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

"How is cooking a meal a hardship for you?" Old Lin's eyes widened. "Isn't it a woman's duty to cook at home? Stop talking nonsense and hurry up and start the fire."

"After dinner, we still need to go to Fifth Brother's house. We can't miss our family's chance to make a fortune."

"Your eyes haven't even gotten rich yet, but your eye sockets are already dreaming of getting rich. You can eat your fill of farts in your dreams. Go wash up and go to sleep, and keep dreaming." Liu Chounu raised her voice and sneered.

"Why don't you take a look in the mirror and see who you are? All you do is order me around, what else can you do?"

"I'm already quite old, half my body is buried in the earth, it's time for me to enjoy a happy old age."

Old Lin couldn't understand why the old woman was starting to rebel as she got older.

His brothers are right, he is just too easy to talk to.

Only after letting that ugly girl poop and fart on his neck did life improve for him and Song Xianglan's family. But now that there's a powerful, wealthy patron available, who would willingly give up clinging to that patron to make money?

Thinking of this, he angrily retorted:

"Aren't you enjoying yourself enough? Look at all those old women in the village, none of them are as carefree as you. You don't know how lucky you are."

You are happier than most women. What more could you want? Your sisters-in-law and brothers' wives are green with envy.

It was as if the ugly woman had been thrown into a pile of sparking firecrackers.

I was completely stunned.

"I'm living a comfortable life today thanks to Song Xianglan. I've made some money with my old friend, and now I can hold my head high."

The ugly woman simply moved a ladder and climbed onto the wall to hurl insults at him, "You dog, you put up couplets like that, making a door out of thin air. Stop trying to glorify yourself. You think it's your doing? Did you even pay me a penny?"

Old Lin's face turned pale from the scolding.

"Since you married into the family, why haven't I taken care of you?"

"What a load of crap." The ugly woman stood with her hands on her hips. "From the day I married you, you went to the fields to earn work points, and so did I."

I also have to do housework, laundry, and cooking. When the tide goes out, I go beachcombing, digging for oysters, and collecting seashells. I bring all of these back to improve your meals.

I carried a baby for ten months, like a sow, and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Now my stomach is hurting, and I still have to hurry up and fill the water tank. I also have to cook meals for your whole family.

After having children, I took care of everything for them – feeding, drinking, and toileting. Even so, I still had to work to earn work points. In this godforsaken place, we can grow crops and work all year round, but we can't hibernate like in the north.

When you come home tired from work to rest, I still have to take care of the children and housework. If I ask you to do some work in the family plot, you say I don't understand how hard men work.

In the end, I still ate the food of your Lin family. I'm still an insatiable woman who lives off a man.

Old Lin knew he was in the wrong, but he couldn't bear to lose face.

"I'm not going to argue with you." Old Lin turned to walk back into the house. "You ungrateful wretch. If you don't want to eat, fine, let you starve."

"Stop right there!" the ugly woman shouted.

Old Lin stopped in his tracks, turned around, and glared at her. "What's wrong with you?"

The ugly woman's chest heaved with anger as she pointed towards the kitchen. "Don't you know why I don't want to go home and cook today?"

"What do I know? You're just lazy."

"I said this morning that I had no taste in my mouth and wanted to eat yellowfin tuna noodles."

Old Lin didn't say a word.

"I went to the typhoon shelter to pick out a few fresh yellowfin tuna." Liu Chounu's voice grew louder and louder. "When I got back, I scaled them, cleaned their internal organs, fried them in lard until golden brown on both sides, and simmered them into a pot of milky white soup."

"You're making yourself feel wronged just because you're eating fish?" Old Lin muttered.

"The soup is ready, and the noodles are cooked. I ladled out a big bowl, and picked out the largest yellowfin tuna, soup and all, to give to your second aunt. I thought she hadn't been feeling well lately, so a bowl of hot fish soup would help her recover. Have I done a good job as a niece-in-law?"

Old Lin, gritting his teeth, retorted:

"If you're not willing, then don't give it to me. It's what you should do as my nephew's wife. You've already done it, and you're still being so petty."

"Fine, I'll let it slide if I deliver it myself," the ugly woman said through gritted teeth. "But what about the remaining half-pot of noodles and fish? I only went to the outhouse for less than five minutes. When I washed my hands and returned to the kitchen, what was left in the pot?"

Old Lin turned his face away.

Looking at the ants on the ground.

"Five whole yellowfin tuna, and what did you leave me? Just a broken fish head with its eyes sucked out, and a little bit of dough stuck to the bottom of the pot."

Song Xianglan stood at the door of the main room and couldn't help but shake her head when she heard this.

Old Lin's secrets were exposed, and his face turned bright red, with the veins on his neck bulging.

"How can you, as the sister-in-law, be so petty?" Old Lin retorted, stretching his neck. "My fifth brother wants to eat yellowfin tuna noodles."

What's wrong with me giving him a little? Why are you so angry? If you want some, you can just buy more later. How old are you? Why are you still so greedy?

Upon hearing this, Liu Chounv was so angry she laughed.

Looking at Old Lin's unreasonable face, she felt a sense of absurdity.

"Couldn't your brother's family buy yellowfin tuna? Since you served it to them, you should at least have left me one of the leftovers, right? You only left me a fish head and half a bowl of noodles. Don't you have any shame?"

Old Lin was so speechless that he couldn't say a word.

His initial righteous indignation vanished instantly.

He looked around, afraid that a neighbor might pass by and hear him.

"I'm not going to argue with a glutton like you." Old Lin said angrily, "If you don't want to eat, then don't eat. You deserve to starve. You've been a glutton your whole life, always eyeing the little bit of food in your bowl."

After saying that, Old Lin, as if he had been chased by a dog, went into the house without looking back and slammed the door shut.

The courtyard fell silent.

Liu Chou was so angry that he was panting heavily.

My chest felt like it was stuffed with a wad of waterlogged cotton, unable to go up or down.

She turned her head and looked at Song Xianglan standing on the steps.

"Lanlan." The ugly woman's eyes were red with anger. Pointing to her own nose, she asked, "Am I a glutton? I bought fish with my own money and cooked it myself. I can't even have a hot meal, and I'm called a glutton?"

"Don't you know what kind of mouth he has? He just talks nonsense when he's in the wrong." Song Xianglan pulled her into the house. "It's not worth getting angry over a man like that. You can eat here tonight. There's some tiramisu that Zhao Yuan sent over in the cupboard; I'll get it for you as dessert later."

"Starting tomorrow, don't cook for him. If he wants to curry favor with Lao Wu's family, let him."

"If you can't eat it, then nobody should eat it."

The ugly woman spat forcefully on the ground.

Come down the ladder.

"Pah!" Liu Chounu cursed, "Shameless old man. I'd rather let him starve than go back and cook."

The ugly woman sat on the sofa, her chest heaving. "Ever since the day I married Old Lin, whenever they kill a chicken, I'm only allowed to suck on its neck. Occasionally, when he takes pity on me and leaves me the head, he'll ask, 'Ugly woman, are you happy living like this?'"

Song Xianglan carried a thermos and poured a cup of warm water for Liu Chounu.

"Have a sip of water and calm down."

"If I hadn't earned some money working for you, I wouldn't even have had the nerve to slam my fist on his table today. Come on, let's go to Widow Wang's house for a free meal."

Song Xianglan nodded, "Okay. I'll bring something; I can't come empty-handed."

Song Xianglan went into the kitchen, took out a piece of pork belly that she had bought at noon from the cupboard, and took out two homemade pickled cucumbers from the earthenware jar and put them into a mesh bag.

The two closed the door and headed straight for the shops at the village entrance.

Lin Fang's snack shop was bustling with customers; all the tables were full, and the food was steaming hot.

"Lin Fang, pack me half a pot of oyster rice and half a pot of mackerel soup with a strong broth."

Lin Fang was stirring the ingredients in the pot with a large ladle when she looked up and saw Liu Chounu's long face, and her movements paused.

"Mom, why do you look so pale? What upset you?" Lin Fang came over to ask what was wrong.

More guests came in through the door.

Song Xianglan pressed Lin Fang back down, "You go about your business. Your dad took the whole pot of yellowfin tuna noodles your mom made to your fifth uncle's house. He left the leftover bits of gravy at the bottom of the pot for her. She's really upset about it. I'll take her to Widow Wang's house to cheer her up."