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

Just as the ugly woman was about to make her move, a burly figure squeezed out from the back of the crowd. Lin Gang's wife, who had long been unable to restrain herself, quickly rolled up her sleeves to her elbows.

"Were you a leaf in your past life? Your words are so arrogant." Lin Gang's wife pointed at Yu's sister-in-law's nose and started cursing. "Where did this monkey come from? You're still talking nonsense in the middle of the night."

Lin Gang's wife stepped over the threshold, looking fierce as if she was about to hit someone.

"If you dare to utter another sound, I'll immediately smash your filthy mouth into a crook, and then let's see what you'll say next."

Song Xianglan also said, "Don't even mention how young you are to marry my Xiangdong. Even if you were still a young embryo, I would throw you away like trash. Don't try to scam my Xiangdong. Your Yu family is not worthy of him."

Looking at the large crowd of onlookers, not a single one offered to help him.

Sister-in-law Yu got angry.

"You people have no good intentions, you're kicking someone when they're down. You have no humanity at all."

Song Xianglan was too lazy to listen to her nonsense, so she switched the lunchbox in her hand to the other side.

"While we were eating up ahead, I saw your eldest daughter run towards the beach without even putting on her shoes."

"Don't you know what kind of waves are at the beach in the middle of the night? You, as a mother, instead of going to find him, you're just standing here talking about human kindness."

"Who in the village has any sense of human kindness towards you?"

Upon hearing this, Sister-in-law Yu not only didn't panic but instead gave a cold laugh.

"It's better for him to die out there. Otherwise he'll come back and cause me trouble."

She dusted off her clothes, turned around, and ran next door.

The villagers who had been watching dispersed, bored.

"The argument today wasn't very satisfying. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law didn't actually fight."

"Old Mrs. Yu is too old to fight. If Yu Xiujuan were home, she could fight you."

"I didn't get enough of it."

Song Xianglan pulled Liu Chounu back.

My bones are aching from the train ride.

She needed to hurry home and lie down, as she had to be alert and go to Niejiazhuang the next morning.

……

The dirt road at the west end of the village.

The moonlight made the uneven road surface appear somewhat white.

Widow Wang was walking home alone along the road. Just past a grove of low bushes, she saw a dark figure ahead.

The man carried something with a long handle on his shoulder and walked with a limp.

They shuffled forward, one step at a time, one step at a time.

Widow Wang took a few steps closer and saw the figure clearly.

"Brother Zhao?" Widow Wang called out.

The person in front stopped and turned around.

Zhao Shengli carried a mud-covered shovel on his shoulder, his trousers rolled up to his knees, and beads of sweat on his forehead.

Zhao Shengli grinned. "Ju Hong, why are you so late today?"

Widow Wang quickened her pace to catch up with him and walked to his side.

"Ju Hong, why are you so late?"

"I had a meal with some old friends at Lin Fang's shop." Widow Wang turned to look at him. "Sister Song is back today, so we all got together."

She looked up at the sky.

"The moon is high in the sky overhead. Did you just come back from the fields?"

Zhao Shengli switched the shovel from his left shoulder to his right shoulder and nodded.

"The ditch in the asparagus field was blocked, so I went to clear it this evening. It's a bit muggy today, and I'm worried it will flood if it rains." Zhao Shengli patted the mud off his hands. "Song Xianglan just got back today? I didn't hear about her yesterday while we were working."

"I just arrived this afternoon," Widow Wang replied casually.

In high spirits during dinner, Widow Wang drank half a glass of baijiu (Chinese liquor).

The alcohol was kicking in a little, and her cheeks were flushed.

Walking in the moonlight, the woman who was usually so energetic and impulsive now looked incredibly feminine.

Adding to what Song Xianglan said at the dinner table, Widow Wang's eyes are now softer than usual.

Zhao Shengli turned his head, intending to reply.

He looked down and met Widow Wang's flushed face.

Zhao Shengli's words caught in his throat, his Adam's apple bobbed, and his throat felt so dry it was practically on fire.

My heart was pounding like a drum, thumping rapidly.

Even my palms were sweating.

He quickly turned his head toward the ditch on the other side of the dirt road.

Widow Wang didn't notice anything amiss with him.

Seeing that he limped again, I asked casually.

"Brother Zhao, your leg looks a bit badly injured?"

"It's an old problem." Zhao Shengli swallowed, his voice a little hoarse. "It's like this when I'm tired from work. It'll be fine in a couple of days."

Widow Wang looked at his broad shoulders, her lips moved, but she didn't say anything more.

The two walked side by side on the night road.

Only two sets of staggered footsteps continued forward.

Song Xianglan got up very early the next morning.

I filled the pots with water and thoroughly watered the bougainvillea and roses on the balcony.

After washing up, she went into the kitchen.

The courtyard gate was pushed open from the outside, and the ugly woman walked in carrying a stainless steel pot.

"You can't finish all the porridge you cook by yourself. I got up early this morning and cooked some sweet potato porridge. Bring out the leftover fish from last night, and make a radish and egg omelet."

"I was just about to go to your house to get some sweet potatoes." Song Xianglan opened the pickling jar and took out a dried pickled radish.

Take it to the sink and wash it clean.

She opened the cupboard to get the eggs.

The ugly woman muttered to herself, "I go to your chicken coop every day to collect eggs. I replace them with new ones every few days and put them in the cupboard. I take the old ones to Lin Fang's shop. I put all the money from selling the eggs into that tin biscuit box."

Song Xianglan lifted the lid of the cookie box.

It contained scattered coins of one mao, two mao, and five mao, as well as a few one- or two-yuan notes.

"It's just a few eggs, why charge me? How much is it worth to Lin Fang?" Song Xianglan closed the box.

"One thing at a time." Liu Chounu took a bamboo broom and walked into the yard. "She opens her shop to do business, so she has to pay for what she buys. Even close brothers should keep clear accounts."

Song Xianglan ignored her and turned around to get firewood to start a fire.

The firelight from the stove shone on my face.

I diced the preserved radish, cracked in three eggs, and stirred the bowl with chopsticks until it made a loud clattering sound.

The oil sizzled as it hit the pan, then the egg mixture was poured in, and the aroma wafted out of the kitchen window.

Not long after.

The preserved radish omelet is ready.

Liu Chou-nv had already polished the stone table under the big banyan tree in the yard until it shone.

The stainless steel pot is placed in the middle, and two sets of bowls and chopsticks are arranged.

Song Xianglan carried over the braised pomfret in soy sauce that she had brought back last night and the freshly cooked preserved radish omelet.

A layer of light brown fish jelly had formed on the surface of the fish.

The two had just sat down.

Old Lin's hoarse voice, like a broken gong, came from the other side of the courtyard wall.

"Grandma Gousheng, aren't you coming home for dinner?"

The ugly woman paused in her porridge-scooping motion, then angrily cursed at the wall:

"Are you trying to call me back? Can't you eat without me? Do you want me to feed you or do you want me to scold you to make you feel better? You don't know how to work in the fields to earn money all day long, and your mouth is as smelly as your dead mother's foot binding cloth."

"I've been serving you for over a month because I'm in a good mood, treating you like an old man."

There was silence on the other side of the wall for a long time.

Old Lin's muffled voice came over.

"My mother has been dead for so many years, and you still bring her up. You'd better watch out, or she might call you in the middle of the night to chat."

Liu Chounv's hand trembled as she picked up food, and she caught her breath in her throat.

Unlike Song Xianglan, she suffered a lot at the hands of an old woman when she was young, and that shadow was etched into her bones.

Old Lin's words startled him, and his face turned pale.

Song Xianglan swallowed the fish jelly in her mouth and glanced up at the courtyard wall.

"What are you afraid of?"

Song Xianglan picked up a large piece of preserved radish and fried egg and put it into Liu Chounu's bowl. "If she dares to enter your dreams, you should take a shovel and dig up her grave tomorrow."

Pour in sewage, then stuff in a few nests of rats and worms. Let's see if the living have more ideas, or the dead have more skills.

These words were spoken.

The ugly woman was stunned for a moment.

Then he slapped his thigh and burst into laughter.

She stood up and shouted at the top of her lungs towards the other side of the wall:

"You old hag. Did you hear me? If your mother dares to come looking for me, I'll make her live in a latrine tomorrow."

There was no further sound from the other side of the wall.

Old Lin was clearly speechless after Song Xianglan's harsh words.

After finishing breakfast, Song Xianglan had just put away the dishes and chopsticks.

The sputtering sound of a motor outside the courtyard gate stopped.

Chunxia straddled the motorcycle, supporting herself on one foot.

"Third Aunt, are you ready? Xiao Chuan rode your motorcycle back and said you don't have a bike right now, so he asked me to come pick you up."

Song Xianglan dried her hands and came out. "I was just about to ride my bicycle there."