Su Xiangwan snapped, producing the family division agreement, which was signed by both Song Qingshan and Song Laosan. “Uncle, here’s the division agreement, in triplicate. The village office should have a copy too. You’re a cultured man, so read it for me and see what it says.”

Song Guangguang read aloud, “The money sent by Song Qingshan from the army is divided into two halves—one for the parents and one for him. How the parents’ half is used is not up to Song Qingshan, who only takes his own half.”

Su Xiangwan slammed the remittance slips down again. “He sent a total of 7,500 yuan. Black and white, I’m entitled to 3,750 yuan, but I’ve never taken a single cent. I’m not asking for more; I just want my 3,750.”

Old Lady Song screamed, “That’s the money for our coffin, Su Xiangwan! You’re robbing us!”

It was all Laosan’s fault.

He shouldn’t have stolen the money.

For the first time, the old lady started resenting Song Laosan, as he had already wasted 500 yuan, and now, because of his stealing, all the money that her eldest son had saved for her was exposed in broad daylight.

“It’s not like I used the money. Laosan and his wife are both sick…” After a long pause, the old lady muttered.

Su Xiangwan immediately shot back, “Yes, Laosan and his wife haven’t worked a single day in ten years. Everything we have, from the shoes for our son to the cloth for Fang Baoyu, was bought with the money Song Qingshan sent! Tell me, have I ever bought any flower cloth?”

She slammed her hand on the table. “Laosan is his brother, so Guangguang, tell me, shouldn’t Song Qingshan and Tingxiu help him?”

Lu Dan stood behind Su Xiangwan, holding a stick, and chimed in, “It’s not just that. Every time Second Aunt came over, she’d complain about being poor. Grandma had all those fabric, food, and cotton tickets—who knows how much she gave her.”

Su Xiangwan thumped the table. “The crying child gets the milk! Song Qingshan and Tingxiu earned their living, while the others, like Qingyu and Laosan, just fed off of them. Why should that be the case?”

She turned to the old lady. “I’m not concerned with how much money is in your savings book. I’m only asking for my 3,750, and after deducting Dog Egg’s medical expenses, the rest belongs to you.”

The old lady song screamed, “But Laosan only scolded Gou Dan, didn’t even hit him, why should you ask for medical fees?”

Su Xiangwan hit her chest. “He might not be physically hurt, but when his uncle called him a thief, all the kids in the village will laugh at him. That’s psychological harm. It may not show, but it’s worse than physical injury.”

In the end, after mediation from Song Guangguang and Sun Shufen, Su Xiangwan agreed not to demand compensation for emotional distress, but she refused to give the old lady a single cent of Song Qingshan’s money.

After all, it was someone else’s family matter, and Song Guangguang and Sun Shufen didn’t feel it was their place to interfere, so in the end, they just let it go.

Old lady song covered her face and started crying.

When she cried, for a moment, Su Xiangwan felt a bit sorry for her.

But as soon as she felt sorry, she remembered how the old lady used to constantly curse herself for being unlucky in marriage before Song Qingshan returned, and how she and Qingyu, Fang Bao Yu, and the others had schemed to cheat the family out of that 80 yuan on the night they all ate together.

Su Xiangwan may have a soft heart, but she wasn’t a saint.

For the sake of the original body, she still had to keep the old lady under control.

As the old lady’s shrill cries echoed, Su Xiangwan left Song Guangguang’s house, pocketing a large sum of money, walking home with a confident stride.

Luckily, Song Laosan’s theft was a scandal, and Song Guangguang kept it a secret.

Sun Shufen also kept quiet, and the old lady didn’t dare to let anyone know about it. In the end, she suffered in silence. How frustrating was that?

At the same time, news spread in the village that her village’s Party Secretary had finally been approved, and the township government asked her to report to the office tomorrow.

After swearing in and becoming the Party Secretary, she would finally be able to show her talents.

Gou Dan, who had been wrongly blamed and punished multiple times, was now feeling unusually empowered.

That night, as usual, Su Xiangwan would give them each a piece of candy. He grabbed the candy and said, “Bro, I don’t suck on candy anymore. We chew it now. See? I’m chewing on candy.”

The candy was so precious.

Although Dad brought home a lot, they could only have one piece a day to prevent cavities.

However, as Gou Dan chewed on the candy, it got stuck between his teeth and wouldn’t come out.

He had already lost one of his front teeth, which still hadn’t grown back. Now, if he lost another, he wouldn’t be able to bite anything.

“Haha, be careful, you might pull your tooth out with that candy,” Lu Dan teased.

Gou Dan opened his mouth wide, frantically trying to pull the candy off his teeth, but it wouldn’t budge. He started crying, making a big fuss.

“What’s the big deal, Gou Dan? Are you a girl or something?” Su Xiangwan was trying to help him remove the candy from his teeth when someone knocked on the door.

Lu Dan, suspecting it was Song Laosan, shouted, “Who’s there?”

“It’s your father!” Song Qingshan shouted loudly.

Lu Dan quickly grabbed the dog and a stick and was ready for action. “Mom, you stole Song Qingshan’s mom’s money. Do you think he’ll hit you?”

Su Xiangwan continued cutting the candy, saying, “No, didn’t you hear how upset he sounded? Your dad is probably just mad. Hurry up and open the door.”

The money she sent to the old lady was almost ten times more than what she’d sent to the original body. Did Song Qingshan want to settle scores with her?

She was the one who wanted to settle scores with him.

Originally, Song Qingshan was supposed to return home the previous night.

However, something at work had kept him detained.

The situation was this: the chief designer, Hou Qinghua, had been in poor health for some time, but due to tight project deadlines, the provincial People’s Hospital sent doctors to check on him every month.

Given Hou’s importance, all the doctors and nurses were thoroughly vetted to ensure no confidential information about the project would be leaked.

Unfortunately, a young nurse who had come on this round of checks stole a rare radioactive metal that was being studied by Hou Qinghua.

She managed to slip it into her bag, and if it weren’t for the guard’s thorough search, she would have successfully smuggled it out.

Once the guard discovered what happened, he reported it to Song Qingshan.

Naturally, the nurse and her entire family had to undergo quarantine and investigation, while the nurse herself, suffering from severe radiation burns on her arm, had to be sent immediately to the General Military District for interrogation.

Because of this incident, Song Qingshan had spent the whole day in meetings, visiting various construction sites and factories to ensure everything was secure before he could leave for the day.

He finally returned home around 10 p.m., only to encounter his sister, Song Qingyu, standing at the entrance to the village in the dark.

As the saying goes, “The bad person speaks first.”

Song Qingyu didn’t mention how Song Laosan had scolded Dog Egg and made the whole situation worse, even calling the police.

Instead, she complained that after all her hard work over the years, saving a little for her old age, Su Xiangwan had taken the money without hesitation.

Of course, Song Qingyu was hoping that Song Qingshan would talk to Su Xiangwan and convince her to return the money.

After all, the old lady needed money for a coffin and the old man needed money for burial clothes — all of which required a significant amount of money.

Song Qingyu even warned Song Qingshan to be careful when he went inside, as she feared Su Xiangwan might bring out a kitchen knife and start swinging it at him, just as she had done to Song Laosan earlier.

She also suggested that he should be cautious about the kids being in the way during any potential confrontation, given how often children got hurt when adults fought in a single-room house.

Song Qingshan’s head throbbed as he entered the house.

He squeezed the box of condoms in his pocket, feeling as though his marriage was likely coming to an end.

But when he entered, to his surprise, there was no scene with flying remittance slips, bank books, or accusations hurled his way.

In fact, Su Xiangwan seemed very calm, not at all like how Song Qingyu had described her — with a flying kitchen knife, about to chop off Song Laosan’s head, or strangling his mother and forcing her to apologize to the grandson.

Instead, when she took his briefcase, she calmly asked, “How was the business trip? Was it smooth?”

Song Qingshan nodded.

Could it really be that simple?

He thought. No accusations?

No anger?

After seven years, he had sent far more money to the old lady than to Su Xiangwan, but Song Qingshan thought he could explain that.

After all, at the time, the two families were living together.

The money he sent to the old lady was for household expenses, to take care of the family’s needs, while the money for Su Xiangwan was simply her own pocket money.

But if it weren’t for him dying once, how could Song Qingshan have realized that, as his own mother, after his death, she would treat his wife and children so harshly?

“Dad, don’t you have anything to say?” Lu Dan, lying in bed with his round head and sparkling eyes, suddenly asked.

Gou Dan followed up, “Of course Dad has nothing to say. Third Uncle said that Dad treats him much better than us because all his money is sent to Grandma and Third Uncle.”

“Oh, no wonder. From now on, let Song Fu call him Dad. We won’t call him Dad anymore,” Lu Dan said, as if a light bulb had gone off in his head.

Gou Dan nodded vigorously, “Exactly, exactly. I don’t want him to be our dad anyway.”

Poor old dad, still carrying two fat rabbits, but right now, the two kids were boldly bossing him around with their mom sitting by.

“Gou Dan, Lu Dan, didn’t you both say you wanted something to eat tomorrow?” Su Xiangwan suddenly asked.

Gou Dan quickly raised his hand, “Oatmeal soup with sweet sauce.”

“We don’t have any oatmeal left at home. If you want it, I’ll have to go to the Hongxing Commune and get someone to trade it for me with a flashlight. That’s too much trouble,” Su Xiangwan deliberately said.

Lu Dan didn’t mind, “Anything’s fine, Mom’s cooking is always delicious.”

But Gou Dan said, “No, I only want the oatmeal soup with sweet sauce. I don’t want anything else.”

“If you want it, then listen to me. Whatever is going on between your dad and me doesn’t concern you, especially you, Gou Dan. Close your eyes and go to sleep now. When Mom goes to the township for the Party oath ceremony, I’ll take you with me. If you don’t, you won’t get the oatmeal soup or come with me to the township,” Su Xiangwan said.

With that, the two brothers exchanged a glance, quickly wrapped themselves in their blankets, and shut their eyes tight, falling asleep.

Seeing that the man who had just returned didn’t come in, Su Xiangwan sneaked off the bed again.

He had brought back two wild rabbits and was skinning them on the outside steps.

When he saw her, he didn’t say anything but just moved aside.

Su Xiangwan leaned against the doorframe and asked, “Have you had dinner? What did you eat?”

“If you want the truth, no, I haven’t eaten,” Song Qingshan replied.

Su Xiangwan turned and went inside, pulling out a jar from behind the stove.

She used the last bit of oatmeal to make a bowl of sweet soup, then grabbed two eggs from a basket of wheat chaff on the floor and cracked them into the pot.

She slapped a piece of pancake along the edge of the pot, and as soon as Song Qingshan finished skinning the rabbits, her soup and dumplings would be ready.

Song Qingshan didn’t say anything, but picked up the soup and took a big gulp, then ate it calmly.