The village chief waved his hand and asked the Li family and the others.
"Everyone, think carefully, have any strangers come to our village before?"
Li Lao Er quickly checked on each of his family members, including Wu Cuihua, whom he was most worried about.
“Our families are all here; there’s no way we could take Fu Niu’er away.” The villagers looked at each other; none of them were missing.
Someone said, "Could it be those people who were doing the Yangko dance earlier?"
"No, there are only eighteen of them in total, and they've all stayed at the village entrance without leaving," an old soldier replied.
He used to be a scout in the army, and he hasn't lost his skills or his vigilance.
For a moment, everyone fell silent. Could it really be a ghost?
Jiaxi and Jia'an hugged each other and cried bitterly. If they hadn't gone to watch the Yangko dance and had stayed home to look after their younger sister, wouldn't she have been safe?
Jiaren's face turned ashen. He had taken the initiative to watch over his sister, yet he had lost sight of her...
"Search! Even if there are no clues, we must search!"
Li Laosi stepped forward and bowed to the villagers with a livid face.
"Please, fellow villagers, help us search inside and outside the village. Even the slightest clue will be greatly appreciated. Our Li family will reward you handsomely."
"Oh, fourth brother, let's not talk about that. We all live in the same village, it's only natural."
"Yes, men, grab your machetes and axes, let's head out of the village. The women and children can search the village!"
The group quickly assigned tasks and then dispersed in a flurry.
Just then, Uncle Zhao from next door came in from outside, limping.
"Wait, wait, fourth brother!"
He must have walked too fast, because he took a few deep breaths and then said.
"I think I saw your second son's wife go to the grove behind the house and meet someone. Then she went home, took something, and gave it to that person."
My eyesight is failing, so I couldn't see very clearly. Afraid of wrongly accusing her, I specifically checked the footprints just now. It's definitely true, that person seems to have gone into the city…”
Li Lao Er suddenly turned his head to look at Wu Cuihua, his eyes bloodshot.
Wu Cuihua trembled like a leaf in the wind; she was filled with remorse.
He acted impulsively, thinking that if his younger brother won more money, he could pay off the debt.
Since she wouldn't need to keep asking her for money anymore, she gave Fu Niu'er to her younger brother to borrow some good luck.
Originally, everyone thought that after watching the Yangko dance and returning home, they would find that she would be able to bring her child back soon.
We'll tell you when the time comes, that we'll take you out to play.
As the aunt, she just comforted her niece; what could anyone say?
Little did she know that she was so engrossed in watching that she forgot all about it, and before she knew it, they had gone home together, leaving her with no chance to go out again.
With the whole family so frantic, and the entire village mobilized to search for the child, she dared not speak up...
"You shameless woman!" After years of marriage, Li Lao Er knew Wu Cuihua's character all too well.
Seeing her guilty look, there was nothing I couldn't understand.
He raised his hand and slapped Wu Cuihua hard, causing her to fall to the ground.
Finally, he pulled her over and made her kneel down in front of Old Lady Li.
"Tell me, did you take the child away?" Old Mrs. Li lunged forward and grabbed Wu Cuihua's neck hard, acting like a madwoman.
"What exactly did you do to Fu Niu'er? Tell me now!"
Wu Cuihua's eyes rolled back as she was being choked. Before she could cry for help, Li Laosi had already snatched a wood-chopping knife and held it to her neck.
"If you dare to lie, I'll chop off your head."
The cold blade pressed against her neck, and Wu Cuihua was terrified and wet herself.
"I said... cough cough, it's Er Gou. Er Gou misses Fu Niu'er, so I'm bringing her to see him."
Tao Hongying slapped her twice, her teeth clenched in hatred.
"Fu Niu'er isn't Wu Er Gou's child, what is he thinking! Tell me, what exactly happened? Where did he take my Fu Niu'er?!"
Wu Cuihua hesitated for a moment, but Tao Hongying had already bitten down on her arm.
"Ouch, it hurts, it hurts!"
Wu Cuihua screamed in pain, but dared not move, as a machete was still pressed against her neck.
"I'll talk, I'll talk! Er Gou always loses at gambling, so he wants to share in Fu Niu'er's good fortune and win back his losses!"
Everyone thought that Wu Ergou wanted to sell Fu Niu'er, and that he was jealous of the Li family and wanted revenge.
But I never expected it would be to win back my losses in gambling!
Li Laosi barely managed to hold back, preventing his knife from severing Wu Cuihua's head.
Gamblers are not human.
If Fu Niu'er actually wins money, she might become a piece of meat that wolves are eyeing.
If he loses money, will Wu Ergou just throw Fu Niu'er away, or... kill her?
No one dared to guess what foolish thing a gambler with no hope of winning back his losses might do!
"Let's go into town!"
"Yes, find Wu Ergou and bring Fu Niu'er back!"
Old Mrs. Li turned around and went back into the house, took the silver directly, and stuffed it into Old Mr. Li's hand.
"Bring Fu Niu'er back safely. If even a single hair is missing, our family is finished."
Li Lao Er wished he could devour Wu Cuihua alive; he had given her those two taels of silver, and she had ended up harming his niece!
"Mother, don't worry. Even if I die, I will bring Fu Niu'er back."
Li Lao Er, Li Lao San, Li Lao Si, Tao Hongying, along with Jia Ren, Jia Yi, and Jia Huan, rushed directly into the snowstorm that had started at some unknown time.
The village chief was worried, so he took four or five villagers and chased after them.
With the knife no longer in her neck, Wu Cuihua, who was lying on the ground, was about to breathe a sigh of relief.
Old Mrs. Li had already brought a basin of cold water and poured it over her, giving her a thorough chill.
"Mother, what are you doing?"
Although it was already the first month of the lunar calendar, it was still terribly cold.
Wu Cuihua sneezed violently and shivered as she tried to get up.
Old Mrs. Li called to Zhao Yuru, "Find a rope and tie her up. If Fu Niu'er doesn't come back, she'll just freeze like this!"
Old Mrs. Li gritted her teeth and smashed the bucket over Wu Cuihua's head again.
"Fu Niu'er is only six months old, and she hasn't even had a coat yet, and that beast handed her over to Wu Er Gou. She'll be freezing all the way to the city! Let her taste what it's like! If our Fu Niu'er gets frostbite, she won't have an easy time either!"
For once, Zhao Yuru was ruthless. She found a rope and started to tie Wu Cuihua up like firewood.
Wu Cuihua struggled and refused, cursing and crying loudly.
The villagers wanted to help, but were hesitant to lend a hand.
At this moment, Jiaxi and Jia'an rushed out, one of the boys grabbing the other's arm and the other pulling on his leg!
Zhao Yuru quickly tied up Wu Cuihua and then kicked her hard at the end.
Wu Cuihua wanted to curse again, but Jia'an had already gone to the kitchen to find a rag and stuffed it directly into her mouth.
Wu Cuihua shivered from the cold and felt nauseous, so she could only writhe on the ground like a maggot.
The villagers watched, secretly swallowing their saliva; the Li family was truly someone they couldn't afford to offend.
Whether old or young, they are all ruthless...
Without mentioning how much the family disliked Wu Cuihua, let's just say that Old Man Li and the others went straight to the county town.
By chance, they ran into Chief Escort Liu at the city gate.
He was a generous and easygoing person; he burst into laughter when he pulled Li Laosi's hand.
"Qiusheng, I was just about to go to the village to look for you, and here you are! Haha, we two brothers are so in sync, we wanted to go together."
Li Laosi forced a smile and, without hiding anything from him, quickly recounted what had happened at home.
He clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Brother Liu, I'll go find the child first. I'll find you later to drink and apologize!"
Unexpectedly, Chief Escort Liu simply pulled him away.
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