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

"What brand?"

"Honda, Suzuki, and Kawasaki. These three brands sell the best. We don't want any other off-brand products."

Hou Liangkun tucked the envelope into his pocket and followed him to the door.

"Auntie, let me take you."

Song Xianglan waved her hand.

"No need. Just pack your things and go home. Your family is waiting for you for the New Year."

Hou Liangkun stood at the door, watching the old woman's figure disappear into the alley.

He looked down at the envelope in his arms and took a deep breath.

Outside the alley.

Song Dong leaned against the tricycle, munching on a sugarcane.

Upon seeing Song Xianglan come out, he quickly stuffed the sugarcane into the car, jumped down, and helped her into the car.

"Third Aunt, where are we going?"

"I'm not going. I'm going to buy something on the street."

Song Dong rode his tricycle to the entrance of the department store in the center of the county town.

Song Xianglan went inside and bought several large bags of melon seeds and peanuts, several bags of biscuits and pastries, and two packets of milk candy.

When I came out, I bought about ten kilograms of tangerines and two bundles of sugarcane from a roadside stall.

"Take this package back with you," Song Xianglan instructed. "And take the sugarcane back with you too, and share it."

Song Dong took it and put it on the tricycle.

Song Xianglan glanced at him.

"Song Dong, how old are you this year?"

"You're twenty-five, Third Aunt."

"Twenty-five is not a young age anymore. It's time to settle down and start a family."

Song Dong chuckled twice. "Third Aunt, I think I should focus on making more money these next two years. There's no rush to get married."

"Not in a hurry? Isn't your mom in a hurry?"

"My mom is anxious. But I don't want to go on blind dates at home." Song Dong squatted next to the tricycle. "Third Aunt, you know our family situation. I'm not home often, and if I have to decide on a relationship after just one meeting, I won't even know what kind of person he is."

I also want to find a girl I like; I don't want to die just to carry on the family line.

He had no particular interest in having children to carry on the family line.

Song Xianglan did not speak.

Song Dong blurted out, "Third Aunt, my dad said that Song west's marriage is probably going to fall through."

"Forced melons are never sweet, let alone watermelons growing in a field where squash has been cross-sown."

"My mom said there's something to it about the ancestral graves' feng shui." Song Dong's expression was very serious. "She said that the Song family's descendants have always had bad luck with marriages, and it's related to the ancestral graves."

Song Xianglan was stunned for a moment after hearing this.

She laughed.

"Does your mother mean that our ancestors aren't protecting you from below?"

That's roughly the idea.

Song Xianglan crossed her legs. "This is easy. When you go back and burn gold and silver for the ancestors, burn a lot more, and while you're burning it, make a big promise and threaten them a little."

"Huh? A threat?"

"Tell them to bless you with good fortune, and to burn more offerings for them in the afterlife so they can live the life of a wealthy man in the afterlife. Also, find a feng shui master to tidy up their ancestral graves."

If they can't even manage their descendants' marriages, then let them starve in the underworld. Let them watch other ghosts thrive while they huddle in a corner, eating nothing but meager fare.

Song Dong stared blankly, unsure of what to say.

Threatening ancestors?

He had never heard of such a thing before.

Song Xianglan added, "But don't rush to threaten them. Let them taste the sweetness of wealth first. Ghosts who have experienced good times don't want to go back to the past. It's more effective to sweeten their lives first and then scare them."

Song Dong scratched his head.

"Third Aunt, how sweet is it?"

"Burn lots of gold and silver. Stack lots of ingots. Let them live lavishly down there. Once they've gotten used to the good life, threaten to cut off the money if you don't help your descendants with their weddings. See if they get anxious then."

I don't know which dimension it's in.

The ancestors of the Song family shuddered collectively.

They ran around trying to persuade her until their tongues were tied, and finally managed to get her a chance to do heavy work.

Instead of being grateful, this descendant resorted to underhanded tactics to threaten them.

Sin ah.

Song Xianglan took out five hundred yuan from her pocket and gave it to Song Dong.

Five hundred yuan.

"What do you need money for?"

"Our ancestors in the afterlife also need gold and silver to maintain their relationships. You can use this money to buy paper money, gold foil, and silver foil."

Since you brothers are all back, just stay home and paste gold and silver leaf all you want. The more, the better.

Remember, this money was from me; each of your families will need to contribute extra. Let's give our ancestors a grand celebration this year too.

Song Dong looked at the five hundred yuan in his hand, already calculating in his mind.

You'd have to buy a huge amount of gold and silver foil alone.

We also need to fold paper ingots and lotus flowers.

This job is so difficult that your hands will cramp up from all the pasting.

But he dared not disobey.

In the Song family, what Auntie San said was like a royal decree.

"Okay, Auntie. I'll go to town to buy paper money as soon as I get back today."

"Buy more. Even our ancestors have face down there."

Song Dong carefully put the five hundred yuan on his person, then rode his tricycle to take Song Xianglan back to Xiaoquan Brigade.

When we arrived at Song Xianglan's house, we helped her carry her things inside.

He was in a hurry to leave.

"Third Aunt, I'm leaving now. I'm going to town to buy some joss paper and get it back before dark."

"Go ahead." Song Xianglan waved her hand, turned around, and went into the courtyard.

Song Dong pedaled his tricycle out of the village, muttering about gold foil, silver foil, paper money, and paper ingots.

We need to call the entire Song family.

He pedaled all the way to town and headed straight for the Buddhist supplies store.

Wang Zhihe left home early in the morning.

The tricycle was piled with gift boxes.

It was packed full.

Wine, cigarettes, biscuits, pastries, pork, and imported beverages...

He went to Liu Chou Nv's house.

Just as the ugly girl finished feeding the chickens, she heard the sound of the courtyard gate.

When he came out and saw it was Wang Zhihe, he immediately burst into laughter.

"Zhihe is here, come in and sit down."

Wang Zhihe unloaded the items from the car and carried them into the yard, placing them under the eaves.

"aunt."

The ugly woman bent down and looked inside; everything was complete.

"You've gone to so much trouble, kid." As she said this, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes deepened with her smile.

"Of course," Wang Zhihe said, sitting down on a bench in the corridor.

The ugly woman called Lin Gang and the others out.

Lin Fang handed a teacup to Wang Zhihe, saying, "I'll go with you to your uncle's and two other uncles' houses later."

After drinking tea, Wang Zhihe and Lin Fang went to another house first.

Old Lin has three brothers, none of whom live far from here.

Wang Zhihe delivered New Year's gifts to every household.

Upon entering each household, one is first greeted, given gifts, auspicious words are exchanged, and a cup of tea is offered.

When we come back after visiting these companies...

It's almost noon.

There were two tables set up in Old Lin's yard.

Old Lin's nephews also came. Seven or eight men sat around the table, which was laden with large crabs, braised duck with ginger and rice blood sausage, boiled shrimp, and more than ten other dishes.

Lin Gang opened two bottles of baijiu (Chinese liquor).

Old Lin beckoned to Wang Zhihe, asking him to sit down.

"Come, come, Zhihe, sit here."

As soon as Wang Zhihe sat down, a cousin next to him filled his glass.

"Zhihe, we're family now. Come on, let's have a drink!"

Wang Zhihe picked up his cup and downed it in one gulp.

Old Lin's eldest nephew, Lin Datou, immediately refilled his cup.

"Come on, come on, this second cup is for recognizing relatives."

Wang Zhihe glanced at the seven or eight people on the table.

They all held their cups and looked at him.

If everyone at this table completes one level today, he's bound to get drunk.

He took a deep breath, picked up the glass, and downed it in one gulp.

The ugly woman was kept busy in the kitchen, her feet barely touching the ground.

Three pots on the stove were lit at the same time.

The salt-baked red-eyed fish is ready, with coarse salt sprinkled on its red skin.

She brought out a plate of fried oysters and placed it on the table.

The courtyard was in complete chaos.

Old Lin and his second brother were playing a drinking game.

The two of them were speaking so loudly it was deafening.

Old Lin's nephews were making a ruckus nearby, pouring Wang Zhihe cup after cup of wine.

Wang Zhihe's face was already red, and he raised his glass to clink glasses with everyone.

Liu Chounv glanced at it twice, pursed her lips, turned around, picked up a basket, filled it with a bowl of steak soup, a plate of crab, and half a garlic duck, and went out the door.

She carried the things directly to Song Xianglan's house.

The gate to Song Xianglan's courtyard was open.

Shen Huijun was knitting a sweater in the living room.

Liu Chou-nv stepped in and placed her things on the table. "Hui-jun, you don't need to cook. I brought some groceries."

Shen Huijun put down her sweater and stood up.

"Auntie, please sit down."

The ugly woman plopped down in a chair, fanning herself. "I'm so angry!"

Song Xianglan came out from the inner room. "What's wrong?"

Even the wrinkles on the ugly woman's face seemed to be angry. "That old geezer had a few of his nephews drag Zhihe out for drinks."

Can Zhihe withstand a few natives who love to pour cat urine on him all by himself?

I got angry just looking at them. One or two of them were shoving their wine glasses at Zhihe, acting like country bumpkins who'd never seen anything like it. I told you the Lin family's ancestral graves have some significance; their descendants are all incredibly shameless.

Song Xianglan walked over and sat down. "Where are Lin Gang and Lin Mu? Tell them to help block some of the way."

The ugly woman rolled her eyes.

"Help my ass! Those two brats want to get drunk themselves. They even said that their brother-in-law and sister-in-law would drink with us brothers first. I gave birth to two ungrateful wretches. Lin Man at least blocked a few drinks."

He kept cursing and swearing.

But the expression on her face slowly changed.

A smile gradually spread from the corners of his eyes.

She glanced at Song Xianglan, then at Shen Huijun.

"After my daughter Xiaofang divorced that bastard Geng Yutian, she met that scoundrel Wu Baojun. I was worried that her marriage wouldn't be right, so she finally settled on Zhihe."

I just hope they live a good life together, and that one drinking session doesn't scare Zhihe away.

"Now that Xiaofang is married, this worry of mine is finally over."

She went back to her loud voice.

"Those guys who peed on the cats are awful; I'm going to give them a piece of my mind when I get back."

Shen Huijun chuckled beside her.

"Auntie, everyone's happy. We've accepted our new son-in-law, so of course we have to have a few drinks."

"A few drinks are fine. But dozens of drinks won't do." Liu Chounu stood up. "I'm not talking to you anymore. I have to go back and keep an eye on things. If Zhihe really gets drunk, I'll kick Old Lin into the latrine to rot like manure."

She left in a flurry.

They reached the door but then turned back.

"Oh, by the way, you can eat those dishes first. I'll bring more if you need more."

Song Xianglan smiled and said:

"No need to send it, we're not big eaters."

The courtyard gate slammed shut.

"Xiao Fang is a lucky girl." Song Xianglan put down her teacup. "She suffered after getting married, but she came back and met the right person. There's rice in the pot, right? We can just stir-fry some vegetables and that will be enough."