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Xiao Lihua frowned as soon as she heard the crying, because it was the sound of a child crying, and it was heart-wrenching. Being fond of children, she could hardly bear the sound of their cries. When she turned to look, she found that the one crying was Dog Egg. Her frown not only did not ease but deepened.
Dog Egg was Zhang Shuitao's son and the little tyrant of the Village. He had bullied Stone and Wood before. Xiao Lihua did not like him, but seeing him cry so loudly with a very obvious slap mark on his face made her feel uneasy, especially when she saw Zhang Shuitao pulling at his arm and scolding him. She felt a mix of emotions that she couldn't quite understand.
Li Long had taken Song Sanniang, a widow from the Village, as his Second Branch wife, and Zhang Shuitao had become the laughingstock of the villagers. Since then, her temperament had changed; she used to be proud and aloof but was now increasingly resembling a shrew. It was common to hear her shouting and causing a scene. Sometimes, if someone looked at her for too long, she would think they were mocking her and would get into arguments. She had already fought several times, and her reputation had worsened.
Many people in the Village said that this was Zhang Shuitao's true nature; they had all been deceived before.
Xiao Lihua also heard others say that Zhang Shuitao had suffered grievances and that she had been bullied terribly by Zhang Shuitao. If she had heard such comments in the past, Xiao Lihua would have felt somewhat pleased; after all, her reputation improved while Zhang Shuitao, her former rival, fell into disgrace. However, knowing that she had lost her husband to someone else made Xiao Lihua lose any joy in that thought.
Xiao Lihua did not gloat over Zhang Shuitao's misfortune nor would she kick her while she was down; of course, she wouldn’t help her either. As long as they did not involve her family, Li Long, Zhang Shuitao, and Song Sanniang were like weeds by the roadside—unworthy of her concern. Whether they were good or bad was none of her business. However, seeing Zhang Shuitao take out her frustrations on her child because she no longer had a husband made Xiao Lihua frown even more.
Watching Dog Egg being pulled by Zhang Shuitao while she slapped him on the back of his head and cursed loudly made Xiao Lihua realize that Zhang Shuitao had lost all composure and no longer showed any affection for Dog Egg. She used to think that Zhang Shuitao was capable; now it seemed she was just an ignorant fool full of nonsense!
"Isn't that woman the village chief's Daughter-in-law? I didn't see her like this before," Xiao Ziyi remarked as she listened to Zhang Shuitao's harsh words with a frown; the insults were indeed grating and quite unpleasant.
Xiao Lihua briefly explained the situation to her. After listening, Xiao Ziyi nodded and scoffed, "Her husband has taken a concubine, yet instead of figuring out how to deal with it and maintaining her position as the main wife, she lets herself become rude and vents her anger on her own flesh and blood—how ignorant! So foolish!"
Xiao Ziyi came from a wealthy family and had previously held an official position; thus, she was not surprised by having concubines in the household. Her attitude was much colder.
Xiao Lihua curled her lips slightly; she did not want to discuss this further. She knew such things would never happen in her family. She understood Xie Youshun's character well; he would never do such a thing. If he ever did, she would certainly kick him aside and live a prosperous life with their son just to spite him—that was the only possibility—so she felt quite at ease.
Mutu tightly hugged Xiao Lihua and said, "Mom, I'm scared."
Mutu watched as Zhang Shuitao hit Dog Egg and saw Dog Egg crying at the top of his lungs. He suddenly remembered how his own mother used to treat him like that; he was afraid his mother might turn back into someone like that. Dog Egg's mother used to be so good to him; now wasn't she also turning bad? He feared his mother might change too.
Shitou also clenched his small fists tightly, watching Dog Egg with concern; brothers share a bond of heart and mind—he thought about it just like Mutu did.
Seeing the nervous and frightened expressions on both of her sons' faces made Xiao Lihua start to feel confused. However, when she noticed Shitou looking at her anxiously, she quickly bent down to hug them both tightly and kissed each of them several times until they calmed down. Then when she looked back at Zhang Shuitao, anger began to rise within her; what a foolish woman! Hitting her own son out of frustration while scaring her two precious children!
Xie Youshun and Hua Heng walked back and saw Zhang Shuitao and the others making a commotion, so they asked what was going on.
Xiao Lihua said, "Who knows what happened this time? But it’s probably related to Dog Egg's aunt. Otherwise, Dog Egg wouldn't be crying like that, and she wouldn't just ignore it."
Zhang Shuitao was dragging Dog Egg ahead, scolding and hitting him. Li Long was nearby, reprimanding Zhang Shuitao a few times and trying to wrestle the child away from her. However, Li Jinfeng didn't intervene at all; her face was dark, and she occasionally glared at Dog Egg. If Dog Egg had really caused trouble, it would definitely be related to her, considering she had previously shown great affection for him.
Xiao Ziyi suddenly said, "Could it be that Gold Ring was lost by them?"
"That’s actually possible," Xiao Lihua thought. Since Li Jinfeng married into a relatively wealthy family in the town, it was plausible that there was such a Gold Ring. If Dog Egg lost it, she would definitely be furious. She immediately asked Xiao Yue if the person she saw wearing the Gold Ring resembled Li Jinfeng.
Xiao Yue tilted her head to look at Li Jinfeng and shook her head, saying, "No, Auntie. I know her voice; if it were her, I would recognize it right away."
Xiao Lihua agreed; after all, Li Jinfeng was Xiao Yue's real aunt, so she would definitely recognize her immediately.
Xie Youshun and Hua Heng also understood what was going on. Being men, they didn't discuss such matters further, so although they frowned, they didn't say much.
At that moment, the Li Family members had approached closer. Upon seeing Xie Youshun and Hua Heng, Zhang Shuitao stopped scolding Dog Egg. Her expression was somewhat awkward, mixed with shame and anger, turning red. Finally, she shot a fierce glare at Xiao Lihua while pulling Dog Egg along with his head down. As they walked, she continued to scold him harshly, telling him to keep his head down and search properly. She threatened that if he couldn't find it, he wouldn't get any food.
Li Long also felt awkward. He greeted Xie Youshun and bowed to Hua Heng. Seeing that they were unwilling to engage with him further, he fell silent while listening to Zhang Shuitao's scolding. He resented her even more in his heart, thinking how unfortunate he was to have married this woman. If she were better, he wouldn’t have sought other women outside or ended up in such disgrace. Clearly, he could have been someone who could talk with Xie Youshun and Hua Heng; now he felt inferior—all because of this wasteful woman!
Li Jinfeng also greeted Xiao Ziyi; she recognized her but had never spoken to her before. After all, Xiao Ziyi was a young lady of high status—someone she couldn't easily converse with. Watching Xiao Lihua and Xiao Ziyi standing together so warmly made her even more jealous of Xiao Lihua when she thought about their relationship with Hua Heng. She felt that she was much better than her; why didn’t the noble ladies treat her as warmly? Among the women she knew, only Ruyi held a higher status than her—but Ruyi was still a concubine; how could she compare to Xiao Ziyi?
Xiao Ziyi merely nodded slightly at Li Jinfeng; she didn’t like her at all. Xiao Ziyi had an excellent memory and could recall that Li Jinfeng had once walked alongside Ruyi. Although Ruyi was Xie Youshun's sister, she didn't get along with Xiao Lihua. The way Li Jinfeng looked at Xiao Lihua wasn't friendly either. Seeing Dog Egg's tear-streaked face under these circumstances made it quite polite for her to even nod at Li Jinfeng.
"Xiao Yue! Are you playing here? Did you find a Gold Ring?!" Zhang Shuitao suddenly shouted at Xiao Yue. "If you found it, you must hand it over! That belongs to your aunt! If you don’t give it back, watch out for your skin!"
Xiao Yue was so frightened that she immediately hid behind Xiao Lihua. Originally unafraid of Zhang Shuitao, now she felt somewhat scared; in her eyes, Zhang Shuitao had become quite terrifying—if she could hit Dog Egg, she would surely hit her too.
Xiao Lihua said, "Dog Egg Mother, what you said is unreasonable. We are all standing here, why are you only asking Xiao Yue? Is it not enough to hit your own son, and now you want to hit your niece? I need to talk to Sister Yang and see if she allows this."
Zhang Shuitao replied, "I was just asking. Who would hit her? If she didn't choose well and didn't hide herself, who would hit her?"
Xiao Yue peeked out from behind Xiao Lihua and said, "I want to tell my mother that you scared me."
Zhang Shuitao glared, but Li Long scolded her.
Li Long thought Zhang Shuitao was really unreasonable. In his view, cheating was shameful, but he hadn't cheated with a married woman; he just found a widow to take as a concubine. Even if it was shameful, it would pass after some time. It was all Zhang Shuitao's relentless nagging and endless quarrels with the villagers that ruined his reputation. She had destroyed his life, and now she wanted to make him confront his brother. He really wanted to slap her.
Zhang Shuitao was scolded by Li Long in front of the person she cared about the most and hated the most. Her face turned red and then pale, and then a stream of curses erupted from her mouth, making everyone’s expression turn ugly. Not only did she curse, but she also hit Dog Egg, causing him to cry loudly.
"Enough! What kind of skill is hitting a child? Useless woman! Let go of Dog Egg! That’s your son, flesh from your body. How can you hit him without feeling pain?" Xiao Lihua looked at Zhang Shuitao as she raised her hand to slap Dog Egg's face. Little Stone was so scared that he hugged her tightly and cried for his mother. She couldn't hold back anymore and picked up Little Stone, holding him tightly while gently comforting him.
Xie Youshun said, "Li Long, that's your son. No matter what mistakes the child has made, you can't hit him like that."
Li Long's face was stern as he looked at Xie Youshun with deep eyes, making Xie Youshun frown. Did he provoke him somehow? Why such a look?
Li Jinfeng then said, "Sister-in-law, stop hitting Dog Egg. Even if you beat him to death, you won't find the things back. Let's find the things first."
Xiao Lihua asked, "You just mentioned losing a Gold Ring. What does that Gold Ring look like? The children picked up one just now; it might be yours, but you need to describe what it looks like."
The Li family members' eyes lit up upon hearing this. Li Long immediately urged Li Jinfeng to quickly describe what the ring looked like. His sister had been very angry with him for losing this ring, and he was anxious too. He heard his sister say that the ring was valuable; even if he didn't have to compensate for it, he didn't want his sister to be angry over this. He was counting on her support!
Li Jinfeng quickly described the ring, and indeed it was the one that Shi and the others had picked up. Seeing the lost ring returned, Li Jinfeng's face broke into a smile as she took the ring and wiped it clean before carefully wrapping it in a silk handkerchief and putting it away. Finally, she thanked them.
Zhang Shuitao angrily said, "Thank you for what! If I had known we were looking for something earlier, I would have asked sooner! You didn’t say anything until we were so anxious; do you think we feel like we’ve eaten honey?"
Xie Youshun frowned and replied, "Just now you asked Xiao Yue; we were planning to say something. But since you started arguing among yourselves, how could we say anything? It's just a Gold Ring; do you think we would covet it?"
Zhang Shuitao looked at Xie Youshun with a resentful gaze and said, "Xie Youshun! You're living well now, and you can't even look at a Gold Ring anymore! Look at me now; does it make you feel better inside? Let me tell you, the woman you married is not a good person. She was so bad before, and now she's like this; she and you are not on the same page at all! You won't have a good life! You'll end up worse than I am! I'm waiting to see you fall!"
"I don't care whether my wife is good or bad; that's none of your business," Xie Youshun frowned and said. He stepped back to stand behind Xiao Lihua. His wife knew about his past with Zhang Shuitao, and although he had expressed his feelings before, he needed to stand firmly by her side now. He didn't want her to overthink things; he truly didn't want to face misfortune.
Xiao Lihua thought that Zhang Shuitao really couldn't let go of her man. However, daring to speak like that in front of her—did she think she was a pushover?
"Li Long, you need to discipline your wife properly. Take her away; otherwise, I might take action," Xiao Lihua said. If it weren't for Hua Heng and the others being present, she would have really wanted to intervene. But seeing Li Long's gloomy face, she thought it might be better for this couple to resolve their issues internally. Li Long would probably be more persuasive than she could be. Judging by Li Long's expression, he likely felt that Zhang Shuitao's words were out of line. What man could tolerate his wife putting a green hat on him? Let him deal with Zhang Shuitao.
Li Long immediately went over and pulled Zhang Shuitao away, dragging her down to the ground and taking her away forcefully.
Li Jinfeng felt embarrassed as she noticed many people nearby watching the commotion, so she hurriedly left.
Dog Egg was left alone, looking at Xiao Lihua with eyes swollen like walnuts.
Xiao Lihua looked at Dog Egg and felt a bit sorry for him; after all, he was still just a child.
Without waiting for anyone else to speak, Dog Egg turned and ran away.
Xiao Lihua thought that the tragedy between couples ultimately hurt the children. With a stepmother comes a stepfather; Dog Egg's father had taken a young mistress and was soon going to have another child, which meant he wouldn't be as cherished anymore. With his biological mother around, she would vent her frustrations on him, adding another layer of pain.
Hua Heng and Xiao Ziyi met up with Wang Dashan and others who had rushed over, then prepared to head back. Just as Xiao Ziyi was about to get on the carriage, an idea suddenly flashed in her mind—she remembered where she had seen that Gold Ring before.
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