Ma has disappeared.
The news spread like wildfire throughout the entire village.
Lu Yancai stubbornly stood guard in front of Aunt Qin's house, saying, "I don't care, my Tianbao's mother came up the mountain with you guys, and now that she's gone, you're responsible for finding her for me!"
"Lu Lao Er, don't you dare cause trouble in my house!" Chen Shao's father was furious when he heard his shameless words. "Your own wife got lost because you're incompetent, and you come to my house to ask for her back? Do I owe you anything?"
"If you hadn't insisted on going up the mountain to pick mushrooms, would Tianbao's mother have gone with you? Would she have gotten lost if she hadn't gone? You say it has nothing to do with you, but you're clearly trying to harm my wife!" Lu Yancai was too lazy to think of any explanation at this point; he was determined to cling to the Chen family.
It wasn't that he had any deep feelings for the Ma family, but rather that he wanted to take this opportunity to extort money from them.
Lu Tianbao was also crying and sobbing beside her, "Mother, Mother, please come back! Grandma Qin, I can't live without my mother!"
Aunt Qin was so angry she couldn't speak, and now hearing Lu Tianbao's words, she was furious. "Lu Lao Er, Lu Tianbao, get out of here! I didn't call that idiot Ma Shi. She insisted on coming up the mountain herself, and she insisted on walking the path alone. Now that she's lost, it's her own fault!"
Although they were unwilling to walk with Ma, they would not have driven her away if she had followed them. After all, everything in the mountains was unclaimed, and the roads belonged to everyone. No one had the right to stop others from walking.
But Ma didn't follow. Instead, she went to the other side. Now that something has happened, she blames them. What kind of logic is that?
"I don't care! Anyway, the person got lost with you guys, you have to give me an explanation!" Lu Yancai said bluntly.
If he weren't a man, he'd probably be throwing a tantrum right now.
Village Chief Li rushed over upon hearing the news, only to overhear Lu Yancai's shameless words. He was immediately enraged. "Lu Lao Er, have you lost your mind? Shouldn't you be looking for your stupid wife at a time like this? Do you think you and Lu Tianbao can stop Ma Shi from coming back by blocking her door? Hurry up and come with me up the mountain to find her!"
He was so angry with Lu Yancai that he couldn't get a moment's peace.
"Village chief, I'll go with you, sigh!" Old Lu said with a grim expression.
Although the family had separated, Ma was still his daughter-in-law and Lu Tianbao's biological mother, so he would always help her if anything happened.
Chen immediately said, "Old man, your sprained ankle hasn't healed yet, and it's raining and pitch black. Going with you will only cause trouble. I'll go."
She had completely lost patience with Ma, but for Lu Tianbao's sake, she still had to go with him to find him.
"Father, Mother, you're both getting old, it's better if you don't go..." Jiang Qinyu had been silently watching this farce, but now she had no choice but to speak up.
Before she could finish speaking, Lu Yancai interrupted her, "Well, sister-in-law, I think you're not entirely innocent either! Otherwise, why didn't you let my parents go with us to look for her? You're so heartless!"
"Waaah... Aunt, please don't treat my mother like this. My mother doesn't actually have a bad heart..." Lu Tianbao chimed in.
Jiang Qinyu curled her lips in a mocking smile. "Who said I wouldn't let anyone go looking for them?" As she spoke, she turned to Aping. "Aping, you go into the mountains with Uncle Village Chief and the others to look for them. Consider it an act of kindness for my parents."
“Yes, Madam,” A-Ping replied immediately.
As for Jiang Qinyu, she has severed ties with the second wife's family. It's a matter of courtesy if she wants to go, and it's also her right if she doesn't. Lu Yancai can't possibly scheme against her.
After saying this, Jiang Qinyu looked at Lu Yancai and said, "Your parents are getting old, and your father's sprained ankle hasn't healed yet, and your mother's health is also weak. You are truly their good son, yet you still asked them to help you find someone. Where do you have the nerve?"
Lu Yancai's face turned pale and then red after being talked to. He didn't dare to argue anymore, but he still stubbornly shouted at Aunt Qin, "If Tianbao's mother can't be found, I'll come back to your house and demand an explanation!"
Village Chief Li's face turned green. "Alright! Everyone who's alright, hurry up and come with me into the mountains to look for them. They're all from our village, we can't just let them disappear like this without a trace."
Because Lu Yancai and his wife had a very bad reputation in the village, not many people were willing to go into the mountains to look for them. But after listening to Village Chief Li's words, everyone had no choice, and basically each family sent one person to go into the mountains with them.
On this side of the mountain, Ma was shivering in a small cave that could only shelter one person.
In the afternoon, she stubbornly refused to go with Jiang Qinyu and the others, and walked alone on another road in a huff, not knowing where she had ended up.
When she came to her senses and tried to find her way back, she couldn't find it anywhere.
As darkness fell and the rain in the mountains intensified, Ma scrambled for shelter, stumbling through the deep and shallow water, completely disoriented.
By this time, it was completely dark, and something was moving through the mountains, making eerie noises.
Mrs. Ma curled her plump body into a ball as much as possible, muttering repeatedly, "Don't look for me, don't look for me... I didn't do anything bad..."
Suddenly, some unknown animal darted out in front of the cave, startling Ma Shi so much that she quickly raised her hands to cover her head and face, crying out, "Help! I haven't done anything wrong, don't eat me..."
The dark environment, the incessant drizzle, and the shadowy trees outside the cave created a terrifying atmosphere. Even a normal person would easily be overwhelmed, let alone someone like Ma, who had a guilty conscience.
The sounds outside the cave did not dissipate because of Ma's pleas for mercy. Instead, more and more indistinguishable noises came from outside, which frightened Ma so much that she knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing.
"Mountain God, Earth God, Guanyin Goddess... I promise I'll never do anything bad again, please bless me! Waaaaah..."
After praying for so long, Ma was so frightened that she cried. She continued to beg various gods for protection, but unfortunately, she still received no response.
At this moment, as she wept, Madam Ma thought about the bad things she had done in the past. What terrified her most was that she had once tried to sell Shufan and Pan'er.
"God have mercy! I was blinded by greed, and we were so hungry that I thought of selling those two little...children for food, but we couldn't sell them in the end!"
“I shouldn’t have been disrespectful to my parents-in-law, I shouldn’t have let Tianbao call him ‘grandpa and grandma’ like he’s an old man, I shouldn’t have…”
As she recounted the bad things she had done, surprisingly, no more terrifying sounds came from outside.
Ma stopped, looking out of the cave with trepidation, and mustered her courage to listen.
"Tianbao's mother..."
"Ma Dani! Answer me if you hear me..."
Mrs. Ma was stunned, and muttered to herself, "Someone has come looking for me?"
Realizing someone had come looking for her, she immediately burst into tears, repeatedly saying, "Thank you, Mountain God, for your protection," while shouting towards the outside of the cave, "I'm here! I'm here..."
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