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

After seeing Old Lady Xia leave, Old Chen's family seemed to have all their energy drained away, and suddenly became dejected, including Yu Hongzhen and his sister, who had only been there for a short time.

Chen Xiangbei stared blankly, "Mom...is she really not coming back?"

Old Chen slowly looked at him, then suddenly stood up like a madman and began slapping him wildly across the face until he was knocked to the ground. "Your mother was driven away by you. If it weren't for you, how could she have left?"

"Chen Xiangbei, if I had known you were this kind of child, I should have strangled you when you were born. Why wasn't it you who died when you were little? Xiangxi was definitely more sensible than you. Now, your mother was driven away by you, and she divorced me. Are you satisfied now?"

Chen Xiangbei was initially stunned by Old Chen's continuous beatings, but when he came to his senses, he immediately began to resist, "Dad, don't try to pin the blame for your bad behavior towards Mom on me when you're afraid to admit it yourself. I'm not a child, nor am I stupid. I don't believe whatever you say."

He forcefully threw the old man, Chen, who was on top of him and beating him, to the ground. His face was already bruised, but when he saw the old man get up, he jumped back a step, wary of him.

Chen Xiangnan stepped forward and slapped him hard. "Xiangbei, this time I'm on Dad's side. He's right. If you hadn't insisted on picking a fight with Xiang Hong during the New Year, Mom wouldn't have gotten angry, and none of this would have happened. In the end..."

Chen Xiangbei sneered, "If my mother is disappointed in me, she can just kick me out like my eldest brother did. Why bother with the trouble of divorcing Dad? And you, second brother, what kind of good person do you think you are? Mom said that when you were fighting against our family's third aunt and aunt, you were the traitor. You even went to the hospital to try to sell us all out. You are the worst person in our family."

"Dad, I'm Mom's son, so am I not your son too? Now that Mom's gone, am I the one who has to take the blame for all of you? Can you just say it's all my fault and still have a good reputation like before?"

“I am your son, your second brother’s younger brother. Do you really think I’m stupid and can’t see anything? If you put this blame on me today, then our whole family will never have a good reputation. At worst, the whole family will rot here. Anyway, I will never admit that Mom left home because of me.”

Old Chen shouted, "Third brother, do you think that just because your mother is gone, I won't dare to separate you from your family? Don't forget, you don't have a job yet. Who will you rely on in the future?"

Chen Xianghong's tears never stopped. After her mother left, this house no longer felt like a home. They were clearly relatives, but they blamed each other. "Stop arguing. Even if Mom is gone, she still hopes that we can live well."

Chen Xiangbei was like a firecracker, ready to explode at any moment. "Chen Xianghong, if you hadn't brought people home for the New Year, and if I hadn't stopped you from sewing, none of that nonsense would have happened. What are you pretending to be a good person for? I've told you, you're a hopeless case, destined to be bullied to death. You want to get married? Hurry up and get married. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have a place in this family. Don't you understand?"

“You’re a good-for-nothing, girls are all good-for-nothings, what right do you have to speak here? If you want things to be good for us, then get out of here with those two burdens you brought from Shanghai. They’ve had enough of watching our family make a mess these past few days, haven’t they? If you ask me, they’re just bad luck. Their own house is a mess, and they’ve made a mess of our house since they came here. Get out!”

Tang Jiao suddenly broke free from Chen Xiangnan's tight grip on her hand. "Xiangbei, did your sister do something wrong by helping you? What a burden, what a liability! You became the fuse, so you want to drag everyone down with you?"

Chen Xiangbei was about to berate Tang Jiao, but Tang Jiao continued, "We all have our own problems, and when these problems piled up, Mom became very disappointed, so she left. We all know that, and so do the onlookers. But you have to admit that you were the fuse, that you provoked Mom's anger, and that ultimately exposed all our problems. It's wrong of you to berate your second brother and Xiang Hong now; it's unreasonable of you."

Chen Xiangbei was already red-eyed with rage, ignoring all sense of reason and logic. "Why are you jumping in again? I'm not unreasonable, I'm the most reasonable one in the family. When Dad pushed all the blame onto me, why didn't you say anything? Aren't you just a bully who picks on the weak and fears the strong? You think I'm the only one in the family who doesn't earn money and has to rely on you for food, so you can only blame me. If you're really fair, go and yell at Dad."

"My room was burned down, and did any of you even care? I've been sleeping under the same old cotton-padded coat from years ago, and did any of you even show any concern? Now you're acting all high and mighty with me, but you should at least help me solve my problems first. What, all you know how to do is yell at me, but you don't know how to get things done? If you don't help me, why should I take your yelling at me? Who do you think you are?"

Chen Xiangnan was furious: "Third brother, do you know what you're saying?"

Chen Xiangbei raised his head and said, "Do you even know what you're saying? Second brother, you're so smug, aren't you? A woman with a problem in her head is willing to marry you and protects you in every way. If you had a tail, you'd be wagging it high right now. I scolded her and you immediately stood up for her, wanting her to know that you're a good husband, not the kind of man Mom talks about who only cares about interests, right?"

“You bunch of people, when Mom was good to us, you all bullied her. Now that Mom has been driven away by you, you start bullying me? I’m not like Mom. If you bully me, I’ll let everyone know what kind of people you are. If I can’t live like this anymore, I’ll make sure you can’t live like this either.”

"Get out of here, get out!" Old Chen pushed Chen Xiangbei hard, causing him to stumble.

"I'll get out! Why should I get out? This is my home, I absolutely will not leave!" Chen Xiangbei shouted.

Old Chen was so angry his face turned blue. "You guys throw his things out and don't let him come back. Let's see how he lives out there, and whether he'll still be this stubborn."

After an awkward silence, Chen Xiangnan softened his tone, "Dad, Xiangbei is still in school. If we don't take care of him now, people will gossip even more in the future. Xiangbei is right, we are all at fault. Let's not bring this up again."

Old Chen didn't say anything, but Chen Xiangnan knew he agreed. Everyone was just saying things in anger. If another member of their family were to leave now, then they would truly be torn apart.

Although... Chen Xiangnan actually wanted to live his own life with Tang Jiao, now was not the time.