After the money went missing, the old lady truly collapsed, as if the sky had fallen.

Just think about it—four thousand eight hundred yuan.

Among it was money from Tingxiu and Qingyu, money Song Qingshan had sent.

It was all her savings for Qingyu’s wedding, Song Laosan’s job search, her own old age, buying a coffin, and funeral clothes.

And it had vanished without a trace.

In front of her was a handkerchief, with several small black fingerprints on it—clearly, Gou Dan had stolen the money.

Not only the county police officers but also the village Party Secretary, Lin Shuhong, were present, all examining the black prints on the handkerchief.

According to the old lady, inside the handkerchief were three large savings books: one for 1,800 yuan and two for 1,500 yuan each.

Originally, Old Lady Song kept the handkerchief wrapped up and hidden in a gap under the pearwood kang (bed), but when she returned today, the money was gone, and the handkerchief was still there, with Gou Dan’s little handprints on it.

Officer Xiao Lu from the police station, following his instincts, felt that a child wouldn’t dare steal so much money. He was trying to persuade the old lady to think again and wondered if perhaps she had misplaced the money.

Song Laosan kept insisting that he was sure Gou Dan had stolen it.

While they were still debating, they suddenly heard Fang Baoyu’s voice from outside: “Sister-in-law, what are you doing?”

The dogs were barking, and people were shouting.

Su Xiangwan barged into the room, kicking open the door to Song Laosan’s room.

Holding a kitchen knife, she stormed inside, and, with sharp precision, started slashing through the pillows to search for the money.

Song Laosan rushed in just in time, but Su Xiangwan was already holding the savings books, swinging the knife toward him.

Song Laosan barely dodged, and the knife struck the door, leaving a deep white mark.

“Comrade police, I am the daughter-in-law of the Song family. Please take a look—are these the savings books you’re looking for?” she demanded.

Indeed, one was for 1,800 yuan and the other two for 1,500 yuan each, not a penny was missing.

Gou Dan knew exactly where his third uncle hid the money, and today, Su Xiangwan took an unexpected move. As expected, she found it.

The old lady, as if resurrected, jumped out of bed: “What?”

When Song Laosan saw that his sister-in-law was about to chop off his head with the kitchen knife, he rushed out the door and ran away.

Su Xiangwan, holding the savings book, watched as the police went after Song Laosan. She made a swift move, scaring Fang Baoyu into sitting down with a thud before she entered the living room.

“Xiangwan, why didn’t you stop Laosan? You used to be so good at hitting me, remember when you used to throw the manure basket on my head?” Old Lady Song said, unexpectedly.

Su Xiangwan calmly asked, “Mom, let me ask you one thing: is the money that Laosan stole yours? And let me ask again, did my son steal the money?”

At that moment, the old lady had nothing left to say.

Unable to catch Song Laosan, she slapped Fang Baoyu across the face. “It’s all your fault. You’ve taught my good son so badly. He worked for five days just to get 500 yuan, and now he’s stealing from me!”

Fang Bao Yu didn’t dare to make a sound after the slap.

Su Xiangwan quickly unfurled a pile of remittance slips. “I might have skimmed through them earlier, but I checked all the remittance slips. Tingxiu has been sending you 20 yuan every month. However, four years ago, after he graduated from the Information Engineering Academy and became a platoon leader, he started sending you money. He’s sent a total of 960 yuan, and the remaining 3840 yuan was all sent by Song Qingshan.”

“My husband sent you this money, and your third son stole it, and now you blame it on my son? You better apologize to Gou Dan right now.” Su Xiangwan slammed the kitchen knife on the bed.

“Apologize? You want me to apologize to a child?” Old Lady Song was about to jump up.

Su Xiangwan immediately slammed a leaflet—one of those from the Su Guo air-drop with a picture of a woman in a revealing outfit, written in poor Chinese—on the old man and old lady’s faces. “If you don’t apologize, I’ll report Laosan for secretly hoarding subversive propaganda material. That’s not just labor reform, it’s enough to get him executed. If you don’t apologize, I’ll make sure your son gets executed.”

Old Man Song also shouted, “Why don’t you apologize to the child if you’ve wronged him so much?”

…

At the labor reform center, when Su Xiangwan opened the door, she thought they had raised three little dogs at home.

Little Zhizhi was on the bed, being a well-behaved girl. She only made noise when she needed to pee or eat.

Otherwise, she quietly played by herself in the corner.

Meanwhile, Gou Dan, Lu Dan, and Shanzi, who had returned earlier, were all squatting in a row by the door, their three heads huddled together, gazing at the door.

Shanzi, looking majestic, immediately started barking when he saw the old lady.

Gou Dan and Lu Dan, who usually fought for superiority, were now tightly hugging each other.

Lu Dan kept pushing Gou Dan behind him, clearly trying to protect his younger brother.

“Grandma is really sorry for Gou Dan. I wrongly accused you, Gou Dan,” Old Lady Song said, recalling how Su Xiangwan had threatened her with the kitchen knife.

Under the moonlight, the two kids’ eyes were even wider than Shanzi’s.

They never imagined that their grandmother would apologize.

Of course, Gou Dan didn’t fully understand what his grandmother meant.

Su Xiangwan motioned for the old lady to apologize, “You need to show some sincerity when apologizing.”

Old Lady Song fumbled in her pocket, and oh, she found the three Big White Rabbit candies Su Xiangwan had given her earlier to give to the children.

She pulled them out and, feeling guilty, said, “Grandma will admit her mistake to you, Gou Dan. You’re not a thief, you didn’t steal my money, okay?”

Gou Dan didn’t take the candy, but after a long pause, he finally looked up and said, “I forgive you.”

Old Lady Song was a bit surprised and turned to look at Su Xiangwan. “This child said he forgave me, what should I do?”

Su Xiangwan replied, “Children forgive easily because they are still young and rely on adults. But when they hold a grudge, they remember it deeply. From now on, don’t provoke him.”

Old Lady Song looked at Gou Dan’s face and suddenly felt a lump in her throat.

It was because she had always spoiled and favored her third son, who took what he wanted, stealing from her and framing Gou Dan. But here was this little child, whom she had beaten so many times, and he forgave her with just an apology.

Although Old Lady Song skin was thick, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of shame.

She wanted to leave, but Su Xiangwan grabbed her by the arm, “Remember, he’s not a thief, and he’s not a little bastard. His name is…”

She had planned to say Gou Dan’s full name, but then paused.

She realized that while she knew his name, it was supposed to be Song Qingshan who told the child.

A name, even a simple one, represented a father’s hope for his child, and it was something Song Qingshan needed to say.

“In any case, Mom, try not to provoke him in the future.” With that, Su Xiangwan let go of the old lady.

In fact, in that book, the old lady indirectly met her death at the hands of Gou Dan.

It should have happened in a few years when Gou Dan, now a thief in the city, encountered the old lady. He ordered the children under his command to rob her, and someone accidentally stabbed her.

At the time, Gou Dan was no more than eight or nine years old. He crouched in a corner, crying as he watched his grandmother take her last breath on the cold street.

By making the old lady apologize to the child, Su Xiangwan, in a way, saved her life. Unfortunately, the old lady would never know this.

One child had a piece of candy, feeling satisfied. After brushing his teeth, Gou Dan patted his belly and said, “Mom, if I can have some sweet soup made from oat noodles for breakfast tomorrow, I’ll be even happier.”

It seemed that after a moment of despair, thinking of taking some rotten meat and dry bread to end his life, he was now looking forward to tomorrow’s breakfast.

Su Xiangwan rubbed Gou Dan’s fluffy head, finding his smile so cute, and said, “From now on, you shouldn’t touch other people’s things or sneak around. Whatever you want to eat, Mom will give it to you.”

Gou Dan stared at her, his eyes wide. After a long pause, he said, “If I ever steal again, I’ll be a little dog.”

Lu Dan chimed in, “Aren’t you already a little dog?”

“I’m not a little dog! I’ll have my own name. If no one gives me one, I’ll ask Comrade Zhao to give me one!” Gou Dan replied, puffing out his chest.

Lu Dan immediately realized that Gou Dan was probably jealous of his name.

He quickly added, “Song Donghai’s name is ugly anyway. I don’t like it either. We’ll just be Lu Dan and Gou Dan. Didn’t Mom say that ugly names are easier to live with?”

The two brothers started bickering at first, but soon, they were rolling around together in a playful tangle.

Meanwhile, since the savings books were under Song Qingshan’s name, Su Xiangwan, armed with their marriage certificate and her own identity card, managed to retrieve the money.

When the old lady song heard that Su Xiangwan had secured all the money, she didn’t dare confront her directly. Instead, she rushed to the second house to find Song Guangguang.

The old lady probably realized it would be difficult to get the money back from Su Xiangwan.

Song Guangguang understood the situation and knew that Gou Dan had been wronged.

Not wanting to side with the old lady song, he called Su Xiangwan over to mediate the situation.

He said, “Regardless of who sent the money, since Qing Shan didn’t take it when we divided the family assets, it should now go back to the old lady.”

Sun Shufen added, “You just became the brigade leader, Xiangwan, and you’ll need to handle your work properly. Remember when our Da Hua worked in the women’s federation at the commune? Their family was very harmonious.”

Su Xiangwan countered, “I’m not saying I won’t give the money back to the old lady. I just want to settle the matter properly in front of Uncle and Aunt. Is that okay?”

Then, Su Xiangwan placed the remittance slips on the table, one by one. “Uncle, over the years, Song Qingshan has sent 7,500 yuan in total. You know that I’ve only met Song Qingshan twice since I married into the family, but the old lady knows this too.”

Song Guangguang wiped his eyes and quietly thought, “Song Qingshan is truly the family’s credit union, the central bank.” No wonder the old lady always said he was the one who could keep the family together.

Su Xiangwan continued, “But over the past few years, how have things been for our children? Uncle and Aunt, you know that. If we can’t get fairness from you, we should bring in the village officials to ask them how I, Su Xiangwan, once asked the old lady for ten yuan, and she spat on the ground and threw it at me.”

Song Guangguang replied, “But you signed the family division agreement. Since the family was divided, the money should belong to the old house.”