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

After a lively New Year's Eve dinner, Grandma Xia and her husband went to bed. They had drunk some wine, and being older, their bodies weren't as strong as younger people's, so they didn't stay up to welcome the New Year.

Chen Lingling, the youngest child in the family, is now sleeping with her grandparents. The large living room is now empty except for a few young people chatting and joking around.

After chatting for a while, Chen Xiangbei suddenly walked to the door of Grandma Xia's room and pressed his ear against their door. After so long, there was no sound coming from inside; they must be asleep.

He took a deep breath and suddenly rushed into his room.

The people outside the door had no idea what this person was up to this time; he was acting all mysterious, like he was doing underground work.

Soon, Chen Xiangbei took out his new cotton-padded coat and new sweater from his room and pitifully begged his older brothers and sisters to save him.

"My clothes are torn, what should I do? No matter how I sew them, the tear is still visible." He showed the torn part of his cotton-padded jacket on the table, with his crooked and clumsy sewing marks on it.

"Mom told me hundreds of times not to wear this cotton-padded coat before, but I couldn't resist, and then this happened." Chen Xiangbei said with a mournful face. Although he was emotional and scared, he spoke very softly, afraid of waking up the sleeping Grandma Xia.

He had a premonition that if he went out wearing this tomorrow, even on the first day of the Lunar New Year, he wouldn't be able to save himself.

"Second brother, sister, brother-in-law, can you help me think of a solution?"

Chen Xiangnan pointed at himself and said, "You expect me to be able to sew?"

Chen Xiangbei immediately turned away from him and stared pitifully at Chen Xianghong, "Sister, you're the best, you can definitely help me, right?"

Chen Xianghong picked up the cotton-padded coat first, looked at the obvious tear that ran across the entire back, and said sadly, "Even if I mend it for you, the mark is still very obvious. Third brother, I will mourn for you."

Chen Xiangbei seemed to have all his strength drained away, his eyes lifeless. "I'm doomed, I'm doomed."

Yu Hongzhen also picked up the cotton-padded coat, completely baffled, "What did you do to make the clothes look like this?"

Chen Xiangbei's eyes darted away. "I fell while climbing the wall to watch the fun, then I hit someone and got into a fight with them."

Yu Hongzhen then pointed to the cuffs and said, "These sleeves are worn out like this, are they from fighting?"

Chen Xiangbei pulled a handful of marbles from his pants pocket. "The cuffs must have been worn down from playing marbles on the ground."

Yu Hongzhen was greatly shocked. "How old are you? People who are five or six years old play this game."

Chen Xiangbei held his head high and said, "I only won so much because I was playing with kids. I can't beat the adults."

Yu Hongzhen: ...I don't know what he's so proud of. He can bully kids and still talk about it so confidently.

On the other side, Chen Xiangnan also picked up his sweater with two fingers, looking very disgusted, "How long have you been secretly wearing it? It's pilled like this?"

Chen Xiangbei chuckled and said, "I put it on as soon as Mom made it for me. It was still autumn then, and this was warm enough on its own. In winter, I could wear it underneath. I would wear it whenever Mom went to work, and change into the old one when I got home before she got off work."

Chen Xiangnan: "Why don't you wear the old ones?"

Chen Xiangbei paused for a moment, then went back inside and took out an old sweater.

He pointed to the messy sweater, and when they unfolded it, they realized that the sweater looked like it had been bombarded; in some places the yarn was sparse, and in others the yarn was tangled.

Even Xiao Ma, a mentally ill man who often goes crazy, is dressed cleaner and more properly than him.

Chen Xiangnan didn't even want to touch it, and before he could even speak, he told him to take it back immediately.

Yu Hongzhen swallowed hard. He was reluctant to share a room with Chen Xiangbei anymore; it was too sloppy. "Comrade Chen Xiangnan, may I share a room with you?"

Chen Xiangbei threw the old clothes back, then pitifully held the tattered new clothes, saying, "What should I do? I don't want to get beaten."

Seeing him like this, everyone felt he deserved it, but they couldn't just stand by and watch him die.

Chen Xianghong suddenly said, "I remember Dad wore a similar cotton-padded jacket last year. He has new clothes this year, otherwise..."

Chen Xiangbei shook his head. "I know that one. I went to his closet this afternoon and looked for it, but I couldn't find it after searching for a long time. In the end, I even got beaten up."

Chen Xiangnan: "Who told you to try on his new clothes for so long? I think you completely forgot to look for clothes and were just admiring yourself."

Chen Xiangbei pouted, "Don't scold me yet, Second Brother, you're the smartest, think of a way for me. How about I go steal it again?"

Chen Xiangnan: ......

Yu Hongzhen: "Stealing is wrong."

Chen Xiangbei: "So you're just going to watch me get beaten up? Whatever, let's take a gamble."

He pulled out a wire from somewhere, fiddled with it for a bit, and opened Old Lady Xia's room. He tiptoed in, but was grabbed by the back of his collar and pulled out.

He looked back, bewildered. "Brother-in-law, what are you doing?"

Yu Hongzhen hesitated for a moment, then said, "What you're doing is illegal, you know that?"

Chen Xiangbei said irritably, "What law can a family break? If you want to show off, go do it in your army. We don't do that kind of thing in our family."

Seeing that the two were about to argue, Chen Xianghong immediately said, "I remember that my second brother has an old sweater that looks a lot like this. Why don't we take it out and use it to tide us over?"

Chen Xiangnan: ...Chen Xianghong, you're so high and mighty. You used my things to shut up Chen Xiangbei for your man.

He was very unhappy. After Chen Xiangbei had worn the clothes, how could he still wear them?

Faced with Chen Xiangbei's tearful face, Chen Xiangnan couldn't bring himself to refuse. After a moment of stalemate, Tang Jiao said, "Fine, let's lend it to Xiangbei for now, just in case."

Not wanting to offend his wife, Chen Xiangbei nodded in agreement with a dark face.

Chen Xiangbei immediately showered his second brother with gratitude, showering him with compliments. Chen Xiangnan, not wanting to listen to his nonsense, went straight into the house, only to find Chen Xiangbei following him in.

He was rummaging through his clothes, completely unaware of Chen Xiangbei's gleaming eyes.

"Second brother, give this one to me."

"Second brother, I think this one is nice too. It looks similar to my new cotton-padded coat. Can I borrow it?"

"Second brother, can I borrow this hat for a moment?"

"Second brother, you've kept these shoes so well, they've been here for years, can I borrow them too?"

"Second brother..."

Chen Xiangbei felt like a mouse in a rice bin, looking at each piece of clothing and thinking they were perfect, really wanting to take them all to his room. He couldn't understand why, even though everyone made the same number of clothes every year, all his clothes were tattered and worn, while his second brother's clothes were all neat and tidy, looking brand new except for some fading.

Chen Xiangbei's mind suddenly opened up. If his second brother were a woman, he would definitely be the most virtuous woman in the entire compound.