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

What parent doesn't worry about their children, especially a mother?

"Leave this to me. I'll go and sound out Sister-in-law Wang tomorrow."

Song Xianglan readily agreed.

Upon hearing this, the big knot between Liu Chounu's brows instantly untied, and she grinned and laughed.

"With you here, I can finally relax." She stood up and patted her trouser legs. "I'll head back now and bring you two fish tonight to cook noodles."

She always remembered that Song Xianglan liked to cook noodles with yellowfin tuna.

Song Xianglan has not been home these past few days, leaving Chou Nu to help look after the house.

I collected all the eggs laid by the chickens, ducks, and geese in the house.

They were neatly stacked in a small jar next to the cabinet.

Song Xianglan walked over, lifted the lid of the jar, peeked inside, and then turned to shout into the yard, "Erhua, we've stored up quite a few duck and goose eggs. We can make salted duck and goose eggs now."

Nie Erhua was wiping the outside door with a rag when she heard the noise and came over.

"Third Aunt, I'm good at pickling eggs. They're guaranteed to be sandy and oily. Back in the Yan family, they all loved my salted duck eggs."

Song Xianglan stared at Nie Erhua.

His eyes were bruised and his face was deathly pale.

"Erhua, did you have a nightmare last night?"

Nie Erhua paused in her hand holding the rag, lowered her head, and her voice trembled.

"I dreamt of that bastard Yan Ergou. He said he's waiting for me down there so I can live a good life. I also dreamt of that disgusting old man bringing people over when I was imprisoned before. Auntie, I know it's all in the past, but the dream felt so real."

I'm afraid to sleep alone. I've even developed a fear of beds; when I wake up, I tell myself not to fall back asleep.

As she spoke, she dropped the rag, covered her face, and burst into tears.

These days are too hard to endure.

Song Xianglan walked over and pulled her hand away.

"It's all Yan Ergou's fault. Even in death, he can't rest in peace. Dreams are always the opposite of reality; he's suffering down there."

Song Xianglan's mind raced, and she patted her on the back.

"Take some money tomorrow and go to the end of Yanjiazhuang Village. Find a bachelor or someone so poor they can't afford to eat, and pay him a monthly allowance."

Make him throw excrement at Yan Ergou's grave every day, and let him suffer endless torment in the underworld.

"Find a powerful Taoist priest, give him some money, and make sure he can't reincarnate and is bullied by little ghosts."

"The little devils are afraid of us. They'll make sure Yan Ergou doesn't have a moment's peace down there. As for that old geezer, he's easy to deal with. We'll find a sorceress and have him chased and beaten by other little devils every day."

Nie Erhua suddenly raised her head, tears clinging to her eyelashes.

Their eyes lit up.

Throwing excrement?

I splashed it once before, and it felt so good.

They splashed it once a day, until his bones were rotting in the excrement.

"You can't always be so tense. Tomorrow, take a trip to the temple, light incense, and pray to the Buddha. It'll give you something to look forward to."

Nie Erhua wiped away her tears and nodded vigorously.

"Fine, I'll find someone to throw excrement at him tomorrow. When I go to Qingyang, I'll have the Five Goddesses make that old man's soul fly away." She said through gritted teeth, wishing she could throw black dog blood at them.

In the evening, Liu Chounu came in carrying two lively yellowfin tuna.

"Lanlan, these are yellowfin tuna I just bought from the typhoon shelter."

Erhua took the fish and deftly scaled and gutted it.

Two large bowls of steaming hot yellowfin tuna noodles were served in the evening, topped with golden-brown, crispy fried eggs.

Early the next morning.

After Nie Erhua finished breakfast, she brought out a jar and some coarse salt.

She poured coarse salt into water and let it sit. She then went to Zhang Qin to ask for some dried yellow clay, which she then crushed.

I chopped the ginger into minced meat and then found some Sichuan peppercorn powder in the cupboard.

Place it in salt water, add crushed yellow clay, and stir to form a thick mud paste.

First, dip the duck and goose eggs in 58° sorghum liquor, then roll them in mud. Use your hands to evenly coat the duck and goose eggs with mud.

Each one had to be made by hand.

After wrapping it up, roll it in wood ash and place it in a prepared jar.

A jar of duck eggs.

A jar of goose eggs.

*

Song Xianglan strolled over to the processing workshop.

The cashier in the workshop was also the village accountant.

He grabbed Song Xianglan, his face beaming with smiles.

"Boss, our business is getting bigger and bigger, and I can't keep an eye on it all by myself. I was thinking of recommending my good-for-nothing son to come and help out. What do you think?"

Song Xianglan was not ambiguous either.

Call me Lao Song.

"I don't call you Old Song at the factory, but you can't break the rules here."

Song Xianglan did not correct him further.

"Let him come and work with you first. But let me make this clear: once the workshop becomes a large factory, the accounts will need to be kept very clear, and we'll need a dedicated accountant."

You should send your son, Shoucheng, to school for a few months to learn some real skills as soon as possible.

The accountant slapped his thigh, overjoyed.

With this place to work, it's a perfect match for my studies.

"I'll have him register right away."

"The factory can cover half of the tuition fees."

The accountant quickly waved her hand, "If I have a job, why should I ask my employer to pay for my tuition?"

Old Chen and a group of workers had already arrived in the open space outside the workshop.

A long string of red firecrackers hung on a bamboo pole, and they exploded with a series of crackling sounds, signaling the official start of the foundation excavation.

A simple bamboo shed was also set up next to it.

Old Chen brought a woman over specifically to cook for the workers.

Song Xianglan walked over and offered Old Chen a cigarette. "Master Chen, I have two relatives here, one who can do heavy lifting and the other who can do light work. Could they be added to your team? If you already have enough manpower, don't force yourself."

Old Chen took the cigarette, tucked it behind his ear, and readily agreed.

"If the boss asks, then there's definitely no problem. Wages will be based on the number of people on our side. It's fine to have a few more people on the construction site, as long as they work hard and don't slack off."

Anyone who tries to cheat or shirk responsibility will be expelled immediately.

"I'll have them come to work tomorrow."

After giving her instructions, Song Xianglan walked around the area.

This plot of land is big enough. After the warehouse here is finished, she will build two more rows of factory buildings to set up production lines for canned fish and shrimp.

Eat your food one bite at a time.

One must take things one step at a time.

After making her rounds, Song Xianglan walked home along the dirt road.

Just past a small hill, a commotion of shouting and cursing erupted ahead.

Wang Zhi and his mother were holding a bamboo stick about the thickness of a thumb upside down, chasing after a boy who was only half a year old and beating him.

"Baogen. Get back here right now. You're as timid as a pinhead, yet you dare to do bad things like others." The old lady was still quite agile, and she lashed Baogen's calf with a bamboo stick.

Baogen let out a loud yell and jumped high, clutching his leg as he darted forward.

Wang Zhi and his mother were still angry, so they chased after him while cursing.

"Your father just packed his bags and ran off to Shanghai, leaving me, an old man with my neck almost buried in the ground, to be treated like a beast of burden at home. Whose genes did you take after? You hold a grudge against me for beating you when I was little and you're determined to torment this old man to death."

"I think you're a spitting image of Qiao Yaozu."

The more she cursed, the angrier she became. She ran a few steps to catch up with him and slapped him twice more.

Two villagers who were passing by on their way to work in the fields quickly threw down their hoes and went to stop them.

"Sister-in-law, calm down. It's normal for kids to be naughty; just talk to them nicely. It's pitiful that their parents aren't around."

One of them, being nosy, asked a question.

"What wicked thing did this child do to make you so angry?"

Wang Zhi and his mother, leaning on bamboo sticks and panting heavily, pointed at Bao Gen and cursed.

"That little rascal poured all the sesame seeds and mung beans that were drying in front of Huang Daping's house into a basin and mixed them together. He even said it was too dry, so he poured the water from his chicken feeder into it."

The two villagers who were trying to break up the fight exchanged a glance.

He silently picked up the hoe from the ground and stepped aside.

"Mixing sesame seeds and mung beans together? That would take forever to pick them out. It's just a waste of food. Children can be naughty, but they shouldn't waste food."

"Sister-in-law, you can't grow up without being disciplined. Childhood should include memories that touch the depths of your soul."

Wang Zhi and his mother saw that no one was stopping them.

He swung the bamboo stick and went up again.

Only a severe beating can give him a profound understanding that touches the depths of his soul.

Baogen covered his head and ran away in a panic, heading straight for the roadside, where he bumped into Song Xianglan.

Song Xianglan grabbed Baogen by the back of the neck, lifted him up like a chick, and sent him directly back to Wang Zhihe and his mother.

"Sister-in-law, I've caught him. You can hit him first, and I'll talk to you about something after you're done."

Wang Zhi and his mother didn't hold back either, grabbing Bao Gen's arm and raining bamboo sticks down on his buttocks and back.

Baogen was in so much pain that he rolled on the ground and howled at the top of his lungs.

"If you hit me again, I'll get my uncle and he'll shoot you all with a gun."

Song Xianglan sneered from the side.

"Your uncle Yaozu doesn't dare to come. He's a complete coward."

She turned to Wang Zhi and his mother and said.

"Sister-in-law, if this child isn't properly disciplined, he'll grow up to be the next Qiao Yaozu, destined for jail."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhi and his mother tightened their grip even further.

The bamboo strips were whipped around with a whooshing sound.

Baogen cried his heart out, begging for mercy repeatedly.

When Wang Zhi and his mother got tired of hitting her, they threw down the bamboo sticks and waved to Daya, who was standing to the side and didn't dare to say a word.

"Da Ya, come here and drag him back."

Daya walked over slowly.

Wang Zhi and his mother pointed at Daya's nose and scolded her.

"You're the older sister, so you shouldn't hit your brother if he misbehaves. He's a boy, no more noble than you. You should hit your brother as soon as possible, do you hear me?"

Daya bit her lip and nodded vigorously.

She turned around, aimed at Baogen's buttocks, and kicked him.

Baogen rolled on the ground, crying and cursing.

"You little brat, how dare you kick me? Would you dare touch me when my mom's home?"

Da Ya, with a stern face, walked up and kicked his thigh again.

"You're not even as good as a little girl."

Watching Daya drag Baogen away, Wang Zhi and his mother breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the ridge by the roadside, wiping the sweat from their foreheads.

Song Xianglan took off her cloth shoes, placed them on the edge of the field, and sat down next to the old lady.

"Sister-in-law, at your age, you still have to take care of this brat. Look how tired you are." Song Xianglan turned her head and got straight to the point. "Is Zhihe planning to stay single forever?"