The only possibility was that the money had been squandered by the man.
They had truly taken the words "reckless behavior" from Su Xiaotian to heart.
If it wasn't reckless behavior, they couldn't fathom how so much money could have been spent.
In the past two years, Licheng had developed rapidly, but some negative influences had also subtly emerged.
Many men and women had gradually begun to neglect their families!
The woman's face immediately turned pale.
Clearly, with this hint, she had also realized something.
As a woman, even if she believed her husband and didn't suspect him, when someone reminded her, she could still recall some subtle clues.
"This is impossible, this is impossible. He said his salary was only forty-eight yuan a month!" the woman muttered in a low voice.
Clearly, she was doubting herself due to the salary amount mentioned by Su Xiaotian.
The old woman's expression at this moment was mostly flustered, especially after hearing her daughter-in-law's murmuring.
"You barren hen, how can you not even trust your own man after being provoked by a few words?"
The old woman directly cursed the middle-aged woman, which was evidently a habit.
The middle-aged woman dared not retort, only continuing to mutter with a pale face, appearing as if she had lost her mind.
"What nonsense are you talking about? How could my son be so reckless? You say he gets two hundred yuan a month, so he gets two hundred yuan? Everyone knows capitalists are the most heartless. Perhaps my son was working for you for free!"
Su Xiaotian glanced at the old woman with a half-smile, not expecting that this seemingly unremarkable old lady would be so difficult to deal with.
Moreover, she probably treated her daughter-in-law and granddaughter poorly. The severe fear in their eyes indicated how wronged they were in their daily lives.
Indeed, just looking at her sharp features and gaze, it was clear she was no easy person to deal with.
Xiang Ying's daughter-in-law was truly pitiful, not only having an unreliable husband but also a mother-in-law who was no good!
One couldn't imagine how this poor woman managed her life at home.
And these two unfortunate children, essentially fatherless and motherless, right?
Su Xiaotian simply sighed softly and stopped speaking.
She wanted to wait and see the old woman's performance.
"Please, consider it my plea. Even if my son was young and foolish and offended you, please be magnanimous and forgive him this once!"
Perhaps realizing her mistake, the old woman immediately reverted to a submissive tone, pleading with Su Xiaotian.
Her sudden change in demeanor made Su Xiaotian have to marvel; she was truly an old actress.
One could only wonder how many roles this old woman had played on life's stage in this lifetime to possess such masterful acting skills!
The old lady put on a pitiful act, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief.
"My life has been truly miserable. I worked hard to raise my son, but before I could enjoy the fruits of his labor, he was taken away. Why is my fate so bitter?"
"It's a pity my son's fate is also bitter; he doesn't even have an heir. He found a useless daughter-in-law who gave birth to two money-losing goods! My poor son!"
"Why are the wealthy people in this world so heartless? They are clearly trying to force us poor people to death; they are leaving us no way to live!"
The old woman covered her eyes and wailed, striving to portray herself as a pitiable elder to gain public sympathy.
At this moment, she clearly understood that she was here to beg for help and needed the surrounding people to speak on her behalf to get her son out.
Su Xiaotian had been watching the old woman closely and had not missed the occasional glances she gave her daughter-in-law while pleading meekly.
The meaning was clear: she wanted the middle-aged woman to help plead and cry.
But the woman, perhaps lost in self-doubt, didn't see her mother-in-law's gaze.
"Young lady, young people are bound to make mistakes. Please be generous and spare my son. I will kowtow to you!"
After talking for a long time without hearing anyone support her, the old lady was about to kneel and kowtow to Su Xiaotian.
Who was Su Xiaotian? She was a person of Herculean strength. She immediately reached out and firmly grasped the old woman's arm, preventing her from kneeling!
"Your son is the father of two children, and he's still young? Is he younger than me? Besides, your son's mistake wasn't offending me, but touching something he shouldn't have."
"You're not short of money!" the old woman blurted out in her haste.
"Whether I'm short of money or not, your son shouldn't have laid hands on my factory's money. If you're not short of money, banks have even more money; why didn't your son go rob them?"
Su Xiaotian kept her eyes on the old woman as she said these words.
She had a premonition that the woman with the two girls knew nothing, and the breakthrough should be with this old woman.
As expected, Su Xiaotian noticed that the old woman's face became even more panicked, with a hint of unnaturalness, clearly trying desperately to conceal something.
"If you want your son to avoid spending his life in prison, then explain clearly where the money went and return the money he took as soon as possible. Eight thousand yuan, you can find out easily; how many years will he be sentenced? Perhaps he won't even keep his life!"
These words were, of course, partly meant to scare, but at that time, embezzling eight thousand yuan was enough to cause serious trouble.
Upon hearing Su Xiaotian's words, the old woman was indeed completely flustered.
"You're trying to scare me; how could he lose his life?"
The old woman's voice was becoming less confident, clearly believing Su Xiaotian's words.
Su Xiaotian smiled faintly, saying nothing more, just watching the old woman.
She was curious to see what breakthrough she could find from the old woman.
The surrounding people at this moment might have also seen something from the old woman.
"Sister, why don't you persuade your son to take out all that money and return it to them."
"Exactly. Two hundred yuan a month, isn't that enough to live on? Why pocket other people's money!"
"A gentleman loves wealth, but he obtains it righteously. If it's not your money, you'll always feel uneasy holding it, won't you?"
"What the young lady said is not wrong. Such a high salary for a month is well-deserved."
"I even want to resign and change jobs. I used to think a salary of one hundred yuan a month was quite good, but now it suddenly feels meaningless?"
...
The people around spoke in a babble, mostly advising the old woman to persuade her son to return the money.
After all, as long as the person was safe, money could always be earned.
Eight thousand yuan sounded like a lot, but in reality, it wasn't too exaggerated. Hadn't the number of "ten-thousand-yuan households" been increasing in recent years?
The old woman became even more anxious as she listened to the people around her.
"She's talking nonsense, pure nonsense!"
Just then, two police officers arrived.
After a brief inquiry into the reason, they intended to take everyone to the police station.
Seeing Su Manxiu disappear and then reappear, Su Xiaotian knew that Su Manxiu had called the police.
"I'm not going. I haven't broken the law; why should I go with you?"
Upon seeing the police, the old woman began to throw a tantrum.
"You are colluding with officials and merchants. Did she give you money, that's why you're protecting her."
Just as the old lady was causing trouble and the two officers were at a loss, the middle-aged woman suddenly spoke.