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

"Uncle Liu, wash your hands and get ready to eat. The dishes are all ready." Huang Xiaoxiang came out of the kitchen carrying the last dish, braised pork trotters.

The table was placed in the very center of the main room.

The ceiling fan was turned on its highest setting, and the blades spun wildly.

Liu Yidao pulled three bottles of Southern Shaolin beer from a cardboard box against the wall. With three "sizzle" sounds, he bit open the bottle caps with his teeth.

"Old Song, it's been so long since we old colleagues had a drink. Shall we have a bottle today?" Liu Yidao handed over a bottle.

"Give me a bottle, don't use your old teeth as a bottle opener." Song Xianglan took the bottle. "I find your mouth disgusting."

Liu Yidao: ...

He opened a beer with chopsticks.

He poured two glasses and placed one of them in front of Liu Dahua.

Liu Dahua didn't refuse, picked up the glass and gulped down half of it. This Southern Shaolin beer was ice-cold, just scooped out of the well. The coolness traveled down her throat and into her stomach.

Huang Xiaoxiang served four bowls of rice and put them on the table.

"Mom, drink less, or you'll get a headache later."

"A little drink is good, it'll help you sleep better." Liu Yidao picked up a piece of pork skin with meat on it and put it in Liu Dahua's bowl.

The four people sat around the table and started eating.

Boiled mantis shrimp, tender pig's trotters, pan-fried yellowfin tuna, and yellowfin tuna noodles.

Paired with ice-cold beer, the heat and coolness mingled together in the room.

Liu Dahua downed two glasses of wine in quick succession. The effects of the alcohol quickly rose through her veins, and her cheeks flushed.

"This wine is really strong," Liu Dahua exhaled, her breath reeking of alcohol.

"Don't drink so fast." Liu Yidao reached out to snatch the cup.

Liu Dahua clutched the cup protectively in her hands. She looked up at Song Xianglan, her eyes instantly welling up with tears.

"Xianglan, what do you think I'm after?" Liu Dahua's voice trembled.

Liu Dahua gave a bitter laugh, tears streaming down her face and landing on the table. "I, a woman, went to sea alone, braving the gossip and whispers of the villagers."

Huang Xiaoxiang paused, her chopsticks stilled, and her eyes reddened.

"The sea wind felt like knives scraping my face. In winter, the seawater was so cold it hurt my bones. I risked half my life in that sea."

The room was so quiet that only the sound of the electric fan could be heard.

"Zhu Zi is forcing me to divorce Lao Liu. He says his biological father, whom he hasn't seen for decades, is pitiful. He says his life on the other side of the strait is miserable."

"His dad works hard? What about me? Don't I work hard too?"

Large tears streamed down her face. Liu Dahua tapped her chest.

"For the past thirty years, even when I was sick with a fever and couldn't get out of bed, I still struggled to get them food."

"Mom..." Huang Xiaoxiang stood up and took a handkerchief to wipe away Dahua's tears.

Liu Dahua pushed Xiao Xiang's hand away.

"Just because his surname is Huang. He's the root of the Huang family. All he cares about is his poor father." Liu Dahua suddenly laughed. "He sympathizes with his father, he thinks all my sacrifices as a mother are a given, and then he turns around and scolds me for being unfaithful."

Liu Yidao gripped the wine bottle tightly.

"Big Flower!" Song Xianglan cursed angrily, "You've wasted all these years on this ungrateful wretch, what a piece of trash you are."

"My life has been a joke. From now on, I only have Xiao Xiang as my daughter."

"I'm not getting a divorce. If anyone comes to this yard to cause trouble again, I'll chop them up with a knife." Liu Dahua stared at him.

Liu Yidao picked up the largest mantis shrimp from the plate, peeled off the shell, and removed the vein.

He placed the snow-white shrimp meat into the large flower-patterned rice bowl.

"Anyone who causes trouble, I'll cripple them."

Liu Dahua leaned back in her chair and exhaled a long breath of alcohol.

That bond between mother and child was thus completely severed.

After lunch, Song Xianglan made an excuse that she had something to do at the factory and left.

Huang Xiaoxiang washed the dishes clean in the kitchen.

Liu Dahua had been drinking and was now resting with her eyes closed on a bamboo rocking chair.

Liu Yidao sat beside her with a palm-leaf fan, fanning her gently.

"Mom, I'm going back. There are still a few pigs at home that haven't been fed," Huang Xiaoxiang said.

Liu Dahua opened her eyes. "Don't forget about Xiaoqin. Have her report to the food factory next week."

"I know. I'll have Dawei come see Uncle Liu tomorrow." Huang Xiaoxiang looked at Liu Yidao.

"Leave it to me. I guarantee I'll train this kid." Liu Yidao said, fanning himself with a palm leaf fan.

Huang Xiaoxiang picked up her basket and left the courtyard.

Liu Yidao watched Huang Xiaoxiang walk away and stopped fanning himself. He took a brown paper envelope out of his pocket and placed it on the small table next to him.

Liu Dahua glanced at it. "What's this?"

"The money my uncle sent back." Liu Yidao opened the envelope and poured out a stack of ten-yuan notes.

Liu Dahua sat up straight. "So much?"

"My great-uncle's business over there is huge." Liu Yidao pushed the money in front of Da Hua. "Tomorrow I'll take you to town to buy some good fabric to make some clothes. And two gold bracelets too."

Liu Dahua pushed the money back. "Keep this money for your retirement."

"I have enough for retirement," Liu Yidao said firmly. "Take it if I give it to you. Keep it safe and don't tell anyone."

Looking at the stack of money, Liu Dahua's eyes began to sting again.

Liu Yidao picked up the palm-leaf fan again. "That bastard is trying to annoy you. Go use my money to buy nice things and make them furious."

Liu Dahua stopped crying and started laughing.

She carefully counted the money, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and put it in the closet in her room.

"Old Liu."

"explain."

"From now on, Xiao Xiang's children can come often. As their grandfather, don't sternly frighten them."

"I look like this, even without a stern face, I'm still scary," Liu Yidao said with a laugh. "That's your grandson, which is my grandson too. As long as they're willing to work, I'll make sure they never have to eat porridge, as long as I have a mouthful of rice."

The sun was setting in the west in the afternoon.

The heat subsided somewhat.

Liu Yidao took an iron shovel and shrimp net from the base of the courtyard wall. "Let's go check on the pond."

"I'll go too," Liu Dahua said, standing up.

The two walked one after the other towards the beach outside the village.

Passing by the village temple, I saw several idle men and old women gathered there.

Upon seeing Liu Yidao and Dahua approaching, the old women immediately shut their mouths.

They winked at each other.

Huang's second aunt sat on a stool, raising her eyelids to look Liu Dahua up and down.

"This carefree woman is something else. You've completely disgraced the Huang family." Aunt Huang spat out a sunflower seed shell. "If it were me, I would have already hanged myself from this tree."

Liu Yidao paused in his steps.

He turned around and slammed the iron shovel in his hand onto the ground.

"If you dare utter another fart from that lousy mouth of yours," Liu Yidao raised his iron shovel and pointed it at her face, "I'll uproot your entire peanut field tonight."

Aunt Huang's face turned pale. "How dare you! There's no law anymore!"

"You try and see if I dare. I know all about your dirty business. If anyone says another word, I'll break all your men's legs and we'll all end up in the sex industry."

These old fogies who only dare to gossip behind people's backs immediately cowered when faced with a real tough opponent.

Liu Yidao snorted coldly and shouldered the iron shovel.

"Let's go," Liu Yidao called to Da Hua.

Liu Dahua stepped forward and took Liu Yidao's arm.

The two figures walked towards the shrimp pond, their backs to the sea breeze.

Aunt Huang jumped up and down behind her, "Pah, old woman, old face, old figure, but she's got a lot of skills at seducing old men. That seductive charm she learned on the fishing boat, you can smell it three miles away even against the wind. And men like it."

The others dared not say, "We've gone home."

Everyone dispersed.