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

The New Year's Eve dinner is set on the table.

Song Tingting, recalling how last year she only dared to reach for vegetables with her chopsticks, couldn't help but laugh and ask:

"Mom, this...this is our dining table?"

In the center of the table sat a steamed grouper, its skin a glossy red, its scallions a vibrant green, and it was drizzled with hot oil. Next to it was a plate of pan-fried crab, its shell bursting with juicy red roe.

The lobster vermicelli was still bubbling in the casserole, and the blanched mantis shrimp were all as long as a hand.

The braised pork belly is a deep reddish-brown color. The pickled bamboo shoots and large intestines have a refreshing tangy flavor, and the oyster and meat soup is so delicious it'll make your eyebrows fall off.

There was also a circle of fried pork with vinegar and fried five-spice rolls around it.

Stir-fried clams with ginger and scallions, stir-fried razor clams, oyster omelet...

Song Tingting swallowed hard, her chopsticks hovering in mid-air, unsure where to land.

"In previous years, we only had offal for the Lunar New Year, but this year it's too much..." Actually, there used to be meat at home, but Chen Xiuqin would take it back to her parents' home.

Song Xianglan also thought it was normal.

"This is what it means for life to get better." Song Xianglan placed half of the fattest crab on Shen Huijun's plate. "Eat, don't be shy with your mother. You've all worked hard these past six months."

Looking at the table full of dishes, Shen Huijun felt a warm glow in her heart.

Her family wasn't poor when she was a child.

But there's no way to eat it like that.

It's all high-quality stuff.

"Mom, you should eat too." Shen Huijun served Song Xianglan a bowl of soup. "Don't just focus on us."

Song Xiangdong didn't say much; he just buried himself in peeling mantis shrimp.

After peeling one, he would put it into Song Xianglan's bowl. He would peel his mother's, then his wife's, and finally give it to his younger sister.

"Brother, your skills are amazing! The meat you peeled wasn't mushy at all."

Song Tingting's mouth was stuffed full, but she still managed to offer a compliment.

After finishing the meal.

Just as Shen Huijun was about to clear the dishes, Song Xianglan stopped her.

"It's New Year's Day, you don't need to lift a finger. Xiang Dong, you go wash."

Song Xiangdong didn't say a word.

He rolled up his sleeves and took care of all the plates and bowls.

The charcoal brazier inside was burning brightly, occasionally catching a spark.

Several red sweet potatoes and chestnuts were roasting beside the charcoal fire.

A sweet aroma slowly wafted out.

Song Xiangdong pushed the blanket on Song Xianglan's bed further in, and the group took off their shoes and sat around the bed.

A winnowing basket sat on a chair next to the bed, piled high with candied fruit, garlic twigs, and roasted peanuts.

"Come on, let's play cards."

Song Xiangdong took out a deck of four-color cards from his pocket.

Shen Huijun blinked.

"How do you play this? We don't have this in my hometown."

"It's simple, you'll get the hang of it after watching a couple of rounds." Song Xianglan sat cross-legged, skillfully shuffling the cards. "The four suits are red, green, yellow, and white, it's similar to mahjong."

After a few laps.

Shen Huijun indeed got the hang of it.

He's quite addicted; he beat Song Xiangdong several times.

Laughter never stopped inside the house.

After playing for a while, Song Xianglan felt sleepy.

He pushed the cards away.

"I can't take it anymore, I'm too old. You guys have fun, I'm going to sleep."

"Mom, you go to sleep, we'll stay up all night." Song Xiangdong tucked the blanket in, turned around, and lowered his voice to continue his battle with his wife.

It was midnight.

The sound of firecrackers outside was deafening.

Song Xiangdong put on his overcoat and went outside, setting off a string of firecrackers in the yard.

Red confetti exploded all over the ground.

Even where Zhou Fang lived, firecrackers were being set off.

……

New Year's Day.

Song Xiangdong's friends came to visit him one by one to wish him a Happy New Year.

My hands were never free.

Song Xianglan told them to have lunch at home.

Liu Yukun was the first to agree, as he only received a vegetable roll and a seaweed tofu ball during his New Year's Eve dinner at home last night.

The village children came in groups to wish each other a Happy New Year.

Song Xianglan had prepared everything in advance, grabbing a handful of fruit candies, peanuts, and melon seeds and stuffing them into the child's pocket.

Yang Jianjun's two children huddled in the crowd.

After not seeing him for several months, his once chubby cheeks had sunken in, his chin was frighteningly sharp, and two thick strands of snot were stuck to his face and dried into a crust.

The cotton-padded jacket he was wearing hadn't been washed for days.

It was shiny black, and cotton fibers were still showing.

Upon seeing the candy in Song Xianglan's hand, the two children's eyes lit up, and they squeezed forward like wolf cubs.

The child next to them turned away in disgust.

"It stinks, stay away from it."

Song Xianglan paused for a moment, but still grabbed two handfuls of candy and stuffed them over.

The two boys took the candy but didn't leave. They stared longingly at the fried pork on the table, swallowing hard, and asked, "Grandma... thank you, Grandma. Can we eat here? I'm hungry."

"Grandma, I'm hungry too."

The lively atmosphere in the room cooled down for a moment.

The smile on Song Xianglan's face faded, and her gaze went past the child to the door, as if she could see Yang Jianjun hiding at the base of the wall in the distance.

"cannot."

"Take the candy and leave. This food wasn't saved for you."

The two brothers trembled at the cold look on his face and dared not be stubborn any longer, so they turned around and ran away.

……

Early in the morning of the second day of the Lunar New Year.

Song Xianglan put on the cotton-padded jacket that Shen Huijun had bought for her, combed her hair meticulously, and led her family to Songjiazhuang.

Just outside the village entrance.

He ran into Liu Dahua.

Liu Dahua is also dressed in a brand new outfit today.

Pork, fish, and shrimp were hanging from the bicycle handlebars.

Quite extravagant.

"Hey, Lanlan."

Liu Dahua propped herself up on one foot, her face crinkling with laughter.

"Are there enough things to share when you go back to your parents' home? Don't let your fourth brother's wife's foul mouth start ranting all over the village again, saying you're biased and only care about your eldest brother and sister-in-law."

Song Xianglan glanced at the things on her handlebars.

He snorted:

"Mind your own business. I'm heading straight to my brother's house; I'm not going to waste my breath on those gossipy women."

"Hey, I'm just trying to be helpful," Liu Dahua said, not annoyed, pushing her cart alongside. "What nice things did you bring back for your sister-in-law?"

Song Xianglan retorted, "I hope your picky niece-in-law won't think the things you brought are unlucky?"

Liu Dahua's face froze.

He then spat out a sound of disgust:

"If she dares to give me the cold shoulder, I'd rather feed her the dog than give her any food."

The two bickered all the way.

They parted ways at the crossroads, each happily returning to their parents' homes.

Brother Song was already waiting at the door.

The courtyard was bustling with activity.

To Song Xianglan's surprise, Song Qiang and Song Fei's wives were both busy at home and hadn't gone back to their parents' homes.

"Why didn't you go back?" Song Xianglan asked as soon as she entered the room.

Song Qiang's wife, wearing an apron, wiped her hands on a rag, her eyes crinkling into slits with a smile. "Auntie, we'll go back tomorrow. Auntie and her sisters are back today, so we'll help out at home."

That sounds comforting.

Since they started making money with Song Xianglan, these two nieces-in-law have been extremely respectful.

They can't be driven away no matter what.

Song Xiangdong and Shen Huijun put down the gifts they had given to Brother Song.

Two bottles of wine, two packs of cigarettes, and two boxes of pastries.

"Uncle, Huijun and I will go deliver gifts to Uncles 2, 3, and 4 first." Song Xiangdong carried the remaining gifts out.

Every household had two bottles of good wine, two packs of cigarettes, and pastries; no one was left out.

It's not lunchtime yet.

Song Xiangmei arrived with Old Man Nie and Nie Xiaochuan.

Old Man Nie was dressed smartly, and Nie Xiaochuan was also dressed in new clothes and looked neat.

Followed by.

Song Yuting and Song Yujuan also brought their husbands and children home. They were surprised to see their two sisters-in-law at home.

Song Xianghe and her husband also arrived.

Song Xianghe's face was drawn long, as if someone owed her eight hundred yuan.

In the past, she would avoid Song Xianglan and only return home on the third or fourth day of the Lunar New Year.

I don't know what's gotten into them this year.

They had to squeeze into the second year of junior high.

Song Xianghe's eyes scanned the courtyard like radar, and when she saw the high-quality cotton-padded jacket on Song Xianglan, her eyelids twitched twice.

She pursed her lips when she smelled the aroma of meat wafting from the kitchen.

He handed a package of oiled paper that he was carrying to Sister-in-law Song.

"Sister-in-law, here you go."

Song Xianghe pushed the oil paper package forward.

Raising her voice, she said, "These are peach shortbreads that my little tiger specially got up early to queue up at the supply and marketing cooperative to buy."

This stuff is in high demand; you can't usually buy it even if you want to.

"Hurry up and set it out for our guests, lest those kids steal some."

Sister-in-law Song took the light oil paper package, glanced at Song Xianghe's "I've given her a huge favor" expression, and found it amusing.

Sister-in-law Song casually placed the oil paper package on the table next to her.

"Who would steal this stuff to eat? Kids these days are so picky, they have so many snacks at home they can't finish them all, I doubt anyone would touch this peach shortbread."

Song Xianghe's expression changed.

"Sister-in-law, what do you mean by that? These are peach shortbreads, why hasn't anyone touched them?"

In previous years, I brought back peach shortbread.

The kids in the house are like mice; they steal food whenever you're not looking.

Sister-in-law Song didn't waste any words with her.

He pointed directly to the eight-immortal table in the main room.

"See for yourself."

Song Xianghe turned her head and was immediately dumbfounded.

The table was piled high with colorful packaging.

A whole fruit platter was filled with White Rabbit milk candy, next to which were tin boxes of butter cookies and chocolates with foreign-sounding labels.

On the other side, there were pork jerky, beef jerky, and two cans of malted milk powder left open, ready to be mixed at any time.

Several children were gathered around the table, grabbing chocolates and eating them.

No one gave the bag of peach shortbread a second glance.

In the past six months, Song Qiang and Song Fei have made real money by following Song Xianglan.

At the end of the year, the two brothers discussed it and decided to go to the slaughterhouse, buy a whole pig, and slaughter it. Half of it was used as gifts to build relationships, and the other half was kept for their own consumption.

I bought a lot of snacks again.

Song Xianghe was furious; her pride had been trampled into the mud.

She took a deep breath and spoke in a sarcastic tone:

"Sister-in-law, just pretend you're not rich enough."

Why buy so many fancy things for the kids to eat when we can't even make ends meet?

They don't even care about peach shortbread.

That's just how you country folk are; the poorer you are, the more afraid you are of being looked down upon. You're both insecure and arrogant—that's a terrible thing. "You've spent the money; are you going to starve afterward?"

Sister-in-law Song was slicing the freshly cooked braised pig's trotters.

I wanted to say something sarcastic, but I was afraid of hurting the harmony.

"Hey second sister, did you just eat garlic and not rinse your mouth or something?"

Song Xianglan picked up a piece of pig's trotter and took a bite. "What's wrong with rural people? Does eating something nice mean they're not living a good life?"

"You city folks are so precious, treating a bag of crumbly peach shortbread like a treasure. Who takes only a bag of peach shortbread when they go back to their parents' home all year round?"

When they left, they wanted to pull up all the vegetables in the garden.

We brought plenty of chicken, duck, eggs, and cured meat.

Sister-in-law Song added:

"My second sister is thrifty and hardworking, unlike us, who earn money just to spend it."

However, those peach shortbreads are indeed a bit dry. If you're worried about wasting them, take some with you when you leave, so as not to go to waste.

"you……"

Song Xianghe's face flushed purple with anger. Pointing at Song Xianglan, she shouted, "Song Xianglan, stop pretending to be rich! You'll get caught up in this speculation sooner or later. Let's see how arrogant you'll be then!"

"Even if I lose money, it's better than being a miser like you."

Sister-in-law Song suddenly interjected, "cursing your own relatives during the New Year, your heart is smaller than the eye of a needle."

Song Xianghe was so angry that even her sister-in-law sided with her that she trembled with rage.

He turned to look at Old Tang: "Old Tang, this is my good relative. They've teamed up to bully me."

Brother Song quickly came over to comfort her.

They said everyone was just joking.

Song Yuting and Song Yujuan didn't dare to speak, so they pulled Song Yuzhu and Song Tingting into the room to talk.

Their respective husbands, Zhuang Dagen and Yao Fei, went to chat with Song Qiang and Song Fei.

My father-in-law's family is doing better now, but I haven't seen my brother-in-law.

Several children were eating candy and snacks around the table.

Old Tang remained silent in the corner, looking at the fine cigarettes and liquor on the table, and then at the opulent atmosphere of the Song family's house. He was already thinking about finding an excuse to borrow some money when he left.