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

The young man from Sichuan province in the next bed has been awake for a while now.

The person is awake, but it seems their soul hasn't returned.

He stares at the ceiling with his eyes wide open all day long, without even blinking.

The two trouser legs were empty under the blanket, a sight that made one's heart ache.

His wife, Tang Huan, was with him, along with a little girl who looked to be about ten years old.

This woman had a fire burning inside her; she neither cried nor made a fuss, and her voice was very clear. While wiping the man's face with a wet towel, she chatted with the people in the ward.

"It's alright, as long as the person is still alive, that's all that matters."

Tang Huan's Sichuan accent sounded cheerful. "Auntie, we live in a remote mountain village and don't have much good stuff. When my husband gets a little better, I'll go back and send you some cured meat and sausages."

That tasted absolutely amazing. Let's exchange addresses; meeting is fate.

Song Xianglan originally had a heavy weight on her mind.

Tang Huan's tenacity in making the most of life made me feel much more relaxed.

"Sure, I'll send you some dried seafood later. It's the best accompaniment to alcohol," Song Xianglan chimed in.

The atmosphere in the ward became a bit more lively.

The family members started chatting casually, and as they talked, the topic turned to how they would live their lives in the future.

Looking at that room full of injured and disabled people.

Song Xianglan felt uneasy.

I couldn't help but mention, "Actually, it's not that hopeless. I heard that there are prosthetics available overseas that allow people to walk and run."

While it's not as good as a real leg, I'm sure I can take care of myself. Military hospitals should have this department, right?

The voice just fell.

The young man in the middle bed, who had lost a leg and two fingers on his left hand, suddenly turned his head, his eyes wide open, and veins bulging on his forehead.

"Auntie, what you're saying isn't right."

Although the young man was weak, he spoke with a firm tone, "The country is in such a difficult situation right now, money is needed everywhere."

It is our duty as soldiers to defend our country. How can we make demands on the country at this time?

That would only cause trouble for the organization. It's good enough if they're still alive; why would they need a prosthetic leg? So many people didn't survive."

The ward fell silent.

Even Tang Huan didn't dare to say a word.

Song Xianglan opened her mouth, wanting to say that this wasn't to cause trouble, but to be able to live like a human being in the future.

But seeing the young man's flushed face, she swallowed her words.

Soldiers these days are as pure as crystal; they'd rather suffer themselves than add even the slightest burden to the country.

Always quick-witted, she stopped arguing and asked Tang Huan for paper and pen, writing down everyone's addresses.

They left the ward.

Song Xianglan went straight to the director's office.

"Sir, I remember the military has a disability department, right? They can make prostheses for people."

"A prosthetic limb?"

The director pushed up his glasses, shook his head with a wry smile, and said, "Ma'am, with the current conditions at our hospital, we can only guarantee to save your life."

That stuff is expensive, and the technology in China isn't mature yet.

Most of them have to be imported, and the quotas are extremely limited. There are just too many wounded soldiers arriving this time; there's simply no way they can be put on the waiting list.

Song Xianglan's heart skipped a beat.

Without prosthetics, how will these young men in their early twenties survive?

Is he going to be bedridden for the rest of his life?

She walked out of the office.

Leaning against the wall in the corridor, which was covered with mottled white ash, he rubbed his stiff face.

If you don't go through the government channels, you'll have to find your own way.

smuggling?

The thought popped into my head.

Song Xianglan herself was startled.

Being from Qingyang, he's always bouncing around in the gray area.

But when I think of those soldiers...

"Godmother. Why are you standing here in a daze?" Zhou Fang came upstairs carrying a thermos. Seeing that Song Xianglan's expression was off, she quickly came over. "Are you heading east...?"

"no."

Song Xianglan waved her hand, her eyes suddenly lighting up. "Zhou Fang, is your uncle in Luzon still in the tobacco business?"

"Yes, I heard it's a big business, they've become the local tobacco king."

Zhou Fang looked bewildered. "What's wrong?"

"Can you get in touch with him?" Song Xianglan asked in a low voice. "I want to get a batch of prosthetics. Money is no object; I'll pay whatever it takes."

Zhou Fang was quick-witted and immediately understood what Song Xianglan meant.

He put the thermos on the ground. "Sure! I'll go write a letter right now. There aren't many flights between there and here, but I have ways to get the letter out."

"Go quickly. If this succeeds, it will be a great act of merit." Song Xianglan gave him a push.

Zhou Fang turned and ran.

They didn't even bother to grab their water bottles.

Song Xianglan stood in the corridor for a while to calm herself down before picking up the thermos and returning to the ward.

As soon as I entered.

A sharp, piercing curse stabbed at the eardrums.

"You can't even do the smallest things right, what good are you? You and your daughter are like an old cow getting an abortion—both are ruined!"

An old woman dressed in a black cotton jacket stood in front of Tang Huan's hospital bed, holding an enamel mug and spitting everywhere.

Tang Huan lowered her head, tears welling up in her eyes, her hands gripping the hem of her clothes tightly.

There was also a young man standing nearby, looking nonchalant, playing with a handful of sunflower seeds in his hand.

His eyes, like yo-yos, darted around the female family members in the ward.

He showed no sadness whatsoever at the fact that his own brother was lying in bed half-dead.

The old lady took a sip of water, as if she had been scolding herself and wanted to moisten her throat.

Then came another barrage of criticism: "Why didn't you wait for your brother-in-law to come over together?"

Why must you take a money-losing child and run away first?

"You're like a bat with feathers on its head—you don't know what kind of bird you are. Are you trying to pocket all of my son's compensation?"

Tang Huan's eyelids drooped, and she didn't dare to utter a sound.

The little girl hid behind her mother, trembling with fear.

Everyone else in the ward frowned.

Dare to be angry but dare not speak.

Song Xianglan's temper flared up instantly.

She was known in the village as someone who was not to be trifled with, and she couldn't stand seeing people being bullied like this.

"Hey, hey, hey. This is a hospital ward, not your bedroom." Song Xianglan said coldly, "Go home if you need to poop or drink urine, don't disgust people here. Everyone needs to rest, stop spewing nonsense here."

Old Mrs. Yu was in the middle of her rant when she was suddenly interrupted.

That fiery temper then turned on Song Xianglan: "She deserves to be scolded. It's none of your business if I, as a mother-in-law, discipline my daughter-in-law! Who are you to be such an ungrateful old sparrow?"

"Who do you care who I am?"

Song Xianglan gave a cold laugh.

Arms on chest.

"Shut your old, filthy mouth! Is your mouth connected to your large intestine or did you apply an enema before leaving home? Open your mouth and forcefully spew out years-old feces."

Comparing insults?

Song Xianglan has never been afraid of anyone, whether in her past life or this one.

"Who...who are you calling 'foul'?" Old Mrs. Yu was so angry that the enamel mug in her hand was trembling.

"A good dog doesn't block the way, get out of my way. I never swear, but if I do, you're at the same table as a dog."

Song Xianglan unleashed her full power, "Don't you even open your dog eyes and see where you are? If you scare my son, I'll tear your old bones apart and boil them into soup for the dogs."

Old Mrs. Yu was used to being domineering and tyrannical in the countryside.

He had never been treated like this before. He slammed the enamel mug on the table and stood up to grab Song Xianglan's face.

"I think you're asking for a beating."

"Come on, come on, shoot here!"

Song Xianglan not only didn't dodge, but instead pointed to her forehead and leaned forward, saying, "Put some effort into it. Whoever doesn't hit you is a coward."

This old lady is like a little puppy in bed—it made the baby laugh.

To compete with her, Song Xianglan?

Before she choked to death on a rat in her past life, she dragged her enemy's entire family down with her.

Seeing that things were getting out of hand, several family members of the patients nearby quickly came over to break up the fight.

"Auntie, calm down, this is a hospital."

Grandma Yu didn't really dare to take action.

It's just a bluff; once someone tries to break up the fight, they immediately back down, saying, "That meddlesome shrew, that ill-mannered thing. I'm not going to stoop to her level."

Song Xianglan looked at her with disgust.

"He never stops talking all day long, all he does is chatter on and on."

I'll knock your mouth out of shape, let's see how you talk then?

No one is as good as you. What kind of treasure is your youngest son?

Why would a sister-in-law ignore the man lying in bed with her husband and instead care about her useless brother-in-law?

"I see that thing stuck between your shoulders; it's a dung beetle's tired ball of dung."

"Pfft—" Everyone couldn't help but laugh.

Tang Huan's man remained staring at the roof, lost in his own world.

Grandma Yu's face turned purple with anger: "You...you're just jealous because my son woke up and yours didn't?"

Song Xianglan glanced back at Song Xiangdong, who hadn't made a move yet, and felt a pang of pain in her heart.

"If we're not satisfied with just arguing, we can go outside and fight. Don't drag the kids into this."

Song Xianglan clenched her fists so tightly they cracked. "Your son is a hero, I don't want to talk about him. But how did this hero end up with a pious old woman like you as his mother?"

Fearing something might happen, Tang Huan quickly reached out to pull Grandma Yu away.

"Mom, please say less..."

"Snapped!"

Grandma Yu slapped Tang Huan across the face, venting all her anger on her daughter-in-law.

"mom."

The little girl who had been hiding in the back screamed and rushed forward with red eyes, biting Grandma Yu's thigh hard.

"Don't you dare hit my mom. You're a bad person, just like your uncle."

"Ouch!" Grandma Yu cried out in pain, kicking the child away. "You ill-mannered little brat! How dare you bite your grandma!"

"It's really like a bald man shaving his head—he's gone completely lawless. He sits at the same table as a dog and still complains about how ill-mannered others are." Song Xianglan couldn't hold back any longer and rolled up her sleeves, ready to take action.

Not to be outdone, Grandma Yu lunged at her with bared teeth and claws.

Shen Huijun protected Song Xianglan like a mother hen protecting her chicks, and yelled at Old Lady Yu.

"Shake your brains before you start. You look like a cockroach that can't survive the winter, who do you think you can beat?"

"These are all soldiers. You dare touch my mother?"

Grandma Yu was stunned.

Stunned by Shen Huijun's sudden outburst, his hand, which was raised in mid-air, froze awkwardly, unsure whether to drop it or not.

Song Xianglan watched her daughter-in-law's trembling back as she chuckled. "That old lady's head is half water and half mud. If you try to mix it all up, it'll just be a paste. We don't argue with idiots."