Everyone in the car screamed in fright.
Zhao Qin gripped the back of the seat tightly and frowned, asking the driver, "How did we drive into a pit?"
"Madam, I'm sorry, I didn't see the pit ahead."
The driver broke out in a cold sweat. He pressed the accelerator again, but the car refused to budge.
Huang Guifang in the car anxiously said, "My Yueyue is pregnant, she can't be jostled like this. What if something happens..."
Yueyue, holding her swollen belly, looked pale, clearly feeling nauseous from the car's sudden movement.
"Mom, I feel a bit unwell."
Hearing this, Huang Guifang became even more worried. "Stop the car, stop the car!"
The driver dared not move. After steadying the vehicle, Huang Guimei opened the car door and said to Zhao Qin, "I need to help Yueyue get out. Why don't you all get out too? It'll be harder to get out of the pit if we all stay inside."
Zhao Qin nodded in agreement.
Then, everyone except the driver got out of the car.
The sun was high in the sky, so Zhao Qin and the others walked to the shade of a large tree by the roadside.
On the road, the driver continued to start the car from inside. However, the car strained and bumped forward but couldn't get out, only to retreat back into the pit.
"Alas, what should we do? It's so hot," Zhang Lan fanned herself with her hand, speaking anxiously.
Just then, the driver shouted over, "Ladies, if it's convenient, could someone help push the car?"
Huang Guifang glanced over, leaned against the tree supporting her daughter-in-law Yueyue, and remained silent.
Zhang Lan's daughter-in-law smiled but said nothing, instead quietly applying sunscreen to herself.
Zhao Qin drank the water she had brought.
The weather was indeed scorching hot.
"At our age, how can we push a car?"
Huang Guifang said, her gaze falling on Zhao Qin. "My daughter-in-law Yueyue is pregnant and it's inconvenient for her. Among the younger generation, there are only your daughter-in-law and Zhang Lan's daughter-in-law."
Zhang Lan glanced at her daughter-in-law and smiled. Before she could speak, her daughter-in-law, Xiaoxiao, frowned and clutched her forehead, appearing unwell. "I'm sorry, everyone, I feel a bit unwell. I think I'm suffering from heatstroke."
"Uh, well, Xiaoxiao is indeed frail. She usually doesn't go out," Zhang Lan explained, taking a cooling patch from her bag and handing it to Xiaoxiao.
It was out of the question for her daughter-in-law to push the car while others were resting under the tree. Where would that leave her reputation? Even as friends, she didn't want to lower herself in this regard.
"Then it looks like Dingding will have to do the work," Zhang Lan said with a smile.
Seeing this, Huang Guifang couldn't say much, but her gaze still lingered on Zhao Qin.
Zhao Qin frowned, feeling a bit speechless. Xiaoxiao had just been casually applying sunscreen moments ago.
How could she not understand the intentions of these acquaintances? They all wanted to play the part of the good mother-in-law, protecting their daughters-in-law, and waiting for her to order her daughter-in-law around.
"Ah Qin, Dingding should be able to do it. Didn't you say before that she came from a poor background? She must be used to hardship," Huang Guifang said, walking up to Zhao Qin and whispering persuasively.
Zhao Qin suddenly felt caught in a difficult situation. After all, for this trip, they all knew she was going to find a master to sever her son's ill-fated relationship with Su Ding.
But now, this situation... she didn't want this either.
It wasn't that she felt sorry for Su Ding. It was just that this made her feel incapable as a mother-in-law, having her own daughter-in-law be ordered around by everyone else.
"Alas, Su Ding..." Zhao Qin was about to turn and speak to Su Ding when she realized no one was behind her.
Huang Guifang and Zhang Lan also looked around in confusion. "Where did she go? She was just here?"
Xiaoxiao, afraid she would be asked to push the car again, quickly lowered her head.
Yueyue, who had been resting against the tree, thought for a moment and pointed in the direction below the road. "Dingding seems to have gone down there."
"Gone down there?" Everyone was stunned.
Just then, Su Ding, under the scorching sun, climbed back up from below the road, carrying a stone in her hand.
She was tall and slender, her movements and actions were very agile.
Under everyone's bewildered gazes, Su Ding, carrying the stone, quickly walked towards where the car was stuck.
As she passed Zhao Qin and the others, she didn't say a word, exuding a cool aura.
"Your daughter-in-law went by herself..." Zhang Lan said to Zhao Qin in surprise.
"When did she go down there, to find a stone?" Huang Guifang frowned, pondering.
Zhao Qin shook her head, thinking: What is this Su Ding trying to do?