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

It was early morning, before the sky had fully brightened.

Lei Li stood in front of the bathroom mirror and combed his hair.

I just got a buzz cut at the barbershop yesterday.

The sides are trimmed very short, giving it a spirited look.

He put on a dark green turtleneck sweater and draped a long woolen coat over it.

The collar was pulled back straight, and the buttons were fastened.

He strode down the stairs.

In the living room, when Lei's mother saw that he was all dressed up again, she quickly went to the bedroom to find a gift.

Lei Li was sitting in the restaurant eating breakfast.

"Xiao Li." Lei's mother stood beside him excitedly, holding a box.

"Here you go. It's a scarf I bought at the department store a couple of days ago. Did you go see the girl you had dinner with last night again today? It's almost Chinese New Year, so give her a simple gift that won't put any pressure on you."

Lei Li glanced at the exquisite gift box.

His eyebrows were furrowed together.

"Mom, Tingting owns a clothing store herself," Lei Li said, reaching for the fried dough sticks on the table. "Why would she lack something like this?"

"Tingting? Which Tingting?"

"Song Tingting, the one you've met before."

"Xiang Dong's younger sister, Song Tingting?" Lei's mother's expression changed.

Lei Li nodded.

"Um."

"Old man!" Lei's mother shouted into the living room, "Your son is up to something. He's fallen for Song Tingting."

Thunder was sitting on the sofa reading a newspaper.

Upon hearing this, he slowly put down the newspaper, looked up at his son, and chuckled softly.

"Him?" Lei Ting's tone was full of mockery. "A boorish guy who knows nothing but rolling around in the mud, dares to pursue Song Tingting?"

Lei Li's hand, holding the fried dough stick, froze in mid-air.

"Dad, what do you mean?"

"Literal meaning." Lei Ting picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Song Tingting is a PhD from Peking University. Your grandfather said that if any young man could marry Song Tingting, his ancestral graves would be burning brightly. Are you good enough for her?"

Lei's mother ignored the father and son's bickering, not caring whether the ancestral grave was on fire or smoking.

My own pig son has stumbled upon a cabbage.

He turned around and ran straight to the greenhouse in the backyard.

"Dad, Mom! Don't water the flowers!" Lei's mother pushed open the door. "Something terrible has happened."

In the greenhouse in the backyard.

Grandpa Lei was carrying a water bottle, and Grandma Lei was pruning the green plants with scissors.

I heard a noise.

The two elderly people turned their heads.

"What are you yelling about?" Grandpa Lei glared. "Is the sky falling?"

"Xiao Li, that iron tree has blossomed!" Lei's mother pointed into the house. "He's fallen for Song Tingting."

The two elderly people stopped moving at the same time.

"That girl from the Song family?" Grandpa Lei's eyes lit up with surprise. "Tingting, oh dear, I haven't seen that child for quite some time. Good! I knew Xiaoli was bold."

The old man immediately turned to look at Grandma Lei.

"There are those bracelets my mother-in-law left behind at the bottom of your trunk, as well as some things my mother left behind. Hurry up and take them out to meet their new owners." Grandpa Lei waved his hand urging, "Take these to Xiaoli and give them to the young lady as a gift."

"He's too rough to be good enough for her; we'll have to use external forces to help him. But Tingting has some issues with her judgment. There are so many talented young men out there; why does she have to set her sights on such a hard rock?"

The old lady was all smiles.

"You old fool, you're not allowed to talk about my grandson like that. My grandson is successful in his career and good-looking. Apart from his bad temper, he's nothing like a hard rock!"

The three of them returned to the restaurant.

Lei Li felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

"Grandpa, Grandma, can you two please stop making things worse?" Lei Li stopped the two elders with a helpless expression. "This is still far from settled. If you take the family heirloom to give away, it will scare her away."

Grandpa Lei stopped and looked Lei Li up and down.

From his newly bought coat, I could see his specially styled hair.

The old man's gaze slowly turned extremely disgusted.

"Looking so tall and strong, do you have some kind of hidden health problem?" Grandpa Lei sneered. "Spending all your time in the military camp, you can't even handle a little girl. Go see a traditional Chinese medicine doctor tomorrow and have Old Wu prescribe some medicine to help you get better."

"grandfather!"

Lei Li: "What nonsense are you talking about? I'm perfectly healthy."

"So good together you can't even find a romantic partner?"

Grandma Lei chimed in, "Tingting is such a good person. If you're any slower, the opportunity will be lost."

Even Lei's mother was dissatisfied with the gift she had given her.

"Yes, buying it from a mall definitely lowers its value." She picked up the gift box from the coffee table, turned and ran upstairs. "I have a Hermes scarf. My sister brought it back from Hong Kong last month. I've never worn it. It's perfect to give it to Tingting."

Less than three minutes later, Lei's mother ran downstairs with a conspicuous orange box in her hand.

Grandpa Lei turned his head to look in the direction of the storage room.

"Bring out those boxes of wild ginseng and deer antlers that others gave me," Grandpa Lei said. "Put them all in the car for Xiaoli to take home as gifts for Tingting."

Lei Li watched his family members bustling around, unable to stop them at all.

"Grandpa, she's taking the train back in a hard seat." Lei Li stopped his mother, who was carrying things. "It takes several days to get from Beijing to Xincheng. You've brought her so many expensive tonics; how is she going to carry them all on the train? What if she encounters a thief?"

These words were spoken.

The room suddenly fell silent.

Grandpa Lei pointed at Lei Li's nose.

"Stubborn! Inflexible!"

Grandpa Lei was so angry that his beard trembled. "You're a grown man, and this girl comes all the way home, and you're telling her to carry her luggage and squeeze onto the train?"

So stingy. No wonder nothing's going on between you!

"With your stinginess, if it were me back in the day, I wouldn't have even given your grandma a second glance, let alone pursued her."

Grandma Lei nodded repeatedly from the side.

"I definitely won't even glance at you."

Grandma Lei looked disgusted. "Is our Lei family short of money? You're dating and you can't even afford a plane ticket? Even if you don't have a plane ticket, you should at least get a sleeper ticket."

Lei Li was completely bewildered by the scolding.

"She bought the ticket herself through a scalper," Lei Li tried to explain.

Grandpa Lei didn't listen to any of that.

He turned his head directly to look at Lei Ting.

"Go and call Old Li from the Ministry of Railways," Grandpa Lei ordered.

Lei Ting walked to the landline, picked up the receiver, and dialed a number.

After a few words, the call ended.

"All done." Lei Ting turned around. "I got you a soft sleeper ticket to Xincheng for 10 a.m. today. The ticket is in the stationmaster's office at the train station; you can pick it up on your way to pick up the passenger."

Lei Li breathed a sigh of relief.

Lei Ting looked at his son with disdain again.

"If you don't put in some effort, Song Tingting will be married to someone else," Lei Ting scolded. "Do you think she's single because she's waiting for you?"

She's busy studying and doesn't want to deal with other men. Once she's finished her studies, plenty of people will be lining up to introduce her to others. Then you'll be crying under the covers at night.

"It's not a sin for a man to cry, he deserves it," Lei's mother added casually.

Lei Li: ...

When did he say that Song Tingting was waiting for him?

I simply can't stay here any longer.

He glanced at his watch.

"I'm not going to listen to you all taking turns cursing me anymore." Lei Li grabbed his car keys. "If I don't leave now, I'll be late."

He opened the door and walked out.

Lei's mother, carrying the orange box and two large boxes of supplements, followed after him out the door.

The Jeep door was opened.

Lei's mother simply stuffed the things into the passenger seat.

"This must be given to Tingting," Lei's mother instructed, clinging to the car door. "Tell her to be careful on the road."

"Mom, you're really going to scare Tingting like this," Lei Li sighed.

"Pah! You stingy bastard!"

Mrs. Lei spat, "What do you mean, 'scared'? Tingting won't be scared. Our two families have a good relationship. Her mother and I have been friends for many years. Giving my niece this little gift is not excessive at all."

Lei Li really didn't want to expose his own mother.

I only met Song Xianglan once, when she came to Beijing to open a shop.

What do you mean by "good friends of many years"?

Aunt Song would never say something so shameless; only his mother could say it without batting an eye.

He thought to himself that he was arguing, but he didn't dare to utter a word. He quickly shifted gears, stepped on the gas, and drove out of the compound.

Snow stopped.

The jeep drove out of the military compound and headed into the alley.

Twenty minutes later.

The car was parked under the old locust tree at the entrance of the alley.

The road here is too narrow for cars to drive in.

Song Tingting has been living in the courtyard of the hutong since school let out for vacation.

Lei Li lowered the car window slightly.

Cold air is blowing in from outside.

He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.

Just as I was pondering this, I heard voices coming from inside the alley.

Lei Li looked up.

Song Tingting was wearing that familiar coat and carrying a small canvas bag.

Chang Ping and Mao Qiaozhen were with her.

The two men carried Song Tingting's luggage.

Lei Li immediately pushed open the car door and jumped out, his leather boots making a sound as they stepped on the thin snow.

"Tingting," Lei Li called out.

The three women on the other side stopped at the same time.

Song Tingting turned her head away.

She paused for a moment when she saw the man in the wool coat.

Mao Qiaozhen nudged Song Tingting in the lower back with her elbow.

"Oh, Brother Lei, you look really smart!" Mao Qiaozhen said with a mischievous smile. "I thought it was someone else."

Chang Ping smiled and looked Lei Li up and down.

"Haha, we really don't need to see you off. Brother Lei arrived just in time."

Song Tingting's cheeks flushed slightly as she walked towards Lei Li.