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

Song Erge clutched his knee, glanced at his younger sister who was throwing a tantrum on the ground, and then looked at his wife who was acting like a fighting cock next to him.

Finally, their gaze fell upon Song Xianglan, who was dusting herself off.

"Third sister, stop stirring things up."

Song's second brother's face scrunched up in a bitter expression. "It's the New Year, and the whole family is fighting like this, making us a laughingstock. Your second sister-in-law is so unreasonable, didn't you even try to stop her?"

"Pooh."

Song Xianglan spat on the ground, almost splashing onto Song Erge's feet.

"What nonsense are you talking about? If I were your sister-in-law, I wouldn't have just scratched you a couple of times; I would have grabbed a big broom and kicked you out, bedding and all."

Do you feel sorry for your sister?

Send her all your grain, cured meat, and savings, and you yourself go live with her in the city. See if she'll give you a hot meal then.

Song Erge choked so hard his face turned blue.

"What kind of talk is that...?"

"Can't you understand human language?"

Song Xianglan's gaze swept across Song Erge's face like a knife.

"Your wife is being bullied, and you're still trying to smooth things over."

"Were you reincarnated from mud? Should I find you a kiln and fire you into bricks? At least I could build a pigsty."

Brother Song walked over with his hands behind his back.

His shout earlier failed to quell the situation, and now he's trying to regain some of his patriarchal authority.

"Xianglan, how dare you speak to your second brother like that?"

Brother Song said sternly, "And the second son's wife, that's enough."

They're all relatives, we see each other all the time, why do we have to tear each other apart? Women are so petty, is this really worth fighting over?

"Brother, you can keep that to fool ghosts."

Song Xianglan sneered, completely unconvinced, "Why don't you tell your good second sister to be more generous?"

Why didn't you talk about family ties when she was stealing chickens and dogs?

Why didn't you follow the rules when she slapped her second sister-in-law?

So, the rules of your Song family are specifically designed to exploit your wives?

Brother Song was left speechless after being rebuked.

He opened his mouth but couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

The several men from the same clan around looked at each other, none of them daring to provoke them.

"Xianglan, you're also a member of the Song family."

"I'm not on the same household registration as them."

Old Song squatted on the ground, counting the chicken feathers on the ground with a pained expression.

Muttering to himself:

"Third sister is right, second sister is a thief. My speckled hen is laying eggs right now."

I only had that one piece of salted meat, and I couldn't bear to eat it myself.

I guard against her like a thief every year, but she still managed to slip through this time. I'm so frustrated!

Song Xianglan was too lazy to look at the faces of these men anymore.

She didn't lose the things.

I've vented all my anger.

"Xiangdong, Huijun, Tingting, let's go home."

Song Xianglan waved her hand, "Let whoever wants to meddle in this mess can meddle. Let's go home and have some garlic duck and chicken soup. And some salted bone porridge too."

Brother Song: ...

Second Brother Song: ...

Song Laosi: ...

Song Ersao hastily wiped the dirt off her face, and for the first time, a fierce glint appeared in her submissive eyes.

She glared at Song Erge.

That look in his eyes made Song Erge feel uneasy.

"What...what are you looking at? Aren't you going home to cook?" Second Brother Song said, bluffing.

"Keep dreaming," Song Ersao cursed, then turned and went home.

She returned less than ten minutes later and came out carrying a bundle on her back.

He was also carrying two bottles of fine wine, two packs of cigarettes, and some pastries that Song Xiangdong had given him.

"That was given to me by Xiang Dong..." Second Brother Song said anxiously.

Sister-in-law Song shouted back:

"My chickens and ducks are gone, the meat is gone, and the oil is gone too. I can't stay here for another day."

I'll take this tobacco and alcohol back to my parents' home to pay off the debt.

"If you're so capable, go with that chicken thief and don't come looking for me."

Done.

Sister-in-law Song, carrying the cigarettes and alcohol, walked towards the village entrance without looking back.

Song Erge was dumbfounded.

If his wife runs back to her parents' home, how will he live?

"Wife, wife, wait for me."

Song Erge didn't care about saving face anymore and limped after them, saying, "It's not enough to just take the things back to my parents' house. I still have money. We need to take the money back with us."

The couple, Brother Song and Sister-in-law Song, dragged and pulled each other along the way.

He shamelessly coaxed his wife, almost kneeling down on the spot.

Song Xiangmei stood by the roadside.

Looking at this mess, I feel suffocated.

"Let's go, let's go back." Old Nie puffed on his pipe, his face full of worry. "This is getting out of hand every day. Xianghe just wanted to take something, is it really worth fighting like this? We're all family."

Song Xiangmei suddenly stopped in her tracks.

She turned her head and stared intently at the man who had been with her for most of her life.

Nie Xiaochuan's expression was also not good.

The three of them walked along the mountain path on their way home, and there were hardly any people around.

Old Nie was still muttering to himself:

"You should have advised Xianglan earlier. She was too impulsive and trampled on your elder brothers' dignity."

How will I visit these relatives again? My reputation will be ruined.

"If everyone had sat down and talked calmly just now, maybe Old Man Tang would have come back. Now look what happened, everything's gone, and we haven't lost anything."

Song Xiangmei listened to the buzzing sound, which sounded like flies.

The string in my mind snapped with a "pop".

"You Nie family are good. The Nie family's ancestral graves are emitting auspicious smoke, and you are buried in a feng shui treasure land. That's why you've been poor for more than ten generations and are still so poor."

They're poor with a sense of entitlement, so poor they only know how to scheme against their own family.

Old Nie's eyelids drooped.

"Why are you dragging me into your family's petty squabbles?"

"Your family has no problems? You're a bunch of troublemakers, and you have the nerve to talk about other people's families."

"You're in a hurry again. Before, you were so anxious about Xiaochuan's marriage that the children stopped seeing each other. Now you're not in a hurry anymore."

Song Xiangmei's eyes were red. "As soon as people hear that it's the Nie family, they'd rather avoid them altogether. Who would want to marry their daughter into such a troublemaker's family?"

Old Man Nie said unhappily, "Alright, that's enough... Don't go back to your nanny job after the New Year."

Song Xiangmei was taken aback:

"What did you say?"

"Let Zhao Xiaofang go."

Old Nie lowered his head, not daring to look Song Xiangmei in the eye. "Zhao Xiaofang's family is related to your employer by less than five degrees of kinship."

They originally wanted to find someone they knew.

You're getting on in years, give the opportunity to the younger generation. Your eldest son's family is struggling financially, you should help them out.

In that instant.

Song Xiangmei felt her blood run cold.

This family of vampires even tried to steal her last bit of life.

Nie Xiaochuan: "Dad, with your sister-in-law's lazy attitude, you expect her to serve others? She'd be treated like royalty."

"How dare you talk to your father like that!" Old Man Nie glared.

"My brother and his wife are obsessed with money. They even tried to swindle money from the Zhao family. That job was earned by my mother through her own abilities, why should it be given to Zhao Xiaofang?"

"Just because it's a relationship with the Zhao family."

Old Nie stuck out his neck, "We're all family, why distinguish between you and me? Your mother earns money for this family too, doesn't she?"

Song Xiangmei looked at the old man in front of her and felt that he was a complete stranger.

It's been over forty years.

She worked like a slave for this family.

Even when she was at her parents' house just now, she was still thinking about how to save face for Old Man Nie.

But the abacus beads just kept hitting her in the face.

She didn't say a word.

They quickened their pace.

Just entered the courtyard.

The eldest son of the Nie family and his wife, Zhao Xiaofang, came forward with ingratiating smiles on their faces.

Zhao Xiaofang's eyes darted around.

"Mom, about the job..."

"Mom, it's fine if you don't want to give up your job."

Old Master Nie rubbed his hands together. "Then you'll give me fifteen yuan a month, as... as a brokerage fee? After all, this is related to my wife's side of the family."

Nie Xiaochuan's eyes were as fierce as a wolf's.

"Have you no shame? Why don't you just rob someone?"

"Second brother. Third brother. Fourth brother!" Nie Xiaochuan shouted at the top of his lungs.

"My older brother wants to give Mom's job to Zhao Xiaofang, or he wants Mom to give him the money. Do you both agree?"

The brothers were furious when they heard this.

Mom earns money, and they can occasionally sneak in some extra cash.

What if it were given to my sister-in-law, Zhao Xiaofang?

That would be like throwing a meat bun to a dog—you wouldn't even get a sip of the soup.

The second son was the first to jump out, "Why should it go to my sister-in-law?"

"If your sister-in-law burns the pot while cooking, won't she be sent back if she goes to serve others?" the third brother chimed in.

Zhao Xiaofang screamed angrily, "This is a matter between our Zhao family!"

The yard instantly erupted into chaos, with chickens flying and dogs barking.

Song Xiangmei went into the house, found a snakeskin bag, and haphazardly stuffed her few pieces of clothing inside.

He went out carrying a snakeskin bag.

Nie Xiaochuan followed, saying, "Mom, I'll take you home."

Old Man Nie called out:

"Old woman."

Song Xiangmei walked away quickly, without even turning her head back.

Old Man Nie chased them to the village entrance and watched them disappear around the bend in the mountain road.

"What kind of mess is this...?"

He shakily pulled out his pipe, trying to light it, but his hands were too shaky to strike a match.

This is it.

A home is no longer a home.

……

The sixteenth has passed.

The festive atmosphere of the New Year hadn't even faded in the village yet, but the Song family was already getting things moving.

Song Xiangdong, Zhou Fang, Huang Ronghua and their brothers used shovels to level the open space to the north.

He then used his connections to bring back several truckloads of red bricks from the brick factory.

They were neatly stacked on the roadside.

Song Xiangdong wiped his sweat. "We can start construction when the weather warms up in the spring. We'll build a two-story house as you said."

Song Xianglan nodded, looking at the pile of red bricks, and felt reassured.

A few more days passed.

Song Xiangdong wants to return to his unit.

Shen Huijun did not follow.

She saw Song Xiangdong off at the village entrance, and watched the jeep disappear into the dust as it drove away, her eyes a little red.

She'll be going to university in a little over two weeks, and it will be more convenient for her to go from Xiaoquan Village.

Shen Huijun sniffed and took Song Xianglan's arm as they walked back.

Song Qiang was already waiting for her.