Chapter 92

Mother Li quickly arrived and put Xiao Bao down before pulling Da Bao and Er Bao by the hand. “You two are really something. Do you even know where your parents are? Running off just like that—do you have any idea how dangerous it is? Huh? You nearly scared your grandmother to death! Come on, let’s go home!”  

Da Bao and Er Bao obediently held onto Mother Li’s hand. Er Bao explained: “Grandma, we won’t run anymore. You don’t have to worry!”  

“Really not running anymore?” Mother Li eyed Er Bao, feeling that his words were not entirely trustworthy.  

“Grandma, we really won’t run anymore!” Da Bao stepped forward to guarantee.  

Since it was Da Bao speaking, Mother Li believed him. Smiling, she said: “Now that’s a good child. Come, let’s go home with Grandma.”  

Just as she picked up Xiao Bao again, Mother Li noticed two men and a woman standing behind her, along with a car. She asked: “You are…?”  

Had some important figures arrived in their village? They even had a car!  

In these times, anyone who could afford to drive a car was no ordinary person. Most were government employees, and not just any employees—the ones with significant positions!  

Mother Li took a glance and noticed a trailer attached to the back of the car, loaded with various items. Among them, a bicycle stood out.  

“Grandma, they are good people!” Before Mother Shen and the others could speak, Da Bao quickly recounted what had just happened.  

Hearing that they had even tried to stop a car earlier, Mother Li was startled. She hurriedly thanked Mother Shen and the others, her tone becoming more refined. “I sincerely apologize. My disobedient grandchildren have troubled you.”  

“It’s nothing!” Mother Shen smiled, her gaze toward the Three Baos filled with kindness. “They are very well-behaved and smart. You’ve taught them well!”  

Hearing others praise her grandchildren was far more satisfying than being praised herself. Overjoyed, Mother Li smiled and humbly responded,

“No, they can be quite mischievous too. The moment they heard that their parents had gone to their maternal grandmother’s house without them, they ran faster than rabbits! I almost couldn’t catch up with them! Sigh, the main issue is that their maternal grandmother’s home is too far—it’s in Beijing. Even taking a train would take several days, so bringing them along would have been really inconvenient.”  

Mother Shen nodded in agreement. “Beijing is indeed quite far. I just came from Beijing myself, spent several days on the train, and it was utterly exhausting.”  

“It must have been terribly tiring.” Mother Li remarked. She glanced at the car and the driver behind Mother Shen before cautiously asking: “What brings you all the way here?”  

“I came to visit my daughter.” Mother Shen replied. “She married and settled here.”  

“Oh dear, how did she end up marrying so far away?” Mother Li, being quite the gossip, asked curiously: “Even made you, as her mother, travel all this way?”  

At the mention of this, Mother Shen immediately grew indignant. “Exactly! She secretly went to the countryside for the Down to the Countryside Movement without telling us. She hasn’t been home for years, and then she even got married without informing us! It makes me so mad!”  

“That really shouldn’t have happened.” Mother Li agreed. “Could it be that some young lad tricked her?”

Mother Shen sneered: “Trick my daughter? Does he think I’m dead?”  

Mother Li: “…” Why did she suddenly feel that this woman was not to be trifled with?  

She thought back to the Educated Youth women who had married into the village, wondering which of them had such wealthy family backgrounds. She sifted through a few possibilities in her mind, and just as a familiar figure surfaced in her thoughts, Mother Shen spoke—  

“Sister-in-law, I want to ask you something. Do you know Li Chen?”  

!!!  

Mother Li looked at Mother Shen, her mouth slightly open in shock.  

Before she could even respond, Er Bao had already spoken up. “Aunt, Li Chen is my father!”

Mother Shen looked at Er Bao, then at Da Bao and Xiao Bao, before finally turning her gaze to Mother Li. She opened her mouth slightly, but no words came out.  

For a moment, the atmosphere fell into silence.  

Mother Li had no idea how she made it back home.  

After pouring a cup of water for Mother Shen and Shen Yuxuan, she left the Three Baos to accompany them and hurriedly rushed home. “Old man! Old man!”  

“What’s with all the fuss? What happened?” Father Li quickly emerged from the latrine.  

“Mother-in-law is here!” Mother Li lowered her voice, afraid that the neighbors might hear.  

“Which mother-in-law?” Father Li was still trying to process the information. It couldn’t be the mother of their third son’s wife. Could it be He Zhaodi’s mother? Or perhaps the mothers of their two daughters-in-law?  

“It’s Second Daughter-in-law’s!” Mother Li said urgently.  

“Second Daughter-in-law’s?” Father Li was stunned for a moment before recalling something. “Didn’t Second Daughter-in-law go back to her maternal home this morning? I remember their train was supposed to be in the afternoon. If we hurry, we might still catch up with them!”  

As he spoke, he was about to call someone. “I’ll have the eldest go borrow a bicycle from the village chief right away and chase after them!”  

“Do you even know what I’m trying to say?” Father Li was completely missing the point, and Mother Li was getting anxious.  

In Mother Li’s understanding, Shen Yiyi had married Li Chen because Li Chen had used some sort of trickery on her…  

So now that Mother Shen had arrived, Mother Li was beside herself with worry—especially since Mother Shen had just made some rather harsh remarks in front of her.  

She hurriedly explained her concerns to Father Li, then anxiously suggested: “…Why don’t we have Second Daughter-in-law come back and let our second son go into hiding for a while?”  

“…” Father Li frowned. “What kind of nonsense idea is that? The mother-in-law has come all this way, and you want the son-in-law to run off? How does that make any sense?”

“What if they beat our second son to death?” Mother Li fretted. “That mother-in-law is fierce! Her younger brother is here too, and they even brought a driver. They came in a car—a car! What kind of family can afford a car? If they wanted to crush our family, it’d be as easy as squashing an ant!”  

Father Li’s frown deepened so much that it could probably pinch a fly to death. “What nonsense are you talking about? What crushing and not crushing? This isn’t the old society anymore. You better watch your words—if the wrong person hears you, both our family and our in-laws will be in serious trouble.”  

Mother Li immediately spat a few times to ward off bad luck and stared at Father Li expectantly. “Then what do we do now?”  

“What else can we do? First, have someone call the second son and his wife back. If an apology is needed, then he should apologize. As for what his mother-in-law wants to do, he’ll just have to endure it. He brought this on himself.” Father Li said.  

“But what if he really gets beaten to death?” Mother Li asked worriedly.  

“Do you not know what kind of person your son is?” Father Li snapped.  

“And do you not know what he’s like in front of his wife?” Mother Li shot back.  

Father Li was momentarily speechless. Finally, he said: “Fine. We’ll have the eldest go find them and tell them their in-laws have arrived. Whether the second son decides to come back or run away, that’s up to them.”  

For now, this was the only solution.  

Mother Li hurried off to find Li Dabin. “Dabin, go to the village chief’s house and borrow a bicycle right away, then head to find your second brother and his wife. They said they were going to the state-run restaurant for breakfast, so they definitely missed the 8 o’clock bus. They’re probably planning to take the 10 o’clock one instead. It’s only 9 o’clock now, so they shouldn’t have left yet. Check the state-run restaurant first. If they’re not there, go to the bus station. Got it?”  

Li Dabin, entrusted with this important task, quickly borrowed a bicycle and set off.  

Meanwhile, Mother Li rushed next door.