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

Song Xianghe held her palm up, pressing it directly under Song Xiangmei's nose.

Nie Dahua and her sisters were also stunned; it was the first time they had encountered someone who gave a gift and then asked for more.

Old Tang shrank his neck and weakly uttered a sentence.

"Grandma, let's not keep it. Let's go home. We shouldn't stay and cause trouble."

Several grandchildren couldn't bear to watch any longer and quietly went outside into the yard.

Chunxia took out the gift list. "Mom, I'll return the money to my second aunt. This is the first time I've ever seen such a valuable gift. Our family really doesn't dare to accept so much money."

Nie Dahua... Second Aunt is so generous.

Sanhua… forgive her for her stereotype of her second aunt, she actually gave her an extremely expensive gift.

Song Xianglan asked, "How much is the betrothal gift?"

She didn't pay attention when the Minister of Personnel was keeping the accounts, because she felt it didn't fit Song Xianghe's character.

For a fleeting moment, Song Xianghe frowned.

Chunxia reached into her pocket, pulled out a crumpled banknote, unfolded it in front of everyone, and slapped it into Song Xianghe's palm.

"Here's your gift back. Everyone, be my witness, so she won't bring seven or eight mouths to freeload and then accuse us of taking advantage."

A few villagers who hadn't yet dispersed were standing around, all craning their necks to look into Song Xianghe's hands.

One cent.

Song Xianglan opened her mouth, then closed it again after a while.

Gift-giving is a matter of individual family discretion; the amount is simply a token of goodwill.

She had experienced Song Xianghe's stinginess before, but this time she had truly seen something new.

My nephew got married, and seven or eight of my aunts came to the banquet. They gave a small gift of one cent.

"With your stinginess, I hope you can scrape together a three-bedroom apartment. Otherwise, it would be a disservice to your shamelessness," Song Xianglan sincerely offered her blessing.

Song Xianghe held the one-cent coin, her fingers trembling.

This trip ended in failure, with both food and takeaways going to waste, and I even ended up covered in swill.

She gritted her teeth and refused to suffer any loss.

"Big sister, my clothes are soaked. Can you find me some clean clothes?" Song Xianghe rushed into the house.

When she came out again, she was wearing one of Song Xiangmei's coats.

He was still clutching another set of cloth clothes tightly in his hand.

Song Xianglan cursed in disgust, "How shameless!"

She also disliked Song Xiangmei's weak and submissive personality.

Song Xianghe retorted, "None of your business. You splashed water on me, I curse your Song Xiangdong..." Before she could finish speaking, she had already been slapped five or six times.

Song Xianglan was incredibly fast.

"His only hard thing is his mouth, but unfortunately it's full of shit."

Song Xianghe screamed and slipped out the door.

This was a huge loss for her, and her heart was bleeding.

He walked along crying and cursing Song Xianglan.

Song Xianglan was about to chase after her and beat her up again, but Song Xiangmei stopped her, saying, "Are you going to beat her to death?"

"Kill her and send her straight to the mountain."

"Third sister, let it go." Song Xiangmei hugged Song Xianglan. "It's all my fault as the older sister."

"You know that much. If you hadn't taken care of me like a mother when I was little, I wouldn't bother with you now." Song Xianglan pushed her away.

Song Xiangmei wasn't angry. She smiled and said, "You're not as cute as you were when you were little."

Song Xianglan patted the dust off her trouser legs.

She gave a haughty snort, "Big sister, I have to hurry back too. There's a building to be built at the processing workshop, and a bunch of things need to be decided."

As soon as Nie Sanhua's husband heard about building a house, he quickly stepped forward.

"Third Aunt, I'm also a bricklayer, can I come and work for you?"

Song Xianglan thought for a moment, "I've already subcontracted the work to Lao Chen, so I can't agree to your request right away. When I run into the foreman later, I'll ask him if he needs any more workers."

Nie Sanhua's husband nodded repeatedly, "Then I'll trouble you to ask, Auntie."

Nie Sihua's husband squeezed in as well. "Third Aunt, could you please ask for me too? I don't know how to do bricklaying, but I'd be happy to work as a laborer."

Song Xianglan readily agreed.

"I can only ask for you; it's not guaranteed to work out."

"Auntie is only asking on our behalf because of Mom. We don't expect it to work out."

Wu Hua came over and grabbed Song Xianglan's hand, refusing to let go. "Third Aunt, stay a few more days before you go back. The house will feel so empty after you leave. I won't be able to visit my parents' home as often after I go back."

The pain of a girl who marries far away.

It's not easy to go back to one's parents' home; I've heard that some people never go back in their entire lives.

Song Xianglan patted Wu Hua's hand. "Come stay at my house for a couple of days before you go back. You can also get acquainted with the place. We won't be seeing each other as much after we get married."

Wu Hua's nose tingled, and her eyes reddened.

"A woman's best days are before marriage. After marriage, time no longer belongs to herself. In-laws, husband, children, social obligations, and farm work all weigh heavily on her shoulders."

Song Xianglan rubbed her messy hair. "Take advantage of this trip back to your parents' home and stay a few more days. The kids are here anyway."

Wu Hua smiled and said, "Okay. I'll stay a few more days."

Song Xianglan did not bring her bicycle.

Nie Erhua pushed her family's old-fashioned bicycle back to Songjiazhuang.

Upon arriving at the Song family's courtyard, Song Xianglan immediately asked Nie Erhua to stay.

"Let's go back tomorrow, then my nephew and I can have a chat."

Nie Erhua pushed the bicycle into the storage room and picked up a large broom to sweep the yard.

She picked up the buckets and poured them onto the cement floor, one bucket at a time.

Then take a large mop and mop it back and forth until it's spotless.

Song Xianglan filled a basin with water and used a rag to clean the stone table and benches.

The door was pushed open.

Liu Chounu had just returned from delivering goods, carrying a coarse cloth bag in her hand.

"Lanlan, Lin Ergou let something slip today." Liu Chounu plopped down on a stone bench. "There are a few more smugglers recently. I heard there's a guy surnamed Liu in Xiangzhi's area who's involved in smuggling, and he's making a big fuss about it."

Song Xianglan draped the rag over the edge of the basin.

"Liu is a common surname in Kaori. They live by the sea, so it's normal for a few people to be involved in smuggling there."

"There are people running transport teams in Kaori now," said the ugly woman, reaching into her cloth bag and pulling out a handful of bananas. "Not just in Kaori, but also in Lugang and the surrounding villages, there are quite a few people carrying goods by hand."

Nie Erhua came over carrying a basin of dirty water.

I greeted them.

Liu Chounv looked Erhua up and down, "Erhua, come here. You've lost so much weight."

Song Xianglan turned her head and stared intently at Erhua for a few moments. Her cheeks were sunken, and her chin was so sharp it was almost piercing; she had indeed lost a lot of weight.

"Erhua, cook noodles for dinner. Fry a few extra eggs," Song Xianglan instructed.

"Alright." Erhua didn't stop for a moment. She changed the water and went into the house to continue cleaning.

"The transportation business will definitely spring up like mushrooms after rain. Let's keep a low profile and run our own business. Don't feel like others are taking over our territory. This business can only be long-lasting and stable if everyone does it together."

"If you don't do it for others, they might just flip the table and nobody will get to do it."

Liu Chou-nv broke off a wild banana and handed it to him, saying, "You like wild bananas, try it and see how it tastes."

Song Xianglan took the banana, peeled it, and took a big bite.

Soft, sticky, and sweet.

She swallowed them in a few bites, and then ate two more in a row.

When he looked up, he saw that the ugly woman's face was scrunched up, and she was holding back a lot of things.

"Just say what's on your mind."

"About my Lin Fang," Liu Chounu sighed, "that Wu Baojun has gone to see Lin Fang several times, shamelessly trying to reconcile with her. You know, I used to think that guy was great in every way, but now I feel like I want to vomit at everything about him."

Song Xianglan looked surprised.

"Didn't he manage to win over his sister-in-law?"

"Lu Xiuyu has a large family on her side too. Besides, after all that commotion, Lu Xiuyu lost her job. The Wu family won't let her in."

"Lin Fang just grabbed a broom and chased him away. But I'm still uneasy; being pestered like this isn't good. Even a good woman can be bothered by a persistent suitor. I wanted to ask, when Wang Zhihe came back this time, did you ask him for me?"

Song Xianglan slapped her forehead.

I was so busy the other day that I completely forgot about this.

"Ugly girl, Wang Zhihe's family has three children. Daya is a nice girl."

Baogen was raised rather poorly by Qiao Zhaodi. Although he is better than before, his nephew is like his uncle, and it won't be easy to change Baogen's temper.

The little girl down there is still too young. You'd better think this through carefully.

Song Xianglan did not spell out the meaning.

Family planning is strictly enforced.

Given the number of children Wang Zhihe currently has, Lin Fang would have no chance of having any more after marrying him.

Unless Lin Fang hides away to give birth to the child and pays a heavy fine, it's unlikely to be successful.

For couples who marry later in life without having children together, the journey is much more difficult than for couples who marry later in life.

Liu Chounu nodded vigorously, "I value Wang Zhihe's character. Also, his mother is reasonable and devoted to her children, not showing favoritism towards either of them."

Wang Zhi and his mother are the kind of people who will side with whoever is weaker.

Now Wang Zhihe is a bachelor, and the old lady has resigned herself to taking care of his child.

In her eyes, no matter how much money a man can earn, he is pitiful if he doesn't have a wife to manage the household.

Even if you're married and have to eat sweet potato porridge every day, it's still better than being single.

Song Xianglan stood up.

"Then I'll go ask Wang Zhi and his mother tomorrow."

Liu Chounu picked up the cloth bag. "I'm entrusting everything to you. As long as Xiaofang isn't married, I feel like I'm carrying a heavy weight on my heart. How many more years can I stay with her? I'm just afraid that her brothers are all unreliable. She won't have a place to live in the future."