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

After hearing that Tang Jiao's in-laws had indeed divorced, Tang's father didn't say anything, but Tang's mother was even more worried. She had thought about it before; if Old Mrs. Xia left the family, Tang Jiao's future would be difficult.

They'd only been divorced for half a month, and the house already felt like a home. What family doesn't eat together every day, each eating their own food? It wasn't that Tang's mother thought it was bad for her daughter and son-in-law to come back to her place, but rather that no matter what, Tang Jiao's father-in-law was still alive. How would he feel if the couple kept coming to her place?

When Tang Jiao returned home today, she ran into her neighbor, who seemed to be pointing and whispering about her. As she got closer, someone asked, "Little Tang, are you going to your parents' house for dinner again?"

Tang Jiao could tell from the tone that he was mocking and looking down on her, a married daughter who was always running back to her parents' home.

Tang Jiao nodded and greeted them before going inside.

Seeing her daughter's displeased expression, Tang's mother also thought of the rumors circulating outside. No one wanted things to turn out this way with Tang Jiao's in-laws. Her daughter was so young, yet she had to go through something like this; it was normal that she couldn't handle it well. Tang's mother had just been thinking about what Tang Jiao's father-in-law was thinking, but after seeing her daughter, she thought, what's wrong with going back to her parents' home? Her in-laws' home was cold and lifeless; what could she do if she didn't go back to her parents' home?

The mother and daughter huddled together in front of the kitchen stove, whispering sweet nothings for a while, almost burning the food in the process.

Chen Xiangdong searched around, but his father couldn't find him, his mother wasn't at the factory, his second son wasn't at the hospital, his third son was nowhere to be found, and his sister wasn't there either. After going around in circles, he found nothing and went home dejectedly.

At the Zhu family home, Zhu Wenying had already cooked the meal, feeding only Baoyuan and waiting for him to return without eating herself. After eating a tasteless meal, Chen Xiangdong told Zhu Wenying about his parents' divorce.

"Why did Mom get a divorce like that?" Chen Xiangdong really couldn't understand. After his family was kicked out by his mother, he knew that she was the one in charge. Why would she get a divorce when they had such a good life? It was such a big deal that everyone in the compound knew about it, and many people in the nearby factories also knew about it.

Chen Xiangdong found out too late. Even if he was separated from his family, did that mean he was no longer a member of the family? Why didn't anyone tell him this?

Zhu Wenying put some food into his bowl and said, "Your mother didn't get a divorce because she was being unreasonable; she got a divorce because she was thinking it through."

Chen Xiangdong didn't understand. "What do you mean?"

Zhu Wenying: "Don't think that just because Mom is the boss in your family and can hit whoever she wants, that's because she's only become tough recently. Before, wasn't she just someone your dad bullied?"

Chen Xiangdong was even more confused, "When did my dad ever bully her?"

Zhu Wenying: "Your father used your aunt to take care of her during her postpartum period. He didn't care what she thought at all, so you look down on her too, don't you? If you, as her son, don't even respect her, then what about me, her daughter-in-law?"

Chen Xiangdong: "How did I look down on her? She hit me like that before, and I didn't fight back. How can that be considered looking down on her?"

Zhu Wenying couldn't explain it to him, "Whether you look down on her or not, your mother will definitely be more comfortable after the divorce than when she stayed at home taking care of your father, your younger brother and sister."

Chen Xiangdong: "At her age, if she gets divorced, people will gossip about her behind her back."

Zhu Wenying rolled her eyes at him. "Let's eat. Stop thinking about it. You won't figure it out anyway."

Chen Xiangdong persisted, "I just can't understand it. Isn't that right? There are many people in my workplace talking about her behind her back, wondering what she's after in the divorce."

Zhu Wenying: "She wants to avoid serving your whole family, she wants to have food, drink, and money all to herself and live a peaceful life, she wants to avoid being ordered around or schemed against, and she wants so much more. What can she do by continuing to hang out with your father? Besides being annoyed by your younger siblings every day, she'll also be annoyed by your father. When there are many children, even if she doesn't want to, she'll have to take care of their children, contributing money and effort. What's so good about that? What do you think she's after?"

Chen Xiangdong retorted, "But isn't that how everyone lives? It's so great to have a large family!"

Zhu Wenying: "Wangde is your father's Chen family, and no one takes your mother's surname. In the end, your father gets all the benefits, while your mother works herself to the bone and is still criticized for not doing this or that. It's a losing business, and she loses everything."

Chen Xiangdong wanted to say something more, but Zhu Wenying didn't want to listen. After being kicked out, she realized what Old Lady Xia had told her that day: the child was Chen Xiangdong's, so he should suffer. As a result, Chen Xiangdong had visibly lost a lot of weight during this period.

Unfortunately, I didn't understand it at the time; her mother-in-law was much more capable.

Zhu Wenfei was brought back after the Chinese New Year. He heard that Jiang Fangru borrowed money everywhere and accumulated a huge debt before getting him released. After being released, Zhu Wenfei became very silent, and he looked at Zhu Wenying and the others as if they were strangers.

During this period, he became even more depressed. Last time, Zhu Wenying saw him rummaging through Jiang Fangru's room looking for money. A few days later, Jiang Fangru shouted in the room that there was a thief and mistakenly thought that Zhu Wenying and Chen Xiangdong had stolen it. In the end, the police were not able to find out who it was. Jiang Fangru looked at them with more vigilance.

Zhu Wenying told them that Zhu Wenfei stole it, but they refused to believe her, thinking that no matter what their son was like, he was a good kid and would never steal money. So the matter was left unresolved.

Later, Jiang Fangru spread rumors that there was a thief in her house, openly and secretly saying that Zhu Wenying and her family of three were dishonest, which made Zhu Wenying furious.

Since Old Chen came to see them on New Year's Eve, they had never seen him again. In the following days, Chen Xiangdong went to see him several more times, but he never saw him. He came back and told Zhu Wenying that his father held a grudge against their family.

Zhu Wenying found it strange again. Her father-in-law had always loved to put on a show, but now he wasn't even bothering with that. It seemed he had really been hurt.

Chen Xiangbei has been very busy these past few days. Besides thinking about how to please his mother, he is also concerned about Qiao Yi's matter, and he has made some progress.

His second brother is indeed worthy of being called the second brother; he's finally proving somewhat useful.

Chen Xiangbei arrived at the textile factory gate with an air of arrogance and had someone call Qiao Yi out.

"Comrade Qiao, it took me a lot of effort to tell you this."

Qiao Yi naturally treated him to dinner again, letting him talk while he ate. Chen Xiangbei was secretly pleased, thinking that Qiao Yi was indeed a good worker, very sensible, and even patted her chest, saying that he could come to her if he needed anything in the future.

Ever since Grandma Xia moved out to rent a place, Qiao Yi felt empty inside, and her brief friendship with Comrade Xia ended abruptly.

Fortunately, she had asked Chen Xiangbei to help her inquire about her brother. She planned to buy some things and visit Comrade Xia after this matter was over.

"So, what's wrong with my brother?"