Chapter 33: Unbelievable - Beating a Woman

**In the Tang family, Aishi was studying under the lamplight, and Awen had been sent by Tang Lao Tai Tai to the pigsty upstairs to smoke out mosquitoes.

Tang Ailian had a sense of unease today. Why wasn't her mother back yet? While it was common for her mother to be out working in the production team and then in their own plot of land until it was completely dark, today, she couldn't shake the feeling of something being wrong.

She wanted to tell her grandparents and ask them to check on her mother, but how could she explain her unease? Frustrated, she started crying loudly, shouting, "Mom, I want my mom!"

Tang Lao Tai Tai was getting annoyed with her crying and gave her a hard smack on her buttocks, saying, "Why are you crying? Your mother isn't dead yet. You can cry when she's gone."

Ailian was miserable. She didn't want to appear too unusual, so all she could do was cry. The more her grandmother hit her, the louder she cried and shouted, "Mom, I want my mom!"

Finally, Ailian's unusual behavior caught the attention of the family. Aishi stopped her schoolwork and looked at Tang Lao Ye: "Grandpa, why hasn't Mom come back yet?"

Tang Lao Ye only realized that it was already completely dark outside, with just a faint glimmer of moonlight, and her daughter hadn't returned yet. He called Tang Erlong, "Go and see why your sister-in-law hasn't returned."

Tang Erlong acknowledged and went out, but instead of looking for his sister-in-law, he went to play with his friends as usual.

Aishi continued with her schoolwork.

Tang Ailian used her telepathy to scan Tang Erlong's movements, feeling extremely resentful: This uncle of hers, why did he agree but not go find her mother? Their father thought he was looking for her, so he wouldn't send someone else. If her mother needed help, who would go save her?

She stopped crying and decided to go out herself. Tang Ailian was usually very well-behaved, and as long as she wasn't crying, no one paid much attention to her. She walked directly to the neighboring house of her uncle and pulled at his pant leg, urging him to go outside: "Uncle, find Mom."

Tang Shuisheng found it strange that Ailian came to him at this hour and tugged at his pants, urging him to go outside. Originally, he could have simply ignored the request of a one-year-old child, but he remembered the old man with the white beard on New Year's Day, who said that Tang Ailian was a person of great fortune and would save him from danger in the future. Thus, he abandoned his pipe, picked up Ailian, and stood up.

"Where did your mother go?"

"Mama, to the self-cultivation plot," Ailian said while sobbing.

Tang Shuisheng knew where the Tang family's self-cultivation plot was. He carried Ailian and walked in that direction.

On the way, Ailian suddenly cried out, "Mom, I want my mom!" as she struggled to get down. Tang Shuisheng looked around, but it was already dark, and he couldn't see anything. Helplessly, he put Ailian down. As soon as she was on the ground, Ailian didn't run along the main road but headed towards the field's edge.

Today was the third day of the lunar year, and the moon was just a thin crescent. Despite the faint moonlight, it could still illuminate the surroundings. Tang Shuisheng followed the direction Ailian was running and found someone lying in the field, not far away. A water bucket was lying nearby, and a shoulder pole was thrown to the other side.

Tang Shuisheng hadn't seen who the person was yet, but Ailian had already called out for her mother and rushed over. When she grabbed her mother's hand and used her telepathy to scan, she immediately sensed that her mother's life force was fading. If she hadn't arrived here, and her mother had been left here for a few more hours, even if they wanted to save her, it would have been too late.

Whoever had harmed her mother, if she found out who it was, she wouldn't let them off!

Suppressing her panic and anger, Tang Ailian put her fingers into her mother's mouth, continuously feeding her water from the medicine well. At the same time, she infused her mother's body with her own magical energy.

By the time Tang Shuisheng arrived at the field, Liu Xiujun had already regained consciousness.

"Sister-in-law, are you okay? How do you feel?" Tang Shuisheng asked.

Liu Xiujun finally remembered what had happened before she passed out, "Thank you, Little Uncle. I'm fine. Someone was stealing sweet potatoes, and I shouted, but I couldn't move. He came over and hit me, knocking me out. Did you come to find me, Little Uncle? Thank you."

Tang Shuisheng looked at his second brother's wife and couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She was so tired, and with her eldest nephew working in the factory and not being liked by her second brother and sister-in-law, she didn't have anyone to rely on. When something happened, no one came to check on her, and it was Tang Ailian, a one-year-old child, who brought him here.

"I'm glad you're okay. In the future, if you encounter such a situation, don't be so eager to step in. Just go back and tell the team leader to handle it. You're a family member, and if something happens to you, how can Big Dragon focus on his work at the factory? Today, thanks to Ailian coming to find me to look for you, otherwise—"

Hearing that it was her youngest daughter who had brought her little uncle to find her, Liu Xiujun's heart ached. She had been in trouble, and it was her one-year-old daughter who had thought of her and brought her little uncle to find her.

"Let me take you back."

Word quickly spread throughout the village about the thief who had stolen sweet potatoes and was caught by Liu Xiujun. Not only did he not run away when discovered but also beat her unconscious. Most importantly, Liu Xiujun was a family member. This audacious thief had angered the villagers.

"This sweet potato thief is despicable, daring to steal sweet potatoes in our Dragonhead Village."

"We're all starving, who cares if it's Dragonhead Village or Dragon Tail Village."

"To be honest, it's not a big deal to sneakily take a few sweet potatoes during the day and look the other way if you see it. Liu Xiujun was just too serious. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been beaten."

"How can you say that? We're in the midst of a major disaster, and every single sweet potato is precious. Not to mention, this thief didn't just steal one or two. I heard he stole a lot. Liu Xiujun couldn't let it go, and he even threatened her not to interfere."

"We carry water and water the sweet potatoes day and night. Just

 when they've finally grown into sweet potatoes, this thief takes them without effort. It's infuriating."

"Yeah, we're already exhausted from carrying water day and night, and Liu Xiujun still has to manage her own self-cultivation plot of sweet potatoes."

"Why is she the one carrying water and tending to her self-cultivation plot when she has so many non-working family members at home?"

"Her father goes to collect fertilizer to earn work points, and her mother stays home to do household chores."

"What about the second son, Erlong? He's already in middle school at the age of fifteen. Where is he?"

(End of the chapter)