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

Song Xianglan went to tell Zhou Fang and the others to go back first, and then she went with Zhang Shuting to find Xia Xia.

They gave the old woman who had taken them in ten yuan and led Zhang Shuting and her daughter back home.

Xiaxia refused to loosen her grip on Song Xianglan's clothes the whole way, her big eyes filled with terror.

They were terrified that this lifeline would disappear in the blink of an eye.

"Grandma Song, Xiaxia doesn't want to call the bad guy Daddy." The little girl's voice was hoarse like a broken bellows. "That uncle drinks and hits people, and his eyes are so fierce. Xiaxia is scared."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shuting covered her face and burst into tears.

"Auntie, I'm so sorry for the child. But I really have no other choice..."

Zhang Shuting's journey has been incredibly difficult.

She was determined to get a divorce, sending her vicious mother-in-law and her ex-husband's nephew, who was an accomplice, to prison. With the six hundred yuan she received in the divorce settlement, she thought she could finally live a peaceful life with Xiaxia.

Who knew that not long after getting off the train...

He was then targeted by two pickpockets.

All her money was stolen, and she chased after the thief like a madwoman.

As a result, those two beasts dragged him into the alley and beat him half to death.

If a patrol team hadn't happened to be passing by at the time, her body wouldn't have been clean either.

Penniless and friendless.

She had no choice but to beg for food and scavenge for scraps to make her way to the new town.

"That foreman said that as long as I followed him, he would feed my daughter and me." Zhang Shuting raised her head, her face covered in ash and tears, her body trembling like a leaf in the wind. "Auntie, if it weren't for you, I really wouldn't have been able to endure it."

"The foreman was introduced by Granny Zhang, who took me in. I told her I needed to think about it for a few days."

She knew she couldn't keep putting it off.

He met Song Xianglan in his desperate situation.

The women in the room felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this.

Sister Wu wiped her eyes and went straight to help Zhang Shuting up. "Little sister, get up quickly. Aunt Song is a good person and won't let you jump into that fire pit again. My room has a big bed, you can squeeze in with me with Xiaxia."

Zhang Shuting was at a loss.

Looking at all these glamorous people in the room, I instinctively wanted to hide my hands behind my back.

"I...I can do anything. I can do laundry, cook, and clean. I'm strong and I don't eat much."

"Alright, go wash up first." Song Xianglan interrupted her, stuffing the old clothes Shen Huijun had found into her arms. "Clean yourself up, don't scare the child."

later.

Song Xiangdong came home from get off work.

Upon entering, I saw two unfamiliar faces.

Still looking so disheveled, I couldn't help but frown.

He pulled Song Xianglan to the balcony and lowered his voice, "Mom, what's going on? Is someone having some trouble? Should I ask Huijun to get some money?"

Song Xianglan recounted Zhang Shuting's ordeal.

"Having two more mouths to feed is a minor issue, but we can't have another nanny in the house. If she causes any trouble, it will have a negative impact."

"Our family has twins, and Huijun is still in school, so according to regulations, we can only have one nanny."

Song Xiangdong always considered the impact of things.

Song Xianglan glared at him. "They've encountered trouble, let them stay first."

"I didn't say I wouldn't help."

Song Xiangdong sighed, "I mean, we could rent them a place outside and give them some money, or even just help them find a part-time worker. It's inconvenient for them to keep living at home...."

"Let's talk about it after Zhou Fang rents a place."

Song Xianglan's voice suddenly rose. "I'll open a shop and buy a house here too, and I can hire her to work in the shop."

Song Xiangdong was startled. "Mom, where did you get the money?"

"I raised you to this age. We used to eat coarse food and wild vegetables. We saved money by sewing our mouths shut."

I finally saved up some money for retirement, but my son still questions where the money came from. My life is so hard; other people don't have the confidence to back up their money when they don't have any…”

Song Xiangdong was most afraid of this move by his own mother.

He scratched his head frantically, then turned and shouted into the house, "Huijun, quickly give Mom my salary and allowance from last month!"

Shen Huijun found it amusing to hear this from inside the house.

He came out with the envelope and handed it to Song Xianglan.

Song Xiangdong massaged his mother's shoulders and back, saying, "Mom, it's only right for your son to be filial to you. You can take this money and spend it however you like."

Song Xianglan took the envelope and felt its thickness. Her expression immediately brightened, and she glared at her son.

"Am I asking you for money? I'm telling you that money doesn't come easily."

She returned the envelope to Shen Huijun, saying, "Take this and keep it safe. When I buy a house in the future, you should buy one too, and it will be in your name."

Song Xiangdong glanced at Shen Huijun with a wronged expression. He had only asked about his mother's source of wealth.

Chen Zui squeezed in like a mobile general store, carrying a large pile of colorful boxes in his arms and with two bunches of bananas hanging around his neck.

"Auntie, look what I bought!"

Chen piled things on the coffee table, including tin frogs, wind-up chicks, rabbits, and even a toy gun.

"This is a gift for Fu Bao and You Bao," Chen Zui said proudly. "I got it from the Friendship Store."

"I'm also planning to buy a refrigerator for the house."

Song Xiangdong's face darkened. "No way. We can't buy a refrigerator, and we can't keep buying toys for Youbao. If we spoil him like this, he'll become a spendthrift when he grows up. Besides, my family doesn't accept gifts."

Chen choked, then grabbed a garlic stick and crunched it down.

"Can I at least buy garlic branches? If I want to become your godmother, then your children will be my nephews and nieces."

It's perfectly reasonable for me to spend money on my nephew. Besides, how am I being wasteful? I'm just enjoying life.

Song Xiangdong picked up a garlic stick and took a bite.

It's definitely crispy. "Where did you buy this?"

"The old lady with the cart on the street corner," Chen Zui handed the remaining half-bag to Song Xianglan, "I also bought some croissants for Auntie to try."

Song Xiangdong: "If you want to eat authentic garlic sticks, you have to go to that stall in the old street market."

That shop's fried bread is absolutely amazing—crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, bursting with flavorful oil with every bite. Their coconut cakes and fried five-spice rolls are also delicious.

Chen Zui's eyes lit up. "Brother, lead the way. I want to try everything else that's good to eat."

The two bantered.

It did dispel much of the dull atmosphere from before.

The next day, Fu Bao and You Bao's first birthday banquet was held at the Xincheng Old Brand Hotel.

Qiao Siyi brought several old classmates over, including Zhou Fang, An Xiyang, and Chen Zui, filling two large tables.

The highlight is the first birthday celebration, where the baby chooses objects from the surrounding trees.

The ground was covered with a red cloth and filled with books, seals, abacuses, scallions, rulers, gold ingots, and other such items.

Fu Bao, dressed in a bright red tiger costume, lay on the ground without any shyness, her black grape-like eyes darting around.

She was also a person with clear goals, and went straight for those few large bills and the abacus.

The little hand gripped the banknotes tightly, while the other foot firmly stomped on the abacus, making babbling noises, and the other hand held a gold ingot.

"Oh my! This girl will be a great housekeeper from now on." Song Xianglan couldn't stop smiling. "She's going to be in charge of the finances!"

On the other hand, Youbao was much more refined.

He slowly crawled over, grabbed a gold ingot with his left hand and a fountain pen with his right, then plopped down there, with a stamp hooked on his foot, holding up the two things and grinning foolishly at everyone, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"Good. One hand grasps gold, the other grasps literature."

Chen Zui led the applause and cheers, saying, "This kid will be both rich and educated in the future, and he'll be more successful than me."

The room was filled with laughter.

Song Xianglan looked at the two little ones covered in belongings and sighed:

"I hope they are knowledgeable and versatile, unlike me who wants to learn this and that, and in the end, all I can do is run a small business and not know anything else."

Shen Huijun smiled as she wiped the child's drool.

"Mom, you're just an old lady from the countryside, and you've built such a successful business for our family. So many people are envious of you."

The meal was a lively and enjoyable affair.

The event didn't end until after 3 p.m.

Song Xianglan took Shen's mother, Sister Wu, Zhang Shuting, and several children back to the family compound first.

Before I could even take out my keys, Aunt Hu from next door sneaked out through the crack in the door.

She grabbed Song Xianglan's arm, her face, which was usually full of gossip, now deathly pale.

"Xianglan, something's happened. Something terrible has happened."

Aunt Hu's voice was very low, but it was trembling violently, and her eyes kept glancing at the tightly closed iron gate of the Li family across the street.

Song Xianglan's heart skipped a beat: "What's wrong? Why are you so startled?"

"The Li family's little girl, who just turned one month old..." Aunt Hu swallowed hard, as if trying to suppress her heart pounding in her chest. "When He Xiuxiu came back from washing clothes at noon, she found the baby silent. When she lifted the blanket, she saw that the swaddle blanket was pressed tightly against the baby's face."

Song Xianglan felt a chill run down her spine.

"Impossible! That child can't even roll over, how could he have the blanket pressed against his face?"

"They say it's a cat."

Aunt Hu's voice lowered, carrying a chilling aura, "She said a stray cat crawled into the house, hooked its paws on the blanket, and dragged it over the child's face. I heard He Xiuxiu's scream at the door, and I was terrified."

Upon hearing this, Shen's mother's face turned pale instantly.

Instinctively, she reached out and covered Fu Bao's ears, pulling the child closer to her.

Song Xianglan covered Youbao's ears in the same way.

"Has he been taken to the hospital?" Sister Wu asked anxiously.

"It's been sent."

Aunt Hu shook her head, a chilling look of regret creeping across her wrinkled face. "But when I saw the child being brought out, his face was all blue and purple, his limbs were limp and he wasn't crying at all. I'm afraid..."

The words were left unsaid, but everyone understood the meaning.

The corridor was deathly silent.

Only the draft whistled through the room, like the faint whimper of a baby.

Song Xianglan stared at the tightly closed door.

What a coincidence that a cat could manage to cover itself with the blanket so tightly that it could smother a life.

"What a terrible thing to do."

With tears welling in her eyes and a trembling voice, Shen's mother cried, "Why is God so blind? Such a young child..."