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

"Now that you're back, what are you planning to do?" Song Xianglan stared intently at the two brothers.

Before they could answer, Song Xiangmei interrupted impatiently.

"In Qingyang, you won't starve no matter what you do. Now that you're back, transfer your household registration back. Register it under my name. Whether you go to town to do odd jobs or follow your uncle to the county to run a transport business, it's better than being a beast of burden for others in that wretched mountain village."

Wentao held the bowl, his eyes glazed over.

He had never thought about what he could do in the future; his mind was completely blank.

"Listen to your grandmother." Song Xianglan put down her chopsticks. "Now that you're back, settle down and put down roots. But there are two things you two need to remember."

Wen Tao and Wen Qiang immediately stopped what they were doing and sat up straight.

"First, now that you've left that family, don't even think about moving a single penny of the Nie family's belongings to Tang Datian's family."

Secondly, you must change your surname to Nie. You carry the blood of the fifth son of the Nie family; there's no reason for you to continue bearing that stepfather's surname. Taking your mother's surname is fine, since she gave birth to you. But taking your stepfather's surname is unacceptable.”

Song Xiangmei took a tissue and wiped the rice grains from Lele's mouth.

Her eyes instantly turned red.

The two points that Song Xianglan mentioned were exactly what she had been thinking about all night.

As a grandmother, she had this worry in her heart, but she was also afraid that if she spoke up, her two children who had just returned would think she was harsh and guarded.

Song Xianglan directly broke through this barrier.

"We'll listen to our third aunt," Wentao said emphatically.

Wenqiang put down his bowl and glanced at Song Xiangmei. "Grandma, we want to go and pay our respects to my father."

"Your father is a martyr, buried in the martyrs' cemetery in Yunnan Province. There's no need for you to spend money to go now." Song Xianglan gave Nie Erhua a wink, and Erhua quickly put two more pieces of meat into Wenqiang's bowl. "Once you've settled down here and are earning some money, pick a good day to go and kowtow."

Song Xiangmei turned her head away, tears streaming down her face.

"Your mother, every year she takes the subsidy money your father risked his life for, and she's raised you two brothers to be this withered and emaciated. Her heart is made of stone."

Wen Qiang remained silent, lowered his head, and shoveled large mouthfuls of white rice into his bowl.

Of all the dishes on the table, these two brothers were the most powerful eaters.

Wentao used the two pounds of pork belly, even the broth, to mix with rice.

They ate all the seafood dishes clean.

Their stomachs were like bottomless pits; they ate two large bowls of rice.

"It's good that you can eat." Song Xianglan looked at the two empty bowls, then turned to tease Song Xiangmei, "Luckily, you opened a small shop these past few years, so you have a bit more savings. Otherwise, most families really couldn't afford to let you two young men eat as much as you want."

Song Xiangmei wiped away her tears, then burst out laughing at Song Xianglan's words.

"What's there to be afraid of? Let alone two, I could afford to support two more. I owe my good life to my third sister."

Wenqiang and Wentao exchanged a glance and grinned.

The two got up to help clear the dishes.

The late summer heat is fierce.

The wind in the mountain valleys of Linxian County is always dry and hot.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, and the mud on his hand smeared onto his eyelids.

She didn't bother wiping herself; she just felt her stomach cramping from hunger.

On the ridge next to it.

Tang Yuena put down her sickle.

"Xiao Yan, come and rest for a while." Yue Na pointed to the ridge of the field.

Xiao Yan walked over and sat down.

Yue Na glanced around, then took out a crumpled little cloth from her pocket, unwrapped it, and found a few shriveled red dates inside.

"Here you go." Yue Na stuffed the red dates into Xiao Yan's hand.

Xiao Yan looked down at the dates in her hand, reluctant to eat them.

"Sis, where did you get these red dates?"

"My grandma gave them to me." Yue Na picked one up and put it in her mouth, chewing it slowly. "Grandma told me to eat them secretly. She said that girls are weak when they get their period, and eating a few red dates can replenish their blood and energy."

Xiao Yan whispered a thank you.

She didn't dare to eat it all at once, but only used the tip of her teeth to bite off a tiny bit of the outer skin.

A subtle sweetness melts on the tip of the tongue.

"Sister, it's so sweet." Xiao Yan smiled, pursing her lips.

Yuena smiled, making the few freckles on her face appear much more vivid.

She sighed, "Xiaoyan, actually your mother is a good woman. It's a pity that, like my mother, she's a good person but has a bad fate, marrying a man like my father."

Xiao Yan lowered her eyes and remained silent.

Yue Na is one year older than Xiao Yan.

She was only a few months old when her biological mother jumped into the river at the edge of the village.

Her father wanted her aunt to marry into the family to manage the household and take care of the children shortly after their mother jumped into the river.

Yuena's maternal grandmother disagreed.

Later, Xiao Yan's biological mother, Xiu Hong, remarried while heavily pregnant, and gave birth to Xiao Yan less than two months after entering the family.

After giving birth to Xiao Yan.

Xiuhong gave birth to three more children in succession.

Tang Datian's family was already so poor they couldn't even afford to eat, and with so many mouths to feed, their few dilapidated mud-brick houses made them the poorest household in the whole village.

Yue Na wore her older cousin's hand-me-downs when she was little, while Xiao Yan wore Yue Na's outgrown clothes.

"Sister, what do you think of the outside world?" Xiao Yan closed her eyes, tilting her face towards the direction outside the mountains. "I want to go out and see the outside world."

Yuena turned her head and pinched her nose, her smile tinged with bitterness.

"You want to go out? Your brother went out for six months, got swindled out of a single penny, and was beaten half to death by my dad. You, a little girl, dare to go out?"

Xiao Yan wanted to say she dared.

But the words that came out were something else entirely. "My mom went to Qingyang yesterday and said she'd be back today. When she gets back, my dad's going to arrange a marriage for me."

Yuena stopped biting into the red date.

"The matchmaker came to our house yesterday," Xiaoyan said, her voice trembling. "He said a bachelor from the neighboring village, eight years older than me, is willing to give eight hundred yuan as a bride price. With that money, we can build two rooms, and Daping and Erping can also find wives."

Yuena stared at the ants on the ground.

He gave a cold laugh.

"Am I the same?" Yue Na's tone was cold. "Da Ping is my eldest brother, Er Ping is my second brother, and San Ping is my third brother. Our family is so poor that someone has to sacrifice. They've set their sights on you, and they've set their sights on me too."

"You don't want to get married either?"

"Who wants to be their blood bag?" Yue Na snapped the straw in her hand. "The night before last, my dad gave me an ultimatum, saying that if I didn't go on blind dates, he could do whatever he wanted, even kill me. Anyway, if I died, he could drag me into a ghost marriage and get some money for it."

"He's keeping us here until now so he can get more dowry money. It's not that he doesn't want us to get married."

Xiao Yan shuddered in fright.

He grabbed Yuena's arm. "Don't do anything rash."

"He also insulted my mother." Yue Na's eyes reddened. "He said I shouldn't be as selfish as my mother, who would jump into the river after giving birth."

"Your mother isn't selfish," Xiaoyan retorted hastily. "If she had any other way to survive, why would she abandon you?"

"I know my mother is a good woman." Yue Na took Xiao Yan's hand in return. "In this family, we're just livestock to be sold for money. Girls can only help each other survive. It's too hard for one person to go through it alone."

The two were talking.

A gaunt man ran up the mountain road.

The man ran, panting heavily, and shouted from afar.

"Tang Xiaoyan, what are you still dawdling in the field for? Go back now."

Xiao Yan stood up. "Fourth Uncle, what happened?"

"People from your biological father's side of the family are here." The man ran closer, his face full of excitement and gossip. "They came on a motorcycle. Wow, that motorcycle is really something! With a roar, the whole village came to your house to see what was going on. Your biological father's relatives are doing quite well."

Xiao Yan was stunned.

On the biological father's side?

Yuena's eyes lit up. "Xiaoyan, it's your biological father's side of the family. They've come to pick you up."

"Pick me up?" Xiao Yan was a little incredulous.

Why would someone come to pick up this girl?

"Never mind that, let's go back and check." Yue Na pulled Xiao Yan and ran towards the village.

The two girls hurried back, their steps uneven.

The wind blew against her face, and Xiao Yan's heart pounded wildly.

As Yue Na ran, she looked back at Xiao Yan with a smile on her face. "Xiao Yan, I'll be so happy for you if you can go back. You should get out of this awful place as soon as possible and run as far away as you can."

Running and running.

Yuena's smile faded, and her eyes gradually reddened.

Xiao Yan can walk, but what about her?

The money for the dowry to build the house would have to fall on her alone.

It's good that Xiao Yan is gone.

It's better for one person to rot than for two people to rot together.