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

"Mom, what are you, an old lady, trying to do by hogging this job? Can't you think about me for once?" Chen Xiangnan said with a bitter face. He really needed this job, but he didn't know what was going on. After his mother had a fight with his older brother's family, she wouldn't give it to him anymore.

Could it be because he didn't help her argue?

"Mom, after you give me the job, I'll listen to you in everything. If I ever argue with my older brother again, I'll definitely side with you, okay?"

Grandma Xia couldn't understand why her second son insisted on her working. If he had the time to pester her, he could have figured out a way to get himself arrested long ago. She knew that some of his cronies were quite capable.

In their past lives, some factories went bankrupt, and others ceased operations, causing the eldest son to nearly turn his hair white with worry. But the second son, in the blink of an eye, partnered with someone to take over the factory, making a fortune in those years. It was only later that the partners quarreled, and in the end, the factory could no longer operate, resulting in significant financial losses.

Otherwise, the second son's family wouldn't have ended up living in the same place as the eldest son's family when she died.

Grandma Xia: "No way. You're married now, you don't need a job to save face, nor do you need a job to avoid being sent to the countryside. You don't hand over your meager temporary worker wages, nor do you support your wife and children. What do you need a job for?"

Chen Xiangnan: "Mom, I also want to study hard, support my wife and children, and be filial to you and Dad."

Grandma Xia: "Use my job to support my wife and children, and to take care of me and your father?"

Seeing that he couldn't reason with his own mother, Chen Xiangnan became furious and said, "Mom, if you don't give it to me, I won't come to see you when you and Dad get old."

Old Chen was getting restless. They worked hard all their lives to earn money, just so their children would be filial to them.

"Old woman, why don't you just give him the job? You've been arguing all day, haven't you?

Old Mrs. Xia, hands on her hips, cursed, "You old fool, if you want to be a good father, then do your own job and stop staring at mine. When I'm old, I'll have a pension and won't have to beg these ungrateful wretches for money. That's what a happy life is like. If I really give him my job, he might say nice things now, but who knows when he'll start to look down on me for being useless."

Old Chen: "This is our own son, how could he do such a despicable thing?"

Chen Xiangnan nodded, "Mom, I'm not that kind of person."

Grandma Xia: You were this kind of person in your past life. I've learned my lesson once, and I'm sure I'll never do it again.

"Tell your dad to give you his job. If you want me to work, you'll have to wait until I'm dead." Old Mrs. Xia made her decision absolutely.

Old Chen was furious. "I'm in the middle of a promotion, how can I give up my job? Besides, my salary is twice yours. If I give my job to my second son, who will support the family? Your meager salary isn't enough to subsidize them all!"

Grandma Xia curled her lips and said, "I will not give them a single penny of subsidies in the future. I am telling you right now that everyone has to give me five yuan for household expenses from now on, calculated per person. Otherwise, not only will you not have food to eat, but you can also leave this place."

Old Chen was shocked: "You want to split the family property?"

Grandma Xia: "Dividing the family property? What are my parents dividing the family property for? I'm going to kick them all out. They're all married but still living at home, not contributing a single penny and even sponging off their parents. People will laugh at us if they tell anyone."

Chen Xiangdong was initially secretly pleased when he heard that his mother wouldn't give the job to his second son. He thought it was because his family had made a scene and his mother was worried about him and Wenying, so she stopped giving him the job. But when he heard what happened next, he was dumbfounded.

What do you mean? You want to drive them all away?

"What kind of mother are you?" Chen Xiangdong slammed his hand on the table. "No one in our compound does things like you."

Old Mrs. Xia glared angrily, "Is this how things are done? Go and find out how much your Aunt Yin's household expenses are, and how much your Aunt Wang's children hand over each month."

Seeing their indignant expressions, she continued, "Your Aunt Yin wants each of her working children to contribute ten yuan for household expenses, your Aunt Wang wants half of their monthly wages, and your Uncle Ma's family, after all their wages are handed over, will each receive ten yuan as pocket money."

"You say I don't do things this way? Fine, tell me whose family you want to follow, and I'll listen to you. Oh, right, there's also your father-in-law's family, who doesn't do anything right. Not only do they hand over everyone's salary, but they only give each family ten yuan for pocket money. It's even more outrageous than your Uncle Ma's family."

"How about I do it the way your father-in-law's family does? You like them so much, always telling me how great they are, why don't we do it the same way?"

Chen Xiangdong wanted to argue, but what his mother said was all true, and he didn't know what to say. Before, his parents were the best parents in the compound; not only did they not have to hand over their salaries, but they would also secretly subsidize them. Even now, though his mother seemed almost driven mad with anger, the amount they were asked to contribute to household expenses was the lowest in the entire compound.

He couldn't even come up with a reason why he didn't want to hand it in.

Seeing that the matter was really settled, Chen Xiangnan knew that his mother's job would definitely not fall into his hands. He sighed and said, "Mom, where would I get so much money to give you? My wife doesn't have a job, my daughter is still so young, and I only earn twenty yuan a month. I'm a temporary worker with no benefits or year-end bonus. How can I afford to pay for it?"

Grandma Xia felt that he just didn't want to work hard. If he put his mind to making money, with his intelligence, how could he not make money?

Unlike the eldest brother, who was stubborn and couldn't think of anything other than going to work, the second brother clearly didn't want to do anything, was too lazy to do anything, and just wanted to go out and play.

Old Mrs. Xia scolded without holding back, "A grown man who can't even support his wife has the nerve to come home and call me a servant. If you can't afford it, go find some other work. You can carry heavy loads at the docks, paste matchboxes, carry gas cylinders, or even beg for food. I can tell you're not all that muscular for nothing; manual labor pays quite well, enough for your household expenses for a year."

Chen Xiangnan's eyes widened. He was a high school student, going to do manual labor?

Doesn't he have any pride? If his friends found out, they'd laugh themselves to death.

He looked unhappy.

Grandma Xia didn't care whether he liked it or not; if he didn't pay, he was kicked out. He was already whining over five yuan; if he were like everyone else in the compound, they'd be making a huge fuss.

Chen Xiangnan was sulking, but seeing that it was completely dark and his wife still hadn't returned, he felt very strange. "Mom, where are Chunmiao and Lingling?"

Grandma Xia was speechless. She had only arrived home a little earlier than them, so how would she know where his wife and children were?

"Go ask the neighbor next door, how would I know?"

Chen Xiangnan was even more annoyed and didn't want to pay anymore. He wasn't a family man, and now that he was hungry, he simply ignored it and went out to eat.

Aren't state-run restaurants better than his mother's cooking?