GBP Chapter 189 The Xie family came to the Liu family to demand their return.
Chapter 189 The Xie family came to the Liu family to demand their return.
She grumbled as she went to open the door, reluctantly pulling open the two wooden doors, only to be completely dumbfounded.
The people knocking on the door were actually the couple from their in-laws, with the son-in-law lying on the oxcart.
It's such a short distance, surely it doesn't require an oxcart to pull it?
The displeasure on her face vanished instantly, replaced by a forced smile. "In-laws, why are you here so early? Is something the matter? Where's Cai'er? Why didn't she come with us?"
The Xie family had four daughters before having this one son. The daughters all seemed to have married well and often sent money back to their parents' homes to help them. In addition, the old couple were both capable, so the Xie family was considered wealthy in Xiejiazhuang, much better off than the Liu family.
This is why Madam Shen always fawned over her eldest son-in-law and frequently visited the Xie family to beg for money.
Madam Cui, Xie's mother, sneered with a dark face, "Mother-in-law, don't pretend you don't know. Don't you know where Cai'er is?"
Shen's smile froze, completely baffled. She asked in confusion, "Mother-in-law, what you're saying is so vague, I don't understand. Cai'er is one of your people now that she's married into the Xie family. How would I know where Cai'er is? But she didn't tell you when she went out?"
Seeing that Shen looked blank and didn't seem to be lying, Cui scoffed and said, "Your Liu family's daughter is quite something. The young couple had a little argument, and she ran off somewhere in a huff. She doesn't have any relatives, so where else could she go if she didn't go back to her parents' home?"
As she spoke, she pushed Shen aside and went into the courtyard to search around, trying to see if Liu Cai'er had returned to her parents' home.
Although Shen didn't seem to be lying to her, she still needed to see for herself to be on the safe side.
These past few days, she and her husband have been taking their son to see doctors everywhere. Several doctors have said that her son was kicked in a vital area and will never be able to have sex again, becoming a cripple for the rest of his life. Fortunately, her son already has two children, otherwise the Xie family's world would have collapsed.
Their son was spoiled rotten by his parents since he was a child. He spent his days idly, fighting cocks and walking dogs, doing nothing productive. Now he's a good-for-nothing, completely disgraced, and he'll probably never leave the house again.
As the couple grew older, they needed someone to manage the household and other affairs. They had hoped that their son would divorce Liu Cai'er and bring the young widow into the family, so that she could give them another grandson. But now that their son had been harmed by the young widow, they felt like tearing her to pieces. There was absolutely no way the young widow would ever enter the Xie family again.
So now we have to find Liu Cai'er and let her continue to take care of their whole family's needs, and someone will be able to take over the work in the fields.
The couple were calculating their options meticulously, but Shen gradually sensed something was amiss.
Seeing her son-in-law lying in the oxcart with no intention of getting up, she couldn't help but go over to him.
"Father-in-law, what's wrong with Laifu? Is he feeling unwell?"
"Ahem..." Xie's father coughed lightly, his face looking a little unnatural. "Yes, he's feeling a bit unwell. We're planning to take him to see a doctor in a bit, and we'll stop by to see Cai'er on the way."
Shen asked in confusion, "I know Cai'er's personality. She's always been obedient and sensible. She keeps everything to herself and would never cause trouble. What kind of conflict did the young couple have? Why would she run away? It doesn't make sense."
Her daughter had been married into the Xie family for several years and had never run away in a fit of anger. This puzzled her greatly. Where could Cai'er have gone if she ran away and didn't go back to her parents' home?
Go to Old Shen's house to find Feng'er?
Impossible, impossible. Everyone knows what kind of life Feng'er lived in the Shen family. Her vicious stepmother-in-law tormented Feng'er every day, and she never got a single extra bite to eat. Sun Shi would never let Cai'er go to their house to eat and drink for free, and Feng'er, being so weak, was not capable of taking Cai'er in.
If she can't go back to her parents' home and can't go to her sister's in-laws' home, where else can she go?
Shen belatedly realized that this matter might not be simple, so she immediately ran back to the courtyard and stopped Cui, who was searching everywhere for Liu Cai'er, to ask her.
"Mother-in-law, what exactly happened between Cai'er and Laifu that made Cai'er run away from home? Where could she go alone? Could she be trying to kill herself?"
The thought of her daughter attempting suicide and never being able to go to the Xie family to beg for money again filled her with panic.
She suddenly tightened her grip on Cui's hand, causing Cui to scream in pain.
Cui was in pain and flung Shen's hand away, scolding, "How can you be so rude? No wonder Cai'er is always so impulsive and has such a strong grip that she could kill someone. You're really not fit for the table."
She despised Shen for her freeloading, looked down on her petty manner, and even more so on her coarse nature, so she never spoke to Shen in a pleasant tone.
Although Shen was angry, she didn't dare to retort, fearing it would make it harder to visit in the future. She had no choice but to suppress her displeasure and apologize against her will.
"My dear in-law, I'm so sorry. I was just in a rush. Do you know when Cai'er left home?"
Seeing that she truly didn't know, Cui felt even more confident.
She said arrogantly, "Who knows when she ran away? Her husband is sick, and her two sons are still young. She actually abandoned them and ran away. We don't dare to have a daughter-in-law like that."
Our Xie family temple is too small to contain such a great figure as her. If your Liu family doesn't find her and return her to our Xie family, we'll consider her no longer our daughter-in-law.
Worried that she would be returned if she couldn't find her daughter, Madam Shen immediately tried to appease her, saying, "Mother-in-law, you can't leave things unsaid. It's normal for couples to bicker. Young people are hot-tempered, and it's normal to argue and hold grudges. Cai'er will definitely go back once she calms down."
Don't worry, she has nowhere else to go if she doesn't go back to her parents' home. Maybe she's already home by now. The two children are still young, she wouldn't want to leave them. Let's look for her together. Please don't think she's doing something rash. If she finds a secluded place to kill herself, how will her father and I live...
Cui said with an air of righteous indignation, "Of course you've come looking for us, but you raised our daughter, and if you didn't raise her well, that's your responsibility. I don't care how you look for her, you must send her back to the Xie family within three days, or Lai Fu will divorce her!"
Shen was so angry that her eyes widened, but she didn't dare to yell at her in-laws. If her daughter was returned, the Liu family would lose all face and how could they hold their heads high in the village after that?
So she immediately replied, “Mother-in-law, please calm down. Don’t delay any longer. Hurry up and take Fu to see a doctor. I’ll ask her father to help us find Cai’er.”
A mother who only cares about personal gain and saving face doesn't consider at all whether her daughter suffered some great injustice to run away from home, nor does she ask how many days her daughter has been gone or whether she really wanted to commit suicide.
Mr. and Mrs. Xie went to the house to ask for Liu Cai'er, but after failing to find her, they angrily took their son in an oxcart to Qinghe Town to see a doctor. They had seen all the doctors around Liuxi Town, and if the doctors in Qinghe Town were not good enough, they would have to take their son to the county to find a better doctor.
After her in-laws left, Ms. Shen rushed back to the house, woke her husband, and felt as if the sky had fallen. She dragged her husband around looking for their eldest daughter.