"Don't worry, she's not dead. I was sleeping soundly this morning when she came to my woodshed and started taking off her clothes, claiming I was her lover. Isn't that hilarious? How come she can't even tell the difference between men and women after sleeping? Oh, it scared me! I'm not some street urchin. Why would she take off her clothes for me? Is it because she used to take them off when she was young? I'm telling you, Dad, oh no, Old Man Chen, you're a bit cuckolded. Is Chen Shoujia your biological son? No wonder Shouguo always told me that he and Chen Shoujia don't look alike. Now that I look closely, they really don't look alike."

Yan Xia was just making things up on the spot, but unexpectedly, it hit a nerve with Chen Duoliang.

His face turned gloomy.

When Chen Li was young, she was beautiful and loved to apply makeup. If it weren't for her deceased mother giving her daughter-in-law a severe beating, this old woman would probably still be restless. Looking closely, her eldest son did look different from her younger son. Shouguo had been tall since childhood, just like him, and his skin never darkened no matter how much sun he got. With his thick eyebrows, big eyes, and square face, everyone said that her younger son was handsome. Unlike Shoujia, who was short and dark-skinned all over, he looked almost as old as her at only 36 years old.

Just as he was deep in thought, Chen Shoujia woke up and overheard Yan Xia's words criticizing him. He came out of the main room and shouted angrily at Yan Xia.

"You bastard, you're talking nonsense! Father, don't believe her. Don't you know what kind of person Mother is? She just wants to make our Chen family miserable! That crazy woman! If Mother took off her clothes herself, how could she be covered in bruises? She must have beaten her up. Report it to the authorities! We must report it to the authorities! Jinbao and Yinbao, you two go to town and report it to the authorities right away. We must send that crazy woman to jail! Ugh, my head is killing me. I'm going to make that crazy woman pay for her crimes in blood!"

"Yes, Father."

"Father, are you really going?"

One brother hesitated, while the other quickly agreed.

"What? You saw it with your own eyes? It was clearly your mother who took it off herself. I was afraid her body would taint my eyes, so I had no choice but to knock her unconscious with a firewood stick. Otherwise, I would have gotten a sty. You're trying to blame me for your own mother's ghost possession. You must have done too many bad things and offended some wandering ghost. Why don't we just call a shaman and burn her to death?"

Sure enough, everyone's expression changed at the mention of ghosts and gods.

Although Chen Duoliang had his doubts, he could only swallow his anger because his family couldn't do without Chen Lishi.

"Why report this to the authorities? Family scandals shouldn't be aired in public. Yan is no longer a member of the Chen family. I don't want to hear you mention this again. Yan, have you packed your things? Shouldn't you be leaving?"

"Fine, let's go. I've wanted to leave this awful place for ages." Yan Xia walked away with her head held high and chest puffed out, leading her four children away with an air of nonchalance.

He didn't even turn his head back.

Chen Jinshou, who voluntarily chose to stay, hid in a corner, lost in thought.

"What are you all standing there for? Go to the village entrance and fetch the doctor, then carry your mother inside. Get her dressed first. What a terrible thing to do! Marrying such a troublemaker, she killed my son and now she's ruined our family's life. Thank goodness she's gone, thank goodness! I want to see how she survives. No house, no land, no money, no food, and she still dares to divorce me! You all remember this: if any of those five come back to beg for food, none of you dare to give them a single grain of rice, and you'll be punished according to family rules—"

While they were dealing with the aftermath, the matchmaker and Aunt Zhou quietly slipped out of the main room. They searched for a while and only dared to show themselves after discovering that Yan Xia had left.

"Well done! Is this how the Chen family treats its guests? My arm is injured and my clothes are torn. Pay me back! I won't leave until I have at least three taels of silver!"

"That's right, my plain silver hairpin is bent. You have to pay for it, otherwise I won't help your Chen family with any future matchmaking requests. I'll also tell everyone how awful your Chen family is!"

The two sang in harmony.

In ancient times, the person you absolutely couldn't offend was a matchmaker, because their mouth could make the dead sound alive and the living sound dead.

Helpless, Chen Duoliang had to pay half a tael of silver to each of them in order to save face and send them away.

That's a huge loss.

You should know that the Zhou family gave a dowry of five taels of silver, which is enough for their great-grandson to study in school for several years. Five taels of silver is enough to eat meat every day until you're stuffed for a year.

Chen Duoliang became increasingly angry, so he simply went back to his room and lay down.

On the other side, Yan Xia and her group arrived at the temple, which was overgrown with weeds and had several holes in the roof, as big as bowls. If a heavy rain came, it would be no different from taking a bath.

If we don't stay here, we'll have to sleep on the streets.

There was no other way.

Yan Xia and the children cleaned up the dilapidated temple, then picked up a few planks and pieced them together to make a bed. She placed the planks on the ground to serve as a temporary bed, and directed her youngest daughter to make up the bedding.

Then he reached into the package, pretending to take something out, but actually took out a piece of cured meat from his storage space.

"Guihua, you and Jinlu go to Aunt Zhao's house under the pretense of bringing a clay pot and borrowing a few farm tools. Here, take this piece of cured meat and say it's for her two little grandsons. Tell Aunt Zhao you'll return it to her in seven days at most, understand?"

Yan Xia searched her memories and found that Zhao Xinrong, who lived next door to the Chen family, had helped the original owner a lot in the past. She was generous and kind, and her family was doing well. She was a bit older than the original owner, and the original owner always called her Sister Zhao.

"Yes, Mother, my brother and I will go right away. But, did we take this cured meat from the kitchen? What if Grandpa and Grandma find out?"

Guihua looked at the cured meat in her hand, hesitant to speak. Her grandmother's years of beatings and scoldings had made it difficult for Guihua to change her temperament in a short time. She was filled with worry about what would happen if her mother was caught stealing the cured meat.

"Do you have grandparents? Remember, your grandparents are dead. The Chen family are just strangers. Don't pay any attention to them in the future, understand? Who said this cured meat belongs to their family? I clearly picked it up on the road. Stop arguing and go quickly, or we'll go hungry at noon."

Who is Yan Xia?

Her skin is thicker than a city wall.

They lie without even blushing.

"Mom is amazing, she even managed to pick up a piece of cured meat while walking, hehe. Sister, don't think too much about it, let's go quickly, I'll take the cured meat." Chen Jinlu praised Yan Xia and then took the cured meat from her.

So the two siblings left one after the other.

There were only two people left in the temple.

The eldest son hadn't returned from delivering the village headman yet, the second daughter and third son had gone to borrow things, and the youngest daughter was laying out the bedding. Only Yan Xia was quite relaxed.

She simply put her hands behind her back and went out for a stroll like a leader on an inspection tour.

After all, I'm new here, so I need to get familiar with the environment.

At this moment, she was incredibly grateful that her children were all grown up. If they were only five or six years old, she wouldn't have so much free time. It was truly delightful. Thinking about it this way, apart from being a bit poor, this place was pretty good.