"Today, we really owe you an apology, mother-in-law." Old Yang could only say this when he saw her reaction.
Land Officer Yang followed up, "We’re really sorry, mother-in-law, for any offense today."
But Ms. Luo didn’t care about the apologies from the two men, and didn’t give them any face, shooing them away with a broom, "Go away, go away, all this nonsense talk. My daughter and son-in-law aren’t here, so if they really stole your stuff, whatever needs to be done will be done, but don’t drag our Old Luo family into this."
As soon as Yang Chuxia and the others stepped outside, Ms. Luo slammed the gate shut with a bang.
Yang Chuxia was speechless. What kind of mother was she? She didn’t even ask any questions when she heard her daughter and son-in-law weren’t in the village, just claiming Old Luo’s Family had nothing to do with the incident. Indeed, a married daughter is like water spilled out of the house.
Inside the house at this time, Ms. Luo lightly patted her chest, and then spat, "Finally drove them away. If all these people had stayed in our house for dinner, how much food would it have taken to feed them?"
Eldest Luo couldn’t help but laugh and cry at his mother, "Mother, they were here looking for my sister, why would they eat dinner at our house?"
"Hmph, I was just taking precautions. With your spendthrift ways, how will we survive if you become the master of the house one day? You better learn from me and be more tight-fisted."
Alright, at this point, Yang Chuxia, who was eavesdropping by the door, was truly speechless.
It turned out that the reason Ms. Luo was so fierce and willful just now was she was worried that they would stay for dinner. Yang Chuxia was misled into thinking it was to cover for Ms. Luo and Yang Xiaochuan.
Since no one was found in Luo Village, Yang Chuxia and the others had to return to their own village first.
Upon entering the village, they sent Land Officer Yang back before Fugui and the others escorted Yang Chuxia and the rest back home.
At home, Ms.Wang and the others were still awake, waiting for them. Ye Zi’an had already heard about the incident when he returned from the town, so he was also waiting.
He hurriedly called out when he saw them come in, "Father, Uncle, Xiaxia!"
Yang Dachuan sighed when he saw Ye Zi’an limping towards them, then patted him on the shoulder, "Kid, your Uncle Three really owes you an apology."
"Uncle, what are you talking about? What does this have to do with you?" Zi’an went on to say, "Besides, it was Fourth Uncle who found the thing. It’s his right to deal with it however he wants."
Ye Zi’an’s rational words extinguished Old Yang’s dissatisfaction with Yang Chuxia’s accusations of theft against Yang Xiaochuan. Then he said, "Good boy, don’t worry, I’ll make sure he hands over the things when your Fourth Uncle comes back."
"Thank you, Grandpa!"
Ye Zi’an obediently replied.
"Alright, Brother An and Qingrui, if you’ve eaten, you should go back to sleep," Yang Dachuan said, "Xiaxia’s mother should cook some food for those who haven’t eaten yet. We should all rest early after eating, and deal with this matter tomorrow."
But though Yang Dachuan said this, not many of them slept well that night.
Yang Dachuan felt uneasy, Old Yang was worried about his youngest son, while Ye Zi’an and Yang Chuxia were thinking about where Yang Xiaochuan might have gone.
Since he wasn’t at Ms. Luo’s house, Yang Chuxia focused on checking the inns in the town, but after searching all day, they still came up empty-handed.
The next day, they went to check the inns in the county, but they still didn’t find him there either.
After several days, they even searched for relatives they had no close kinship with but still couldn’t find the couple. Yang Xiaochuan and his wife seemed to have disappeared.
By now, eight days had passed since Yang Xiaochuan discovered the medicinal herb.