"Brother, could you tell me where Li Dashan lives?" Granny Zhao asked as she arrived at Lijia Village.

"I don't think you're from this village. What do you want with Dashan?" the man being questioned asked.

"Oh, I'm his in-law, I'm here to visit relatives," Granny Zhao said with a smile.

Zhao Dahua's suggestion: Since we can't control Li Rouniang, why don't we ask her biological father to come and take care of her?

Originally, Granny Zhao was not happy. After all, ever since she bought Li Rou Niang, her biological father had never had any contact with the Zhao family. It was clear that the Li family had not intended to marry off their daughter but rather to sell her.

The best tacit understanding is for the two families to not have any contact with each other.

Granny Zhao didn't want to break this tacit understanding, but she really had no other ideas at the moment, and she was happy to do anything to annoy Li Rou Niang.

So she gritted her teeth and spent eight coins to buy the cheapest pastries before arriving at Li Family Village.

After asking around, they arrived at Li Dashan's house.

"What do you need Dashan for?" Li Dashan's wife came out.

At first glance, Granny Zhao noticed that the woman in front of her was dark-skinned and had a shrewd look on her face. She didn't seem like a likable person at all.

"You must be from Dashan's family, right? I'm Li Rou Niang's mother-in-law. I haven't visited in years, so I came to drop by," Granny Zhao said with a smile, waving the pastries in her hand.

When Da Shan's wife saw the snacks in Zhao Pozi's hand, her face immediately lit up with a smile: "Oh, it's Rou Niang's mother-in-law! Come in quickly, look at you, you've come all this way, and you even brought things with you."

As he spoke, he grabbed the pastries.

Just then, a boy of about half a year ran over, stretched out his hand and shouted, "Mom, I want some snacks! I want some snacks!"

"Alright, alright, take them all and eat them." The mountain woman handed the snacks to the little boy.

The boy grabbed the snacks and ran off in a flash, making Granny Zhao frown. "What an ill-mannered brat!"

As Granny Zhao entered the main room, the woman brought her a bowl of water and said with a smile, "This water was just drawn; please drink more, don't mind."

Granny Zhao was inwardly puzzled, as if every household had water, but she still smiled and took a sip, saying, "It's quite sweet."

The mountain woman continued, "Rou Niang's mother passed away early, and her father is busy making money so no one takes care of him. If she doesn't do well with you, please be more tolerant."

Granny Zhao understood what she meant: now that her daughter was married into their family, she was one of them, so they should do as they pleased and not come looking for them again.

As expected, this stepmother is completely irresponsible.

"Oh, nothing else important. I just wanted to ask, um, where is Rou Niang's father? Is he home?" Granny Zhao didn't say it outright, thinking that since her stepmother didn't care, she should just talk to her father directly. Otherwise, it would be pointless for her to say it, and if he still didn't care, she would have wasted her money on the pastries.

Da Shan's wife could tell that Granny Zhao was determined to see Da Shan, so she forced a smile and said, "Da Shan went to work in town and probably won't be back until tonight. If you're willing to wait, then you can. But we're living frugally, and we only eat a fixed amount each day. We didn't know you were coming, so we didn't prepare any food for you."

These words were rather impolite, a clear order to leave. Granny Zhao gritted her teeth in anger, but thinking about her snacks, she couldn't let the money go to waste. So she patiently waited all afternoon with just a bowl of water!

Li Dashan didn't return until evening. As soon as he entered the door, his wife greeted him and whispered something in his ear.

Li Dashan dusted himself off, walked into the main room, and said to Granny Zhao, "What happened to our little girl at your house?"

"My dear in-law, you're finally back! You have no idea what your daughter has done; she's just too much!"

Granny Zhao had spent the entire afternoon rehearsing her lines, and now it was her time to perform. She then launched into a long and detailed account of Li Rou Niang's many misdeeds:

For example, she was disrespectful to her parents-in-law, forced her sister-in-law to marry, and sent her husband to work in the mines. She was also immoral in the village, even seducing a young man, causing gossip throughout the village. She had no other choice but to come to the mountains.

Li Dashan frowned as he listened, wondering if this was his daughter. His daughter was weak and timid, never daring to utter a sound. How could she have done so many things at her husband's family?

But the mother-in-law has already come knocking on the door. How can a daughter-in-law be married off and then have her mother-in-law spread bad rumors about her everywhere? This girl must be a liar. It's really despicable that she did these things. She's married off and still can't make things easy for anyone.

"So what do you mean by saying all this? I've already said it before: once a daughter is married, she's like water spilled from a bowl. You can do whatever you want with her once she's in your family, and I won't say a word. But you can't send her back to us. There's no such logic in that."

“Yes, yes, our family is too small to accommodate your daughter-in-law, who is like a bodhisattva. She’s already in your family, so you can do whatever you want with her. Why bother coming to our house to talk about it?” Li Dashan’s wife chimed in.

Your family and our family have a lot to say about this; they've clearly drawn a line between themselves.

This old woman Zhao was the one who bought the pastries. How could she let them say it like that? Those pastries had already gone into the Li family's little brat's stomach. They could try to shirk responsibility, but she wouldn't let them have that kind of luck!

So she ran out, plopped down on the floor, and began to wail: "Oh my God, my life is so miserable! My husband died young, and I raised two sons and a daughter with such difficulty. I finally managed to get my eldest son a wife, but not only is she unfilial, she also has questionable morals!"

"Everyone, come and see! Old Li's daughter is such a shameless person!"

Li Dashan and his wife had never seen anything like this before, and they panicked a little. They never expected their mother-in-law to throw such a tantrum, and it looked like she was about to attract attention. Dashan's wife quickly stepped forward to help her up: "Sister, what are you doing? Sit down and let's talk things out. We didn't say we wouldn't help, did we?"

Granny Zhao wiped away her tears and stared straight at the couple: "Then you two come back to Zhao Family Village with me today to teach Rou Niang a lesson."

"Now!" the couple asked in unison.

"Yes, now." Granny Zhao nodded firmly.

She realized that Li Dashan and his wife didn't want to get involved, so she decided to strike while the iron was hot and bring them back to Zhao Village now, otherwise they probably wouldn't go tomorrow.

Li Dashan and his wife exchanged a glance. Dashan's wife said to Dashan, "Dad, why don't you go with your in-laws? It's getting dark, so you can see her off and prevent her from falling on the way."

This is just distancing herself from the situation. After all, she's not her biological daughter, so why should she care?

Li Dashan was exhausted after a long day, without eating or drinking a single bite of food or water, when his wife pushed him out of the house. He harbored a great deal of resentment towards Li Rouniang.