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

Chen Xianghong turned and walked towards her family's courtyard. Chen Xiangbei scratched his head behind her, puzzled. "Sister, Mom is over there. You're going the wrong way."

Chen Xianghong: "Today is not a good day to go. I need to make some preparations."

Chen Xiangbei: "What preparations do you need to make when you meet your mother? Just tell her what's on your mind, good or bad. As long as you don't want to hit her or ask her for favors, she definitely won't do anything to you."

Chen Xianghong walked back to Chen Xiangbei and said, "Third brother, now that you see things so clearly, why did you do those things before? Since you know what kind of person Mom is, why did you still cross her bottom line? What were you after? And why did you hurt Mom?"

Chen Xiangbei didn't know why his gentle, lamb-like sister had suddenly turned against him. He was just a kind younger brother who wanted to help his sister, so why was she suddenly questioning him?

That's a good question. Chen Xiangbei has always known what Xia Laotai dislikes about him, but he still does it recklessly. Why is that? Chen Xiangbei hasn't dared to think about this deeply until now. He deliberately avoids this question, just as he has always thought: face, self-esteem, and pain are not important. As long as he wants to do something in the moment, he will do it. He doesn't want to think about anything else.

Before, he always wanted to make his mother angry, he wanted to steal things, he wanted to boss his sister around, he felt that he wanted to take advantage of everyone in the family who he could order around. Later, his mother got so angry that she left, and when he missed her, he would go to find her, he would pretend to be well-behaved to make her happy, and he would do whatever he wanted. He didn't want to think about why he was behaving this way.

Now, his sister stood before him, asking him why, and Chen Xiangbei was at a loss for words. When teaching others, he felt like the smartest person in the world, speaking eloquently and logically, but when it came to himself, his mind went completely blank.

Chen Xiangbei didn't understand why everyone was thinking so much. Although he wanted to get something out of his mother, it was also true that he missed her. If he went to see his mother and she didn't hit him, then he would have succeeded. He would just be a little more capable than his older brothers and sisters, who were all cowards and didn't even dare to go see their mother.

Chen Xiangbei suddenly became inexplicably confident again, and he avoided talking about the question his sister had just asked him.

"Sis, don't give me that nonsense. You're leaving today, do you think you'll dare to come back tomorrow?"

Chen Xianghong stood still, watching him walk towards the direction of her mother's rented house after he finished speaking.

Doesn't he fear that his mother will hate him even more for acting like this?

Chen Xiangbei had a feeling that his sister would definitely come.

When he got home, Xia Yu'e was busy in the kitchen. When she saw Chen Xiangbei's cat-like face, she familiarly tossed him a towel and told him to go wash up.

Chen Xiangbei said several nice things to Xia Yu'e, who happily said she would give him pancakes.

After she finished speaking, Xia Yu'e noticed that there was a man and a woman following behind Chen Xiangbei. The man smiled when he saw her looking over, while the woman seemed a little flustered.

"This is......?"

Chen Xiangbei looked back and helped Xia Yu'e walk out. "Auntie, let me introduce you. This is my sister, and this is my future brother-in-law. They're getting married soon."

Xia Yu'e opened her eyes wide, then slowly said, "Oh."

She held a grudge. Her Yue'e was driven away from home by these ungrateful children. She had raised her from a young age, but after the divorce, apart from Chen Xiangbei, none of the other children had ever come to see her.

It's true what they say, "Only those who give milk are mothers; without milk, even dogs are rejected." They've already come to find Yue'e, yet she's still keeping a long face; who is she trying to impress?

Xia Yu'e was very unhappy. "Your name is Xiang Hong, right? What brings you here?"

Chen Xianghong stammered, "Hello, Auntie, I'm here to see my mom."

Yu Hongzhen handed over the things they had bought at the supply and marketing cooperative, saying, "Auntie."

Xia Yu'e didn't go to answer, nor did she dare to. How could she know what her sister's attitude towards the two of them was? What if she didn't want to associate with them anymore?

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Chen Xiangbei had no choice but to take it himself. "Auntie, let my sister and the others come in. My mom used to dote on my sister the most."

Xia Yu'e asked suspiciously, "Really?"

Chen Xiangbei nodded.

Xia Yu'e was somewhat skeptical. If her most beloved child didn't come to see her, then what kind of monsters and demons did she love?

The four of them sat in the living room waiting for Grandma Xia to return. After a short while, there was a knock on the door.

Xia Yu'e immediately stood up, relieved. "Your mother probably forgot her keys. Her memory is so bad these days. I'll go open the door. You two sit down."

Xia Yu'e limped towards the gate. As soon as she opened it, she froze. Outside stood a man and a woman she didn't recognize. The man was quite handsome, and the woman was pretty too. "Who are you...?"

Chen Xiangnan immediately smiled and said, "You must be my aunt. I am Chen Xiangnan, the second oldest in my family."

Xia Yu'e: "What a coincidence today."

The six people sat in the living room looking at each other, and Xia Yu'e felt a little uncomfortable. "I'll go boil some more water for you."

Chen Xiangbei was about to stand up and help when everyone was sitting in the living room. They were brothers and sisters who had grown up together since childhood, but the conversation was incredibly awkward, and Chen Xiangbei couldn't stand it anymore.

Before he could even get up and speak, Chen Xiangnan immediately helped Xia Yu'e up, saying, "Auntie, I'll go with you. Just let me know if you need anything."

Tang Jiao also stood up, "Auntie, I can do it too."

Xia Yu'e had never seen anything like this before. A whole roomful of younger relatives were sitting in the living room, and now they wanted to help her. She felt embarrassed to accept, as she wasn't familiar with these children. But if she refused, they would think she was too cold-hearted. What if her Yue'e still had the children on her mind? If things got ugly because of her, she would feel terrible.

Xia Yu'e patted his hand, "Towards..."

Chen Xiangnan immediately replied, "Xiangnan, Chen Xiangnan, you can just call me Lao Er like my mom does."

Xia Yu'e sat back down. "Second son, second son's wife, you don't need to bother anymore. There's still hot water... no need to boil it."

The group returned to their previous state; no matter who started a bad topic, it would end after only a few words.

"Auntie, when did you come here? Why didn't you contact us before?" Chen Xiangnan persisted, trying to liven up the atmosphere.

Xia Yu'e: "I was thrown out like a dead dog. I didn't contact you because I didn't know your mother was suffering in your house. If I had known, I would have crawled over there and beaten you to death."

Chen Xiangnan sighed inwardly. He couldn't continue the conversation; he really couldn't. Every three sentences he uttered were filled with the thought of killing them, and his hatred was palpable to everyone.