After transmigrating, he supported his family by working at a garbage dump.

Li Quanfu was busy all day again because of Wang Dashan and the other man.

The next day, before dawn, he went to Wang Dashan's house to see Xu Wenjie and find out what was going on. He also went into the room to check on them and was relieved to learn that their conditions had temporarily stabilized.

They discussed it with Xu Wenjie, planning to go to town as soon as possible to inquire about information. Xu Wenjie was worried that he wouldn't find out anything and might even get into trouble, so he suggested that he go to Hu Da first.

For some reason, Li Quanfu always felt that Xu Wenjie seemed to disapprove of him going to the yamen to inquire, but he didn't say it outright.

Coincidentally, his wife had been saying she wanted to go back to her parents' home these past two days, so he decided to take her to his father-in-law's house on the way.

"Why don't we just go and ask my father if he knows anything?" Hu Sanniang thought there was no need to make another trip to the yamen. Anyway, if her brother had any problems, he would have his sister-in-law send a message home.

Li Quanfu recalled Xu Wenjie's words, pondered for a moment, and felt that this was a good idea.

He actually wanted to inquire about Zhang Xiaolin's affairs, as well as the affairs of Wang Dashan and Erlang, which he also needed to report to the authorities.

According to Xu Wenjie, if he wasn't sure if his brother-in-law was in the government office, he was afraid that going directly to inquire would only make things worse.

Let's try a different approach and go to my father-in-law's house; maybe we can find out some information there.

Afterwards, the couple tidied themselves up, wrapped themselves in cotton-padded coats, and walked together to the father-in-law's house.

Hu San Niang's family home was also a village with various surnames, and it didn't have a specific village name. In the local dialect of their Qingshan Town, it was called "That Village".

But the location is much better than that of Laoya Village. Although both are near the main road, it is much more convenient than that of Laoya Village. It is also near the river, unlike Laoya Village, which is just a tiny stream between the upper and lower reaches of the river. It is much more convenient for Hu San Niang's family to fetch water and use the land for farming.

The couple were both hard-working people who walked very fast, and they arrived at the wife's parents' home in less than half an hour.

Upon entering and inquiring, I learned that Hu Da hadn't come back to visit for over ten days.

Hu Sanniang immediately became nervous and anxiously asked her father, "Father, what happened to my eldest brother? Why hasn't he come back for so long? He usually comes back every four or five days."

"It's not a big deal."

Old Hu knew his daughter was impatient, so he quickly explained with a smile, "Your sister-in-law sent word that she's going to the county to help the registrar with some things. She won't be back for at least ten days or half a month, or maybe a month at the latest. She told us not to worry, and didn't say anything else."

Old Hu wasn't some clueless village old man; otherwise, how could he dare to do business with the government? In this respect, he was more experienced than Hu San Niang.

Hearing this, Hu San Niang finally smiled and felt relieved.

She then winked at Li Quanfu, who had been worried, to reassure her husband. "See? I told you my brother wouldn't be in any trouble. The registrar has always thought highly of him; he's probably sent him on some important business. We'll go to town to ask my sister-in-law again in a couple of days when we go to the market..."

Li Quanfu agreed. His brother-in-law hadn't returned, and he wouldn't be able to get anything out of the yamen anyway, since they already knew a little about his brother-in-law's situation there.

Afterwards, the couple helped Mr. Hu with some chores and rushed back before lunch.

To my surprise, I bumped into my own son as soon as I reached the gate of the courtyard.

Li Xiaomo was covered in dirt, carrying several lumps of yellow mud in his arms. He looked around furtively, trying to sneak into the yard.

Seeing this, Hu Sanniang's anger flared up instantly, and she flew into a rage, grabbing Li Xiaomo's collar from behind. "You brat! What mischief have you been up to!"

Li Xiaomo was already feeling guilty, and when she turned around and saw her mother's angry face, she was so frightened that the bamboo shoots in her arms scattered all over the ground.

He dared not argue back, and kept smiling ingratiatingly as he explained, "Mother, it's not mud, look, it's bamboo shoots."

Hu San Niang was furious, but she didn't hear anything else. She kept cursing to herself: "...She's almost ten years old, and she's still playing these games like a three-year-old. Can't you give me a break for a couple of days? She's covered in mud. When your school starts in a few days, you can wear that tattered cotton-padded jacket... Oh my god, are you trying to make me angry to death?"

Seeing that his mother was getting angrier and angrier, he grabbed a bamboo strip from the bamboo fence and was about to hit her.

Li Xiaomo quickly broke free from his mother's hand and darted behind his father. "Mom, I really wasn't naughty. It was my little brother An'an who invited me to dig. He said if I dug it up, he would teach me how to recite the story quickly, so I went. My little sister Zhuzhu went too, and so did Grandpa Deng. If you don't believe me, go ask them. They all know."

Seemingly knowing that her mother favored the two siblings from the Xu family, Li Xiaomo directly used them as shields.

But in his heart he was thinking, "If only I hadn't dug so much, I wouldn't have been able to bring it all back."

It's all because of that little girl Xu Zhuzhu, who kept praising him for being so amazing. He got so excited that he couldn't stop.

Upon hearing the names of Xu Zhuzhu and Xu An, Li Quanfu quickly stopped Hu Sanniang, saying, "Since you brought Zhuzhu and her brother along, Sanniang, please don't hit the children. If word gets out, He Niang might overthink it."

Of course, it was just an excuse; Li Quanfu believed that Zhang He wouldn't take it to heart.

After saying those words, Hu San Niang finally calmed down.

He snorted, "I'll let you off the hook for now, but I'll ask Zhuzhu tomorrow. If you're lying to me, you'll be in big trouble!"

To everyone's surprise, the father and son didn't listen at all and started discussing how to cook the winter bamboo shoots that night. This made Hu San Niang angry for a long time, so she kicked open the courtyard gate.

Only then did the father and son fall silent.

However, the situation at Xu Zhuzhu's home wasn't much better.

The two were brought back by Old Man Deng; one was clean, while the other's arms were covered in mud.

Xu Zhuzhu didn't fall, but her brother, carrying a bunch of bamboo shoots back, got covered in mud.

Zhang He almost fainted.

She thought Xu An had fallen and hurriedly checked his body for injuries, "Did you fall? Where did you fall? Let Mother see!"

Old Deng chuckled and explained kindly, "They didn't fall. The brother and sister were searching for bamboo shoots all over the field with that Li boy, and they got a little dirty..."

Zhang He breathed a sigh of relief and gratefully saw Old Man Deng out.

However, the mud covering her body infuriated Zhang He.

However, she didn't say anything, but silently took off Xu An's cotton coat and made him sit in the room by himself. No one was allowed to come in and talk to him, especially Xu Zhuzhu.

Xu An and Xu Zhuzhu exchanged a glance, both looking troubled. Their mother was fine when she nagged, but when she stopped, she got really angry.

Zhang He silently boiled a large pot of water.

It's not that they can't play, but their whole family only has this one cotton-padded coat in winter. They only wash and change their inner clothes occasionally. If the outer cotton-padded coat gets dirty, it won't dry so quickly. What if they get cold because of it?

Zhang He was worried.

"Mother, I begged my brother to bring it back. Brother Xiao Mo said it was delicious and dug out a lot for us. It's not my brother's fault."

Xu Zhuzhu sneaked over and tugged at Zhang He's clothes, acting coquettishly. Her two watery eyes made Zhang He feel quite helpless.

She wasn't really angry; she was just worried that the two children would fall. Besides, anyone would be upset to see the children coming home covered in mud.

She squatted down and gently slapped Xu Zhuzhu's hand. "...Alright, consider this a small punishment as a warning. I know you siblings are very close, but you mustn't do this again next time. You both insisted on helping, but you didn't help at all and ended up covered in mud. You caused so much trouble for Uncle Deng. Look at him carrying so many bamboos and still having to look after you..."

Xu Zhuzhu nodded obediently. At this moment, she would agree with whatever her mother said.

Zhang He was still rambling on in the yard, and Xu Zhuzhu knew that seeing her mother had already calmed her down by half.

She was very perceptive and followed her mother around, working hard to help her with chores.

While adding firewood here and moving stools there, Zhang He found it both amusing and exasperating, and urged her to go inside, "...Little girl, don't get in the way here, go inside and keep your brother company! Don't disturb your father!"

Xu Zhuzhu smiled and moved a stool to sit in front of the stove. She didn't go into the house. "My brother has Daddy with him, and I'll stay with Mommy."

Seeing her daughter's clever and mischievous appearance, Zhang He gently pinched Xu Zhuzhu's soft cheek and jokingly scolded, "Little devil!"