Jiang Hongmei has become more obedient recently. When eating, she shrinks into a corner, says nothing, and just eats with her head down.

She was so hungry that she saw stars and couldn't even walk.

Eat it. It's like salty black noodle buns. It's better than nothing. At least my throat hurts and my stomach doesn't hurt anymore.

She was thinking about going to the city to buy some snacks tomorrow, hiding them in her room to eat every day, and taking care of the two children at the same time. When the children recognized her as their biological mother, she didn't believe that Zhuang Guoliang would not be in her hands.

Jiang Hongmei planned very well. After finishing all the housework, she sneaked into the room. As soon as she entered the door, she found a small black shadow sneaking out and bumping into her, which made her stomach hurt.

Jiang Hongmei grabbed the shadow's arm, but found it was Zhuang Xiaoyu, "Hey, you stupid girl, you have no eyes, what are you doing?"

Zhuang Xiaoyu hid her other hand behind her back. "Nothing. I just wanted to see if my dad had come back."

"Don't come into my room if you have nothing to do. Go away, go somewhere cooler."

Jiang Hongmei didn't think much about it and hurried them out. As soon as she entered the room, she found that the trousseau box she brought with her was not right. It was originally closed well, but now it seemed to have been moved.

Jiang Hongmei's heart sank, and she quickly went to look for the place where she hid her private money. She opened her handkerchief, but found nothing.

She screamed, "I'm so rich!"

Thinking of Zhuang Xiaoyu's strange look just now, Jiang Hongmei gritted her teeth and said, "It was her. She must have been the one who stole it."

Jiang Hongmei felt as if the sky had fallen on her as she had only a few pieces of savings.

She rushed out of the room and grabbed Zhuang Xiaoyu, who was playing with stones at the door, and said, "Did you steal my money? You three-handed girl, give it to me!"

She didn't lower her voice at all, and when she saw someone coming, she raised it even higher. She groped Zhuang Xiaoyu's pocket with one hand, "Take it out! Or I'll kill you!"

"Hey, what's going on? Did the kid steal money?"

Zhuang Xiaoyu twisted her body desperately, "Let me go, I didn't steal your body, you are wronging me. Stepmother, you stepmother!"

Jiang Hongmei was so angry that Zhuang Xiaoyu called her a stepmother that she lost her mind and slapped Zhuang Xiaoyu in the face.

Zhuang Xiaoyu was knocked to the ground, his forehead hit on the raised stone, and blood flowed all over his face.

Zhuang Xiaoyu burst into tears and called for her mother.

"As expected, a child without a mother is like a weed. The stepmother is really cruel. It is unclear whether the money was stolen or not. The child is still young, how could she be so cruel?"

Jiang Hongmei responded that she was so angry that she should have held Zhuang Xiaoyu down and questioned him.

She softened her tone, took out her handkerchief and tried to wipe Zhuang Xiaoyu's forehead, but Zhuang Xiaoyu pushed her away crying, "I don't want you, you bad woman, I want my mom. Mom!"

Zhao Xiangyu had just laid down when she was awakened by a sound above her head, "What's going on?"

Wu Meili, the head of the family, was gloating over the misfortune. "Mom, go and have a look. Fourth brother's wife said Xiaoyu stole money and is trying to kill her!"

Zhao Xiangyu immediately turned over and got up, "This troublemaker is looking for trouble for me every day!"

From a distance he saw a crowd of people gathered outside his house. As he got closer, he found that his daughter was crying so hard that she was about to die, with her face completely red.

"Xiaoyu, what's wrong with you?"

Zhuang Xiaoyu cried and threw herself into Zhuang Guoliang's arms, "Dad, she loves me!"

"I, my dowry money is missing, I just asked her. It's not me."

Zhuang Guoliang was extremely angry. He slapped Jiang Hongmei in the face and dragged her home by her hair. "Go in! Aren't you embarrassed enough?"

The door slammed shut, but the onlookers had not yet dispersed, peeking through the crack of the Zhuang's door to watch the excitement.

Jiang Hongmei's hair was disheveled as she was dragged, "Zhuang Guoliang, you dare to hit me?"

"This damn girl came into my house today and I'm out of money. It's fine if you don't ask her, but come up and give it back to me?"

"Well done! You troublemaker, you never have a peaceful day," Zhao Xiangyu put on her clothes and came out of the house, looking at Jiang Hongmei hatefully.

"We have made a fool of ourselves in the village. We have been making trouble several times a day, and the whole village has been making fun of us."

"How did Xiaoyu know where you kept your money? Did you find out when you searched her just now?" Zhuang Guoliang said with a sullen face, pointing at Jiang Hongmei's nose.

Jiang Hongmei was speechless. She indeed didn't find it, so she became even more anxious and angry.

"She must be hiding it! Not anywhere else on her body."

"Dad, I didn't steal the money. I don't know where my stepmother put the money," Zhuang Xiaoyu sobbed while hugging Zhuang Guoliang's neck.

Zhao Xiangyu's face was long, and she stared at Jiang Hongmei fiercely, "Didn't you say you didn't have any money? Where did this money come from?"

Jiang Hongmei was stunned. "This is, this is the money my mother gave me as a dowry!"

She was unwilling to give up; it was a full ten dollars.

"Sister-in-law, mother is in charge of all the money in the family. You live and eat at home, and of course you have to give your dowry money to mother."

Wu Meili was very indignant. Not long after she got married, her mother-in-law took her away with her and put her belongings in the bottom of a box. Why should Jiang Hongmei keep her belongings now?

Jiang Hongmei was really shocked by Zhao Xiangyu's shamelessness at this moment. In this day and age, are there still mothers-in-law who hold the dowry money for their daughters-in-law?

Zhao Xiangyu took it for granted, "Since ten yuan was lost, we have to make up for it. The fourth family will work in the fields starting tomorrow and do more than the others."

Jiang Hongmei was so angry that she burst into tears and cursed, "My money was stolen, and I still have to work harder? That damn girl stole my money, and you guys are actually on her side!"

Zhuang Guoliang ignored Jiang Hongmei, took Zhuang Xiaoyu into the house to comfort her, and used incense ash to bleed her forehead.

Zhao Xiangyu also carried Zhuang Xiaobao back to the house, leaving Wu Meili with a triumphant smile. She said in a neither-too-loud voice, "Fourth Brother, you may not be the biological mother of the two children, but you don't have to be so cruel. Look at the children. Tsk tsk tsk..."

Jiang Hongmei was completely desperate. She stood in the yard, but no one paid any attention to her. Only whispers came from behind the door, and occasionally a word or two from her stepmother could be heard.

This life is really unbearable.

She couldn't live like that, and she would never let Zhuang Guoliang and Zhao Xiangyu have an easy life.

Didn't Zhuang Guoliang resell pork? It would be stupid for her not to use such a big handle.

That night, as usual, Zhuang Guoliang went out in the middle of the night. Jiang Hongmei dozed off and waited for Zhuang Guoliang to get up. She followed him carefully.

Zhuang Guoliang got a shabby bicycle from somewhere and rode it very fast. Jiang Hongmei tried her best to catch up, but she lost it after a while.

She bit the ring and looked around, then found a big tree and made a mark with a stone.

Then she walked back slowly. On the way back, she saw a dark figure jumping into the next yard.

Jiang Hongmei rubbed her eyes, suspecting that she had seen it wrong, and thought with some relief, "It would be best if a thief came and raped and killed Jiang Li, and burned the Qi family to ashes."