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

Song Xianglan turned around and pointed at Liu Dahua behind her, her eyes red-rimmed.

"Dahua has to go fishing at sea during the day and do housework at night. She has to serve your old man and raise this ungrateful wretch." Song Xianglan glared at Huang Zhuzi. "Even if she were made of iron, she couldn't withstand your Huang family's exploitation."

Huang Zhuzi shrank back a little.

He stuck out his neck and retorted:

"Aunt Song, this is a family matter of the Huang family, and it's none of your business as an outsider to interfere."

"Shut your stinking mouth." Song Xianglan spat at the foot of the pillar. "Your own mother is standing in front of you covered in mud, and instead of asking if she's hurt, you think she's shameful? You ungrateful wretch, your mother should have thrown you into the sea to feed turtles back then."

The villagers who were watching the commotion even stopped laughing.

The pillar really shouldn't have done that.

Song Xianglan turned back and unleashed her full power against Huang Guoping.

"Your Huang family gets all the good things in the world. The Huang family is a blood-sucking hole, turning perfectly healthy people into dried-up corpses. What right do you have to complain that Da Hua is older than your mother?"

Huang Guoping's face flushed red and then turned pale as he was scolded.

"This is between me and Da Hua, it's none of your business."

"Those two holes hanging under your eyebrows, if you can't see them, you'll just put two dog eyes in them. They could be everyday items, but you insist on turning them into decorations. Who did Da Hua become like this for? For you Huang family vampires, you heartless beast, selfish to the extreme."

Huang Guoping was trembling with anger; he wanted to bring glory to his hometown.

It wasn't that she was being verbally abused by a shrew. "You... are simply unreasonable."

"You've been constipated for so long, even the latrine under your nose is starting to spew filth," Song Xianglan sneered. "You might as well donate your mouth. Do you really think that by sticking a couple of feathers on yourself, you can fly to the heavens and stand shoulder to shoulder with the sun? Can't you speak without saying a few sarcastic remarks to Da Hua?"

The entire intersection was completely silent.

Song Xianglan's scolding left Huang Guoping speechless, unable to utter a single word in response.

"Dahua was so beautiful and charming when she followed you. It's her worst luck to have been ruined like this. If you, Huang Guoping, have any conscience, then pay back the child support you owe Dahua and the money you owed her for taking care of your father and your mother."

"Of course, if you want to be considered part of the animal kingdom, then disregard what I said."

"And your brothers are like mangy dogs, constantly asking Da Hua for money and things. You have to pay them all back to her."

The villagers all spoke up for Da Hua.

They forgot that just a moment ago they were laughing at Da Hua for being old and ugly, but when it came to money, they consciously thought that Da Hua was a vulnerable group.

"Guoping, Dahua has suffered a lot."

"She would go out to sea to catch fish even in the dead of winter. When she came up, her lips would be blue from the cold. Once, the villagers found her and carried her back. Sister Chunhua and Song the Pig Slaughter burrowed into the quilt and warmed her up."

"They caught a Minnow, and your mother took it and sold it. The money probably went to the fourth brother's family."

……

The villagers would go on and on about it.

The stylish young men and women behind Huang Guoping changed their expressions.

They were on the other side of the strait, in Hong Kong, and had long been accustomed to hearing how poor and backward the mainland was.

I thought that coming back with my father this time was a triumphant return to repay my grandparents and also a chance to meet that country bumpkin sister I had never met before.

Little did he expect that before he could even enter the door, he would be subjected to a barrage of insults from a country woman.

Even the villagers were making sarcastic remarks.

Several people scrutinized Liu Dahua, who was covered in mud, with critical eyes.

The old woman was disheveled and looked like her mother and son standing there.

They felt a surge of relief; their capable father had found their mother on the other side of the river.

This old woman, who looks like a beggar, is not worthy of their glamorous father at all.

The young boy in the white shirt stood up and spoke up for his elderly father.

"Shut up, old lady. Mind your own business."

Song Xianglan glanced at them coldly.

"An old woman?" Song Xianglan sneered. "Where did this little devil come from? Instead of being a decent person, he insists on going to the Japanese's house to be their grandson."

"You old hag, you're spouting nonsense!" the young girl next to her shouted angrily. "Let me tell you, my dad is amazing, he'll bring honor to the family when he comes back. Besides, that old lady is so old and ugly, she's not good enough for my dad."

Song Xianglan's anger surged to the top of her head.

"With heads dug out of a cesspool, they're utterly immoral and cursed by fate." Song Xianglan pointed at the two brats and cursed, "Your education has gone to waste. And you call yourself an 'auntie'? That word doesn't even exist in traditional Chinese dictionaries."

"You insist on imitating the Japanese, walking with bowlegs and sporting a mustache—you're worse than a pig or a dog. If you want to lick the stinky feet of the Japanese, go lick those Japanese chickens. Stop trying to intimidate me with your high-sounding words."

"If the Huang family ancestor knew that his descendants would lick the boots of the Japanese devils, he would have fled overnight with his coffin."

"You...you're being unreasonable!" the boy exclaimed angrily.

"You're just a scrap of humanity, lacking in intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor, but especially in morality. You're like a seedling that won't sprout, a whole bunch of bad seeds. With your character, you might as well end your life sooner to give good people more time. It'll save you from wasting air while alive, wasting land when dead, and wasting money while neither alive nor dead."

After finishing her tirade, Song Xianglan felt so refreshed that she felt like she could fly across rooftops.

The young man and woman were rendered speechless by the insults, their faces turning a deep purplish-red.

The beautiful woman next to Huang Guoping was also trembling with anger.

Song Xianglan wasn't afraid of these young lads.

She could poison herself with just a lick of her lips, yet today she used DDT for Liu Dahua.

At an age where you're brave enough to take your pants down and poop in the street, there's no reason for you to let a few young punks bully you just to save face.

Looking at the trembling Da Hua behind her, Song Xianglan felt a pang of sorrow.

In her past life, Da Hua was driven to her death by the Huang family's bullying and isolation.

How desperate must one be before death?

She was away from Xiaoquan Village at the time because of making a living, and was unable to protect her old sister.

Now that she's been given a second chance at life, she's determined to take revenge on her old friends for the bullying they suffered in their previous life.

That's how close best friends should be—protecting each other's flaws.

The villagers watching the commotion looked at each other, none daring to utter a sound.

Liu Dahua, who had been standing still, suddenly moved.

She pushed aside Song Xianglan, who was blocking her way, and took half a step forward with her bare feet covered in black mud.

"Huang Guoping." Liu Dahua stared intently at the man in front of her.

Huang Guoping frowned and stepped back, afraid that the mud on her body would splatter onto his crisp trousers.

"Don't you have anything else to say to me?" Liu Dahua's eyes were bloodshot.

Huang Guoping turned his head away, avoiding her gaze.

"I am Liu Dahua." She forced a smile, a smile more painful than a grimace. "From the day you were taken away, I forgot I was a woman. I transformed myself into a man."

She raised her two rough hands, as rough as old tree bark, and stretched them out to Huang Guoping.

"When I first started catching fish, shrimp, and crabs at sea," Liu Dahua said in a hoarse voice, "I couldn't hold my breath, and my lungs swelled up from holding my breath."

I felt like I was about to die before I dared to surface for a sip of water.

I dived down again and again.

In order to catch more things to exchange for food, I eventually learned to hold my breath underwater for four minutes straight.

Huang Guoping remained silent, his gaze wandering aimlessly.

"Your mother called me a jinx and hit me with a broom handle."

Liu Dahua tapped her chest. "I couldn't bear to talk back. Because she lost her son."

I think about you every day, and I want to fulfill my filial duty on your behalf.

I forgot that I was someone's daughter, I forgot that I was a woman. Time and again I compromised, time and again I yielded, time and again I risked my life against the sea.