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

The room was dark, with no lights on.

Song Xianglan sat on the edge of the bed, her back ramrod straight, with only her chest rising and falling slightly.

"mom."

Shen Huijun pushed the door open and came in.

Holding a nine-layer cake and a pandan bread in her arms, she groped her way to the table by the moonlight and put them down.

"Why aren't the lights on? Are you exhausted?"

As Shen Huijun spoke, she touched a match and lit the lamp.

Song Xianglan let out a long sigh.

The sound seemed particularly muffled in the darkness:

"I feel really upset about what happened with Da Hua."

"If it weren't for her wanting to borrow my tricycle, Old Lady Huang wouldn't have made a fuss, and Da Hua wouldn't have lost her fishing livelihood."

She didn't want Da Hua to lose her income.

Shen Huijun paused in her movements.

He advised softly:

"Mom, how can you blame yourself? It's better to have a short pain than a long one. It might not be a bad thing that Aunt Dahua got rid of that whole family of bloodsuckers."

"That makes sense, but life goes on."

Song Xianglan stood up.

He patted the dust off his trouser legs.

"Take this nine-layer cake and bread to your room and give some to Tingting."

You're young, and you get hungry quickly if you don't have enough oil in your stomach.

I'm feeling down right now, and I can't even digest my food.

Shen Huijun didn't take everything; she insisted on leaving two pandan breads and a box of nine-layer cakes on the table.

"Mom, you can eat whenever you're hungry."

Done.

He took the remaining food to Song Tingting's room next door.

Hearing the two maids cheering in hushed tones from next door, Song Xianglan gave a bitter smile.

She grabbed a loaf of bread from the table and then turned to the cupboard to rummage through the snakeskin bag containing noodles.

The door was locked.

With a push of his foot, the tricycle cut through the night and headed straight for Liu Dahua's house.

The courtyard of Liu Dahua's house was quiet.

The kitchen was bathed in a dim, yellow light.

Zhang Haiyan, heavily pregnant, was busy at the stove, while her two young children, Xiaotian and Xiaoyu, were obediently squatting on the ground playing.

"Is Big Flower there?"

Song Xianglan shouted at the gate of the courtyard.

Hearing the commotion, Zhang Haiyan struggled to walk out, supporting her back.

Upon seeing that it was Song Xianglan, her eyes immediately welled up with tears:

"Aunt Song, you're here. Mom's not in a good mood, she hasn't eaten, and she's lying in the house."

"He's fifty years old, and he's acting like a child, going on a hunger strike?"

Song Xianglan brought the tricycle to a stop.

He walked in carrying a snakeskin bag.

Zhang Haiyan sighed and lowered her voice:

"I tried to persuade her for a long time, but it was no use. Mom just felt that without income, she wouldn't be able to make a living, and she felt like she had become a useless person who was just eating for free."

Song Xianglan placed the snakeskin bag on a chair in the kitchen.

He took out a colorful loaf of bread and handed it to the two children:

"Take this and eat it. Keep the noodles for your family to improve their meals."

The two children stared longingly at the rare bread, swallowing hard.

But he dared not accept it.

Only after Zhang Haiyan nodded did he cheer and accept it.

"Aunt Song, this...this is too much of an expense."

As they were talking, the courtyard gate was violently pushed open.

Zhu Zi walked in with a dark expression.

As soon as he entered, he threw his straw hat on the ground and muttered angrily:

"What a bunch of jerks. When they meet the third and fourth brothers, they don't even lift their eyelids."

"If you don't want to talk to me, then don't."

Zhang Haiyan pointed at the pillar's nose and cursed:

"Are you so shameless? You only feel comfortable when someone is crawling on you and sucking your blood."

No one will come to our house to steal our food anymore, and no one will come to scold our mother. Life will be so peaceful.

How many meat meals could our family afford with the money we saved?

Zhu Zi shrank back as his wife scolded him.

He mumbled incoherently, not daring to utter another sound. He felt that while it was a separation of families, it shouldn't be done so cruelly.

Song Xianglan watched from the side and nodded secretly.

Liu Dahua's daughter-in-law is a capable and reliable person.

"Alright, stop arguing. I'm going to check on your mother." Song Xianglan ignored Zhu Zi and went straight into the inner room, lifting the curtain.

Liu Dahua was lying in bed.

Gentian violet was smeared all over his face, which looked rather creepy.

I heard a noise.

She snorted through her nostrils:

"Happy?"

Song Xianglan pulled up a bench and sat down by the bed, looking at her old friend's miserable state by the moonlight streaming through the window.

Instead of getting angry, he smiled:

"Of course I'm happy that the old witch isn't pooping and peeing on my head anymore."

Liu Dahua tugged at the corner of her mouth, which aggravated her wound, causing her to hiss in pain.

"Yeah, I'm so happy I could starve."

She turned over, tears sliding down her cheeks and into the pillow.

The voice was hoarse and filled with despair:

"Xianglan, without fishing, how will I support my family?"

Zhu Zi is so stubborn; he only knows how to exert himself to the utmost. Hai Yan is pregnant, and Xiao Tian and Xiao Yu still have to go to school.

My daughter didn't marry well either, and they're struggling to make ends meet.

As a mother, I also need to contribute something...

As they talked...

Liu Dahua covered her face and began to sob.

It's tough being a woman this age.

She has elderly parents to care for, young children to raise, and a troublesome husband in the middle.

Song Xianglan listened quietly to her crying for a while.

Until the crying subsided a bit.

She spoke, her voice extremely low, yet each word was as firm as iron:

"Dahua, don't cry. I have a job that can earn you money, a hundred times better than fishing, but it's a bit dangerous and you'll need a boat. Are you willing to do it?"

The crying stopped abruptly.

Liu Dahua suddenly turned her head and stared intently at Song Xianglan.

He even forgot the pain on his face:

"What did you say? Make money?"

"right."

Song Xianglan leaned forward, close to her ear, "If it works out, your family will eat meat every day. It's just dangerous..."

Liu Dahua propped herself up, and there was no trace of dejection in her red and swollen eyes.

They were all like hungry wolves eyeing meat.

"Xianglan, I'm already this old, what am I afraid of?"

Liu Dahua gritted her teeth.

The voice was fierce:

"I've been terrified of poverty my whole life. As long as I can make money, as long as it's not immoral or unethical, I'll do it. Tell me, what kind of job?"

Song Xianglan nodded in satisfaction.

This was the Liu Dahua she knew, the one who dared to risk her life against the wind and waves at sea.

"This matter is a secret known only to heaven, earth, you, and me; no one else can be told about it."

Song Xianglan glanced at the door and lowered her voice:

"You can't even tell the pillar. Your son is easily influenced and prone to causing trouble."

"It's fortunate that Haiyan can keep him in check, otherwise I wouldn't dare to come to you."

"Don't worry, I'm tighter-lipped than a clam. Zhu Zi's a blockhead, why would I tell him?"

Liu Dahua grabbed Song Xianglan's wrist urgently, "Tell me quickly, what is it?"

Song Xianglan took a deep breath.

He slowly uttered a few words:

"I need a ship to go to Lufeng Island in the middle to transport goods."

Liu Dahua was taken aback. Lufeng Island?

That was a deserted island on the open sea.

Normally, only private boats can be used...

Her heart skipped a beat, and she stammered, "..."

"What...what goods are you transporting?"

Song Xianglan extended her finger.

Break them off one by one.

With each word she uttered, Liu Dahua's eyelid twitched.

"Marlboro cigarettes, imported liquor, chocolate, Dacron, watches..." Song Xianglan paused, then dropped a bombshell, "and televisions, refrigerators, and radios."

Liu Dahua felt her head buzzing.

Her eyes widened, and her hands trembled as she tried to cover Song Xianglan's mouth.

"Old...Old Song! Are you crazy? This is speculation and profiteering! This is going to..."

"This is business."

Song Xianglan grabbed her hand.

His gaze was firm and calm. "Dahua, look at the newspapers now, look at the winds blowing outside. The bold get rich, the timid starve. You'll get at least a hundred yuan for each delivery you make for me."

"One...one hundred yuan?" Liu Dahua was completely dumbfounded.

She worked herself to the bone fishing, but couldn't save much money all year round.

One hundred yuan for delivering a shipment?

"Qingyang is by the sea, and there are quite a few people doing this, but most of them don't amount to much."

Song Xianglan patted Liu Dahua's cold hand. "I need a boat, and I need someone who knows how to swim and is willing to risk their life. Dahua, do you want this wealth and status?"

Liu Dahua felt all the blood rushing to her head.

Take a deep breath and squeeze out a single word through gritted teeth:

"Dry!"