CHAPTER 740: CHAPTER 736: THAT BITCH MRS. LIN (12TH UPDATE)

Mu Xiangxiang lay in town for a few days, and her condition stabilized.

Mr. Mu and Old Mrs. Mu brought her back.

Mu Dashan and Yu Si Niang had been away for a few days and had no idea that Mu Xiangxiang had fallen ill. With all the commotion at the Old Yu Family, Mu Shuangshuang hadn’t told them either, so the couple from the third branch had no idea how bad things had gotten.

However, upon hearing that Mu Xiangxiang was ill, Mu Dashan and Yu Si Niang discussed and decided to buy twenty eggs from Zhao Yun’s house to bring to the Old Mu Family and visit Mu Xiangxiang.

After all, she was his own sister, and Mu Dashan couldn’t bear to pretend nothing had happened.

Plus, twenty eggs weren’t worth much. But Mu Shuangshuang was unaware of these actions, or she would have certainly stopped them.

Mr. Mu was surprised to see Mu Dashan and Yu Si Niang visiting.

This time, with Mu Xiangxiang sick, the old couple learned the discomfort of neglect.

Their daughter fell ill with such commotion, yet not a single neighbor came to visit, as if they all turned a blind eye. Even their two sons, Mu Dazhong and Mu Danian, were nowhere to be seen.

How could Mr. Mu have known that last night, the two of them went to steal from Shuangshuang’s house under the cover of darkness?

They were caught by the Huang Brothers, who forced dung into their mouths and gave them a severe beating before tying them up in the mountains to endure a night of cold winds.

Until now, they hadn’t managed to get up and were still shivering in the woods.

Old Mrs. Mu cursed them all day long, but those two bastards didn’t show up.

She had deemed those two bastards dead and left the matter unattended.

"Dad, I heard Xiangxiang is ill. How is she now?" Mu Dashan handed the eggs to Mr. Mu.

"She’s better, but the doctor said it’s really serious this time. Xiangxiang’s throat might never speak again, and even if she does, her voice will be as hoarse as an old woman’s."

Ultimately, Mrs. Lin’s remedy of pouring chili water every few days worked, leaving Mu Xiangxiang’s throat ruined.

"What about other issues?" Mu Dashan asked.

"Sigh, the doctor also said there’s a problem with her stomach. She can’t eat much from now on, just porridge for six months, and plain porridge at that, nothing but salt allowed.

Xiangxiang was already thin; six months without oil and meat, she’ll likely waste away to bones."

Mr. Mu’s old face, crisscrossed with wrinkles, showed nothing but worry and despair.

"Ah, what can be done?" Mu Dashan was equally frightened.

"What can be done? We just take it one step at a time. But your mother’s temper has been awful because of Xiangxiang’s condition, scolding anyone she catches, so don’t mind her later."

Mr. Mu knew perfectly well his wife’s skill in scolding.

One son has already been scolded into seclusion; if the third son falls the same way, the Old Mu Family may really be done for.

Mr. Mu was now experiencing what contrast truly meant.

When the eldest was around, neighbors treated the Old Mu Family exceedingly well, bringing all sorts of things over; now, with the eldest gone for just a few days, people couldn’t even be bothered to greet him.

When people have yet to leave but the tea is already cold, how could it not break one’s heart?

"Dad, Yu Si Niang and I understand. We’ll go see Xiangxiang now."

The couple from the third branch briskly headed towards Mu Xiangxiang’s room.

Inside, Old Mrs. Mu was tirelessly caring for Mu Xiangxiang.

Much more attentively than Mrs. Lin had.

She placed a bed-table at Mu Xiangxiang’s bedside, with a wooden basin on it, filled with freshly boiled water, and two bowls floating on the surface.

The bowls warmed the porridge inside, ready for Mu Xiangxiang to drink as soon as she awoke.

During those days, Mu Xiangxiang seemed to have suffered greatly.

She moved and called frantically upon waking, though the sounds were faint like a mosquito’s buzz, Old Mrs. Mu heard them.

Most of the time it was, "hungry, so hungry, my stomach is so hungry."

Then there was the cold, as Old Mrs. Mu noticed Mu Xiangxiang always curled up in the quilts, unwilling to let go even when sweating.

Old Mrs. Mu’s heart broke as she constantly reassured, "Xiangxiang, my sweet, mother’s here, mother is..."

At this moment, the fierce woman devoted all her attention to her little daughter.

She watched Mu Xiangxiang, thoughts still lingering.

Mu Dashan paused as he reached Mu Xiangxiang’s door before knocking.

Old Mrs. Mu heard the sound but had no desire to acknowledge it, so Mu Dashan waited for a moment, and when he saw she didn’t respond, he pushed the door open.

Mu Dashan and Yu Si Niang went directly to the bedside and asked Old Mrs. Mu, "Mother, is Xiangxiang any better?"

Old Mrs. Mu cast a sidelong glance at Mu Dashan.

"Why are you being so noisy? What if you wake up your sister Xiangxiang?"

Mu Dashan fell silent, not blaming Old Mrs. Mu, as Mr. Mu had already warned him about her mood swings as he entered.

"Mother, you also need to take care of yourself. If there’s anything, you can direct us to do it."

"Even though we’ve split from the third branch, you’re always our parents."

Mu Dashan made his intentions clear.

"Direct you to do something? First, find that venomous Mrs. Lin for me; I have plenty more to ask that viper.

She thinks hiding in Lin Family Village will keep her safe, but let me tell you, once Xiangxiang recovers, I’ll personally go to Lin Family Village and drag that wench back."

...

...

Lin Family Village

For several days, Mrs. Lin had been loathed by her brothers and sisters-in-law at home.

Especially her sister-in-law, who forced Mrs. Lin to cook, feed the pigs, and clean every day, or else she wouldn’t be allowed to eat.

As an out-married woman, returning to her childhood home wasn’t a dignified affair.

Living there for several days, her sister-in-law found her increasingly intolerable.

But Mrs. Lin was terrified; after having half her hair pulled out by Old Mrs. Mu that night, she feared the loss of the rest if Mu Xiangxiang didn’t die.

Every day, she went to the village entrance, afraid the Old Mu Family had come to catch her.

Several times, hearing the rumble of cart wheels at the doorway, she hid in the manure pit, wishing she could bury herself there to avoid being found by the Old Mu Family.

But Old Mrs. Mu hadn’t shown up, even after one day, then two days.

Mrs. Lin, now jumpy and miserable,

finally came to her senses. She couldn’t just wait to die in Lin Family Village; she had to take the initiative to return to the Old Mu Family and seek leniency.

Only then could she join her elder brother in the Capital and live a life of luxury.

Mrs. Lin found her elder brother, who was in business, and discussed their business and her predicament with him.

In Mrs. Lin’s in-laws family, her elder brother had become a scholar, and everyone knew; if Mrs. Lin hadn’t returned looking so disheveled, she would’ve been treated with courtesy.

After all, everyone was longing for Mrs. Lin to rise high.

But once Mrs. Lin was abandoned, she’d be nothing. Now, when she spoke of a mere quarrel with her sister-in-law, everyone gave her ideas to help her return to the Old Mu Family.