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

Liu Dahua's courtyard.

Zhang Haiyan walked in carrying a basket of washed chives, shaking the water off her hands.

"Mom." Zhang Haiyan pulled up a bamboo chair and sat down. "Father-in-law went to Tangjiazhuang a couple of days ago. He came back with a long face."

Before Liu Dahua could ask, Song Xianglan quickly spoke up:

"What happened?"

Zhang Haiyan stood the chives upright on the edge of the basket to drain the water. "People in the village used to say that Tang Jun died outside. His wife struggled to raise their adopted son."

When Tang Jun returned, he said he had married a woman on the other side of the river and had a daughter in her early twenties. His first wife was so angry she fainted on the spot and is still bedridden.

Liu Dahua peeled the edamame in her hands without even looking up.

"Tang Jun is also a heartless old beast."

Zhang Haiyan continued, "Tang Jun's adopted son is very poor and can't afford the medicine at all. My father-in-law went to give him some money. Yesterday, I heard my father-in-law and the others say that they plan to take Tang Jun back with them in the next couple of days."

Song Xianglan: "You can't stand it anymore?"

"I can't stand it," Zhang Haiyan pouted. "They have businesses over there, and new families to tie them down. Staying here means being surrounded by relatives asking for money." The two of them decided to ask the other members of the hometown association if they should change their tickets and leave earlier.

"My father-in-law has decided to leave the day after tomorrow," Zhang Haiyan said in a low voice. "These past two days, those uncles have been blocking the courtyard every day, trying to borrow money. My father-in-law refuses to pay no matter what. Yesterday, Huang Laosi stood in the courtyard cursing my father-in-law for making a fortune outside and not even recognizing his ancestors, calling him heartless. The two sides have completely fallen out."

Liu Dahua chuckled.

Zhang Haiyan stopped moving and looked at Liu Dahua.

"Mom. My father-in-law asked me to pass on a message to you. He wants to see you privately before he leaves."

Liu Dahua picked up the half-basin of water next to her and splashed it on the ground.

"Go back and tell him we're never seeing each other again, and make him return the money to me." Liu Dahua turned her face away. "What's there to see him alone?"

From the few words he said upon his return, I saw right through the men of the Huang family. They're all a bunch of selfish and self-serving scum.

Liu Dahua looked at Song Xianglan.

"Xianglan. Look at the old Party Secretary's family. They're also surnamed Huang, and their way of dealing with people is impeccable. Who could find fault with them?"

And look at Zhu Zi's father's relatives. If the top beam is crooked, the bottom beam will be crooked too; if the middle beam is crooked, it will collapse. It's rotten to the core.

Song Xianglan nodded.

Why bother with him? You all shut your doors and live your own peaceful lives.

"Haiyan, please pass on your mother-in-law's message: bring the money over. Don't see her."

The courtyard suddenly fell silent.

Only cicadas remained chirping in the trees.

"Mom." Zhang Haiyan's throat was dry.

Liu Dahua turned to look at her.

"I don't want to live with Zhuzi anymore," Zhang Haiyan suddenly blurted out.

Liu Dahua was stunned.

Song Xianglan stopped eating melon seeds.

The two men stared at her.

"Have you thought it through?" Liu Dahua asked.

"I won't get a divorce." Zhang Haiyan gritted her teeth. "I plan to separate and live separately."

Liu Dahua moved her lips.

The words of reconciliation stuck in her throat. She had spent half her life in this house and knew all too well how agonizing that hellhole was.

She gave birth to Zhu Zi, but she's such a jerk.

"I've really had enough." Zhang Haiyan's emotions broke down. "A grown man has no humanity at all. All he ever thinks about is scheming."

He schemed and plotted, but once he stepped outside, he was nothing but a nobody. He became a laughingstock and was looked down upon. When he got home, he went crazy at me, yelling that others had bullied him.

"Yesterday, Aunt Fei gave me a few ten-yuan bills as money for groceries. He went through my pockets to check my accounts and said that was money for him." Zhang Haiyan's tears fell straight down. "I'm afraid that if my child is with him every day, he will learn to be that cold-blooded and selfish."

Song Xianglan: "Haiyan, it's good that you've thought it through. But dragging this on without a divorce will only cause trouble later."

"I can't leave."

Zhang Haiyan wiped away her tears. "Zhu Zi is too proud to agree to a divorce. My family can't afford to lose face like that either."

Besides, I don't want to settle for another man. It's better to separate and live separately, each going our own way. At least that way I can have some peace and quiet, and the child can still have a complete family.

"When the Huang family married me, they paid a dowry. But did I ever have a single day of leisure after I entered the family?"

"I've had three children. When one of them had a fever, I'd call him in the middle of the night to fetch a doctor, and he'd just roll over and say, 'Just let them sweat it out.' I was the one who carried the children to the clinic in the middle of the night every single night."

Zhang Haiyan looked at Liu Dahua.

"Mom. Even the new wife that my father-in-law brought home is talking to me. She says you've had a tough time these past few years. She says she admires you, and she wouldn't have been able to endure it for even a day."

Even a woman from outside the family could see the hardships you've endured. Zhu Zi couldn't see it. All he cared about were the Huang family's rules and the noodles.

"I'm tied to a living dead person who's not even warm to the touch. I'm afraid that if I endure this for a few more years, he'll wear down the last shred of my humanity."

Liu Dahua grabbed her hand.

"Haiyan, whatever you decide, Mom is on your side. Mom has income now, and I'll help you raise the children. I don't need money to feed three mouths. That good-for-nothing Zhuzi doesn't deserve you."

Zhang Haiyan buried her head in Liu Dahua's shoulder and cried.

Song Xianglan watched from the side.

"Dahua, you're a wise mother-in-law. Haiyan is also a kind and honest daughter-in-law," Song Xianglan scolded. "But Zhuzi is a scoundrel. He'll regret this one day."

Early the day after tomorrow.

A van was parked under the big banyan tree at the entrance of the village.

Huang Guoping was wearing the same clothes he had worn when he arrived, but he looked extremely tired.

He kept looking towards the village road.

Only a group of villagers, who were just watching the spectacle, crowded around, pointing and whispering among themselves.

There are no members of the Huang family.

None of his brothers, who were always around him, came.

Unable to borrow money, they were even unwilling to undertake superficial projects.

Not to mention seeing them off at the door.

"Guoping, when will you come back?" Old Mrs. Huang cried and gasped.

An elderly woman in the Huang family couldn't bear it. "Your mother has been sighing these past few days. Your living conditions are so good; it would be so wonderful if the old lady could go there and enjoy a life of luxury with you."

Huang Guoping stood still without responding.

He was waiting for Liu Dahua.

He was so upset he wanted to explode; how could that woman ignore him?

He thought Liu Dahua would cry and make a scene, that she would regret remarrying him.

Ignoring her is more painful than being beaten or scolded.

He was tormented day and night.

Ignoring it is the cruelest form of revenge.

Seeing that Huang Guoping didn't react, the old lady immediately changed the subject. "My old bones can't withstand any more waves. I'll just stay here. When you get over there, don't forget to send more money back, and don't forget your sons and nephews back home."

"Mom, you can't come to my place now because you don't have a passport. You can come later when you have a passport."

Huang Guoping completely withdrew his gaze.

The intersection was deserted; Liu Dahua wasn't even there.

He turned around resignedly and walked towards Huang Xiaoxiang's family, who were standing to the side.

Huang Guoping opened his briefcase, took out a red velvet box, and handed it over.

"Xiao Xiang. Here you go."

Huang Xiaoxiang saw the shimmering gold color inside the box. She pulled her hand back, her face darkening.

"Is this for my mom?" Huang Xiaoxiang didn't reach out. "I absolutely won't pass on anything my mom doesn't want."

Huang Guoping's face turned red, and his hand hovered in mid-air.

His wife held down Huang Xiaoxiang's wrist and forcefully slapped the box into her palm.

"Xiao Xiang. This isn't for you to give to your mother. This is a gold bracelet specially made for you." The woman's tone brooked no refusal. "Take it. I gave Haiyan every penny of the money I gave to your mother and asked her to pass it on."

She paused, then said:

"I'm sorry to her. Your father is even more sorry to her."

Huang Xiaoxiang: ... "Auntie, this has nothing to do with you."

It's Dad who's sorry to Mom.

The woman turned her head, took off her bracelet, and put it into Zhang Haiyan's hand.

"Haiyan," the woman said, looking at Zhang Haiyan, "you've worked so hard these past few days running around the house. This bracelet is mine; it has nothing to do with Huang Guoping. Consider it my way of thanking you."

Zhang Haiyan raised her head and met the woman's eyes.

In that instant, the two women understood each other's predicament.

"Thank you, Auntie." Zhang Haiyan did not refuse.

"Get in the car," Huang Guoping waved to his children.

The car drove away.

The villagers' murmurs, laced with hostility, drowned out the sound of the departing wheels.