After leaving Zhuang Feifei's house, Li Hongying had a sudden urge to go up the mountain to find the bloodstone necklace after learning its whereabouts.

But halfway there, her stomach started growling loudly. Because she had taken Zhuang Feifei's last drop of blood, she hadn't eaten since morning, and hadn't eaten at noon because she was unconscious. Later, she was beaten by Liu's mother and Liu Aiguo. Now she was exhausted, hungry, and in pain all over her body.

She looked up to the west and saw that the sun was about to sink below the mountains. Not to mention whether she had the strength to continue her actions, there was no time to spare.

If she continues onward, it will be dark by the time she reaches the mountain. Without sufficient light, she will have no way to search for the bloodstone and will have to wait until the next day.

She has nowhere to stay and nothing to eat today.

Given her current situation, penniless and without any food, she would probably either starve to death or freeze to death before she even finds the bloodstone necklace.

She sat by the field for a while and decided to go back to the Liu family first.

Even if she had to go back and kowtow to Liu's mother to admit her mistake, she still had to endure this period of time.

So she changed direction and returned to the village.

When she returned to the Liu family home, Liu's mother and Liu Aiguo were both there. The mother and son did not show much surprise when they saw her return in such a disheveled state, as if they had expected her to be like this.

Liu's mother opened her eyes and sneered at her, "I knew you would come back. If you have the guts to leave, then don't ever come back into this house."

After she finished speaking, she looked at Liu Aiguo with an expression that seemed to say, "She's back, how are you going to beat her up?"

After most of the day, Liu Aiguo, who had been beating Li Hongying in a frenzy that morning, had calmed down.

Looking at Li Hongying, who was covered in bruises and looked haggard, he felt a little soft-hearted. After all, she was the person he shared a bed with every day. If he hurt her, who would bring him joy every night?

Seeing his hesitation, Liu's mother was very dissatisfied. She turned her head to the side and said in a sour tone, "I knew you only care about your wife. Your mother is useless to you, not as important as your wife. Fine, I won't talk to you about anything anymore. You can just stay with your wife and live your life. Oh dear, when you get old, who cares about my feelings?"

"Mother, how can she compare to you?"

After his mother said that, Liu Aiguo's head started to get hot again. He hesitated for a moment, then rolled up his sleeves, ready to teach Li Hongying a lesson.

Li Hongying was furious at Liu's mother for stirring things up, but she had to hold back and not lash out at all.

So, before Liu Aiguo could come over and reprimand her, she quickly took a few steps, went to Liu's mother, and knelt down in front of her with a thud.

The tears came so easily, and she seemed to be earnestly pleading with Liu's mother:

"Mother, I know I was wrong. Please don't let Aiguo hit me anymore. It's all my fault for being blinded by greed. I was too greedy and wanted to eat delicious food, but I didn't dare to ask you for money. In a moment of confusion, I took your money."

"Mother, I only made a mistake this time, please forgive me. Even if you gave me a hundred times the courage, I would never do such a thing again. You yourself said that now that I've married into the Liu family, I'm part of the Li family. We're all family. I consider you my own mother, so please don't hold it against me."

Liu's mother didn't give her a kind look. Every time, Li Hongying would only bow her head and admit her mistakes after being beaten. Now that she has admitted her mistakes, she might still do them again after a while.

Li Hongying was secretly annoyed by Liu's mother's stubbornness, and then turned her gaze to Liu Aiguo. She placed her hand on Liu Aiguo's leg and rubbed it a few times.

"Patriot, I really know I was wrong, otherwise I wouldn't have come back. Please talk to Mother for me. I promise I won't do such a wrong thing again. I will work hard to earn work points, earn more money and food for our family, and do more chores around the house."

"I want to give our Liu family a baby! Aiguo, haven't you always wanted to be a father? Let's try to have a baby and make Mom happy, okay?"

As she spoke, the hand on Liu Aiguo's leg moved a few more times. When Liu Aiguo heard about childbirth, he couldn't help but think of certain images. In addition, Li Hongying's hand kept causing trouble, making him even more distracted.

Certain images kept replaying in his mind, as if he had already put Li Hongying's theft of money out of his mind.

He grabbed Li Hongying's hand and pleaded with Liu's mother on Li Hongying's behalf.

“Mother, Hongying has already learned her lesson and made so many promises, which shows that she really knows how to repent. Let’s not dwell on this matter. After all, Hongying is still our family. Let’s not be so petty.”

However, Liu Aiguo's plea not only failed to appease his mother, but also made her resent Li Hongying even more because Liu Aiguo sided with Li Hongying.

This vixen has bewitched her son; he listens to her instead of her.

She didn't forgive Li Hongying. Li Hongying quickly gave Liu Aiguo a wink, and Liu Aiguo said, "Mom, have you forgotten what happened before? If we hurt Hongying and someone sees it, we'll have to pay for the hospital ourselves."

Ultimately, Liu's mother was still moved by the money; she didn't want to waste any more money, but she couldn't swallow her anger at letting Li Hongying off the hook.

She stood up, her face cold, and said, "Hongying, I'm not the kind of heartless mother-in-law. If what you did hadn't gone too far, I wouldn't have kept picking on you. After all, who doesn't value their money? I'm disciplining you to uphold our family values. Since Aiguo is reluctant to hit you, I'll teach you a lesson a little more, and then we'll call it even."

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