1970s: A hot-tempered wife who accompanied a soldier to the military compound and made a fortune.

Chapter 18: Ruining Reputation
Granny Liu never expected that her usually docile second daughter-in-law would give them such a hard time today. She was so angry that she cursed loudly, "I'll see what you're capable of. Look at you, you arrogant and ignorant thing."

Liu's mother walked toward the houses she had visited the day before the first snowfall. Before long, the Liu family learned that Liu's mother was borrowing money from people everywhere.

Granny Liu slapped her thigh angrily and cursed, "Has she gone mad?"

The eldest daughter-in-law, Ge Xiulan, became anxious: "Mom, we haven't separated our family yet. Won't those other families come after us?"

Upon hearing this, Granny Liu became even angrier and shouted, "This is outrageous! This is outrageous!"

At this point, Su Hongjuan, the usually low-key third daughter-in-law, added fuel to the fire: "If we borrow so much money and my second brother's leg still doesn't get better, wouldn't it be all for nothing? If he ends up like the youngest son of Uncle Wu at the village entrance, wouldn't we still have to rely on our family to support him?"

Upon hearing her third daughter-in-law's words, Granny Liu became even more anxious. The youngest son of Uncle Wu's family at the village entrance suffered from leg pain on cloudy or rainy days, and was prone to suppuration in hot weather or when he had a fever. Every day, they spent an unknown amount on medicine, dragging their family into abject poverty.

Seeing her mother-in-law frowning and remaining silent, the third daughter-in-law leaned closer and lowered her voice: "Mom, why don't we separate my second brother and his family out? That way, the family won't be a burden to them."

Ge Xiulan actually agreed with her third sister-in-law's words, but then she suddenly remembered the important matter she had to attend to and slapped her thigh: "With such a big commotion, why haven't we seen Chuxue?"

If the family splits up, Liu Chuxue's marriage will no longer be decided by the family. If they want to make their nephew's marriage happen, they have to do it before the family splits up.

Then Granny Liu remembered something too: "That damned girl was sent to deliver a message, and who knows where she's disappeared to?"

Ge Xiulan pretended to be anxious and got up to walk towards Liu Chuxue's room: "Mom, this girl didn't come back at all last night."

Granny Liu was already angry with the second wife, and now she was even more furious. Just as she was about to start cursing, she heard her eldest daughter-in-law say, "Mom, Chuxue hasn't come back all night. Could something have happened to her?" Granny Liu didn't understand the implication: "That girl is useless. She can't help at all and only causes trouble for the family. It would be better if she were carried off by a wolf."

Already in a fit of anger, he spoke quite loudly, and the villagers who were still chatting nearby could hear him clearly.

Seeing that things had gone well enough, Ge Xiulan said, "Mom, let's get the villagers to help us look for him. Just in case something really happens, we don't want the second son to blame us."

The second daughter-in-law of the Li family next door, who didn't get along with Ge Xiulan, stuck her head out to speak up for her: "Ge Xiulan, if something really happens to Chuxue, you can't blame anyone else. Yesterday morning, you were the one who insisted that she take leave and go over the mountain to deliver a message to her older sister. I heard it clearly."

Hearing this, Ge Xiulan said fearlessly, "Li Guizhi, what business is it of yours, an outsider, about my family's affairs?"

Li Guizhi sneered from behind the wall, "I was just stating a fair opinion, why are you getting so worked up about it?"

Not wanting to cause any further trouble, Ge Xiulan went along with her words, saying, "Yes, you're right. I asked Chuxue to take leave, but such a big thing happened to the second branch of the family. Shouldn't we have informed her sister?"

She rolled her eyes at Li Guizhi next door and deliberately raised her voice: "Mom, I'm going to find the village chief to organize people to go up the mountain to look for people. I hope nothing bad happens. If I do something wrong, I'll be drowned in the villagers' spittle."

Without waiting for her mother-in-law's response, she rushed out of the courtyard.

(End of this chapter)