She won't clear her name; she'll throw away all the scum.

When she got home, Old Mrs. Wang and the other neighbors gathered around, gossiping, and asked her what was going on. Old Mrs. Xia smiled politely, said nothing was wrong, and went inside. She didn't care what they thought. Anyway, her eldest son and daughter-in-law were no good; more accurately, none of her sons and daughters-in-law were good people.

After all, anyone with a modicum of humanity would not allow an elderly person to come in and have a drink of hot water in the dead of winter.

That winter was really cold.

As soon as Grandma Xia entered the house, she saw her third son with a dark face.

"Mom, where have you all gone? I'm starving!" Chen Xiangbei complained, sitting on a stool.

"None of you are here, not even my second sister-in-law who stays home all the time. There's no one in the house, and you didn't even leave me any money. Are you trying to starve me to death?"

Grandma Xia: "Didn't I give you money a few days ago? It's only been a few days, you didn't use it all up, did you?"

Chen Xiangbei: "Mom, what do you mean? I'm still growing, I eat a lot, so of course money is spent quickly."

Grandma Xia: "You spent ten yuan in just three days?"

Chen Xiangbei replied matter-of-factly, "Yes, so what?"

Grandma Xia: "Our family only spends ten yuan a week on groceries, which is enough to eat very well. Are you eating dragon meat? How can you spend so much?"

Chen Xiangbei: "Mom, aren't you annoying? Give me the money, our school needs to buy study materials."

Grandma Xia: "Buying study materials? You need to buy study materials again? What kind of study materials does your school have so many of?"

Chen Xiangbei kicked his schoolbag open. "How should I know? The teacher wants it. Are you going to give it to me or not? If you don't, I'm never going to school again."

Grandma Xia: "Of course I'll give it to you. I'll go to the school tomorrow and give it to your teacher in person."

Chen Xiangbei immediately felt guilty. Where did he get any information? He just wanted money to play. "Mom, if you go to the teachers, what will they think of me? How will I study?"

Grandma Xia: "Even if I don't go looking for you, your grades are terrible. When your sister was in school, she only paid a few dollars a semester for tuition and other fees, nothing else, and she was still at the top of her class."

Chen Xiangbei roared, "What good is it if she gets good grades? She's still just a girl and will get married sooner or later. That's why you rushed to send her to the countryside. What makes her think she can compare to me?"

Grandma Xia: "I have so many sons, why should I have to raise you?"

Chen Xiangbei: "Ahhh, are you going to give me the money or not?"

Grandma Xia took a sip of tea. "No."

Chen Xiangbei shoved Grandma Xia away and ran out, shouting, "I hate you! I'm never coming home again!"

Old Chen and Old Lady Xia left the Zhu family's house together, but Old Chen returned a little later than her. Old Lady Xia stared intently at him, as if they were about to argue again.

Old Chen touched his nose, then turned and went to the kitchen to pour himself some water.

"From now on, you'll hand over every penny of your salary to me." Old Mrs. Xia said this suddenly as she stood outside the door.

Old Chen was naturally unhappy. Why should he give her all the money he earned? "No way! I need to spend money too. I've already given you half. Aren't you satisfied?"

Grandma Xia: "What money do you want to spend? I pay for the fabric to make your clothes for spring, summer, autumn and winter. I pay for the groceries to cook your three meals a day. I pay for the medical treatment when family members are sick. I pay for the social obligations to relatives and friends. Tell me, where did your half of the money go?"

Old Chen: "Can't I just keep it?"

Grandma Xia: "Where is it stored? How much is stored? Let me see it."

Old Chen clenched his fist. He had no money; he'd spent it all.

Grandma Xia: "Could it be in Widow Huang's hands? She told me a few days ago that she had a Dacron shirt made. The pattern and the quality are something I've never worn in my life."

Old Chen looked up at her. She was wearing a gray-green dress that he had worn for several years, and some parts were worn faded. He had new clothes to wear all year round, but Xia Yue'e seemed to have not made herself any clothes in a long time.

Thinking of this, Old Chen felt a little guilty. But Widow Huang was also pitiful; she was raising two children alone, surviving by pasting matchboxes. How could a widow support two grown children? Old Chen felt he hadn't done anything wrong; he was doing a good deed.

Old Mrs. Xia pointed at the door and cursed, "If that widow Huang really couldn't survive, would she have money to buy cloth and make clothes? Her two sons are dressed better than the children in our family with four workers."

"Do you know how much that Dacron shirt of hers costs? 14 yuan. Her two sons each have one, so that's 42 yuan for three shirts, and you need cloth coupons. Even you wouldn't wear those clothes, but they can afford three of them. And those little leather shoes she's wearing, 7 yuan and 5 jiao. Do you think they can afford them with the money she earns and the money you subsidize them?"

Old Chen shook his head dumbly. He never cared about the prices of fabrics or goods from the supply and marketing cooperative; Grandma Xia took care of those. He just needed to have clothes to wear and food to eat. But after being calculated like this, he realized something was wrong.

"Is she that rich?" Old Chen asked.

Old Mrs. Xia: "She might not earn that much money, but if there are a few more suckers like you, wouldn't that make her rich? Or a few more men who're after her for something..."

Old Chen finally understood what Old Lady Xia meant and immediately swore, "I really have nothing to do with him. I'm already several years old, and I even have grandchildren. Besides, this is a crucial period for my promotion, so I can't possibly mess around."

Grandma Xia believed this to be true; in her past life, until Old Chen died, she never noticed him being intimate with other women. However, perhaps she simply hadn't noticed.

As a result, Old Mrs. Xia looked at him with increasing suspicion.

Old Chen: "Don't you know who I am after all these years?"

Grandma Xia: "So you're handing over your entire salary? Anyway, you don't keep that little bit of money for yourself or at home, so what are you going to do with it?"

Old Chen: "Then I should at least treat the people from the factory to a meal or something, right?"

Grandma Xia: "Then tell me in advance, and I'll give you the money."

Seeing that Old Mrs. Xia wouldn't budge, and fearing she might suspect him of having an affair, or that she might suddenly get angry and hit him, Old Chen had no choice but to agree. Although he sometimes bossed Old Mrs. Xia around, he never beat his wife. Besides, what she said wasn't wrong; he really didn't have anything to spend money on.

He gave all his money to Old Lady Xia, and in the end, he managed to keep a monthly allowance of five yuan to buy cigarettes for his colleagues at the factory. He himself didn't smoke; he preferred heavy smokers.

Having settled things with Old Chen, Grandma Xia started cooking as it got dark. In her past life, she'd been so stingy that all her money ended up in the pockets of those ungrateful bastards, and she hadn't enjoyed a single bit of happiness. Now that she was reborn, she was determined to treat herself better.