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

At the dinner table, Grandma Xia put down her chopsticks and asked him, "What do you mean?"

Chen Xiangbei exclaimed loudly, "Yesterday I asked my sister to help me sew some clothes, but it was better if she hadn't helped at all. Mom, look, what kind of woman can't even mend clothes properly?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Hongzhen suddenly recalled Chen Xiangnan's actions from the previous night. He first refused Chen Xiangbei's request for his clothes, then pulled Tang Jiao behind him, and finally glanced at him.

Yu Hongzhen couldn't eat anymore. Was this whole series of moves just for show?

He knew what kind of person Chen Xiangbei was, so he didn't let Tang Jiao sympathize with him too much. And that look she gave him... was it because she looked down on him? Did she think that he, as Chen Xianghong's future husband, couldn't even stop this kind of thing?

Yu Hongzhen belatedly realized that he had been mocked.

Chen Xianghong didn't feel anything special. Since returning from the countryside, she hadn't stayed at home for very long. She had heard Chen Xiangbei speak in this tone countless times since she was a child, though she usually spoke to her mother in the past.

"Then take it off, and I'll sew it up for you again." Chen Xianghong put down his chopsticks, looking as eager as if he would die if she didn't mend his clothes for him later.

Chen Xiangbei was still grumbling, "I ate so fast because I wanted to go out and play sooner. I had already made plans with people, and now this has happened. I might as well have eaten slower."

Chen Xianghong took out a needle and thread and comforted her, "It'll be quick, just a little bit, it'll be done soon."

Chen Xiangbei: "Then you should be more careful this time. Also check if other parts are secure. If I play with it for a long time and it comes loose again, people will laugh at me to death."

Chen Xianghong: "Okay, I'll take a look."

He angrily made Chen Xianghong sew his clothes, then sat down again, picked up his chopsticks, and prepared to eat some more.

Old Chen sat next to Old Lady Xia and could feel her trembling. He said in a low voice, "It's the New Year, it's the New Year... Don't be angry. It's a willing exchange, why are you angry?"

Grandma Xia: ...It's the Lunar New Year, and she didn't want to scold anyone because she hoped the new day would go smoothly for everyone.

But things are different now. She's furious. If she doesn't vent her anger today, she'll be brooding like this for the whole new year. It's better to let it all out today and feel better. If she's happy on the first day of the new year, the whole year will be happy for her.

As for whether Chen Xiangbei will be beaten on the first day of the new year and continue to be beaten throughout the year, that's his business. Old Mrs. Xia doesn't care whether he has a smooth year or not; anyway, if he doesn't, it's his own fault.

After she finished speaking, she immediately threw down her chopsticks.

Chen Xiangbei had just reached for some food when he was so frightened that he instinctively covered his head. But then he thought, "It's the first day of the Lunar New Year. I just received my lucky money. No parent would hit their child on the first day of the Lunar New Year. What am I afraid of?"

Moreover, he didn't do anything wrong today, so he has nothing to be afraid of.

Not only was he no longer afraid, but he also yelled at Grandma Xia, "Mom, what are you doing? You scared me, it's the New Year!"

He raised his voice on the words "It's the New Year," trying to remind Grandma Xia what day it was.

Grandma Xia: "It's the Lunar New Year, you know it's the Lunar New Year, today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, everyone is doing well, even Lingling, a little girl, eats cleanly and doesn't cause anyone any trouble, but you, why do you talk so much?"

Chen Xiangbei shouted, "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with me? I've been more obedient than anyone else lately, so why are you criticizing me?"

Grandma Xia pointed to the sweater he was wearing, "This sweater is from a few years ago, the one I made for you is new."

Chen Xiangbei: "I just want to wear my second brother's sweater today, so what?"

Grandma Xia: "I'm asking you, where's the sweater?"

Chen Xiangbei felt a pang of guilt and resented Chen Xianghong even more. If she hadn't sewed it poorly, he wouldn't have had to take off his clothes in front of his mother. If he hadn't taken off his clothes, his mother wouldn't have noticed the sweater he was wearing. But he still had to answer Grandma Xia's question. He said in a fierce but weak voice, "What do you care where my clothes are? What do you want?"

Old Mrs. Xia: "What do I want to do? I want to settle accounts with you!"

Chen Xiangbei: "Why are you trying to settle accounts with me? I was just eating peacefully, and you started cursing at me. If you want to settle accounts with me, I'll settle accounts with you too."

Grandma Xia snatched the cotton-padded jacket that Chen Xianghong was about to sew and held it in front of Chen Xiangbei. "This cotton-padded jacket, is it newly made? What did I tell you? Didn't I say that new clothes are only for the New Year? Today is the first day of the New Year, and your clothes are already like this?"

Chen Xiangbei: 'Clothes are meant to be worn, right? If the clothes you made for me weren't of such poor quality, tearing after just a few days and becoming unwearable after a while, why would I be wearing new clothes so early? What right do you have to blame me?'

Old Chen winked at his third son, signaling him to stop talking. He knew Old Lady Xia was only scolding him; if he continued, she might hit him. Old Chen sat behind Old Lady Xia, and he could clearly see her fist hardening.

If Chen Xiangbei could read between the lines, he wouldn't be Chen Xiangbei.

He argued with Grandma Xia, and the more he talked, the more he felt he was right. He felt that his mother was biased. Everyone else's clothes were fine after several years, so why were his clothes so tattered?

It must be that his mother used bad fabric to make his clothes. Just because he was the youngest child, all the resources were taken by the older children, and he was left with only bad fabric to make his clothes.

So he said loudly, "You're being biased! You used good fabric for them, but you used bad fabric for me. Their clothes are all fine, but mine are bad. I'm not happy about it."

Upon hearing this, everyone felt that Chen Xiangbei was truly out of his mind. Today, all the children, including Old Chen and Old Lady Xia, except for the two guests, Yu Hongzhen and Yu Qingqing, wore cotton-padded jackets of the same material. Apart from the color of the fabric, the style and materials were identical. If there was any difference, it was probably that Chen Lingling used a little less fabric.

Anyone with eyes can see that, yet Chen Xiangbei still has the audacity to say that Old Lady Xia is biased, which is utterly unreasonable.

To avoid bloodshed on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Old Chen knew what he had to do.

He stood up, no longer sitting there like a big shot eating and watching the show. "Xiang Bei, aren't you hurting your mother's feelings with what you're saying? These clothes are the same for everyone. When they were finished, the three of us put the men's clothes together, and you picked first. I picked the leftovers. Don't you know that we were treated differently? You kid, apologize to your mother right now."

Chen Xiangbei: "No, she's just biased. She said before that she wouldn't pay a penny when I got married, but you guys paid for my older brothers' first weddings, so why shouldn't I? And you guys raised my older brothers' children, but I won't get that treatment when I have children. Why? And these clothes, mine are the most torn, which is definitely like those two things, it's all targeted at me."