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

Chen Zui quickly pulled a thick red envelope out of his pocket.

His eyes were fixed on Song Tingting, who had just turned around.

Song Tingting wore a pale yellow polyester dress, her long hair was casually tied into a loose knot, and a few strands of hair fell beside her ears, making her face look only the size of a palm, and her skin was as white as a freshly peeled lychee.

Chen Zui's mouth was slightly open, and after a long while, he managed to utter a sentence:

"This girl really is the most beautiful woman in the new city."

After saying that, he didn't care whether Song Tingting reached out her hand or not, and forced the red envelope into her hand.

"Take it! It's a gift from me. If you don't accept it, you're disrespecting me. Don't worry, I'm so poor I only have money left."

Song Tingting squeezed the thickness of the red envelope and raised an eyebrow.

There must be at least a thousand dollars in here.

What a fool with too much money.

She turned to Song Xianglan and teased, "Mom, did we really suddenly have a brother who's a god of wealth?"

Chen Zui plopped down in a chair, crossed his legs, and said, "Sis, I was the one who shamelessly went to the trouble of becoming your godfather. With Mom's connections, I'm really getting a great deal by being her son."

Song Tingting put the red envelope in her pocket and casually unzipped her travel bag.

He took out a scroll and handed it over.

"It's only right to reciprocate. This calligraphy and painting is a vintage item I found at Panjiayuan."

She also gave Zhou Fang a calligraphy piece, saying that he could hang it on the wall of his office.

Chen Zui's eyes lit up, and he took the scroll with both hands and unfolded it.

The paper's color and the ink used for the signature clearly indicate that it's an old, genuine piece.

I can't understand anything else.

"Wow, you're an expert!" Chen stroked the edge of the scroll with obvious delight. "How did you find this?"

"I have a classmate whose elders work in the Palace Museum restoring cultural relics. He developed a keen eye for spotting things from a young age," Song Tingting said while packing her things. "On weekends when he has nothing to do, he takes us to the ghost market, and I follow along to find bargains."

He said that if this painting were put at an auction house, its price would be several times higher. Anyway, I got some things to sell there, and I also rented a shop in Beijing. Part of the profits were used to buy new stock, and the rest was used to find bargains.

Chen couldn't wait to fly to Beijing and become sworn brothers with that classmate.

He has no other hobbies.

I love the thrill of winning big with a small investment.

"Once you start school, I'll go play for a few days too."

We ate dinner at home.

Song Xianglan was busy in the kitchen, and the aroma wafted out through the crack in the door.

Besides the scroll for Chen Zui, Song Tingting also magically produced several boxes.

"Mom, this is for you."

Song Xianglan wiped her hands and took the large blue-and-white porcelain bowl.

"This is a huge bargain." Song Tingting lowered her voice, her eyes gleaming. "I saw this cat-feeding bowl at a shop while shopping, and they said it was too much trouble for me to buy it. This bowl has the mark of an official kiln on the bottom, so it's definitely authentic."

Song Xianglan stroked the rim of the bowl; she couldn't understand it either.

When the food was served, it was a truly hearty meal.

Song Xianglan personally cooked a soup made with tiger tail bones, crispy and golden salt and pepper shrimp, and braised pork with tiger skin eggs.

There's also stir-fried squid and pan-fried pomfret.

Shen's mother also cooked several dishes: sweet and sour pork ribs, braised pork chops with scallions, and stir-fried loofah with eggs.

The table was piled high with dishes.

Footsteps came from outside the door.

Song Xiangdong pushed open the door and came in, beads of sweat on his forehead.

He walked in.

Their gaze fell on Song Tingting, who was peeling shrimp for Fu Bao.

The little girl I remember wearing ill-fitting old clothes and crying behind the door has now grown into a graceful young woman, exuding confidence and composure.

Song Xiangdong's eyes welled up with tears. He strode over and reached out to pat Song Tingting's head.

"The little tagalong is a grown-up now."

Song Tingting stood up, smiling as she handed over a wooden box from behind her.

"Brother, this is for you. It's a set of the Four Treasures of the Study. The inkstone is from an old mine, and the paperweight is an antique. My sister-in-law told me you've been practicing calligraphy."

Song Xiangdong took the box.

It felt heavy in my hand, and even more so, a warm feeling in my heart.

Thank you.

The family sat together, chopsticks clinking against bowls and plates, the food steaming hot.

Everyone mentioned that they would be returning to Qingyang or Haishi tomorrow.

Song Xiangdong put a piece of pork rib into his bowl: "Well, I'm going to be all alone again."

Shen Huijun served him a bowl of soup.

"Just focus on your work. Your study is all set up, all the books have been moved in, and you can study without being disturbed."

Song Xiangdong's work has recently changed, and he is under a lot of pressure, so he needs a quiet place.

"It's too crowded here, there's not enough room."

Song Xianglan had long disliked the small size of this house. "I bought a house nearby, just two streets away, a three-story villa. The original owner was an elderly overseas Chinese who gave the land deed to his younger brother a few years ago to help him sell it. I saw the price was right and bought it directly."

There was a moment of silence on the table.

"The ownership has already been transferred."

Song Xianglan pushed the keys in front of Shen Huijun, "You two should move over there. It's spacious, and there's a separate study facing east."

Song Xiangdong frowned.

"Mom, this isn't the right thing to do. I'm better off staying here."

"That's my house, who dares to gossip?"

Song Xianglan didn't even lift her eyelids. "Give the key to Huijun. It's just sitting empty anyway. She can stay there whenever she wants, or leave it to collect dust if she doesn't."

Shen Huijun did not refuse and put the key away.

Chong Song gave Dong a wink, "Take this as a token of my appreciation."

After the meal, Sister Wu brought over a plate of sliced ​​watermelon.

I casually mentioned some gossip about the neighbors.

"This afternoon, Li Guoyao, who lives across the street, had his parents' belongings packed up and sent back to his house. Li Guoyao's wife is cleaning the house; it seems she wants to move in."

Song Xianglan raised an eyebrow. "Li Guoyao is moving in?"

"you do not say."

Sister Wu curled her lip, "The old couple from the Li family are too ashamed to stay here. Li Guoyao might as well let the old couple and Li Guobin move to his house, while he and his wife and children live in this compound."

Song Xiangdong snorted coldly:

"Li Guoyao is a man who values ​​his reputation the most."

Shen's mother shook her head as she listened, holding a slice of watermelon but losing her appetite: "Is a son really that important? Making such a mess of the house just to have a son. We have our own customs, but we've never seen anyone so heartless."

She sighed and slowly uttered a phrase in the Shanghai dialect:

"That's just how rural folks are, they can't think straight."

Song Xianglan held a teacup in her hand, looking at the tea leaves floating and sinking inside. "In a few years, when family planning is enforced even more strictly, there will only be more of this kind of thing."

In order to have a son, a woman's belly gets bigger and smaller, then smaller and bigger again. Where does all that stuff in between go?

They all turned into fertilizer in the soil.

In the end, all they had was their precious son. The traffickers sold boys, and then when the women reached marriageable age, they started trafficking women to give birth.

The air in the room seemed to freeze for a moment.

Everyone pictured that scene.

I felt a chill run down my spine.

Chen Zui was stunned and stammered, "This...isn't this illegal? That's a life at stake!"

No one answered him.

In some corners, the light hasn't yet shone into the darkness.

Everyone tacitly kept quiet.

They automatically avoided this heavy topic.

……

Chen Zui carried two large suitcases and a large travel bag with Song Xianglan and the others back to the village.

We just arrived at the village entrance.

The familiar earthy smell mingled with the sea breeze and wafted towards me.

Several stray dogs at the village entrance recognized Song Xianglan and wagged their tails, following the tractor eagerly.

The sparrows on the telephone pole chirped and flew around the roof of the car once.

The car had just come to a complete stop.

Liu Chounu rushed down the ridge of the field in a flurry of activity, her trousers covered in mud.

"Lanlan, why did you take so long this time?"

When she saw Shen Huijun and Song Tingting getting out of the car with their child, her eyes widened, and she leaned closer to get a better look.

"Oh my goodness, these are Fu Bao and You Bao! The city environment really does nourish them; their little faces are as tender as tofu!"

A skinny, dark-skinned man named Gou Sheng followed behind her.

When Gousheng saw the two adorable little babies, his eyes lit up, and he opened his muddy hands to rush over and hug the little sister.

"Little sister, hug me."

Shen Huijun and Song Tingting put the child on the ground.

The ugly woman was quick-witted and grabbed Gou Sheng by the back of his neck, pulling him back like a little chick.

"Go wash that mud off yourself before you come back. You smell terrible, don't make your little sister uncomfortable. Is that something you can just hug?"

Gou Sheng jumped around and made faces on the spot.

Youbao is at a very active age, and he saw an older brother jumping around.

I found it fun and tried to learn it too.

This attempt at learning was fraught with danger; one slipped and fell.

With a "thump".

Youbao jumped straight into the ditch by the roadside.

The water in the ditch wasn't deep, just up to my calves, and it was all mud and murky water.

Youbao sat down hard in the mud, and half of his body was covered in black mud.

Song Xianglan was startled and quickly jumped down.

He picked Youbao up in one swift motion.

The once clean and white little dumpling is now a mud monkey, with a few drops of mud splattered on its face.

Youbao wasn't scared at all; instead, he pointed at the mud in the ditch and laughed heartily.

She showed a few tiny teeth and said, "Grandma, jump."

Fu Bao also wanted to learn to jump. Song Tingting held her hand, "There are little bugs in the water that bite and it hurts."

Fu Bao pinched her nose in disgust, "Ugh... Guo Guo smells bad."