of dust, then shouted at her eldest son:
“Oldest! You go to the county immediately. Go to the post office and write to Third Son. Tell him that his wife stole all the money and food from the family and ran away with another man!”
It was actually a good thing that Su Yuanyuan had run away.
If she was gone, Third Son would never find out that he had two children.
They had worried about this before.
Third Son couldn’t possibly stay away forever. Sooner or later, he would come home.
And when he discovered that his wife had given birth to two children during the very year he left, they would have a lot of explaining to do.
Now that Su Yuanyuan had taken the children and run away, they could simply insist that there had never been any children in the first place!
Everyone in the Old Lu family had their own ulterior motives.
Lu Zhengning, however, immediately objected.
“How can we do that? We should hurry up and find them. Or at least keep this hidden for now and let Third Brother continue sending money home. If we send him a letter saying his wife ran away, what if he stops sending money home?”
That wouldn’t do!
His own children would be going to school in a few years and making something of themselves. There would be plenty of places where they needed money.
Li Hua planted her hands on her hips and spat onto the ground.
“Bah! What are you afraid of? His wife stole the money, along with my dowry. He has to replace it! Even without Su Yuanyuan, he still has to send money home every month. I’m his mother! How could he possibly refuse to support me?”