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

Song Dong called the next afternoon.

Song Xianglan was taking inventory of the last batch of stock before the Lunar New Year at the factory when the phone rang three times before she could answer it.

"Third Aunt, all the vegetables are sold out."

Song Dong's voice burst out from the microphone, his tone distorted with excitement.

"So fast?"

"It was faster than you can imagine. The refrigerated truck arrived at the Haishi wholesale market, and before it had even finished unloading, a group of people swarmed around it and started grabbing at the goods."

Lettuce sold out first, with a wholesale price of 3.5 yuan per jin (0.5 kg).

The hotel purchasing agents were green with envy; they couldn't even buy tender lettuce in the dead of winter.

The tomatoes were even more bizarre. A restaurant owner ordered two hundred pounds in one go. I told him I was worried they'd spoil if he bought so many, and he almost got angry with me.

Song Xianglan leaned against the table and tapped her fingers lightly on the surface twice.

"Where are the green beans?"

"The green beans are all sold out. And the mustard greens and chili peppers are all gone too. Auntie, the mustard greens you bought from the village are very rare in Shanghai."

They say it's authentic Qingyang mustard greens; it's delicious pickled, stir-fried, or used in mustard green rice. They sell in large quantities, so the price is a bit cheaper.

Song Dong took a breath on the other end and added another sentence.

"Third Aunt, I need to discuss something with you."

"explain."

"I'll pick up a load of goods on my way to the new town and earn some money for the return trip. What do you think?"

"You negotiate the price yourself. You decide how to proceed."

"Okay."

After hanging up the phone, Song Xianglan opened her notebook and did some calculations.

Once this truckload of vegetables is shipped out, after deducting transportation, labor, and packaging costs, the net profit will be at least several thousand yuan.

Lettuce is ready to be harvested soon, followed by cherry tomatoes, green beans, and peppers.

She closed the notebook, stood up, and walked out.

Zhao Guodong had just come out of the workshop, his hands covered in machine oil.

"Director Zhao, the holiday starts tomorrow. Have the workers who stay behind been arranged?"

"It's all arranged."

"Okay. You should pack your things soon too, it's time to go back and reunite with your family. The factory will reimburse your travel expenses, so bring some local specialties for your family to try before you go back."

Zhao Guodong nodded.

He turned around and went back into the workshop.

That's just his personality; he said he'd release a new product after the New Year.

Song Xianglan rode her bicycle home.

She took out the bedding from Shen Huijun's room and laid it out on the floor; it had been sun-dried for a few days.

I just put them away yesterday; they still smell of sunshine.

The room was cleaned thoroughly.

Then I cleaned Song Tingting's room thoroughly.

After leaving the house, Song Xianglan went next door to find Lin Mu's wife.

Lin Mu's wife's workshop has already closed for the holidays.

She was at home pasting gold leaf.

Upon seeing Song Xianglan approaching, he quickly stopped what he was doing.

"Aunt Song, what's wrong?"

"Help me tidy up Zhou Fang's house. I reckon they'll be back for the Chinese New Year."

Lin Mu's wife responded. "That house hasn't been lived in for a long time. I'll go clean it, air it out in the sun, and then take the bedding out to air it as well."

"The comforters are in the closet; there are two thick ones wrapped in sheets. The pillowcases and sheets have also been changed."

"Okay."

After giving her instructions, Song Xianglan changed into clean clothes, got on her bicycle, and headed towards town.

It used to be called a commune, but it was changed to a town last year.

The name has changed, but the road is still the same, a bumpy dirt road that makes the bicycle chain rattle loudly.

However, the changes on both sides of the road are quite significant.

The once deserted intersection now has several stalls selling sugarcane, roasted peanuts, couplets, firecrackers, and chickens and ducks raised at home, giving it a festive feel.

Song Xianglan went to the slaughterhouse first.

The slaughterhouse was located at the west end of the town, surrounded by an iron fence.

"Master."

Gan Zhiyuan rushed over in three strides, his face beaming with smiles.

"Master, what brings you here?"

Song Xianglan got off the car and pushed her bicycle against the wall.

"Just came to see you. It's almost Chinese New Year, are you busy here?"

"I've been so busy these past few days, my hands are sore from slaughtering pigs." Gan Zhiyuan rubbed his hands together, his eyes shining brightly. "Master, please wait a moment, I've prepared something for you."

He turned and ran back into the slaughterhouse.

Within a few minutes, he came out carrying three plastic bags.

"A set of pig offal, cleaned thoroughly. A pig's head, also prepared. Four pig's trotters and two spare ribs. Please take them with you when you go home. I was originally planning to deliver them to your house after work."

Song Xianglan glanced at the several bulging bags.

"How much?"

Gan Zhiyuan became anxious, "This is my way of showing my respect to you, how can I accept money? I can never repay the skills you taught me in this lifetime."

"Don't give me that. Just pay the exact amount due."

Gan Zhiyuan refused to accept it no matter what.

The two pushed back and forth several times at the entrance of the slaughterhouse.

Finally, Song Xianglan took out two ten-yuan bills and forced them into his apron pocket. Gan Zhiyuan tried to stop her from putting them in, but Song Xianglan was strong and pressed his hand down, stuffing the bills in.

"If you keep pushing me away, I'm leaving and I don't want the things anymore."

Gan Zhiyuan then fell silent.

Her face contorted in a wronged expression.

Song Xianglan put the bag down on the stone platform next to her and found a clean place to sit down.

"Zhiyuan, you're twenty-five and still not married. Aren't your family worried?"

Gan Zhiyuan's face immediately fell.

All the joy I felt just now has vanished.

He lowered his head and rubbed a pebble on the ground with his toes before finally speaking.

"Master, things at home are in too much chaos."

"What happened?"

Gan Zhiyuan took out a cigarette from his pocket, glanced at Song Xianglan, and then tucked the cigarette behind his ear.

"My brother passed away this year. He had a liver problem that he couldn't cure after six months. He left behind my sister-in-law and two nephews, the older one is eight years old and the younger one is six years old."

Song Xianglan remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

"My sister-in-law wants to remarry, taking her child with her. Some people have come to propose marriage; the villagers next door aren't well-off, but the people there are alright."

He paused for a moment.

"My mom doesn't agree."

"What does your mother mean?"

Gan Zhiyuan gritted his teeth. "My mother wants me to take over."

Song Xianglan's face darkened slightly.

"Take over what? Take over your sister-in-law?"

"Hmm." Gan Zhiyuan's voice was muffled. "My mother said that my sister-in-law can have sons, and her two nephews are almost as good as her own sons."

Let me marry my sister-in-law, so that our child can still have the surname Gan and won't have to change it to someone else's.

My sister-in-law and I can still have sons.

"Master, I don't want to. My sister-in-law is my brother's wife. What kind of behavior is it to marry her before my brother's body is even cold?"

As Song Xianglan listened, her brows furrowed even more deeply.

"Where's your dad? What's his attitude?"

Gan Zhiyuan sneered, "My dad's just a coward. He agrees with everything my mom says. He says she's right, he can't watch his grandson call someone else 'Dad'."

"Did your sister-in-law agree to this?"

"My sister-in-law definitely wouldn't agree. But she also said that if she remarries, she'll definitely take one of her children with her."

"Your mother is blocking your path. A matchmaker has come to arrange a marriage for you!"

Gan Zhiyuan's lips twitched downwards.

"A matchmaker wanted to introduce me to a girl from the next village, who was quite a catch. But when the matchmaker came to my house, my mother said to my face that my son Zhiyuan was going to be with my sister-in-law, and there was no need for an introduction."

"That's what she told the matchmaker?"

"The matchmaker turned green on the spot and turned to leave. After that, word got out that no matchmakers in the neighborhood would come to visit. My mother urged me to move in with my sister-in-law after the New Year, saying that the two families would be merged into one."

Song Xianglan had seen this kind of thing many times.

The old-fashioned idea of ​​valuing sons over daughters persists in rural areas. People feel that their grandsons are the root of their family and they absolutely cannot let others take them away.

They'll do anything to keep their grandson.

"Zhiyuan, what are you really thinking?"

Gan Zhiyuan remained silent for a while.

"I can support two nephews. My brother isn't here, so I'll take care of them, send them to school, feed them, and clothe them."

But I can't marry my sister-in-law. She doesn't owe our family anything, and she has the right to live her own life.

My mother insisted on keeping her at home, and my two nephews, encouraged by her, also wanted my sister-in-law to stay.

"So what are you planning to do? It's not good for you to just stay with your family."

You're twenty-five this year; if you wait a few more years, it'll be even harder to find a good girl. Even though you have a job at the slaughterhouse, the future of that job is uncertain.

Gan Zhiyuan raised his head and glanced at Song Xianglan.

"Master, I plan to resign."

He paused, then spoke again:

"I want to leave for a while. If I don't leave, my mom thinks there's still hope, so she'll keep dragging it out."

She couldn't do anything to me after I left.

My sister-in-law can also be free; she can remarry if she wants, and live her life as usual.

"By the way, Master, do you know about Zhou Bin's matter?"

Song Xianglan was taken aback.

"What happened to Zhou Bin?"

"He and his wife broke up."

"Didn't her father-in-law settle the matter of her daughter-in-law having an illegitimate child with twenty yuan?"

Gan Zhiyuan gave a bitter laugh:

"His wife disliked his family for being poor, and Zhou Bin wanted to bring his son home to meet his parents, but his wife wouldn't allow it. The two got into a fight."

"Later, his father-in-law intervened and said that divorce was possible, but Zhou Bin had to hand over his work."

Song Xianglan raised an eyebrow. "Zhou Bin is such a spineless live-in son-in-law."

"When Zhou Bin quit his job at the slaughterhouse to take over his father-in-law's job in the county, his father-in-law said that he was given the job because of his daughter, and now that he didn't want him anymore, he shouldn't keep the job either."

"Zhou Bin paid it?"

Gan Zhiyuan sighed, "He left after handing in his work. He said he wouldn't come back until he'd made something of himself."

The day I left, I had just received my salary, and I gave him all the forty-odd yuan I had on me.

He took the money and stood at the intersection for a long time. He told me he was too ashamed to face his master.

Song Xianglan listened.

It felt like a stone was pressing on my heart, making me feel suffocated.

Zhou Bin learned his craft from Gan Zhiyuan back then.

He is honest and hardworking.

He disliked the slaughterhouse work because it was too dirty, so he married a woman from Qingyang and moved to the city.

His father-in-law used his job to control him, and in the end, he lost everything and left with nothing.

Where did he go?

"I don't know. I haven't heard from them since they left."

Song Xianglan didn't ask any more questions.

She glanced at Gan Zhiyuan, a few thoughts swirling in her mind.

The slaughterhouse job looks respectable, but the market is not good for the next few years.

These small state-owned factories are becoming less and less profitable year by year.

"It's not impossible for you to resign," Song Xianglan said. "There are quite a few self-employed individuals who are doing well these days."

It's good for you to go out and explore while you're young. Think it through before you act, and once you're out there, you need to have the courage to burn your bridges.

Gan Zhiyuan nodded vigorously.

"Master, this is the first person I came to tell after I resigned from my job."