After four years of living alone after marrying far away, he went back to his parents' home and

Mother-in-law Tian Xiuhua rushed out to look for people, but after searching for a long time, she not only couldn't find her husband and son, but Lan Yujuan couldn't even hear when she herself returned.

At this moment, it's hard not to think that Tian Xiuhua is secretly burning paper money by the back door!

Suddenly, Lan Yujuan thought of a possibility:

"Could it be that she saw something she shouldn't have, and in a fit of rage, she killed the other two?"

Given Tian Xiuhua's consistently fiery temper and tendency to act recklessly, she really might be capable of doing such a thing!

Lan Yujuan slept very restlessly that night. She got up at the crack of dawn.

She waited in a daze all night, and her brother-in-law, who had been out all night, finally returned home a few minutes ago.

However, my father-in-law, who left last night, has not returned yet, and my mother-in-law is unusually quiet, neither making a fuss nor going out to look for him.

Therefore, Tian Xiuhua must know something.

As dawn broke outside, her daughter woke up.

As usual, Lan Yujuan held her daughter, preparing to go to the village entrance to eat rice noodles.

Tian Xiuhua clearly saw the two preparing to leave and guessed what they were going to do, but she said nothing.

He didn't make a sound, and his face looked unusually pale, as if he had lost his soul.

"Mom, what's wrong with Grandma today?" Her daughter asked softly, looking up as she slowly walked forward, holding her hand.

"Is Grandma's throat bothering her today? She didn't swear at anyone this morning."

Lan Yujuan was initially worried, but after hearing her daughter's innocent words, she almost burst out laughing.

She gently patted her daughter's head and said softly, "Regardless of others, we just need to take care of ourselves."

"Let's go have breakfast!"

The mother and daughter, hand in hand, were heading towards the village entrance.

In the distance, I could see a familiar figure on the opposite bank of the river, walking towards this side with his hands behind his back.

The man was acting suspiciously, glancing left and right as he crossed the bridge, seemingly afraid of being seen.

"Mom, is that Grandpa on the bridge?" Liu Xiaoman asked, pointing to the bridge not far away.

Lan Yujuan stood there stunned for a long time before she finally recognized that the man with a white bandage wrapped around his head was actually her father-in-law who had been missing for a whole night!

He's actually alright?

So, who was Tian Xiuhua burning paper money for at the back door last night?

Tian Xiuhua was perfectly fine at home, yet he dared to openly spend the night at Widow Zhang's house? He's incredibly audacious!

Lan Yujuan had something on her mind, fearing that something unexpected might happen to the Liu family before she received her household registration book.

So, after breakfast, the mother and daughter went straight home.

The atmosphere at the Liu family's house was strange. The younger brother-in-law was still in his room, fast asleep.

The father-in-law and mother-in-law sat on opposite sides of the yard, one on the east side and the other on the west side, each lost in thought and ignoring the other.

Even though all three of them were home, the house was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Seeing this, Lan Yujuan silently moved out a stool and sat down with her daughter on the south side of the yard. While keeping an eye on the house, she played with building blocks with her daughter.

Before the family members dared to ask, the neighbors next door started gossiping:

"Liu Defu, what happened to the injury on the back of your head? Were you beaten up? Or did you fall last night?"

Upon hearing this, Lan Yujuan noticed that her mother-in-law's hands were trembling and her face was frighteningly pale.

On the other side, the father-in-law also felt guilty and subconsciously looked towards the mother-in-law first, clearly not wanting her to know.

Seeing that his mother-in-law didn't seem to be paying attention, he replied in a low voice, "No, it's nothing."

"I bumped into something last night, it's nothing serious."

Since the person in question said so, the neighbor, seeing there was no more gossip to dig up, simply asked a few questions and then changed the subject.

"By the way, I heard from the shopkeeper that your second son had amazing luck last night and won over ten thousand yuan! Is that true?"

This moment not only stunned the father-in-law, but also brought the mother-in-law, Tian Xiuhua, to her senses.

"You just said, how much did my Zhigang win last night?"

The neighbor, clearly having received accurate information, confidently raised his finger and declared, "It's almost ten thousand! Anyone who lies to you is a dog!"

Upon hearing this, Tian Xiuhua immediately got up and walked into the house, pushing open the door to Liu Zhigang's room.

Instead of waking her up directly, Tian Xiuhua quietly began rummaging through her pockets.

After she took out all the cash from her second son and counted it, she found that the rumors outside were indeed true!

My clueless youngest son actually had a stroke of luck last night and won nearly 20,000 yuan!

When she came out again, Tian Xiuhua was overjoyed, her eyes narrowing into slits with laughter.

"Excellent, excellent!"

"Last night, it was truly a miracle, a blessing from our ancestors!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Defu across from him glared and said, "Blessing my ass!"

"Look at the back of my head, look how badly it's injured!"

At this moment, Tian Xiuhua felt completely relaxed, and said with a mixture of joy and unease, "It's good to be alive!"

"It's just a minor injury, it'll heal with some rest. We country folk have been hurt before, we're not that delicate."

Lan Yujuan was focused on taking care of the child, listening attentively from beginning to end without uttering a single word.

But she didn't expect that the rumors would spread faster than the wind and become increasingly bizarre!

By the afternoon of the third day of the Lunar New Year, the rumors about Liu Defu, the father-in-law, had spread to almost everyone in the village.

"Hey, Yujuan, have you heard?" Two children were picking flowers and plants nearby, playing house. Liu Mei and Lan Yujuan sat side by side, watching the children and sharing gossip!

Lan Yujuan shook her head subconsciously, "I don't know, which one are you referring to?"

Liu Mei, barely containing her excitement, practically slapped her thigh as she exclaimed, "About your father-in-law getting beaten up last night in Widow Zhang's yard!"

"Could it be that you didn't know about this?"

Lan Yujuan's heart skipped a beat, and she shook her head again. "Never heard of it. Surely not?"

Liu Mei glared at her, annoyed by her lack of self-confidence: "How could you not? You're so stupid, everyone in the village knows that!"

At this crucial point, Liu Mei moved closer to her: "Last night, your father-in-law went to Widow Zhang's place to do something..."

"After finishing my business, I was about to head back when I bumped into other old men who were also on their way to Widow Zhang's house."

"The two sides met on a narrow path, neither willing to give way... In the end, they fought until everyone was bleeding profusely; the scene was incredibly exciting!"

Lan Yujuan was speechless after hearing this.

This version is clearly unreliable!

If these old men in Xiahe Village were jealous and resentful of each other, they would have fought long ago. How could they have waited until now?

On the contrary, these people even have some mutual respect in their daily lives!

Lan Yujuan even encountered some "shameless people" in the village who were exchanging experiences on how to get things done.

Considering the current situation, the parents-in-law are in a state of mutual testing and wariness towards each other.

Lan Yujuan was absolutely certain that the injury on the back of her father-in-law's head was caused by her mother-in-law hitting him on the head with a stick!

It's funny, really. They've been married for decades and have two sons and a daughter.

As a result, this happened in their old age: one thought he had kept it a secret perfectly, and that even suffering was sweet; the other dared not confront him openly, and could only resort to underhanded tactics.

What's the point of living a life like this?

The two were chatting when they suddenly heard Tian Xiuhua's warning voice coming from inside the house.

"I'll hold onto the money you won yesterday for you!"

"You're about to buy a house and get engaged, so you better behave yourself at home!"

"No more card playing tonight! Liu Zhigang, do you hear me?"

Then came the noise of Liu Zhigang throwing things around and making a scene. The mother and son were arguing fiercely over the ten thousand yuan!

Upon hearing this, Liu Mei pursed her lips and casually said, "Yujuan, you just wait and see!"

"I'm not being sarcastic, but your brother-in-law still has a lot of trouble to deal with this Lunar New Year!"

Lan Yujuan understood this principle perfectly well. In the four years she had been married into Xiahe Village, she had seen it all!

If Liu Zhigang lost money last night, that's fine; he'll probably behave himself during the Lunar New Year.

Of all the people at the table, he was the only one with good luck, winning over ten thousand yuan in one night.

Whether it's a setup by someone else or Liu Zhigang genuinely having good luck, he'll definitely lose everything, including his initial stake, once he sits down at the poker table again.

Thinking of this, Lan Yujuan picked up her phone and sent a message to her husband:

Your brother had a lucky streak at cards last night and won over ten thousand yuan. Could you advise him to stop playing, or he might lose it all back?

After the message was sent, it seemed to disappear without a trace.

Lan Yujuan stared blankly at her phone. What worried her was not that her brother-in-law had lost his windfall of more than 10,000 yuan, but that he might fall into someone else's trap and end up losing everything.

Not to mention the surrounding villages, even in Xiahe Village itself, every year there has been a family falling apart and wives and children being torn apart because of playing cards during the Spring Festival.

Just as Lan Yujuan was lost in thought, Liu Mei suddenly shook her hard, "Hey, look over there!"

"The one coming back with a suitcase, doesn't she look like your sister-in-law?"

Lan Yujuan looked up and saw that her sister-in-law had indeed returned!

The handful of sunflower seeds she was holding suddenly lost their appeal.

"Sister-in-law, you're really something!"

Sure enough, after putting down her luggage, her sister-in-law Liu Zhifang started causing trouble again.

"During the Lunar New Year, you're sitting outside eating sunflower seeds and chatting with people, while I'm left all alone in the kitchen working!"

"Don't be too selfish. Don't just think about your own happiness and forget the most basic filial piety."

"Don't forget, you'll grow old one day too!"

Lan Yujuan raised her eyebrows and glanced at Liu Zhifang indifferently.

"You're right, you're the most filial person in the whole family!"

"Then what are you standing there for? Hurry up and go help in the kitchen!"

"Your brother asked me to stay home and take care of the kids, but he didn't say I had to stay home and cook for his parents and younger siblings!"

Liu Zhifang was stunned by the rebuke, as if she had seen a ghost in broad daylight.

Unexpectedly, my sister-in-law, who is usually as stubborn as a saw, actually dared to go against me today.

Liu Zhifang's face immediately fell, and she sneered coldly, "Whose daughter-in-law doesn't cook? Are you the most precious one?"

"You've been married into the Liu family for four years now, and you still act so aloof! In my opinion, you haven't even considered living a proper life with my older brother!"

Lan Yujuan's gaze gradually turned cold.

"Won't you get married someday? Won't you become someone's daughter-in-law?"

"Instead of wasting your time with your talkativeness, you'd be better off going into the kitchen and learning a few more dishes from your mother!"

"How I am with your older brother is none of your business!"

Liu Zhifang stomped her feet in anger, her eyes red, and stormed into the kitchen, clearly heading to complain.

Seeing this, Liu Mei quickly came closer and whispered in confusion:

"What's going on?"

"Didn't your sister-in-law say she was spending the Lunar New Year away from home this year?"

"Why did they act first and report later, coming back directly?"

Lan Yujuan thought for a moment, then gently shook her head. "I don't know either."

"Perhaps she heard that her mother fell into the pond?"

"Or perhaps you heard that his father fell and hit his head last night?"

After hearing these two reasons, Liu Mei pursed her lips and shook her head, "Impossible!"

"Your sister-in-law works in the provincial capital. If she really cared about your parents, she would have rushed back on the first day of the Lunar New Year!"

"In my opinion, there must be something else going on."

Lan Yujuan lowered her head and peeled sunflower seeds, her eyes flashing slightly. She quickly thought of someone: Liu Meiling, who had married into the family next door.

Liu Zhifang and Liu Meiling, the sisters-in-law, are not only relatives, but also classmates and childhood friends.

The two have been close since childhood and can talk about almost anything on their phones.

They were just talking about buying a house in the city yesterday, and today Liu Zhifang rushed back in a hurry. It's hard not to wonder what's going on.

During dinner, Liu Zhifang's ambition was revealed.

"Dad, I heard our family is planning to buy a house in the city?" Liu Zhifang asked tentatively while serving her father some food.

Liu Defu casually replied, "Mm."

Clearly, he didn't want to talk about this topic with his daughter.

Lan Yujuan sat next to her, eating and watching the commotion.

Upon hearing that her family was really planning to buy a house in the city, Liu Zhifang's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Dad, what's your budget for buying a house? How big are you planning to buy? Where do you intend to buy it?"

Liu Zhifang picked up the wine pot and began to pour wine for her father.

It is said that the wine in this wine pot was a medicinal wine that Liu Zhifang specially bought from the city to present to his father.

It has many benefits, including but not limited to promoting blood circulation, removing blood stasis, and tonifying the kidneys and enhancing male virility. In short, it's excellent for Dad!

Liu Defu picked up the fragrant medicinal wine, looking quite pleased. He was about to speak when Tian Xiuhua interrupted him without making a sound.

"Why would a girl like you ask about this?"

"As long as you work hard and behave well, you'll marry into a good family. Then you'll have whatever you want!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhifang immediately became displeased.

"Mom, I was just asking casually. Can't I even ask about family matters?"

"Everyone in the village knows that my second brother is buying a house for his wedding. So you're just keeping it from me?"

Upon hearing this, Tian Xiuhua panicked and instinctively looked at Lan Yujuan.

Seeing that her daughter-in-law hadn't reacted yet, she quickly winked at her daughter, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"That house was bought for the family with money from your eldest brother! It just so happens that your second brother is getting married, so his name is on the deed for now."

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhifang's face immediately lit up with a smile.

"So, does that mean I'm part of the family, and I have a share in the new house?"