She couldn't rely on them since they were just girls, raised for someone else's sake. She had to think about herself.

Wei Dani shuddered in fright, but she was so hungry that she could hardly bear it.

She looked at the person and still dared to say, "Mom, did you steal Grandma's eggs? I can smell them. Give me some, or I'll tell Grandma tomorrow."

Seeing that her mother hadn't come to hit her, probably because she was afraid of waking her father, Wei Dani became a little bolder.

"You're threatening your mother now? You ungrateful wretch! Go ahead and tell her, I'm not afraid."

Li Hehua was so angry that she went up to her and pinched her hard. She said that the girl was useless and that she was just there to collect debts.

Even if she lives a good life in the future, she won't care about them anymore. They're ungrateful brats, and they're even threatening their own mother.

"Mom, I won't do it again, my stomach hurts, I'm hungry..." Wei Dani was only a few years old. She just wanted to eat, but seeing her mother's anger, she was too scared to move.

Her mother pinched her, but she bit her lip and dared not make a sound. If she woke her father up, her parents would definitely beat her together.

Li Hehua felt she couldn't stay in that house any longer, so she left at dawn.

With something on her mind, Li Hehua got up and packed her things just as dawn was breaking.

Wei Baide was already used to her getting up early. There was a lot of work waiting for her at home, so he didn't pay any attention to the noise and turned over to continue sleeping under the covers.

Li Hehua packed everything she could take with her, slung her basket over her shoulder, and ran away. She was free; her good days were about to begin.

The Wei family didn't get up until almost noon, and were furious to find that there was no heat left in the pot.

At first, they didn't take it to heart, assuming Li Hehua had gone to work and that they would give her a good scolding when she got back that night.

It wasn't until Wei Baide noticed that his room had been rummaged through that he realized something was wrong.

"Da Ni, go to the fields and see if your mother is working there?" Wei Baide felt a little embarrassed. Had Li Hehua run away?

"Mom must have stolen the eggs and was afraid of being beaten by Grandma, so she hid them herself." Wei Dani was also scared when she saw that her mother was gone.

She hurriedly told her father that her mother had gone out to steal food that night.

She was too young to know about her family's situation. Suti had killed all the chickens in the family last time, and then one misfortune after another happened in the family, so they didn't buy any chicks.

They all assumed the girl had just gotten a craving for eggs.

After the two girls went out and searched around and said their mother wasn't in the field, the family realized that she was really missing.

"Da Ni, you said your mother often goes out at night to cheat on you?" Wei Baide thought carefully about the things that had been going on with his wife lately.

She used to always give him the best food, but now she's even started sneaking bites.

Where did she get the food? Why didn't she bring it back for him? When he finds her, he'll definitely give her a good beating.

"Yes, I smelled the eggs on Mom. She always sneaks out to eat them after we've fallen asleep. She did it last night too."

Wei Dani nodded. If her father found the food her mother had hidden, would he give her some to eat because she had told on him?

"Well, this is outrageous!" Wei Baide was furious. He would give him a good interrogation when he got back that night.

He never imagined that Li Hehua would run away; perhaps she went to her parents' home. Someone like her has nowhere to go anyway.

Her father was the brigade leader, but he couldn't compete with her sister-in-law, who was quite formidable.

It couldn't have been her family subsidizing her; he'll have to ask them where those things came from later.

"Third brother's wife, go cook." Huang Cuifen didn't care about Li Hehua at all. It was better that she didn't come back, as it would save the family food.

She was dizzy and weak, and hungry, so she had no interest in caring about her eldest daughter-in-law.

Su Nianyou glanced at her mother-in-law lying there, then at the two grown men. She was starving and reluctantly went to cook.

When Li Hehua returned, she encouraged Wei Baide to give the man a good beating.

She does all the housework, and she dares to slack off.

Chaos was raging at the Wei family's place. Many people in the village were laughing at them, saying they had done too many immoral things and never had a moment of peace.

When Wei Dani came looking for someone earlier, she said her mother was missing, and everyone heard it clearly.

"Do you think Wei's wife ran away because she couldn't make it work?" The team members were tired of hearing about the Wei family's affairs.

However, this incident was rather novel, as women and men have different focuses, and a few gossipy people found the matter suspicious.

"Who knows? The second son's wife has moved out of the family now, and they're biased towards the third son's family. They're constantly tormenting the eldest son's family. Anyone with a temper can't stand it."

“Hey, you’re wrong about that. What daughter-in-law doesn’t do chores? The second son’s family has moved out, and the third son’s wife is pregnant, so it’s no big deal for the eldest son’s wife to do a little more work.”

One of the women in a large family disagreed with this statement, saying that she was the youngest in her family and her son was already quite grown up but they hadn't separated from the family yet.

The eldest son's family does most of the housework, because they have so many children; they're the ones who suffer.

The mother-in-law takes care of all their food and drink, and they use all the work points they earn to feed the eldest son's children.

"Anyway, the Wei family is in such a state now, and Old Master Wei's family might not be able to make ends meet and might go back to her parents' home."

"What do you think she's thinking? She already has a child, how can she get a divorce? Does she still think she's a little girl?"

"No matter what, Old Master Wei's daughter is still the brigade leader's daughter. She can't be compared to you."

"What about the brigade leader's daughter? Her life isn't even as good as mine!"

"That's now. Back then, her father-in-law was the brigade leader, and her father-in-law was the brigade leader. They were still inferior to you?"

The group started arguing as they talked, and Su Ti, who came over to bring Wei Baichuan water, found it amusing.

Li Hehua ran away? How is that possible?

"Su, the educated youth? I've been looking for you for ages." Su Ti wanted to listen to their chatter some more when the brigade leader and a few others came looking for her.

She saw that the person who claimed to be from the publicity department had actually come, and she looked at him in surprise.

"Su, this is from the commune. They said they're here to see you." The brigade leader saw that Su Ti was very anxious. What happened now?

Did the Wei family cause trouble for Su Zhiqing again? He hadn't heard anything about it. He became anxious as soon as he heard that someone was looking for Su Zhiqing.

Is something bad going to happen again? Being a battalion commander is tough. If all else fails, he should just resign himself and let whoever wants the job do it.

"Comrade Su, it's nice to see you again. I left in a hurry last time and didn't have time to introduce myself. My name is Chen Min, and I'm from the county propaganda department."

The man smiled when he saw Suti, and his last sentence, introducing himself as being from the propaganda department, was clearly meant for the rest of the brigade.

"Comrade, I've been waiting in the brigade all along. I firmly believe that those who come out of the Propaganda Department are all trustworthy and good comrades."

Suti wouldn't tell him that she thought he was a liar from the beginning, and she would flatter him anyway.