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

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Xiangbei came early in the morning to disturb everyone's sleep, banging on Chen Xianghong's small bed.

Chen Xianghong had dark circles under her eyes and felt very uncomfortable with dryness, but she still got up when she heard the sound and handed the mended clothes to Chen Xiangbei.

Chen Xiangbei immediately put it on, but seeing the dense stitches on the cuffs, he was still somewhat dissatisfied. "Sis, couldn't you have made the stitches a little more discreet? Look, the thread doesn't even match the color of my clothes."

Chen Xianghong yawned. "I'm sorry, Xiangbei, we've run out of that color of thread. There's nowhere to buy it late at night, so we'll have to use something else instead."

Chen Xiangbei: "Never mind, you probably want to see me get a beating from Mom anyway."

After saying that, he went back to his room. Just as Chen Xiangnan had thought yesterday, Chen Xiangbei was not only not grateful, but also got angry at the clothes and even blamed Chen Xianghong, who had kindly helped him mend the clothes.

Yu Qingqing heard Xiang Dong open his eyes as well, "Happy New Year, sister-in-law."

Chen Xianghong forced a smile, "Happy New Year, Qingqing."

“I think heading north… is not right.” Yu Qingqing hesitated for a moment before speaking after seeing Chen Xianghong’s tired face.

Chen Xianghong smiled indifferently, "He's just childish, he'll be fine when he grows up."

Yu Qingqing suddenly said seriously, "I think you're even more wrong."

Chen Xianghong asked in confusion, "What's wrong with me?"

“You’re spoiling him. Yesterday, your second brother and Tang Jiao both refused to help him. If he were really a good brother, your second brother wouldn’t have refused so readily. Only you agreed to his request so easily. You’ve been busy for him all night, and he just gave you a hard time. That’s not right.”

Chen Xianghong still didn't take it to heart. "Qingqing, you've only just come to our family, so you might not know everyone's personality. Xiangbei is a good kid, but he's a bit willful sometimes. He's always been like this since he was little. It's not that he doesn't respect me as his older sister, it's just that he treats me like family, so he doesn't speak to me in a very formal way. Actually, he's very good to me. You don't know, I was almost bullied during a job interview before, and he was the one who saved me."

Yu Qingqing was convinced by Chen Xianghong's confident words. She had experienced an abnormal family of origin and an abnormal life in the countryside. In the years before, apart from her brother being kind to her, everyone else had ulterior motives and malice. She didn't know what a normal family was like.

According to her previous upbringing, Chen Xiangbei's behavior was wrong. But her sister-in-law said it was normal, that Chen Xiangbei was just immature and a little willful towards his family. If this was the normal way siblings interact in a family, Yu Qingqing felt she had been meddling.

After thinking for a moment, she apologized, "I didn't understand the situation. I'm sorry, sister-in-law."

Chen Xianghong shook her head. "It's okay, I know you're just worried about me. Sleep a little longer. My parents won't get up very early today, probably not until noon. It's okay if they get up a little late on the first day of the new year. If you're hungry, go to the table and find some snacks."

Yu Qingqing nodded, "Then I'll go get some. Do you want some, sister-in-law?"

Chen Xianghong: "Could you bring me a bowl of hot water? I'm a little thirsty."

Grandma Xia woke up when she heard the noise, but it was cold and she felt there was no need to get up now. Only the restless children would get up early to set off firecrackers, while the adults were all hiding in their blankets.

Therefore, she had no idea what had happened between the children.

As noon approached, everyone slowed down, and when they came out of their rooms, they would greet everyone with "Happy New Year."

Just like last night, the children were busily gathered in the kitchen cooking together. Grandma Xia took out three red envelopes for Chen Lingling and Chen Xiangbei, one a child and the other a student. They were supposed to receive red envelopes before getting married. Two would have been enough, but this year Yu Qingqing was included, so Grandma Xia hurriedly asked someone to share a red envelope with the money.

We'll be family from now on, and since we're at her house, it's not good to make the child feel like an outsider.

As for the others, there were none at all.

Chen Xiangbei returned from playing, covered in sweat. When he came back, Chen Xiangnan had just served the last dish. Everyone was here, and the dishes were all ready.

Before eating, the children wished Grandma Xia and Old Man Chen a Happy New Year, saying many auspicious words. Chen Lingling and Yu Qingqing successfully received red envelopes.

Yu Qingqing didn't want to accept it. She was already embarrassed to live here with her brother, so how could she dare to accept Grandma Xia's red envelope? But Grandma Xia's attitude was firm, so Yu Qingqing had no choice but to accept it with tears in her eyes.

When it was Chen Xiangbei's turn, he had already extended his hand. "Mom, I wish you all the best, and that this year will be even better than last year."

Grandma Xia looked at her third son, who was covered in dirt, sweat, and red firecracker debris in his hair. There was a black stain on his face that he didn't seem to notice. His clothes were covered in patches, and the sweater he was wearing wasn't made by her.

He didn't seem to be celebrating the New Year; rather, he looked like he'd returned from a war, like a homeless person.

No swearing, absolutely no swearing on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Grandma Xia kept telling herself that she had to do it for the sake of her children and for the good luck of the whole year. In any case, she couldn't swear.

But although she stopped cursing, she didn't want to give out the red envelopes anymore. The thought of giving her New Year's money to her slovenly son made Old Mrs. Xia feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Everything is going smoothly. With him around, she can't have anything going smoothly at all," Old Mrs. Xia thought to herself.

Seeing that his mother was slow to give him New Year's money, Chen Xiangbei became anxious. He clearly saw Grandma Xia pull her hand back slightly after taking out the red envelope.

Although he didn't know what his mother was thinking, he absolutely couldn't lose the New Year's money. He stood up, snatched the red envelope from her hand, and said with a grin, "Thank you, Mom. Thank you, Dad."

He stuffed the red envelope into his pocket, picked up his chopsticks and was about to eat, but then he remembered that his parents hadn't started eating yet, so he put them down again. "Dad, Mom, hurry up and eat. I've made plans to go out with Dahe later."

Grandma Xia took a deep breath and silently repeated several times that she shouldn't get angry before saying, "Let's eat."

The food today was excellent; everyone even got a bowl of egg fried rice – it was truly luxurious.

Chen Xiangbei ate frantically, slurping and munching away, his hands moving so fast he was practically a starving ghost reincarnated.

Even Old Chen couldn't stand it anymore. He cleared his throat strategically, suppressing his urge to scold him, and said, "Third brother, eat slowly."

Chen Xiangbei didn't even look at Old Chen's expression. "I can't slow down. I'm in a hurry. Our family eats too late. I'm going to be late."

As he finished his last bite, the hole in the chest of his cotton-padded jacket, which had just been patched, came undone. He put down his chopsticks, frowned, and complained to Chen Xianghong, "Sister, no matter what, you can't cut corners. It's already come undone before I've even worn it much."