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

The lingering stench of feces in the Yu family's courtyard was mixed with an even more pungent smell of gunpowder.

It almost blew the roof off.

Granny Yu rubbed the skin on her neck vigorously with a loofah sponge while pointing at Tang Xiuhe standing in the corner and cursing loudly:

"You ungrateful jinx! You were laughing as outsiders smeared your mother-in-law's reputation, and you even defended that shrew Song Xianglan. What sins did my family commit to marry such a treacherous and unlucky person like you?"

Old Yu squatted at the doorway, smoking his pipe with a dark expression.

They didn't stop them.

Yu Lao Er was even more furious, as half of the excrement and urine had been on him.

It still makes me feel nauseous when I think about it now.

"Third sister-in-law, you're being so unfair. We're family, and you're siding with outsiders. Have you been hoping for our family to suffer?"

Even Yu Laosan, whose face was bruised and swollen, was now covering his cheek and glancing sideways at his wife.

His eyes were full of disdain.

"I must have been blind to marry you. You're not even good-looking, and you have a terrible heart. You watched your own man get beaten up, and you didn't even utter a sound."

"You've become too ambitious."

Tang Xiuhe already had a face full of injuries.

Hearing this, she gently placed the child in her arms into the cradle and covered her with a blanket. "I think it's me who's blind."

"Back then, the matchmaker kept exaggerating how your older brother, Yu Pengfei, was a high-ranking official, saying that if you married into the family, you could get a job as a worker in the county's textile factory."

She straightened up and said disdainfully:

"Your older brother made a mistake and was transferred to the county textile factory. In the end, he was a perfectly good head of the security department and was demoted to a security guard. Your whole family conspired to commit marriage fraud."

Now you think I'm malicious? You bunch of liars, you crows can't even see their own darkness and you have the nerve to criticize others?

Granny Yu was hit where it hurt, and with a howl, she lunged forward.

"You piece of trash, how dare you look down on our family? You should take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror."

Tang Xiuhe pushed away the old woman's withered hand.

Her voice was even louder than hers:

"If I'm trash, then your son is a maggot in that latrine."

It's clearly a piece of trash, but it insists on pretending to be some big shot.

They even said I wanted to take advantage of their fame. I might want to take advantage of their fame, but I didn't want to get covered in shit.

You're like toads that have gotten a little wet and think you're sea turtles. Can't we give you a candle? You think you're so great? Why don't you just fly to the sky?

"Rebellion! Rebellion!" Old Yu slammed his pipe on the sole of his shoe. "If you don't want to live here, then get out."

"Fine, get out then. Who wants to stay in this cesspool?"

Inside the Yu family's house, chickens flew and dogs barked, and pots and pans were smashed with deafening noise.

The neighbors listened intently from their vantage points, perched on the walls, finding it even more captivating than the Gaojia opera on stage.

Song Xianglan stopped caring about the Yu family's mess.

That kind of muddy pond, anyone who gets in it will be covered in stench.

She called Da Bao, Er Bao, and Gou Sheng over and magically produced three cents and a handful of White Rabbit milk candies.

"Here, this is your bonus. It's to commend you for doing a great job today."

The three little ones' eyes lit up instantly.

These days, a dime can buy a lot of good things, not to mention those rare milk candies.

"Thank you, Grandma."

"Thank you, Auntie."

Da Bao held the one-cent coin tightly in his hand, his fingers sweating, but he didn't let go.

He ran to the small room next to Song Xianglan's, a room that Song Xianglan had specially reserved for Da Bao and Er Bao.

He ran to the corner and dragged a rusty tin can of cookies out from under the bed.

I carefully put the penny in.

He had accumulated quite a few loose coins in the tin can, which he had saved little by little from the red envelopes he received and the work he did for others.

Watching this scene, Song Xianglan felt a little curious:

"Dabao, what do you want to buy with your saved money? Do you want to buy a comic book or a toy?"

Da Bao shook his head, looking serious.

"I want to save up more money to send to Grandma. Then Grandma will let Mom come back. Then Mom can stay with us and won't have to leave anymore."

Erbao grinned, "I miss Mommy."

These words were like a needle, piercing Song Xianglan's heart.

Children understand everything, they just don't say it.

Song Xianglan felt a lump in her throat and reached out to rub Da Bao's messy hair.

"Grandma will make you peanut soup later."

Zhou Fang walked in from outside, her steps somewhat heavy.

He stood in the middle of the main room, lost in thought.

Song Xiangdong leaned over and gently touched Zhou Fang's elbow.

"Zhou Fang," Song Xiangdong said, his eyes bright, "once things are settled here, go to Shanghai to find the professor from Tongda University."

Zhou Fang stiffened and turned to look at Song Xiangdong.

Song Xiangdong grinned. "Go ahead, find a great teacher so you can improve yourself. We should all keep learning until we die, we're no worse than those city folks."

Zhou Fang's throat bobbed, and after a long while, he managed to squeeze out two words:

"Thanks."

He is benchmarking himself against Fu Qingnian.

……

Time flies.

Five or six days passed in the blink of an eye.

A military green jeep stopped at the village entrance, breaking the village's tranquility.

People from the military arrived, saying they needed to take Song Xiangdong to Beijing for some follow-up procedures and awards, which required his personal presence.

According to regulations, family members are allowed to accompany them.

Song Xianglan looked at Shen Huijun, who was heavily pregnant.

If she leaves, there will be no one in charge of this family.

"I'm not going." Song Xianglan made a decisive decision, then turned to Zhou Fang, "Zhou Fang, you go east with him. Take good care of him on the way, and see if there's anything you can do in the capital."

Zhou Fang nodded without refusing.

The night before her departure, Song Xianglan wished she could pack all the food she could take from home.

Two large bags were filled with boiled and sun-dried fish, homemade salted duck eggs, and freshly made mushroom sauce and oyster sauce.

Zhou Fang pulled Song Xianglan aside.

He pulled a house key from his pocket and handed it to her, then led her to the cellar where he had previously hidden things.

Those were valuables snatched from Scarface: gold bars, silver dollars, and some calligraphy, paintings, jewelry, and antiques.

Zhou Fang pointed to the pile of things, "Godmother, these things were taken from Scarface. You take two-thirds, and I'll take one-third."

Song Xianglan frowned:

"No. Half for each of us. You put in the effort and even took the risks. I did nothing."

"Godmother," Zhou Fang interrupted her, "if it weren't for Xiang Dong, I wouldn't have encountered such a good thing."

The two of them declined for a long time.

Song Xianglan couldn't resist Zhou Fang's stubbornness, so she had no choice but to agree to his proposal.

"Okay, I'll keep the money for now. Take a batch of goods with you when you go to Beijing this time."

Song Xianglan was quick-witted. "Take all the dried fish, dried shrimp, and pickled mushrooms from our processing workshop with you. The capital city is short of these seafood products; they might be able to open up sales channels."

Early the next morning.

The two went to the processing workshop.

The yard was filled with freshly cooked mushrooms drying in the sun, and the air was filled with a delicious aroma.

Yang Xiaozhi was lying on a broken table in the warehouse, holding a pen and writing and drawing on a yellowed ledger.

Song Xianglan leaned closer to take a look.

The ledger recorded everything clearly: how much went into storage, how much went out, and how much was lost. The handwriting was neat and legible.

"Hey, who taught you that?"

Song Xianglan was pleasantly surprised.

Yang Xiaoye was putting the dried mushrooms into a large water vat, while Gan Shanshan poured on a layer of coarse salt.

Yang Xiaoye heard the noise and ran over.

She's gained some weight in her face, and looks much prettier and more delicate than before.

"Sometimes Sister-in-law Huijun comes over to teach Xiaozhi how to keep accounts."

Song Xianglan nodded approvingly.

"Xiaozhi is a good prospect; he learns very quickly."

Yang Xiaozhi heard the praise.

He scratched his head sheepishly and smiled.

"Why aren't you going to school?" Song Xianglan asked. "You're at the age where you should be studying. Keeping accounts here is helping out, but you can't let it ruin your future."

Yang Xiaozhi's smile vanished instantly.

He lowered his head, gripping the pen tightly in his hand.

"I don't want to go to school. I want to earn money and work hard."

Why?

Yang Xiaozhi bit her lip, and her eyes suddenly reddened.

He suddenly knelt down and kowtowed to Song Xianglan.

"Aunt Song, please save my sister. I'll do anything for you from now on to repay your kindness."

Song Xianglan quickly went to help him up.

"What are you doing? Let's talk this out, don't kneel."

Yang Xiaozhi cried so hard that her whole body trembled. She glanced at Yang Xiaoye, who was silently wiping away her tears.

"My grandma... that old witch, she said she wanted my sister to get married. She said it was to arrange a marriage for Yang Xiaozong from my eldest uncle's family."

Song Xianglan thought for a moment and then remembered.

That's Yang Xiaoye's cousin. He's thirty years old this year and he's mentally challenged.

When he was twelve or thirteen years old, he was trapped on the mountain by a typhoon and developed a high fever that damaged his brain, which prevented him from getting married.

"The Yang family actually made Xiaoye arrange a marriage for that idiot?" Song Xianglan's anger flared up instantly.

Yang Xiaozhi sobbed, "The marriage partner they found for my sister was from the next brigade."

That man…that man only has one leg, and he's hunchbacked, almost forty years old. He has a younger sister who's a good match for Yang Xiaozong.”

This is practically pushing people into a fire pit.

Yang Xiaozong didn't even need to arrange a marriage for his own sister; instead, he used his orphaned cousin to fill the void.

In this era, arranged marriages were not common, but they did happen.

Families who couldn't find wives would use their daughters to exchange for wives for their sons.

"Those old hags from the Yang family, living off their own descendants!" Song Xianglan gritted her teeth in anger. "Their skin is so thick it could be donated to a bulletproof research institute; even bullets would bow down in their presence. They're utterly depraved!"

She pulled Yang Xiaozhi up and then hugged Yang Xiaoye.

Looking at these two unfortunate children, my heart aches.

"Don't be afraid. As long as you work for me, you're one of my people. They can't do anything to you." Song Xianglan's voice wasn't loud, but it was firm. "If the Yang family wants to sell people, they'll have to ask the rolling pin in my hand if they agree."

She turned to look at Yang Xiaozhi.

"You still have to go to school. Only if you become successful can you truly protect your sister in the future. Aunt Song is here to support you now."

Yang Xiaozhi nodded vigorously.

He wiped away his tears, and his eyes revealed a fierce determination like that of a wolf cub.

There are always people in this world who suffer.

There are always some people who can lend a helping hand to those who are stuck in the mud.

"Godmother," Zhou Fang took a deep breath, "I'll send more goods to Beijing. With the money, we can do more things and help more people like them."

He had already started thinking about how to expand his sales channels.

How to turn these unassuming local specialties into real money.

Zhang Qin was mainly in charge of the processing workshop.

Song Xianglan called Zhou Fang over to hand over the goods to Zhang Qin, asking him to check the goods to be taken away.

After arranging things here.

Song Xianglan then called Lin Gang's wife and Gan Shanshan to a corner and whispered instructions:

"Keep a close eye on the Yang family's movements during this period."

"Don't worry, Auntie," Lin Gang's wife patted her chest. "If the Yang family dares to come, I'll shout and the whole village will hear me. I'll break their legs."

"I'm not afraid of anything else, I'm just afraid those beasts will come and kidnap us at night. It's not safe for Xiaoye and her brother to guard the warehouse, we need to find another strong man to take over the night watch."

Gan Shanshan makes a lot of sense.

Song Xianglan was also thinking about finding two more reliable people to guard the warehouse.

As the amount of goods in the warehouse increased, many people became envious.