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

Lin Mu's wife encountered Liu Chounu when she returned from work.

The smile on her face was impossible to suppress.

"Mom, I received forty-five yuan in wages this month. That's almost the same as the county's wages."

The ugly woman walked ahead, her steps never faltering.

"Okay, work hard, and don't let anyone find fault with you and you'll lose your job. I won't plead for you."

Lin Mu's wife quickened her pace and caught up.

Her mouth was as sweet as if it were coated with honey.

"It's all thanks to you, Mom, putting in a good word for me with Aunt Song that they arranged for me to work in the seafood processing area. The work there is a bit tiring, but the pay is higher than in the mushroom processing area."

"I'm not the kind of person who doesn't plan ahead. I'll definitely do my job well."

No matter how tiring the work in the factory is, it's not as tiring as working in the office before.

Liu Chou-nv glanced at her sideways but didn't reply.

Lin Mu's wife didn't mind, "Mom, shall I help you walk?"

Liu Chou-nv waved her hand dismissively. "I'm not seventy or eighty years old and can't walk anymore. I'll buy some meat to eat tomorrow."

Lin Mu's wife smiled and said, "Okay. I'll give you some money for household expenses when we get home."

Six months ago, when this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law walked together, they would have to keep a distance of three steps between them.

Lin Mu's wife disliked keeping an ugly girl because she was stingy.

The ugly woman complained that Lin Mu's wife was calculating and selfish.

The two would avoid speaking to each other if possible when they met.

They always end up arguing whenever they have to talk.

Ever since Lin Mu's wife joined the processing workshop and started earning money, she's become a completely different person.

Every month when he received his wages, he would voluntarily give a portion to Liu Chou Nv to supplement their household income.

He keeps the ugly woman around, though he doesn't say it, he feels good inside.

My attitude towards her naturally softened.

That's the benefit of money.

When you're poor, even the smallest things can cause resentment; but once you have some extra money in your pocket, even your tone of voice softens.

Things that cost a few cents or a few dollars are all trivial matters.

"Mom, why is Aunt Song's gate open?"

The ugly woman suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Song Xianglan was in Beijing for more than two months.

Gousheng usually climbs over the wall to help feed the chickens, always going over the low wall; the main gate is always locked.

Without saying a word, Liu Chounv headed towards Song Xianglan's house.

Song Xianglan leaned against the door frame.

His legs were stretched out on the ground, his eyes were closed, and his face looked tired.

"Lanlan".

Liu Chounv's voice immediately rose, and her steps quickened accordingly.

"You're back today?"

The ugly woman strode up to Song Xianglan, looked her up and down, and said, "Why didn't you tell me beforehand? I could have tidied up the house for you earlier. What are you doing sitting at the door?"

"We just arrived not long ago."

Song Xianglan stood up, leaning against the doorframe, and patted her pants. "I was busy with Yang Xiaoming falling into the water and only just got back. Sanhua and Sihua helped me sweep the yard, but we haven't had time to clean the house yet."

The ugly woman turned and waved to Lin Mu's wife.

"Come in and help quickly, the main room must be covered in a thick layer of dust."

Lin Mu's wife rolled up her sleeves and went to the main room.

Song Xianglan interrupted, "Wait, wait for me..."

"You rest."

The ugly woman ignored him completely and reached out her hand, saying, "Give me your room key, I'll go clean your room."

The three men swept the yard, but they definitely didn't bother with the house. No one had lived there for two months; the dust was so thick you could write on it.

Seeing her posture, Song Xianglan knew she couldn't stop her.

He took the keys out of his pocket and handed them over.

The ugly woman took the key and went into the inner room.

At the other end of the main room.

Lin Mu's wife has found a broom and a rag.

First, the broom swept the dust off the ground, then a damp cloth was wrung out to wipe the table and chairs.

The spider web in the corner was removed with a bamboo pole.

The windows were opened to let in fresh air, and the earthy smell in the room gradually dissipated.

The ugly woman stayed in Song Xianglan's room and busied herself even more meticulously.

The quilt was carried out, and the dust on the mattress was brushed off.

I took a clean set of sheets from the closet and put them on.

I found another thin blanket, folded it neatly, and placed it at the foot of the bed.

The pillowcase has been changed.

The bedside table was wiped clean.

I even wiped the dust on the windowsill twice with a damp cloth.

Song Xianglan sat on a stone bench in the courtyard, watching her mother-in-law and daughter-in-law bustling about.

In half an hour.

Everything inside and outside is now neat and tidy.

Liu Chounu came out of the house, wiped her hands on her apron twice, and plopped down on the stone bench next to Song Xianglan.

Lin Mu's wife took a glass of water and brought it over.

Liu Chounu took a sip and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Lanlan, several things have happened in our brigade while you were gone these past two months."

The ugly woman's smile vanished.

Song Xianglan glanced at her.

"What is it?"

Liu Chounv shifted her position slightly forward. "Huang Rongping's son has gone missing."

Song Xianglan stopped.

"When did this happen?"

"Not long after you left, one afternoon Huang Rongping's son was playing with some other children at the village entrance, and by evening he was nowhere to be seen. The couple searched for more than a month, turning over several surrounding villages, but they still couldn't find him."

Liu Chounv sighed.

The voice was tinged with regret:

"The couple only had a son and a daughter. Now that their son is gone, they only have their daughter left. Huang Rongping's wife has lost a lot of weight in the past two months, and she can barely walk straight."

Song Xianglan frowned.

Huang Rongping is Huang Ronghua's older brother.

The two brothers have always had a good relationship.

"Why haven't I heard Ronghua mention this?"

"Huang Ronghua's wife went to look for him for many days and also reported it to the police." Liu Chounu shook her head. "The police investigated but didn't find any clues. Everyone is saying in private that they're afraid he fell into the sea."

Song Xianglan did not respond.

She sat there with a furrowed brow, her mind replaying memories of her past life.

Those memories are like those seen through a thick fog.

She could sense some images within them, but she just couldn't see them clearly.

Some memories are crystal clear, while others are so blurry they seem like they've been separated by lifetimes.

Especially as the lives of those around you improve, the bitter scenes of your past life gradually fade away.

Enemies are either dead or impoverished.

The path of loved ones grows ever wider.

The memories stored in my mind before my rebirth are like old newspapers, yellowing page by page.

Song Xianglan frantically searched through the blurry area for a while.

Suddenly, a very faint image flashed through my mind.

"No. He's not dead."

The ugly woman was stunned: "What?"

She couldn't remember the details, but the child didn't die.

She remained silent for a long time before speaking.

"Ugly girl, tell everyone in the village that from now on, every household should keep a close eye on their children, especially the boys."

The ugly woman's eyebrows furrowed:

"What do you mean by that?"

Song Xianglan glanced at Lin Mu's wife, who was standing beside her tidying up the rags, and said without trying to hide it:

"Family planning is becoming increasingly strict. In cities, it's very strict, and the fines for having more children than allowed can bankrupt a family. In rural areas, there are still many families that prefer sons to daughters, and those who don't have a son will resort to crooked means."

Child abduction, child buying, child trafficking—the number of such cases will only increase in the coming years. Rongping's son might very well have been abducted.

Lin Mu's wife was hanging a rag on the rope.

Upon hearing this, his hand trembled, and the rag almost fell to the ground.

"Young boys are the easiest targets."

Song Xianglan continued, her tone so heavy it could suffocate, "They steal them and then resell them to families who lack children. After crossing several mountains, they're gone and nobody can find them."

Liu Chounu's expression changed.

"There are also girls in their teens and older."

Song Xianglan's voice was even lower.

"There are so many bachelors in the mountains who can't find wives. Families with many brothers are all dirt poor, how can they afford to get wives?"

"They'll pay to buy a woman, lock her up at home, and have her bear children for the whole family. Several brothers share one woman—what difference does it make whether that girl is alive or dead?"

Lin Mu's wife shuddered.

His face turned pale instantly.

She unconsciously took two steps closer to the ugly woman.

The voice was trembling:

"Auntie, how...how do you know all this?"

"I've traveled all over the country, what haven't I heard of?"

Song Xianglan picked up the teacup next to her and took a sip of water. "I met a lot of people on the train, from all over the country."

Someone told me these things personally; in their village, there were women who had been bought as wives and were chained up in houses and pigsties.

Lin Mu's wife's lips moved slightly.

He remained silent for a long time.

The ugly woman remained silent for a long while before speaking:

"So, you mean Huang Rongping's child was abducted?"

What I say may not be accurate.

Song Xianglan put down her teacup. "But the chances of being abducted while alive are greater than those of being dead. A living person can just disappear without a trace."

If you really fell into the sea, the tides have been washing up things over the past few months. If there's nothing there, then it wasn't really falling into the sea.

The ugly woman felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing this.

She lived most of her life.

Born in this village, raised in this village.

I never thought about these things.

She never expected things to get this chaotic.

Song Xianglan didn't say anything more.

She went back into the room, took out a box of sandalwood from the cabinet, lit a stick, and put it in the incense burner on the windowsill.

Smoke curled up and drifted upwards.

The musty smell that had been lingering in the house for so long was now gone.

He left the ugly woman to follow him to the door.

After she finished lighting the incense, he said, "Lanlan, don't cook dinner tonight, just come to my house for dinner."

"Need not."

"My family cooked it and delivered it over."

Liu Chou-nu interrupted her directly, "You just got back, there's nothing on the stove. The ashes haven't even been scraped off the bottom of the pot, what are you going to cook with?"

Song Xianglan chuckled and didn't refuse any further.

The ugly woman turned and left.

Just before leaving the hospital, she turned back and added, "I'll go back and cook first. You just change your dirty clothes and wait."

The courtyard fell silent.

Song Xianglan soaked her dirty clothes in a wooden basin.

The bloodstains on his forearm hissed when they touched the water.

She glanced at it; the wound had formed a thin scab, and the mercurochrome still left its stain.

She pulled her sleeves down to cover herself.

More than half an hour passed.

Lin Mu's wife came over carrying some things.

A small pot of sweet potato porridge, the sweet aroma wafting into your nose as soon as you lift the lid.

The two spring rolls were rolled up round and plump, filled with crushed peanuts and various vegetables.

A plate of sea snails.

A plate of small mixed fish in soy sauce, various kinds of small sea fish whose names I don't know, cooked with soy sauce and ginger slices, is salty and savory.

There was also a plate of pickled cucumbers with braised oysters and lean pork.

Lin Mu's wife placed the items one by one on the stone table in the yard, then turned around and went back inside.

A short while later, the ugly woman came over.

She was holding her own bowl, which was also filled with sweet potato porridge.

He plopped down opposite Song Xianglan and put his bowl on the table.

"I'll eat here with you."

Song Xianglan had already picked up her bowl and taken a sip of sweet potato porridge.

The fragrant, glutinous taste entered my throat.

In Qingyang, local sweet potatoes are cut into chunks and cooked into porridge until they are soft and dissolve into the porridge, turning the rice grains a light orange color.

Song Xianglan stayed in Beijing for several months.

I ate a lot of good food, but nothing could compare to this bowl of sweet potato porridge.

"Missing our Qingyang sweet potato porridge, huh?" Liu Chounu laughed at the way she ate.