She was quite pleased with herself during this time, since she could move into a sturdy house without much effort, and the village chief's wife, who used to look down on her, had been casting envious glances at her several times these days.

But her smugness only lasted a short while. After all, the whole house was empty, and after staying there for the past few days, she became increasingly dissatisfied.

Since a house has already been prepared, why not prepare all the furniture and food supplies inside? That's why she made this special trip.

Si Cheng interrupted her thoughts coldly, "No matter how much trouble you cause here, you won't get a single penny of what isn't yours. Instead of wasting your energy here, you'd be better off going with the others to find more food."

Gao Shuzhen looked at Si Cheng with a wronged expression, "Xiao Cheng, can you really bear to watch your own mother starve to the bone while feeding other people's parents until they are plump and fat?"

After saying this, he deliberately glanced at Yun Zhiming.

Yun Zhiming touched his slightly protruding belly, looked up at the sky speechlessly, and thought to himself that he should eat less in the future and tell Xiao Qi not to secretly stuff him with late-night snacks.

At this point, he completely forgot that he was a heavy drinker and kept secretly asking his daughter for snacks to go with his drinks.

The second grandfather looked his nephew up and down. It seemed that the boy had gained some weight recently. It looked like he should exercise more in the future, otherwise he might develop high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar, which was not good at the moment. There were no medicines available to treat or alleviate these conditions.

Si Cheng also noticed his father-in-law's subtle actions, and the anger in his heart dissipated a little. "You only see other people's lives, but you don't think about how much you've sacrificed. Do you think I don't know what you've been doing here in Gaojia Village?"

"No matter what, I can't work anymore, so you have to support me in my old age," Gao Shuzhen said, defiantly.

"Wow, after all these years, your skin has gotten much thicker than before." Si Cheng was interrupted by Si Zhengwei before he could even speak.

Si Zhengwei happened to come over to ask Liu Fengya if Huang Yun should have his dressing changed again. He had just entered the village when he heard the news that Gao Shuzhen had come to cause trouble. Fearing that Si Cheng would suffer, he rushed over.

Looking at the unfamiliar middle-aged woman in front of him, she was nothing like the proud and sophisticated ex-wife he remembered.

Si Zhengwei's scrutinizing gaze nearly drove Gao Shuzhen to the brink of collapse. She knew that her current appearance was truly appalling, indistinguishable from that of a wretched old woman from the countryside.

Although the other person was also quite old, his appearance matched his age, and the confidence he exuded made her feel even more inferior.

Looking at his ex-wife with her head bowed, Si Zhengwei didn't think the matter was over. "Ms. Gao, have you forgotten our previous agreement? Do you need me to bring that agreement out again?"

Gao Shuzhen was stunned and looked up at him. "You still have it?"

Si Zhengwei said, "Why can't we keep it? Besides, I was just about to hand it over to Acheng. I can't let him waste his efforts on people who don't deserve it."

"So what if she's not worth it? After all, she's my own flesh and blood. How good do you think you are to her?" Gao Shuzhen retorted, not to be outdone.

Si Zhengwei said, "That's why I know my place. At least I don't dare to make any demands. We still have hands and feet. We can't just leech off our son, can we? Besides, it seems you have more than one son, Acheng?"

Kao Shu-chen said, "His abilities are so good that his younger brother can't compare to him. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to him."

"I advise you to give up on finding A-Cheng. Otherwise, once I bring out our agreement, even your retirement agreement might be canceled," Si Zhengwei threatened, seeing that she was still so stubborn.

Gao Shuzhen's eyes darted away, and she didn't even dare to look at Si Cheng. The agreement that Yun Qi had mentioned earlier was only a small part of the content, and there were still some parts that Si Cheng himself might not know.

Yun Qi looked back and forth between the two of them, observing Gao Shuzhen's unnatural expression thoughtfully.

Seeing this, Si Cheng became even more indifferent. Regardless of what had happened between the two of them before, the harm he had suffered over the years had already occurred, and he didn't want to delve into the details.

"Go back! There's nothing for you here anymore." After saying this, Si Cheng ignored his two biological parents outside, grabbed Yun Qi, and turned to leave.

He knew that with Si Zhengwei present, Gao Shuzhen couldn't cause any trouble. From their expressions, he knew Gao Shuzhen would be more restrained in the future, and that was enough.

"Si Zhengwei, can't we just stop talking about the past? I was a bit too harsh before, but so many years have passed. If it weren't for this damned world, we might never have seen each other again." Gao Shuzhen saw that everyone had left, leaving only herself and her ex-husband, and tried to persuade Si Zhengwei not to bring up the past anymore.

“I can’t forgive you no matter what. I will never forget that you abandoned your husband and children for another man. You have stained my life.” Even now, when Si Zhengwei recalls that time, he feels that the stain on his hair can never be wiped away, and his expression becomes ferocious.

If Si Cheng hadn't looked exactly like her since childhood, she wouldn't have insisted on keeping him there and refused to let Gao Shuzhen take him away, even at a great cost.

However, he didn't let Gao Shuzhen get away with it. Although those things were lost, it didn't stop him from taking them out to scare Gao Shuzhen.

When Gao Shuzhen saw his狰狞 (zhengning, meaning ferocious or hideous) face as he recalled the past, she was too frightened to say anything. With her current small and thin body, she could not withstand a punch from him.

She felt that Si Zhengwei wouldn't have laid a hand on her before because it was illegal to do so, but now he no longer had that concern.

Si Zhengwei composed himself. "Anyway, I'm warning you, you'd better not come looking for Acheng again unless it's absolutely necessary. We've already wronged him enough. If you cause him any more trouble, I won't let you off easy."

Gao Shuzhen seemed to have caught him red-handed when she heard his words. "Your second wife caused Sicheng a lot of trouble since she was a child, but now he takes good care of you. Otherwise, would you have the life you have now? Since we're both in the same boat, let's not bring up the past anymore."

Si Zhengwei wasn't so easily fooled. "We're not the same. At least I've taken on the responsibilities of a father, while you've been using him as a bargaining chip to negotiate with me, and now you want to leech off him."

Seeing that Gao Shuzhen was still unconvinced and trying to use her seniority to subdue Si Cheng, he leaned closer to her and lowered his voice, "I don't mind taking that confession you wrote before and the agreement to give up all responsibility for raising and supporting you to the elders in Gaojia Village. I believe they don't want to ruin the reputation of the whole village because of you, this rotten apple."

Although it is now the end times, the deep-rooted clan mentality in rural areas is still firmly ingrained, which is one of the reasons why they continue to take in Gao Shuzhen and her son.