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

The person who opened the door was Yin Sheng, the son of Old Lady Yin. He wasn't surprised to see Old Chen at all. After greeting him, he stood by the door without any intention of inviting him in.

"Xiao Yin, I've come to pick up your Aunt Xia and take her home."

Yin Sheng politely declined, "Uncle Chen, my aunt has already gone to bed. So many things happened in your family today, she must be quite tired. Why don't we wait until she wakes up? It's not appropriate to wake her now."

Old Chen clutched the hem of his clothes, desperately wanting to see Old Madam Xia. No matter how much he pleaded, that brat Yin Sheng pretended not to understand; he just wanted him to leave.

He was annoyed, so he just said it out loud, "Xiao Yin, I know you're a good kid and you're helping your Aunt Xia, but your aunt and I are family. Don't you want our family to be harmonious? Why do you keep stopping me? Your aunt is sleeping, so I'll just go take a look and leave, okay?"

After he finished speaking, he tried to push Yin Sheng aside and go inside, but the young man was strong. Old Chen pushed him several times, but he didn't budge.

"Xiao Yin! What exactly are you trying to do?"

Yin Sheng was suffering. He was a man, so he couldn't understand what his mother and Aunt Xia were thinking. They just disappeared without a trace, and his mother even said she would beat him to death if he couldn't even stop an old man. He wanted to go easy on Uncle Chen, but his mother was watching him closely, as if she would beat him with a broom the moment Uncle Chen entered the house.

He didn't want to be beaten by his own mother at his age, especially for the sake of these two completely unrelated people.

Yin Sheng's lips curled into a slight smile. He had intended to project an image of a kind and benevolent person, but to the furious Old Chen, this expression was seen as mockery. Old Chen pointed his finger at him and began to berate him.

"Xiao Yin, I originally thought you were the most promising and conscientious child in our compound. You brought your mother out of the countryside and treated her so well; you must be a filial child. But I didn't expect you to stop me from doing something like this. Do you really want to see me and your aunt fight like this? How can you be so vicious?"

Yin Sheng was immediately displeased when he heard Uncle Chen inexplicably shift the blame for the couple's quarrel onto him, even though he had initially felt quite sorry for him.

“Uncle Chen, you can eat whatever you want, but you can’t say whatever you want. What do you mean I’m vicious? Can’t you see? My aunt doesn’t want to see you at all. She’s lived to be this old, her head is practically cracked open, and she still can’t understand this kind of thing. No wonder her family is such a mess.”

Old Chen grabbed Yin Sheng by the collar and said fiercely, "What did you say?"

Yin Sheng shoved the old man away. "I'm telling you, my aunt is really unlucky to have married a man like you. She doesn't cherish her husband and a bunch of good-for-nothing, ungrateful sons. She's wasted half her life. Uncle Chen, how can you be so vicious?"

Old Chen was scolded by Yin Sheng, a junior, and was panting heavily with anger. "How could I not care about her? I've fed and clothed her for so many years. When she asked for my salary, I gave it to her without hesitation. When she said she wanted to hit me, she hit me, but I never got angry with her."

“At home, whatever she says goes. Even now, she has caused my Xiangdong to be separated from his family, my eldest grandson to belong to someone else, and even my second brother to have a rift with me. I have never blamed her for any of this, so how can it be that I don’t care about her?”

Yin Sheng pushed Old Chen, who was trying to sneak in, out of the room. The door was half closed, but before it was completely shut, he said, "Uncle Chen, you know the truth about these things. You can fool others, but don't fool yourself."

On the first day of the new year, Old Chen was turned away at the door for the first time again.

He shouted and banged on the door outside, but no sound came from inside.

Inside the house, Grandma Xia pointed to the door and smiled, "Donghua, listen to this. He said all his messy things were because of me. He feels that not blaming me is already a sign of his concern for me, and I should be grateful."

Yin Donghua closed the room door, also furious. "Shameless! Shameless! Sister Yue'e, what kind of miserable life did you live before?"

Yin Sheng didn't want to go into his mother's room to listen to the two old sisters talking, so he sat in the living room and played with Hu Yingying.

Looking at the darkening sky, Xia Yue'e suddenly said, "I want a divorce."

Old Mrs. Yin was stunned for a moment, "Divorce?"

Grandma Xia thought she was shocked by the divorce. "Yes, how can I live with someone like that anymore? I must get a divorce. Donghua, don't you support me?"

Yin Donghua said somewhat shyly, "Sister, I support you, I fully support you. It's just that no one in our village has ever been divorced before, I... I just..."

Grandma Xia: "No one in my village was divorced before, and no one in this compound or the surrounding compounds was divorced either. So I can become the first person to get divorced here. You shouldn't be surprised, after all, you and your dead old man... didn't you also want to get a divorce?"

Thinking of her deceased husband, Old Mrs. Yin's eyes were full of smiles. "I'm lucky, he died before we got divorced. I hope my good luck can bring you the same."

Grandma Xia: ...She's really my good sister. Her life is getting better and better. She's looking forward to Old Chen's death.

When Old Chen came home, he was sighing and complaining. The living room was a mess and no one was cleaning up. Chen Xianghong and the others were still at the hospital taking care of their third son.

He didn't know what happened, how a perfectly good New Year had turned into this, the house was cold and the heart was cold too.

Chen Xiangnan took Tang Jiao home. What should have been a lively and happy New Year celebration has turned into this mess: Dad has a head injury, Mom has run away, and Brother is in the hospital.

He had lived for over twenty years and this was the first time he had encountered such a year.

"Dad, where's Mom?"

Hearing the voice, Old Chen's cloudy eyes gradually cleared. "Your mother is staying at Aunt Yin's house and won't come back."

Chen Xiangnan: "She won't come back? What did she say?"

Old Chen shook his head. "I didn't say a word to her. She wouldn't even show her face. What's even more hateful is Old Lady Yin's son. He stopped me from going in, making me feel like some kind of criminal, as if he was afraid I would rush in and hurt your mother."

Chen Xiangnan frowned. "Yin Sheng doesn't seem like such a tough person."

Old Chen angrily cursed, "He always pretends to be all nice and friendly, but he's definitely up to no good. He'd love for our family to fall apart so he can laugh at us."

Chen Xiangnan didn't know how to respond, so he could only say, "I'll go ask over there."

He pulled Tang Jiao away and left. A little while later, the two of them returned dejectedly. Like Old Chen, they were both stopped outside. They were even worse off; Yin Sheng hadn't shown up and the door hadn't been opened.