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

The sound of a child shouting came from the phone.

"Grandma Song, give me half a pound of soy sauce."

Song Xiangmei quickly stopped talking. "Third Sister, someone's buying something, I'll hang up now. You must come tomorrow!"

"Okay, you're busy."

I hung up the phone.

Song Xianglan glanced at the time; it was a little past five in the evening.

She closed the door and went outside the factory.

Lin Fang's small restaurant is located diagonally opposite the entrance of the food factory, in an excellent location.

As soon as Song Xianglan entered the store, Wang Zhihe's mother was sitting at the door picking vegetables, talking to Lin Fang, "I don't know when Zhihe will come back. I don't know if he'll be able to make it for his uncle's birthday celebration."

Upon seeing Song Xianglan, the old lady quickly put down the vegetable basket she was holding, stood up, and wiped her hands on her apron.

"Old Song is back." Old Mrs. Wang said with a smile.

"Is Lin Fang in the kitchen?" Song Xianglan glanced inside. "Is business good?"

Grandma Wang deftly untied her apron.

"Business is best at noon. I won't join you sisters in your get-together today. I'm going home to take care of the kids." With that, she grabbed a small cloth bag and slipped away quickly through the back door.

Lin Fang came out of the kitchen carrying a large porcelain basin, her face flushed.

After marrying Wang Zhihe, she gained some weight and looked much more radiant.

"Aunt Song." Lin Fang placed the porcelain basin on the large round table and wiped her hands with a towel. "My mom just came over and said you'd be having dinner tonight, so I've already prepared the ingredients. Today I'm making soup with large clams and fish balls, and drizzling a spoonful of scallion oil on top. I guarantee it will taste delicious."

"You're a good cook, so I'll let you do whatever you want today." Song Xianglan pulled out a chair and sat down. "How are things going with Zhihe? Are the kids still causing trouble?"

Lin Fang pulled over a bench and sat down next to her.

He fiddled with the toothpick holder on the table.

"Those kids are still the same as ever, afraid I'll bully them. Zhihe is good at working hard, but he can't discipline the children from his ex-wife's previous marriage." Lin Fang sighed, "Aunt Song, I've discussed it with him, and we're planning to have another one."

Song Xianglan: "Have another one? That would be exceeding the birth limit, and the fine would be substantial."

"Let them punish me then. Regardless of gender, having a child by my side is what matters. I actually hope to have a daughter. You know my first son looks exactly like his father, and I'm afraid I won't have any children."

Just then, a voice an octave higher came from outside the door.

"Fang, hurry up and make room for your Aunt Liu."

Liu Dahua carried a worn-out bucket into the shop, followed by Liu Yidao with his hands behind his back.

She squatted down on the ground with a loud thud. "Look at these two or three pounds of freshly caught squid, and four swimming crabs with roe. There are also several large abalones inside, all of which I intercepted directly at the dock. Xianglan hasn't had seafood from her hometown in a long time, so today you can eat your fill."

Lin Fang quickly picked up the bucket and took a look.

"Aunt Liu, you've got a great selection. Boiled baby squid, stir-fried crab with ginger and scallions, and this abalone, scored with a few cuts and steamed with minced garlic—how does it sound?"

"I'll listen to you, you're the head chef." Liu Dahua waved her hand.

Liu Yidao moved closer to Song Xianglan and pulled out a chair. "Old Song, you've been away in Shanghai for over two months, do you know our pensions have gone up?"

"How much will it increase?"

Liu Yidao held up three fingers. "Each person's pay increased by three yuan a month. That's enough to buy two jin of pork. Da Hua just went to collect hers yesterday and even bought more than two jin of pork."

Song Xianglan picked up her teacup and took a sip. "I've been very busy these past two months and haven't been able to collect my pension yet. I don't even know how much it is."

The curtain was lifted.

Liu Chounu and Liu Chunhua also arrived.

The ugly woman went straight into the kitchen. "Xiao Fang, I'll help you out tonight."

Liu Chunhua followed behind, cursing, "Give me a break! You went in there because you smelled the abalone, didn't you? Don't you dare steal any of those abalone."

"Don't accuse me unjustly." Liu Chounu poked half her body out from the kitchen. "I'm slicing ginger here."

Liu Dahua laughed and said, "You two old hags always tease each other when you get together."

Lin Fang smiled, stood up, and went into the kitchen.

Not long after.

The sizzling sound of hot oil being poured into pans came from the kitchen, mixed with the aroma of scallions and ginger.

A few people were chatting idly.

A figure stumbled past outside the door.

Liu Chou-nu came out carrying a plate of cold seaweed salad and happened to see her. "Isn't that Granny Yu's eldest granddaughter? Why is she running so fast? Did something happen?"

Song Xianglan looked up and saw that the eldest girl hadn't even looked back after losing a shoe, and was running straight towards the east end of the village.

"Nothing serious will happen," Liu Chunhua said, cracking sunflower seeds. "She probably just got scolded by Granny Yu."

Song Xianglan did not respond.

I picked up a piece of seaweed with my chopsticks.

"Don't meddle in the Yu family's affairs. Her children are all troublesome."

Lin Fang came out carrying a large, steaming bowl.

"The dishes are all ready, let's eat."

The group of people quickly gathered around and went together to serve the dishes.

Song Xianglan picked up an abalone, her mouth filled with its salty and savory flavor.

The large round table was filled to the brim.

The pan-fried silver pomfret has a golden-brown, crispy skin, while the boiled prawns are bright red and tempting.

Each person has a bowl filled with piping hot clear soup, with a fist-sized fish ball floating in it, along with two large clams that have opened their shells and released their meat.

The stainless steel plate contains stir-fried blue crabs with ginger and scallions.

Next to it were also scattered water spinach with fermented bean curd, oyster omelet, salt and pepper oysters, boiled squid, blanched mantis shrimp, and a bowl of freshly fried, crispy, and glistening pork in vinegar sauce.

"There's quite a lot of food tonight." Song Xianglan picked up a piece of braised pork with vinegar, and bit into it with a crunchy sound. The sour, salty and fragrant meat juices overflowed. "After being away for more than half a month, my taste buds have almost lost their flavor. I've been craving the fresh taste of home."

Lin Fang came out of the kitchen, carrying a large oval fish platter.

"Aunt Song, here's your favorite braised pomfret, fish roe, and fish liver. Eat it while it's hot. I added garlic leaves and preserved radish." Lin Fang placed the plate steadily in the center of the table.

Song Xianglan smiled and said, "This dish is the most delicious."

The door was pushed open, and a gust of hot air rushed in.

Widow Wang strode across the threshold in a flurry of activity.

His hair was a little messy, he was covered in sweat, and the back of his dark blue jacket was soaked.

As soon as she entered the room, she went to the sink, turned on the tap, washed her hands and face, dried them with a towel, and then pulled out an empty chair and sat down.

"Better late than early, you arrived just in time for the main dishes." Liu Chunhua handed over a clean set of bowls and chopsticks. "What did you do to look so exhausted?"

Widow Wang picked up her teacup, took a big gulp of the winter melon tea, and let out a long sigh.

"They're so busy, I think they've reached the end of their live-streaming sales job." She picked up her chopsticks and ate a salt and pepper oyster, her brows furrowed.

The ugly woman stopped peeling the mantis shrimp.

"What's wrong? Wasn't the transport team running smoothly? Are those guys being disobedient?"

"It's not about personnel," Widow Wang shook her head repeatedly, then picked up another piece of water spinach with her chopsticks, ate it, and said, "The checks outside are strict now. Before, we could get by because we knew people and pulled some strings. But that trick doesn't work anymore."

"There are checkpoints in the woods along every path."

She slammed the bowl on the table and lowered her voice.

"Those young guys down there are now also running around competing for jobs. They're even more ruthless."

"What are those young people up to?" Liu Dahua asked, leaning closer.

"They're so bold, they just throw money at everything they do," Widow Wang sneered. "Those young people first build relationships with the inspectors, handing over the money before even selling the goods. Then they keep getting the inspectors to take advantage of them."

We women and older folks have been stopped and searched on the street several times this month. We can't fight back, we can't outmaneuver the young people. I heard those young people even treat the checkpoint staff to singing, drinking, and dancing to women wearing bras.

Song Xianglan listened.

Without stopping, he picked up a large piece of fish liver and put it in his mouth.

"The best liver in the world is pufferfish liver," Song Xianglan said, swallowing the food in her mouth. "It's better than foie gras or shark liver."

Widow Wang ladled out a bowl of clam soup and took a sip of the hot broth.

The stiff shoulders relaxed.

She turned to look at Song Xianglan.

"Sister Song has eaten pufferfish liver? Isn't that poisonous?"

"I ate it once before and never forgot it. But that was it. Now, if you asked me to eat it, I really wouldn't dare to eat my fill."

She glanced at the delicious dishes on the table, then looked at her group of old friends.

"As people get older, their appetites decline. They truly have big mouths but small throats."

Liu Chunhua slapped her thigh with deep feeling. "I really don't have as much of an appetite as I used to. Before, I could finish a big bowl of rice with some meat broth in just a few bites. Now, after a couple of bites, my chest feels tight."