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

Grandma Yin wholeheartedly agreed with Grandma Wang's words. "I used to be from the countryside, and my husband was from the countryside too. Our family only produced one successful person, my son. Before I came here, besides working in the fields, I also had to take care of my other sons. They were such big boys, but I was too lazy to even look at them at home."

“I earn work points, do housework, and try to help others whenever I have free time, just to earn some food. But my husband and his other sons just stay at home after the autumn harvest, practically needing me to feed them.”

Old Mrs. Wang: "Didn't you say that you only have one son, Asheng? I treat them as if they don't exist, and I've even written a letter severing ties with the village."

Old Mrs. Yin: "Do those other beastly sons even deserve to be my sons?"

Grandma Xia asked curiously, "What about Yin Sheng? Was he like this before?"

When Grandma Yin talked about her son, she was filled with pride. "He's definitely different. If he were to follow his father's wishes, I would rather stay in the village. He's smart. We have many sons, so we have a lot to eat. We used to have a hard life, and there was even a famine. Several of the children almost starved to death, so for a while, he couldn't pay his tuition and was sent back home."

“At that time, I thought to myself, this won’t do. I only have two paths in my life: either rely on those lazybones and work myself to death, or support my son Ah Sheng and maybe I’ll have a chance to live a good life.”

"So I started looking for ways to make a living. I took any job I could find, even low-paying ones. Every little bit helps. But eventually, when we couldn't keep up with the demand and everyone was starving, and there was no money left for me, I... went to sell my blood."

“I wasn’t planning to tell Ah Sheng, but I thought this wasn’t right. I’ve suffered so much, why shouldn’t he know? I want him to know what Mom has sacrificed for him! Otherwise, he’ll think it’s his lazy dad who’s supporting him, and then I’ll be at a huge loss.”

Grandma Xia exclaimed, "Won't your son feel guilty to death? The psychological pressure is too much for him."

Grandma Yin said, "In our rural areas, who doesn't face immense psychological pressure if they can't even handle this much pressure? What's the point of him studying? Why should I work myself to death for him? I'm paving the way for him with my life. He wasn't born in an era where everyone had enough to eat and drink. Back then, people still starved and froze to death!"

Grandma Xia: ...Although it sounds a bit too cruel to the child, I have to admit there's some truth to it.

"Later, he became a proud worker. I knew how hard he had worked to get where he was, and he knew how hard it had been for me. So every time he came back, he would secretly slip me some money."

“My sons who are still earning work points in the fields know that he gives me money and coupons separately, so… they’ve become even lazier. They think I certainly won’t just stand by and watch them starve to death, nor will I just stand by and watch them go unmarried.”

Old Mrs. Xia had a hard time explaining herself. "Your sons don't seem to be very filial either?"

Grandma Yin: "Not to mention my sons, even my husband isn't a hard-working person."

“I hid the money and ate whatever they ate. In the end, because we didn’t work in the fields, we didn’t get any work points, and we didn’t get any money or grain at the end of the year. We finished the grain we had distributed last year, and we didn’t have a single grain of rice left. And my eldest son was getting married, but we couldn’t afford a single penny of the dowry.”

Grandma Xia was surprised that her good friend, who seemed so amiable, could be so decisive in her actions. "And then?"

Seeing their wide eyes and curiosity about what would happen next, Old Mrs. Yin didn't keep them in suspense. "They wanted me to hand over the money Ah Sheng had given me in secret, but I refused. So they resorted to all sorts of tricks. First, my husband said that if I didn't give it to him, I should go back to my parents' house. My parents are both dead, and if my brother and sister-in-law knew that a sister who had been married for many years was coming home, they definitely wouldn't be willing to take me in. That old man knew this and deliberately said those things."

“I just wanted to get out, so I applied to the village for a dilapidated house. Then my man, who deserves to go to the eighteenth level of hell, started causing trouble in front of the brigade leader every day after work. In order to maintain the peace of the village and to calm this man down, the brigade leader refused to approve my application and did not allow anyone else to take me in.”

Old Mrs. Wang was furious when she heard this. These men only knew how to side with men and were completely unreasonable. No matter how unfairly we were treated, they would just try to smooth things over.

Grandma Yin: "Who says otherwise? They say we women are impulsive, but I think they are the ones who are most likely to act on emotion. However, it's also possible that the squeaky wheel gets the grease."

"Later, my old man took me back and continued to ask me for money. My other sons played the victim with me, kneeling on the ground until their heads were bleeding. They even said that once I got married, I could finally enjoy life. I really feel sorry for his future wife."

“I still disagreed, and they wanted to starve me to death at home. They threatened to kill me if I didn’t give them money. Before I starved to death, they were starving and came to my house every day to persuade me.”

“I said yes, but I had to divorce their father and give them all my money. They agreed and released me. After I gave them half the money, they had their fill and then changed their minds.”

"When people in the village heard that I was getting a divorce, the advice they gave me was almost like trying to kill me. It was all about my reputation and telling me to just endure it."

"So after thinking about it, I slaughtered all the extra chickens, ducks and pigs that the brigade was secretly raising overnight, so that they wouldn't even dare to call the police because they were being raised illegally. I didn't even spare the chicks and piglets. After killing them, I roasted one and ate it myself, and threw the rest into the river, so that they wouldn't get a single bone to eat."

Grandma Xia covered her mouth. No wonder she had the best life in her past life. With such ruthlessness, how could she have had a bad life? You really can't judge a book by its cover.

Grandma Wang clapped her hands, "This is so gratifying!"

Grandma Yin smiled bitterly: "What's so gratifying about this? When the villagers saw these animals being killed, they threw stones and clods of dirt at me and called me a scourge. They won't get extra meat for the New Year, so they see me as a class enemy."

“Some people even came up to me and said that their father died last night because I angered him to death, and that I was a murderer.”

Grandma Xia: "This..."

Old Lady Yin laughed, "It's only human nature. I harmed their interests, so naturally they were angry. I was too impulsive; I almost died in the village during that time."

When Grandma Xia thought of Battalion Commander Yu's sister, she gained a deeper understanding of Grandma Yin's situation at that time. It must have been even more difficult for her; she had offended the entire village.