Old Mrs. Song is reborn; get out of here, you scumbag husband and illegitimate child!

After many twists and turns, we finally found the courtyard where Song Xianghe lived.

This is an old residential area with severely peeling red brick walls, revealing the grayish-blue underneath.

Several wet clothes were hanging at the entrance of the courtyard.

Water is still dripping.

It moistened a patch of cinder ground below.

Song Xianglan stepped forward and knocked on the peeling wooden door at the far end of the first floor.

I knocked for a long time, but there was no response from inside.

An old woman came out from next door and looked them up and down: "Looking for the Tang family? The whole family's still at get off work. Are you relatives? Just wait in the yard."

The old lady pointed to the mango tree in the middle of the yard.

Two large, polished bluestones were placed there.

Song Xiangmei thanked her.

He pulled Song Xianglan down to sit.

He placed his bags at his feet and sighed.

"Second Sister, your place isn't spacious at all. So many people are crammed into one courtyard. It's strange how it is to buy groceries. I should have brought more mustard greens and radishes."

Song Xianglan's stomach growled twice.

That bowl of rice noodle soup I had this morning was already completely digested.

"Big sister, you watch the things, I'm going to buy some food." Song Xianglan stood up and patted the dust off her bottom.

"Didn't we just eat? I'll just buy yours, I'm not hungry yet." Song Xiangmei looked pained.

Song Xianglan ignored her older sister's nagging and strolled out of the yard with her hands in her pockets.

Her thin body was entirely due to hunger.

There's a distribution point for a state-run restaurant right at the entrance of the alley, and they're selling hot, large meat buns right now.

Song Xianglan bought four large meat buns.

The plump, white dough glistened with oil, making it look very appealing.

She walked back while biting into a steamed bun.

As I approached a corner, I tried to take a shortcut, but as soon as I stepped into the narrow alley, I heard very low voices coming from inside.

"Has that good-for-nothing of yours been avoiding you lately?"

The man's voice sounded a bit greasy, with a hint of frivolous teasing.

Song Xianglan paused in her tracks.

Before he could even swallow a bite of steamed bun, his cheeks bulged, and he shrank into the shadows against the wall.

"I didn't let him touch me; just seeing him annoys me."

The woman's voice was somewhat high-pitched.

He exuded impatience.

"That's all he can do. He used to be able to get inside and cause a ruckus, but now he just wanders around the doorway and can't even step over the threshold."

Song Xianglan almost choked on the steamed bun.

It's broad daylight.

This is so exciting!

"You and your spouse?"

"I don't want to touch anyone else, I just want to touch you." The man chuckled.

Then came the rustling sound of fabric rubbing together. "Um... I'm a little short on cash lately, and I need to add some more capital to that project."

The woman's voice hesitated for a moment.

"Didn't they just give me ten dollars last month? I scraped that from between that old hag's teeth."

"Tsk, what a woman's view. You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub."

"Once my business is up and running and I've made a fortune, I'll take you far away, and the three of us will live a life of luxury."

"A family of three...you mean...?"

The woman's voice softened, tinged with surprise, "You did this for our son?"

"That's our child, how can I not think about him? You don't want your son to end up like that good-for-nothing from the Tang family."

Song Xianglan's eyes widened.

Good guy.

Which unlucky bastard in the Tang family is this?

The green hat on his head is so bright it's reflective; it looks like he's wearing the entire Hulunbuir Grassland.

Even the son isn't his own.

This guy really got ripped off.

She wanted to back out, but there was only one way out of this narrow alley, and if she went back out, there would definitely be a commotion.

I had no choice but to grit my teeth and continue listening.

"Alright, I have twenty here. I stole it from the old lady. You can take it and spend it."

"That's right, give me a kiss..."

A series of teeth-grinding smacking sounds.

Song Xianglan rolled her eyes.

The meat bun in my hand suddenly didn't taste so good anymore.

This isn't eavesdropping; this is torture.

After waiting patiently for the man and woman to finish their lovey-dovey moment, they left the alley one after the other.

Song Xianglan then emerged from the shadows.

I shook off the goosebumps all over my body.

She thought this wild man was some kind of amazing guy, but it was just a matter of a few more thrusts.

The woman was not tall, and her back view looked rather sturdy.

When he walks, his buttocks sway like they're on springs.

Song Xianglan returned to the compound.

He shoved two meat buns into Song Xiangmei's arms: "Eat quickly, they're still hot."

Song Xiangmei took it.

The aroma of the meat made him swallow hard. "These must cost two cents each, right?"

"Eat yours." Song Xianglan munched on the remaining bun, pondering what had just happened.

"Big sister, do you know what I saw?"

Just as she was about to start chatting, she saw a familiar figure enter.

The neighbor next door shouted:

"Qian Hong, your mother-in-law's family has been waiting for you for ages."

Song Xianglan almost burst out laughing.

Isn't this Qian Hong, the one who raised a son for some random man?

Qian Hong stopped, her gaze sweeping over the two men like a scraping knife, finally settling on the snakeskin bags on the ground. She snorted.

"Where did this beggar come from? He sits here like a door god."

Song Xiangmei stood up abruptly.

Rubbing hands and laughing:

"You must be Xiaojun's wife, right? I'm your eldest aunt, and this is your third aunt."

Qian Hong took out her keys and twirled them, saying in a sarcastic tone:

"Auntie, Third Auntie, which mountain village did you come from? We're short of money lately, and we were thinking of asking Grandma to borrow some from the countryside."

Everything is expensive in the city, unlike in your countryside where you eat and drink from the fields.

Song Xianglan swallowed the last bite of the steamed bun skin.

He patted the dough crumbs off his hands and slowly stood up.

"Are your eyes in your ass? You're yelling without even seeing who it is."

We crawled out of your ancestral graves, do you want to go down and ask your ancestors if they'll lend you money?

Qian Hong was taken aback.

Obviously, no one expected this seemingly rustic old woman from the countryside to have such a sharp tongue.

"Who are you cursing? How can someone your age have no manners at all?" Qian Hong glared, her face powder crumbling.

"You're so well-mannered, blocking the door like a mad dog, barking incessantly."

He paused for a moment.

Song Xianglan gave a cold laugh.

"How dare someone with prenatal education talk about manners? What manners are you talking about with someone like you who betrays his country and feeds stray dogs?"

I was scolding a dog, how come... you understood?

Qian Hong's expression changed.

I felt inexplicably uneasy.

Why did what you just said sound so awkward?

"You old hag, spewing filth from your mouth!" Qian Hong trembled with anger. "My family doesn't welcome poor relatives like you."

Song Xiangmei was terrified.

He quickly grabbed Song Xianglan's sleeve.

"Third Sister, say no more! That's Xiao Jun's wife!"

She turned to Qian Hong with a fawning smile:

"Nephew's wife, don't be angry. Your third aunt is just like that—sharp-tongued but kind-hearted. We've come to see your mother and brought some local specialties..."

"Who cares about your junk?"

Qian Hong glanced at the snakeskin bag.

A look of disdain:

"Is that food for humans? It's probably covered in a lot of manure."

"Look at your hands, covered in calluses like tree bark. I don't even know if you washed them properly before coming to the city to show off."

Song Xianglan looked down at her hands.

These hands are indeed rough from years of slaughtering pigs.

She looked at Qian Hong's hand, which had just been groping the other man's body.

I just feel disgusted.

"Big sister, let's go."

Song Xianglan picked up the bag from the ground. "This threshold is too high. Our calloused feet can't fit through. Don't get the floor dirty where people are cleaning their worn-out shoes."

"Third Sister."

Song Xiangmei was so anxious that she stomped her feet and refused to move. "We finally got here, but we still haven't seen Second Sister."

Besides, my second sister has had a tough time in this family. If we leave, it will be even harder for her to face people when she comes back.”

"Who are you calling a slut?" Qian Hongyan's eyebrows twitched.

Will not.

Nobody saw it.