Li Hua was so furious that she had completely lost her head, spewing out whatever came to mind.
With the children and neighbors watching, Old Man Lu felt utterly humiliated being grabbed and beaten by his own wife. Both of them were already furious, so they ended up wrestling with each other in the courtyard.
The autumn climate in the village was dry, leaving the ground covered in dry yellow earth. As the husband and wife fought, dust flew everywhere and chickens scattered in all directions.
It was quite a spectacle.
Although Li Hua was a woman, she was no weaker than Old Man Lu. She wrestled him to the ground, climbed on top of him, and slapped him across the face.
“You shameless bastard! That woman is a shameless slut too! After all these years, she still hasn’t given up. Is she waiting for me to die so she can marry into this family? Dream on! You think I don’t know you’ve been secretly taking rice and flour from our house to support her?”
When someone was furious, they would blurt out anything.
“You’re speechless now?! Say something! Did you take all my money and my dowry and give them to your old lover? Say it in front of everyone!”
Old Man Lu cared a great deal about his reputation. Being pinned down and beaten by his wife was humiliating enough, but now she had exposed that embarrassing affair in front of everyone.
How could he stand it?
He managed to flip Li Hua off him, grabbed her hair, and slapped her.
“Stop spouting nonsense! What old lover? There was never anything like that! Are you only satisfied when you’ve made the entire Lu family a laughingstock?”
Old Man Lu was trying to remind Li Hua not to make such an ugly scene in front of outsiders and their children.
Instead, his words only made Li Hua even angrier.
“You weren’t afraid of people laughing at you when you were fooling around with your old lover! If anyone should be laughed at, it’s you! So you really did give my money and dowry to that slut? Don’t you dare come back! I’ll skin you alive!”
The elderly couple continued fighting noisily in the courtyard.
Su Yuanyuan hadn’t expected to get such an entertaining show.
It was spectacular.
Old Man Lu usually loved putting on airs in front of the younger generation, yet he himself was nothing but a shameless old lecher.
After the two of them beat each other senseless, both ended up covered in injuries.
Several red scratches marred Old Man Lu’s face, his clothes were torn, and his entire body was covered in dirt.
He looked utterly miserable.
Li Hua hadn’t gotten off lightly either. Her face was bruised in several places, and she was covered in yellow dirt.
Su Yuanyuan secretly went, tsk, tsk.
Old Man Lu was already in his sixties, yet he actually had an old lover.
None of these trivial details had appeared in the original novel.
Who would have thought today’s events would uncover such juicy gossip?
The neighbors who had come to watch the commotion hadn’t expected such explosive news either. They crowded closer to get a better look.
Not a single person stepped forward to break up the fight.
The Lu family had never behaved decently, so nobody felt like helping them.
In fact, they rather wickedly hoped the fight would become even more entertaining—preferably with the entire family tearing each other apart.
Old Man Lu and Li Hua fought for quite some time.
They had both disliked each other for years, so they took this opportunity to vent all their pent-up resentment.
Neither held back.
Lu Zhengning and Lu Zhenggang were both bullies only within their own household. In front of their parents, they didn’t dare say a word.
Now that their parents were fighting, they didn’t even have the courage to step forward and stop them.
Wang Chunhua and Wang Xiujuan certainly weren’t going to do something so thankless either.
If they didn’t intervene, no one could blame them.
But if they tried to pull someone away, people might suspect that they had been the ones who stole the money, making them look guilty.
The couple fought all the way to the doorway.
Old Man Lu slapped Li Hua and cursed under his breath,
“Has your brain turned to dough?! That’s enough! I would never give that money or your dowry to anyone else! The neighbors and children are watching! Aren’t you embarrassed enough already?”
Old Man Lu really did have an old lover.
Li Hua had just exposed the matter in front of everyone, leaving him both embarrassed and furious.
But after fighting for a while, he found it pointless.
What could they possibly gain by beating each other half to death?
They were only giving the neighbors something to laugh about.
Old Man Lu’s lover was a widow.
He had indeed occasionally taken some rice and flour from home to support her, but he had only taken small amounts secretly.
He would never touch the family’s savings.
After venting the anger that had been bottled up inside her, Li Hua gradually calmed down as well.
She pushed Old Man Lu away, stood up, and wiped her face.
Although her expression remained ugly, she believed that Old Man Lu wasn’t stupid enough to go that far.
The eldest and second sons’ children were growing up and would soon need money for school.
There were countless things they would need money for.
They had agreed long ago to save that money.
Even if Old Man Lu was confused, he wouldn’t touch those savings.
But only Old Man Lu knew where she had hidden her money and dowry.
Apart from her husband, who else knew?
Could someone in the family have seen where she hid them back then?
Li Hua’s gloomy gaze moved between her two sons.
She didn’t even consider Su Yuanyuan.
Ever since Su Yuanyuan had married into the Lu family, Li Hua had never treated her well.
For the past few years, Su Yuanyuan was only allowed into her room when she was told to wash her feet or bring her water.
Otherwise, she wasn’t even allowed to cross the threshold.
If Su Yuanyuan knew where the money and dowry were hidden, that would practically be a ghost story.
After thinking it over, the only possibility was that one of her two sons had done it.
Neither brother was willing to let the other gain an advantage.
Over the years, they would even argue over the larger of two apples.
Perhaps one of them had lost his mind and stolen everything while everyone else was asleep.
When Li Hua’s gaze swept toward them, the two brothers immediately understood what their mother was thinking and hurriedly defended themselves.
“Mom, don’t look at me like that. I don’t have the ability, and I wouldn’t do something so immoral. If you don’t believe me, search my room.”
The eldest son spread his hands, practically wearing Don’t ask me, this has nothing to do with me! across his face.
“It’s not me either!”
Lu Zhenggang glared at Lu Zhengning.
The money was gone, so the thief had to be one of them.
What’s Big Brother pretending for?
“I went to bed earlier than anyone else last night. Big Brother, on the other hand, came home pretty late, didn’t he?”
The moment he said this, his sister-in-law Wang Chunhua immediately became unhappy.
“Little Brother, what do you mean by that? Are you accusing our Zhengning of stealing the money? Pooh! The two children’s gold longevity locks are gone too. Who would steal from his own children? Watch your mouth and stop making baseless accusations!”
Wang Chunhua had always disliked the second branch of the family.
They fought over everything and were constantly jealous.
Those things had all been given by their mother.
If Lu Zhenggang was unhappy about it, he could complain to their mother.
Why bother snapping at them?
Seeing that the two branches were about to start fighting, the neighbors gathered at the entrance became secretly excited.
Some even went home, brought their breakfasts over, and began eating while watching the show.
Old Man Lu hurried over and dispersed everyone, then shut the courtyard gate.
“Wait.”
Li Hua suddenly looked toward Su Yuanyuan, her eyes turning cold.
“The gold locks from both children are gone. The money and my dowry were stolen from my room, and the kitchen was completely cleaned out. Yet nothing at all was taken from your room.”
Two cold rays seemed to shoot from Li Hua’s eyes.
Su Yuanyuan shuddered.
Her eyes reddened as she shook her head.
Her complexion was naturally pale, and when she held back tears, the corners of her eyes became slightly red. She looked delicate, soft, and exceptionally beautiful.
“Mom, how could you suspect me?”
She pouted, looking deeply wronged.
Wang Xiujuan folded her arms and glared at her unhappily.
“Mom is right. Everyone else lost something, but your room is completely untouched. Tell us—did you steal everything? I was wondering why you hadn’t said anything just now. So it was you all along!”
Questioned by both Li Hua and Wang Xiujuan in succession, Su Yuanyuan became so tongue-tied that she could barely speak.
Of course, it was all an act.
“Mom! Second Sister-in-law! How can you say that? There’s nothing worth stealing in my room! Would a thief really come into my room just to steal the broken metal basin I use to wash my face?”
Su Yuanyuan hurriedly tried to explain herself, tears spilling down her cheeks.
Her palm-sized face was streaked with tears, making her look even more pitiful.
Su Yuanyuan had been sickly since childhood and had never done much heavy labor before marrying into the Lu family, so she had maintained a fair and delicate complexion.
Combined with her petite, graceful features, she naturally looked charming and beautiful even when simply standing there quietly.
If she hadn’t been sick and therefore had difficulty having children, the matchmakers would have practically trampled down her doorstep.
Lu Zhenggang stared intently at Su Yuanyuan’s profile, his thumb and index finger rubbing together forcefully.
Wang Xiujuan glared at her husband, secretly cursing him for never behaving himself for even a single day.
“I have to raise two children, and I don’t have a single cent in my hands. What could anyone possibly steal from me? Instead of suspecting me, why don’t you think about finding some clues and figuring out how to catch the thief?”
Old Man Lu and the others fell silent for a moment after hearing Su Yuanyuan’s explanation.
What she said was crude, but it made sense.
There really was nothing worth stealing in her room.
Aside from the kang, there was a wardrobe missing half its doors, an old table that had been around for more than a decade, a few broken baskets, and a battered metal washbasin.
Who would want any of that?
A thief who went into her room would find nothing worth taking.
They’d probably spit on the ground, curse themselves for wasting their time, and then take pity on her and leave her a couple of coins.