The next morning, Song Erzhuang shouldered his carrying pole and basket and went out to work.

Qiao Guilan, her previous worried expression gone, smiled and prepared a lunchbox for her son Baogen while recounting what happened last night.

“Baogen, Grandma Zhou said that since your father and I have been nice to each other, she won’t hold it against our family anymore, and she won’t scold us anymore.”

“If everyone were as petty and unreasonable as your eldest sister, who would want to live with our family?”

"Your eldest sister is so ignorant. She even called your father a spineless coward. If Mom hadn't stopped her, your eldest sister would have been beaten by your father last night!"

"With your dad's temper, if he were to start a fight, he wouldn't hold back."

Qiao Guilan chattered on and on, in an extremely good mood.

"Baogen, Mom has prepared your lunchbox and put it in your bag..." Qiao Guilan looked up and her son, who was eating breakfast in the yard, was gone.

Song Baogen was in Song Yinhua and Song Caixing's room.

"How is Cai Xing?"

"She complained of a headache as soon as she woke up this morning." Song Yinhua touched Song Caixing's forehead. "It's not hot, but she probably caught a chill last night."

Song Yinhua was a little puzzled. She had given Cai Xing the spiritual spring water yesterday, so how could she have caught a cold?

She filled the water tank and well in her house with spring water.

Even the river water they drink is drawn from the water source behind the mountain.

She had previously poured spiritual spring water into the end of the water source deep in the back mountain. That water source connected to the rivers of the entire back mountain, and the rivers of the entire back mountain were then introduced into the large and small rivers and canals of the villages and towns, becoming the domestic water for the surrounding villages.

Logically speaking, everyone's health should be getting better and better.

Song Baogen said angrily, "Big sister, I just heard Mom talk about what happened last night. Grandma Zhou is too bullying!"

"Baogen, don't worry. Grandma Zhou spent three hundred yuan to hire a swindler to exorcise evil spirits and bring good fortune to her granddaughter. Once this gets out, let's see if she can still be so arrogant!"

"Big sister, I was just about to tell you about this!" Song Baogen sat down on the edge of the bed. "I came back too late last night and didn't tell you since you were all asleep, but I've already found out where that swindler lives!"

He's a liar, nicknamed "Wang the Scoundrel."

I live in Wangjia Village.

He was a notorious scoundrel in the village, who made a living by pretending to be a ghost or swindling money and women.

He's 47 years old this year, and he's gotten several women pregnant with his children.

He and his first wife had four children, all of whom are married.

His first wife couldn't stand his philandering, so after their son got married and moved to another village, she moved away with him.

My elderly mother lives alone at home now.

He's never home all year round; he's always out there lying.

Sometimes he would go to one village and stay at the concubine's house for a while, and sometimes he would go to another village and stay at the concubine's house for a while. He would also go to other towns to cheat people.

He recently tricked someone in Stone Village and got her pregnant. She's due to give birth soon, and he's been staying in Stone Village for the past few days.

"His mistress and my girlfriend live in the same village. The news has spread. Wenxiu said that his mistress's parents initially felt ashamed and made a fuss, but Wang the scoundrel gave them a lot of money, and the matter was resolved."

Song Baogen recounted everything he had learned in the past few days.

"Big sister, what should we do next? Should we report him to the authorities and have him arrested?" Song Baogen asked Song Yinhua for her opinion. "He bullied Caixing and deceived so many people. We can't let him continue to live happily!"

"We must report it to the authorities, but we need to get justice for Caixing first."

The siblings were discussing what to do when they heard their mother, Qiao Guilan's, voice coming from outside the room.

"Baogen, what time is it? Aren't you going to work?" Qiao Guilan found her daughter's room. "Mom knew you were staying with your older sister."

Qiao Guilan felt a sense of crisis, as if her precious son was being snatched away by a young woman.

"You're going to be late! Hurry up and get to work!"

"I'll chat with my older sister for a bit more, I won't be late, Mom, you go ahead and do your thing."

"You see your older sister every day, what do you have to talk about now? Go to work!"

Song Yinhua: "Baogen, you go to work first, we'll talk about the rest later, don't be late."

Seeing that his elder sister had spoken, Song Baogen obediently went out.

This made Qiao Guilan very uncomfortable.

She grabbed Song Baogen's ear and pulled him outside, saying, "Aren't you listening to me? I told you we're going to be late, and you're still dawdling here. Hurry up and go!"

"Mom, it hurts, don't pull my ear... Mom, Mom..."

Song Caixing lay on Song Yinhua's lap and said, "Big sister, Mom and second brother have a really good relationship."

“Your second brother is a boy, so he’s a bit different from us. Luckily, Baogen wasn’t spoiled by Mom.” Song Yinhua felt relieved.

In some families in the town that favor sons over daughters, the girls are suppressed beyond recognition, while the sons are spoiled rotten, and the relationships between the brothers and sisters in the family are chaotic.

She was very fortunate that her family didn't have this situation.

-

Song Baogen had just passed by Grandma Zhou's house on his bicycle when Grandma Zhou ran to the intersection and started cursing again.

Not only did they scold him, but they also brought up the story of how Song Erzhuang and his wife brought an old hen to his door to apologize.

Song Erzhuang and his wife explained to her that their fourth child had not been abused and begged her to stop scolding them.

She said that Song Erzhuang and his wife knew that their daughter had become a slut, and they were ashamed, so they begged her not to tell anyone.

Grandma Zhou was extremely proud.

As Song Yinhua passed by, she deliberately spoke louder, praising her granddaughter to the old lady next door for being virtuous and having found a wealthy husband, unlike some people who were considered prostitutes.

Song Yinhua: "Grandma Zhou, I heard you spent three hundred yuan to have that swindler exorcise evil spirits and bring good fortune to your granddaughter? Does your granddaughter's in-laws know about this?"

Grandma Zhou proudly boasted, "My sons are all successful, and they give me a lot of money every year. It's worth it to spend that money on my granddaughter!"

Grandma Zhou glanced at Song Yinhua with disdain, then deliberately chatted loudly with the lady of the house next door, as if afraid that others wouldn't hear her: "Let me tell you, if I hadn't spent these three hundred yuan to ask a master to perform a ritual to bring good fortune to my granddaughter, my granddaughter Baozhu's marriage wouldn't have been possible."

Some people are just not destined to enjoy a good life; they treat these gurus like frauds and deserve to be poor their whole lives!

Song Yinhua glanced at the smug Old Lady Zhou, then picked up her basket and left.

"Who gave you permission to walk on my road?" Old Mrs. Zhou shouted again. "This is my road, and you are not allowed to walk on it anymore!"

Song Yinhua ignored her completely, and Old Lady Zhou angrily cursed, "Shameless! She's out flirting with other men again!"

"Grandma, don't say that. Yinhua isn't married yet. How will she get married if you keep talking like this?" the neighbor's wife advised.

Grandma Zhou: "The fortune teller said that Er Zhuang's eldest daughter, Yin Hua, is destined to be a concubine who seduces men everywhere, and she will do that kind of work in the future!"

"She's been going out every day lately, she must be selling herself!"

"You'd better watch out, she's bewitching your man, that little slut, that whore! Bah!"

The neighbor's wife explained, "Grandma, you can't say things like that! I heard Guilan say that Yinhua went to the back mountain to pick a lot of wild vegetables and dried them."

"Why would she pick wild vegetables? She must be selling them in the back mountain! That girl is a flirtatious woman!" The old lady insisted, as if she had seen it with her own eyes.

"Mom!" the heavily pregnant daughter-in-law called out, looking at the old lady, who was about the same age as her grandmother, with a displeased expression. "Don't talk about that girl like that."

"What girl? A used woman!"

"Mom, please be kind with your words for the sake of my unborn child," the daughter-in-law said angrily.