In Jinshan Village, the Ma Family had only lazily gotten out of bed.
Li Zhaodi went to the back kitchen and saw the messy bowls and chopsticks around the stove, and couldn't help but curse.
"Haven't seen a ghost shadow all night, might as well be dead outside."
Ma Jinbao was anxious and a bit scared, "Mother, should we go out and look for her? What if something happened?"
Li Zhaodi scornfully said, "What could happen? Her guts are smaller than the tip of a needle. Is she daring enough to run back to her mother's home? Besides, that shabby family of hers, hmph."
Compared to worrying about Yue Xiaofang, Li Zhaodi was more troubled about what to do with the pile of dishes.
Ever since a diligent and easy-to-handle daughter-in-law came into the family, she essentially became a person of leisure, leaving all the chores for Yue Xiaofang while her own lazy habits were already cultivated.
Ma Cuicui, yawning, came over, "Mom, I'm hungry. Why isn't the food ready yet?"
"Eat, eat, eat, that's all you know. With Yue Xiaofang cursed and gone, who's going to cook?" Li Zhaodi glanced at her daughter's sturdy waist, "You should eat less too, or you'll have trouble getting married later."
Ma Cuicui disdainfully said, "Now that our family has money, just add more to the dowry. How could I not get married off?"
"Who can give their daughter such a large dowry? Do you think I am like that brainless old woman from the Yue family? Besides, you're such a grown girl; you should do some work. Wash these dishes."
Ma Cuicui was displeased, "I won't. Let Yue Xiaofang clean them when she gets back."
The two pushed back and forth, neither willing to do the work.
Ma Jinbao glanced outside the house, then went to check the pigsty, and returned with a heavy heart, "Couldn't find anyone. With the snow last night, where could she have gone?"
Li Zhaodi's brows were so furrowed they could kill a fly, "She didn't go to the village head to complain, did she?"
Although she had a nasty temper and liked to save face, she always bullied Yue Xiaofang within their own home, fearing outsiders might find out and gossip.
If it were any other daughter-in-law, she would have been making a fuss everywhere, but luckily, Yue Xiaofang was the silent type.
Ma Jinbao shook his head, "She came from another family; she probably wouldn't dare go to the village head. Besides, the village head doesn't have time for her now."
Ma Cuicui curiously asked, "Brother, what do you mean by that?"
"I just went around and saw the village head organizing people to look for his dad. The old man has gone missing again."
Village head Ma Shulin was a devoted son, and his greatest wish in life was to allow his father to live peacefully and comfortably in his old age.
But his father, a former soldier, couldn't stay idle, sometimes even wandering into the deep mountains and forests, leaving Ma Shulin overwhelmed and helpless.
Ma Cuicui then understood, "No wonder it's chaos outside."
While they were talking, her stomach started growling again.
"I'm starving to death, mother, please make something to eat quickly."
Li Zhaodi didn't feel like it at all, her eyes darting around, "First, make do with leftovers from last night, while your brother and I go look for Yue Xiaofang."
She was cunning, treating Yue Xiaofang like a free servant.
Once they found her, they would put her to work first and then beat her.
This time, they would surely beat Yue Xiaofang so badly that she would be unable to get out of bed for days, and she would never dare to run away again.
Ma Jinbao actually had some concerns, "Mother, you hit her too hard last time, no one should really be pouring boiling oil into someone's mouth."
Li Zhaodi awkwardly replied, "I was just scaring her a bit. Can't a mother-in-law lay down the rules for her daughter-in-law?"
"Let's not be so heavy-handed after we find her this time."
Li Zhaodi spat, "Really, marrying a wife and forgetting your mother. What now? Feeling pity for her? Your mother struggled her whole life, and at this age, I still have to put up with your complaints."
"It's mainly because if she's hurt, there'll be no one to do the work." Ma Jinbao, who feared his mother's anger the most, quickly said, "I misspoke, don't be angry, let's go find her first."
Only then did Li Zhaodi set her face and went out with her son.
All this time, Ma Zhuzi, who should have been the head of the family, simply sat at the doorstep, puffing on his dry pipe.
He watched his son and wife leave without saying a word.
Just as they reached the entrance of the village, Li Zhaodi and Ma Jinbao happened to bump into Lin Chunju and her two companions.
Lin Chunju had originally planned to wait for her son before going to the Ma family together.
Meeting on this narrow path, seeing Li Zhaodi's deeply wrinkled malevolent face, and thinking of the wounds on her daughter, she couldn't hold back any longer.
Lin Chunju placed the child in Zhang Ying's arms, rolled up her sleeves, and charged forward.