As soon as they stepped out of the courtyard, the two bumped into Su Xiangsheng, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

His little face was covered in dust, and a few bits of grass were stuck in his hair, but he looked exceptionally radiant.

"Big brother, sister! You're back!" Su Xiangsheng's eyes lit up. He had found quite a few medicinal herbs today, and his sister would definitely praise him when she saw them.

Wait, why are they both frowning, looking so flustered and uneasy...?

Su Xiangsheng's smile gradually faded, his heart pounding: "What's wrong? Did something happen to Dad again?"

"It's not Father, it's Mother!" Su Li sighed deeply, her eyes darkening. "Do you know where Mother went?"

"I...I think I haven't seen my mother since I ate breakfast this morning." Su Xiangsheng stammered, and the bamboo pole in his hand fell to the ground with a "clatter".

"Alright, let's go out and look for it together! Don't be afraid, your big sister is here..."

"Heh—" A strange, sarcastic laugh suddenly came from behind.

Su Zhen walked gracefully out of the room, a faint smile on her lips, but her brows were furrowed slightly, feigning seriousness.

"Look at how rushed you all are, haven't you found Aunt Fourth yet?"

Su Li turned to meet her mocking eyes, a flicker of disgust crossing her own, but she still patiently said:

"So, you know where my mother is?"

Su Zhen was stunned for a moment, then the smile on her lips immediately spread. She laughed very freely, and the smugness in her eyes could not be concealed at all, or rather, she did not intend to conceal it at all.

"Su Li, I never said I knew, so don't make wild guesses."

Su Zhen raised her chin, her eyebrows slightly raised, and looked down at the people in front of her with an extremely arrogant attitude.

She tilted her head slightly, her gaze wandering freely over Su Li, as if examining a broken piece of porcelain, with a critical and disdainful look.

"Hurry up and go find her, or we might not even be able to get your mother back tonight!"

Su Zhen's arrogant attitude completely enraged Su Li.

Su Li didn't want to argue with her, but seeing this situation, she couldn't help but feel angry.

She took a deep breath, walked over to Su Zhen, and whispered in her ear:

"Really? You don't know where my mother went? This is the first time I've heard that boiling some tree leaves into a juice can have such good effects. Tomorrow, I'll go pick some tree leaves and boil some to make soup for Grandpa to calm his nerves. What do you say?"

Su Zhen froze on the spot, as if she had been frozen in place.

She turned her head stiffly, her eyes fixed on Su Li's face, filled with disbelief.

How could Su Li know about this!

His hands unconsciously gripped the hem of his clothes, and his playful mood completely vanished.

Su Li rolled her eyes at her, then ignored her and hurriedly left the courtyard.

The three of them asked and searched all the way, and after an unknown amount of time, they finally found the mother by a pond behind the village.

The sky darkened as if it were ink, as if a heavy boulder was pressing down on people, making it hard to breathe.

Hu's frail figure was blurred in the darkness. Only her arms could be vaguely seen as she laboriously raised them and swung the mallet in her hand with difficulty, exhausted.

The clothes around her were piled up in a mess, like a small mountain.

Across the hill, Old Mrs. Su held a wooden stick in her hand. With a fierce look in her eyes and a mean expression, she picked up the clothes that Hu had washed one by one. If she was dissatisfied with anything, she would throw it on the ground, leaving the clothes covered in mud and dust, and then deliberately stomp on them a few times, cursing and swearing as she made Hu pick them up and wash them clean again.

"Mother! Mother, please get up! Don't wash anymore! Don't wash anymore!"

Su Li felt a sharp pain in her heart, and tears almost welled up in her eyes.

She forcefully ripped the clothes from Hu's hands and threw them aside. Su Xiangyang and Su Xiangsheng immediately stepped forward to hug their mother, who was already exhausted, and carefully helped her up.

After squatting by the river for several hours, Hu's legs had gone numb. As soon as she stood up, her legs gave way and she knelt down.

"Mom, are you alright? Don't scare Asheng! What happened to your leg? Waaah..."

Madam Hu forced a reassuring smile, but the smile seemed somewhat sorrowful: "It's alright, Mother is alright, Asheng, don't cry, you'll be fine in a little while."

"Enough!" Old Mrs. Su's sharp voice was like a dagger. "It's just asking you to wash a few clothes, is it really necessary to be so fussy? Which noble family's young lady are you, so precious? It's not like you've never done housework before!"

Su Li suddenly stood up, staring intently at Old Madam Su, and said coldly:

"Grandma, stop pretending you don't understand. You've been tormenting my mother all day, you should be satisfied by now. If you make her sick, the family will still have to pay for her medical treatment, won't we?"

"Shut up! You bastard, how dare you talk back to me? Did your mother, that bitch, teach you that? Huh?"

Grandma Su raised her stick and started hitting Su Li.

Su Li neither dodged nor evaded, her eyes fixed on the stick swinging in the air, ready to seize the opportunity to take it away. Just then, a strong and powerful hand suddenly reached out from behind her and firmly grasped the stick in its palm.

With a slight effort, Su Xiangyang easily obtained the entire wooden stick in his hand.

He stepped forward and shielded his younger sister behind him, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty: "Grandma, I apologize on Li'er's behalf. It's getting dark; we should go home."

"Ouch—" Old Mrs. Su stumbled and almost fell over.

She gritted her teeth, ready to explode in anger, but when she looked up and met the boy's dark, brooding eyes, she suddenly shuddered.

Grandma Su lowered her eyes, uttered two exaggerated curses, and then reluctantly walked home.

"Let's go home."

Su Li and her elder brother helped their mother up, one on each side, temporarily suppressing their grievances and resentment.

After arriving home, Hu changed into clean clothes and then, urged by Su Li, went to the main room for dinner.

Grandma Su was still furious. She ate her meal in silence, but her eyes were actually fixed on the members of the fourth branch of the family.

This is outrageous! As an elder, she was reprimanding her daughter-in-law, and yet she was contradicted by several of her grandchildren.

"Smack—" The chopsticks were slammed heavily on the table, and Old Mrs. Su glared angrily at Su Xiangyang and Su Li.

Grandpa Su looked up in confusion: "What's wrong? Aren't you eating your meal? What's wrong with you now?"

"Hmph, you ask me what's wrong?"

Grandma Su snorted coldly, raised her chin, and gestured towards the pile of corn in the corner:

"Take a look for yourself! This year's corn harvest is so small, compared to much more in previous years. I'm afraid someone has hoarded some grain, trying to secretly sell it for money..."

"Sigh, as people grow up, their hearts become wild. Who listens to what the two old folks, the two of us, say anymore?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell into a deathly silence.

The crowd had various expressions, but no one spoke up to help. They just stared at the fourth branch of the family with strange looks, secretly hoping for a good show.

Hearing this, Ms. He felt extremely wronged, and the wound on the sole of her foot throbbed with pain.

They did the hardest work and gave their all to the family, but in the end, they were the ones who received a lot of complaints.

But when her gaze fell upon Su Li beside her, whose expression remained unchanged, her heart instantly returned to its place...

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