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

Song Qiang was waiting for the day Song Xiangdong returned to his unit.

We discussed with Song Xianglan about buying another container of goods to ship north.

After stating his thoughts, he stared at Song Xianglan without saying a word.

Song Xianglan took out her key and opened the courtyard gate, first taking the shovel from the gate into the yard. "Let's not buy anything for now. You can use this time to go to Guangzhou and check out the market there."

Upon hearing this, Song Qiang's hand trembled.

"Third Aunt, we've always traveled the northern route, we know the way well. We're unfamiliar with the south, what are we going to do there?"

Song Xianglan swept the chicken droppings in the yard with a broom. "It's just after the New Year, and everyone has spent all their spare money on meat. There are many small commodities in Guangzhou, you should go and broaden your horizons."

There's no rush to make money.

Song Qiang scratched his head, still a little incredulous.

"Third Aunt, you just stay in the village, never leaving the house, how would you know about things in Guangzhou?"

Song Xianglan swept the chicken droppings away. "You think I'm listening to opera all day on the radio?"

Song Qiang leaned closer: "Listening to the radio?"

Song Xianglan pointed southeast with a smile on her lips, "Speaking of the balloons that floated over from the other side, the brigade used to make us hand them in, but I never did."

Inside were not only White Rabbit milk candies, but also watches, luncheon meat... and newspapers.

Guangzhou is close to the port city, and the people there are quick-witted and have long since developed a small commodity market.

The confusion in Song Qiang's eyes vanished instantly: "I'll listen to my third aunt."

"Call Xiao west and the others. Go to Guangzhou and dress up as beggars. Bring all the necessary gear. You guys take the train from the next city."

"understood."

Send that kid Song Qiang away.

Song Xianglan patted the dirt off her bottom and strolled out the door.

I had just arrived at Liu Dahua's house.

Then I heard the sound of pots and pans being smashed coming from inside.

The noise was terrifying.

Song Xianglan: ...

"We must split up today," Liu Dahua said, her voice booming.

Song Xianglan raised an eyebrow.

He went inside with his hands in his pockets.

The yard was a complete mess.

Liu Dahua sat on the steps, her chest heaving violently with anger, her hair a mess.

The pillar huddled against the wall, wiping away tears.

Standing beside her were her daughter Huang Shanshan, who had just rushed back, and Zhang Haiyan, who had a cold expression on her face.

That brainless Zhu Zi, taking advantage of Liu Da Hua's trip back to her parents' home and Zhang Hai Yan's trip back to her parents' home, actually brought that troublesome old lady Huang here yesterday.

The old woman acted like a Japanese soldier invading a village, taking away all the flour, cured meat, eggs, and other items from Liu Dahua's kitchen.

The newly bought bowls and chopsticks in the kitchen are all gone.

Forget about oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.

"Mom, calm down."

Huang Shanshan picked up the enamel mug from the ground, turned to look at her good-for-nothing brother, her eyes as cold as ice. "Zhu Zi, is your brain filled with mush? You took the family's food rations to give to Grandma?"

Zhu Zi shouted with his neck stiff:

"That's my grandma too. I've been close to her since I was little. Back then, my mom was out at sea every day, and it was grandma who comforted me when it thundered or rained."

"To coax you?"

Huang Shanshan laughed in exasperation.

"You're so stupid, you never learn. Who did Mom go out to sea for? Wasn't it just to fill our mouths?"

Grandma is just teasing you? She's just playing with you like a toy.

When I was a child, we were crying because we were so hungry. My grandma was eating sunflower seeds next to us and spitting the shells all over our faces.

They laughed and said we were little beggars born of a lowly woman.

She comforts you when it thunders and rains?

I remember she crawled into bed herself, leaving the two of us huddled under the bed.

Zhu Zi was stunned by the scolding, but he still stubbornly insisted:

"Well... I also feel at ease with Grandma. She gives me that... that sense of security."

"Security my ass."

Zhang Haiyan suddenly erupted.

"Since you feel safe with your grandma, then it just so happens that this house was built by your mom, and I gave birth to the child."

If you want to be filial, then go ahead and be filial; I won't stop you.

"Mom, let's send Zhuzi out. Let him take his bedding and go serve his grandma!"

Liu Dahua was stunned.

He looked up at his daughter-in-law.

Zhang Haiyan spoke more and more fluently, her eyes filled with determination.

"I have hands and feet, I can work and earn work points."

Mom, you're healthy too. Let's raise the child ourselves. With one less man in the house who just eats and does all the work, things will be a little easier.

I've already given birth to two sons and a daughter, mission accomplished. Keeping a man like that around is pointless; he's just a nuisance.

"Are you...is that even human language?"

Zhu Zi jumped up, his face flushed and his neck bulging, "I am the head of the household!"

"Whose master are you?"

Song Xianglan leaned against the door frame and interjected coolly, "You can even steal your own wife's and children's food to give away. What kind of master do you think you are?"

I think Haiyan is right.

This man, well, his role is just to provide the seed.

"The seeds have been planted, the crops have grown, so what's the point of having the seed planter? It's too tough to even keep it for slaughtering meat at the New Year."

"Aunt Song! How come you're with them too?" Zhu Zi was furious.

"I'm with humans, not with beasts."

Song Xianglan was happy to watch the show, saying, "Someone like you who betrays his own people would be considered a traitor in the old society. He would have his legs broken and be thrown into the ancestral hall."

The atmosphere in the courtyard plummeted to freezing point.

Zhu Zi looked at the women in the courtyard—his own mother, his own sister, his own wife, and a neighbor who loved to watch the drama unfold—and not one of them was on his side.

He was afraid.

"I will not separate from the family, I will not separate."

Zhu Zi knelt down with a thud, grabbed Liu Dahua's leg, and started wailing, "Mom, I was wrong. I shouldn't have brought the milk."

"I just thought of her as my father's mother, and I wanted to fulfill my filial duty on his behalf."

Liu Dahua looked at her son's pathetic state.

My heart softened.

After all, they are flesh and blood of my own flesh.

Even if he's a scoundrel, I raised him myself.

She did indeed lack her mother's presence during her childhood.

Huang Shanshan sighed, seeing her mother's reluctance. "It's fine if we don't separate the family. But you have to hand over all the money, and you can't keep a single penny from now on."

Zhang Haiyan and Huang Shanshan exchanged a glance.

The two rushed forward with perfect coordination and began rummaging through the pillar's pockets without saying a word.

"What are you doing? I'm a man!" Zhu Zi yelled like a pig being slaughtered.

In no time, the few coins and food coupons in his pocket were all taken.

"From today onwards, Mom will manage the money in the house, and I will control the keys," Zhang Haiyan announced coldly. "From now on, you'll have to ask permission even if you want to buy a pack of cigarettes. I'll buy a big lock and lock everything in the house, both to keep out thieves and to keep you out."

The pillar lay sprawled on the ground.

Like a plucked chicken, it dared not utter a single word in rebuttal.

Song Xianglan shook her head, somewhat regretful.

It would be so much better if they really broke up; keeping a man like that around is just a menace.

The farce is over.

Zhang Haiyan went inside to comfort the child, while Zhuzi dejectedly went to tidy up the yard.

Huang Shanshan pulled Liu Dahua to sit in the room.

Song Xianglan didn't leave either; she just sat there.

"Mom," Huang Shanshan said suddenly, looking at Liu Dahua's wrinkled face, weathered by the sun and wind, "Don't just stay angry. While you can still move around, find a companion."

Liu Dahua was drinking water when she suddenly spat it out.

His eyes widened.

"You brat, what nonsense are you spouting? How old am I? Don't I have any shame?"

"What's the point of having a reputation? Can it feed you?"

Huang Shanshan grasped Liu Dahua's rough hand, "You're only fifty years old, you have a long life ahead of you. Are you going to spend your whole life guarding that waiting-for-husband rock?"

I don't even know if my dad is alive or dead. He might have died out there a long time ago, or maybe he started a family somewhere else.

You've suffered your whole life, just for such a vague and insignificant person?

The women here are trapped by moral shackles.

That rock by the sea, where women wait for their husbands, has bound countless women to their fates for a lifetime.

The smooth stone is the symbol of countless single women who yearn day and night for the return of their men from the other side. Their repeated caresses and the washing of their tears have gradually shaped that stone into the form of a woman.

Liu Dahua's eyes reddened.

He kept his head down and didn't say anything.

The Waiting-for-Husband Rock by the Sea.

She cried a lot when she was young, and she is grateful to have two children.

Some women don't even have children, yet they live for decades waiting with no end in sight.

"I also support Shanshan."

Song Xianglan's expression became more serious. "Dahua, Shanshan is right. The world has changed, and we women can't always live in the past."

Finding a man who cares for you is better than staying in an empty house.

Song Xianglan knew it very well.

Huang Guoping returned with his second wife and children, and complained that Da Hua looked old, like his mother.

Liu Dahua waited her whole life, only to be met with disdain.

She died by the Waiting-for-Husband Rock.

Rather than waiting for Chen Shimei to return and disgust people, it's better to strike first.

"Find someone capable," Song Xianglan added, her eyes deep and unfathomable. "Preferably someone who can handle things and dares to take action. That way, if some fools come knocking on our door, we'll have someone to shield us."

Liu Dahua listened to what the two women were saying.

The chastity archway in my heart that I have upheld for half my life.

It shook, and a crack appeared.