After the family split up, my stepmother and scumbag father begged me to come home.

"Mother! That girl must have hidden a lot of things. They must have been left behind by my sister-in-law before she left, and she didn't have time to take them with her."

Lin Xiaohua spoke with absolute certainty, as if she had witnessed it herself.

Grandma Lin sat there without moving, tapping her fingers on the table.

To go or not to go?

If we don't go, wouldn't that be letting that brat get away with it? So much stuff, meat, cloth—just hearing about it makes my heart ache.

But she went... The village chief's threat to "send her to the authorities" was still hanging over her head. The family division agreement was in black and white with her fingerprints on it. If things really escalated, she wouldn't be too worried. She was just afraid of the old man...

"Mother, don't hesitate any longer." Wang Hehua leaned closer, her voice low, each word piercing the old lady's heart. "If we wait any longer, I'm afraid everything will be gone. That girl is cunning; she'll hide things here today and move them there tomorrow. By the time you figure things out, she'll have already wiped them all out."

That hits the nail on the head.

Old Mrs. Lin's eyes sharpened.

"Mother!" Lin Xiaohua cried out anxiously, tugging at her sleeve.

Grandma Lin flung her hand away and stood up: "Fine. Let's go before your father and the others come back."

Wang Hehua's eyes lit up, and she turned and walked out.

Lin Xiaohua bit her lip and followed, stamping her foot.

Ding Yuxiang and Lin Yuanyuan had been squatting by the window for a while.

The mother and daughter were just passing by when they heard Wang Hehua's loud voice and stopped in their tracks. They became more and more engrossed in listening, their ears practically glued to the windowpane.

"Greasy meat...worth at least twenty or thirty coins..."

Ding Yuxiang swallowed hard. Twenty or thirty coins for meat, how much would that be? She hadn't even seen such a big piece of meat during the New Year.

Lin Yuanyuan's eyes were almost red with tears. She tugged at Ding Yuxiang's sleeve, her voice urgent and shrill: "Mother, why can that good-for-nothing eat meat? I want to eat too! Look how thin I've become!"

Ding Yuxiang glanced at her from head to toe—round face, double chin almost showing, she couldn't tell where she had lost weight.

However, she didn't say that.

"Keep your voice down!" She covered Lin Yuanyuan's mouth, crouched down, and led her daughter to the door of the main room. "Let's go inside and go with your grandma and the others."

The moment my hand touched the door, it was suddenly pulled open from the inside.

The two groups bumped into each other.

Grandma Lin was so startled she leaned back, grabbing the doorframe to steady herself. Her face was pale: "You scared me half to death! Couldn't you have made a sound?!"

"Mother, what are you doing..." Ding Yuxiang pretended to be confused, her eyes drifting to Wang Hehua before returning to her.

"Take a stroll," said Grandma Lin irritably.

"What a coincidence!" Ding Yuxiang smiled perfectly. "Let's take a stroll too."

Grandma Lin's eyelids twitched, and she thought to herself, "No, that won't do."

But the words stuck in his throat.

She glanced at Ding Yuxiang, then at Lin Yuanyuan who was peeking out from behind, and quickly began to make plans in her mind.

If there is true affection between the second son's wife and the second son, then say it was the second son's wife's idea.

With more people, the chances of winning are greater.

If something really goes wrong, they'll push the blame onto Ding Yuxiang—after all, she's a stepmother, and her reputation isn't exactly good to begin with, so adding another person to the blame won't hurt.

"If you want to go, then go." Old Mrs. Lin lifted her eyelids slightly.

Lin Xiaohua got anxious and tugged hard at her sleeve.

Grandma Lin ignored her.

Lin Xiaohua tugged again, but there was still no response, so she stomped her foot angrily.

Ding Yuxiang, leading Lin Yuanyuan, had already squeezed into the line and followed with a smile.

The four of them left the courtyard and headed towards the west end of the village.