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

After finishing their meal, the students were about to head home. Song Xianglan shared the remaining fried taro, sweet potatoes, vegetable balls, and seaweed tofu balls with them. The group reluctantly left, carrying the fried food and the seafood Liu Dahua had given them.

Song Tingting was also busy.

After seeing his classmates off, he grabbed his schoolbag and ran towards the educated youth settlement.

"Mom, I'm going to study with Sister Congying. Three educated youths from our village passed the exam this time, and Sister Congying is one of them. I need to learn from her experience."

"Congratulations to Cong Ying."

The little girl hummed in agreement.

They ran off in a flurry of activity.

Song Xianglan tidied the table and swept the floor with a broom. The courtyard gate creaked open.

Nie Xiaochuan pushed in the borrowed, dilapidated bicycle.

The boy had two dark circles under his eyes. He didn't say a word when he came in, but when he saw the broom in Song Xianglan's hand, he quietly snatched it and started working.

"Stop pretending to be a donkey that only works but doesn't eat grass."

Song Xianglan put the broom aside, crossed her arms, and scrutinized him. "How did you get yourself into this state? Did Yu Sanya come looking for you?"

Nie Xiaochuan's body stiffened.

The movement in his hand stopped in mid-air.

Song Xianglan knew what had happened as soon as she saw him dead.

He's a total simp.

"You really like Yu Sanya?"

Nie Xiaochuan lowered his head, shuffled his toes on the ground, and after a long pause, finally managed to utter, "She...she's really good to me."

Song Xianglan pressed further:

"How can it be good?"

Nie Xiaochuan opened his mouth, his face turning bright red, but he couldn't say anything coherent.

After the blind date.

The two met occasionally, and Yu Sanya would always ask for things or money in her gentle manner.

Nie Xiaochuan slumped to the ground, burying his head in his hands. "If I earned money on my own, I'd dare to propose to her. But I..."

I can't be a burden to my parents.

"You good-for-nothing!"

Song Xianglan stepped forward and kicked him in the butt. "If you're doing this for a woman like this, don't ever come to my door again! If you want money, go earn it yourself. Who are you trying to impress with that long face?"

Nie Xiaochuan was kicked and sat on the ground.

I wasn't annoyed.

She just muttered, "Third Aunt, I just feel... that kind of family would only make Sanya suffer."

"She's happy, her parents are happy. What good is it if you're not happy?"

Nie Xiaochuan got up and patted the dirt off his bottom.

"I don't understand why her family is willing to do this either. Although the dowry my family gave was not as much as that of a widower, it was still about a hundred yuan more than what a normal matchmaking family would give."

He also knew that the Yu family was a bottomless pit.

So Nie Xiaochuan broke it off decisively. He just felt uneasy.

He paused, then lowered his voice and said:

"Something's been off at home these past few days. My older brother's been hanging around Mom and Dad all the time, bringing them food and putting on a smile. I'm worried he's up to something bad again."

Song Xianglan gave a cold laugh.

That's like a weasel paying respects to a chicken.

"Keep an eye on things at home. I happen to have a few digital watches to sell. Take them and drive around the factory gate in the county."

……

The afternoon sunlight fell on the treetops, like a golden scarf draped over everything on earth.

It's so warm it makes you want to drowsily.

Old Nie slipped into the old couple's house, carrying a bag of hot roasted peanuts in his pocket and half a pack of "Economy" brand cigarettes in his other hand, which he respectfully handed to Old Nie.

Old Man Nie's cloudy eyes lit up instantly.

He usually smokes homemade cigarettes.

It chokes my throat.

"Dad, I was immature before."

Old Master Nie pulled over a bench and sat down, looking heartbroken. "I've figured it out too. We're family, blood is thicker than water."

Before, I thought, "There are eleven of us siblings, I can't let Xiaochuan break up the family just for him." But... after this whole mess, I regretted it.

Old Nie took the cigarette.

Boss Nie quickly struck a match and lit it.

Take a deep breath.

Old Nie squinted comfortably, grabbed two peanuts, and popped them into his mouth, chewing them with a crunching sound.

"That's right. You're the boss, you have to act like one."

Old Man Nie wished his sons were always by his side.

Nie Laoda observed his father's expression.

The time is almost up.

He leaned forward a little.

"Dad, all this fuss is really about money. I have a really good connection right now. If it works out, not only will we have money for Xiaochuan's wedding, but our second, third, and fourth sons will also get a share. I don't want a single penny; it's all for the sake of the Nie family's cohesion!"

"What good news?"

Old Nie's hand holding the cigarette trembled, and ash fell all over his crotch.

"There's a retired senior official in the county, who's my father-in-law's cousin. He was a high-ranking official who retired, and he lives alone in a large three-room brick house. His pension is quite high."

Boss Nie spoke with great enthusiasm, spittle flying everywhere.

"The old man is sick now and wants to find someone he knows well to take care of him. He'll provide room and board for a month, plus a salary of fifteen yuan."

"Fifteen dollars?"

Old Nie's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

The able-bodied men in the village work themselves to the bone in the production team, but they don't get much money at the end of the year.

Although Old Man Nie was greedy for small gains, he wasn't stupid.

"Such a good thing, isn't your mother-in-law going?"

"My mother-in-law wanted to go, but that old man has a strange temper and is afraid that relatives will scheme against him for that little bit of inheritance, so she wanted to find an honest and law-abiding outsider."

Boss Nie lied without batting an eye.

Actually, that old man has a very bad temper; whoever goes there is doomed.

"Dad, think about it, if Mom went, she'd only make fifteen yuan a month, and after a year she'd make a hundred and eighty."

Old Man Nie's doubts were instantly dispelled by the number 180.

"Do you think I can go?"

Old Nie stubbed out his cigarette. "I can also serve people."

Boss Nie couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Dad, they need a housekeeper to cook, do laundry, and clean. Can you cook? Can you sew? If you go there, you'll just be staring blankly at each other, and they'll kick you out the same day."

Old Nie choked.

Since getting married, he has never lifted a finger to do any housework.

"Then... then where's your mom?"

Old Man Nie was tempted, mainly by the money.

It can solve Xiaochuan's marriage problem.

It can also bring peace to the home.

This deal was tailor-made for his family.

The father and son hit it off immediately.

He immediately called Song Xiangmei, who was washing dishes in the kitchen, in.

Song Xiangmei wiped her hands as she entered the house.

He frowned as soon as he heard that he had to go to the county to serve people.

"I won't go. That's something only servants in the old society would do."

"Mom, this is serving the people, taking care of retired cadres," Old Master Nie quickly flattered his mother. "Besides, it's only fifteen yuan a month. Haven't you always been worried about not having enough money to get Xiao Chuan a wife?"

Song Xiangmei still felt something was wrong:

"With so many people in the Zhao family, how could it be my turn?"

"The old man doesn't seek out relatives because he's afraid the Zhao family will covet his inheritance."

"The old man has high standards; he wants someone who can read. He also wants the newspaper to be read to him regularly."

"Among the old ladies in the surrounding villages, besides you, who else can read those few characters? My mother-in-law is completely illiterate; she can't even tell the difference between a newspaper and a stand. How can she take care of the leader?"

This flattery struck a chord with Song Xiangmei.

She attended a private school when she was young.

I do recognize a few characters.

"Is it really just about reading the newspaper and doing some housework?" Song Xiangmei was tempted.

"Of course it's true! He's a big leader, he has a coal stove at home, he doesn't need to chop wood or start a fire, his work is easy!" Boss Nie pressed on while the iron was hot.

Old Nie also chimed in from the side:

"Go try it for a month first. If it doesn't work out, come back after the New Year. You'll still have fifteen yuan for the New Year."

Song Xiangmei thought about it and realized that her family's circumstances meant they only cared about the bride price, but she also wanted to find a girl with good conditions for Xiaochuan.

"Okay, I'll go take a look," Song Xiangmei gritted her teeth and agreed.

Old Master Nie slapped his thigh and said, "I'll pick you up first thing tomorrow morning. Don't tell anyone about this yet, so the old women in the village won't be jealous."

We left the old house.

Old Master Nie hummed a little tune all the way home.

Zhao Xiaofang was sitting on a chair sewing shoe soles when she saw the man's happy face, so she rubbed the needle on her scalp.

"Did it work?"

"When they heard it was fifteen yuan a month, the old couple's eyes lit up." Old Nie picked up his enamel mug and took a few sips of tea. "Isn't he just a mentally unstable, violent old lunatic? He'd take a beating for money."

Zhao Xiaofang pouted:

"Every time you go to collect your wages, we'll keep ten yuan for ourselves. Then we'll tell your mom we'll take five yuan as a cut."

Old Master Nie thought to himself, "It's his mother who did the work."

They can get fifteen yuan, and his mother can get ten yuan.

I felt I was being cheated, so I figured I'd just give his mom five yuan.

Old Master Nie smiled sinisterly:

"Once the person gets there, the money will go straight into our pockets. The old lady will only suffer for a couple of years. Once we get the three rooms from my uncle, we won't care whether she lives or dies."

Zhao Xiaofang poked the man's forehead.

"You're full of bad intentions, you even betray your own mother."

"It's because she favors her younger son."

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.

Old Master Nie, carrying two boiled eggs, arrived at the old house with his wife Zhao Xiaofang.

Zhao Xiaofang came over and volunteered to do the work, speaking kindly and gently.

Song Xiangmei was already wearing a blue cotton-padded jacket.

"Mom, eat some eggs to nourish your body." Old Master Nie stuffed a warm egg into Song Xiangmei's hand.

Song Xiangmei felt a surge of warmth in her heart.

If she had a salary, would she also be as confident as Song Xianglan?

The three of them didn't linger for long.

Hurry down the mountain and wait for a bus to the county.