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

Old Chen woke up at night and immediately started asking for water. Chen Xiangdong hurriedly poured him some water while scolding him, "Dad, you're not a young man anymore. Do you only care about your own happiness and don't care about the feelings of your family?"

"My second and third brothers have told you countless times that woman isn't a good person, but you insisted she was gentle, kind, and virtuous. Now look what's happened—the first virtuous woman you spoke of has beaten you up like this. She really is virtuous, far too virtuous."

Old Chen gulped down several mouthfuls of water, and when he heard Chen Xiangdong mention Yang Su, he immediately asked, "Where is she?"

Chen Xiangdong: "Of course she was arrested. How could we let her get away with beating you like this?"

Old Chen got anxious as soon as he heard this, "Why are you arresting her? Don't arrest her, let her come back."

Chen Xiangdong rolled his eyes: "Are you crazy? Our family and their family are fighting like this, and you still want to smooth things over?"

Old Chen was feeling dizzy, but he was still unhappy to hear this. "That's our own family matter. If we report it to the police, won't people laugh at us?"

Chen Xiangdong: "Our family has plenty of embarrassing moments already, what's one more?"

Old Chen wouldn't listen at all. "Go to the police station right now and have them release her. I won't pursue the matter. In the past, your mother was considered mentally unstable when she made a fool of herself. But now that I'm remarried, I absolutely can't let anyone know that something has happened to our family again. Even if your Aunt Su burned the house down, you can't arrest her."

"Dad, did you get brain damage from being hit on the head?" Chen Xiangbei stood at the door of the ward. Hearing this, he wanted to curse again. What did it mean that even if you burned down the house after a second marriage, no one could know? What did it mean that Yang Su, that old hag, could not be known when she burned down the house, but his mother could be known by everyone when she burned down the house, and later it would become a reason for people to feel sorry for his father.

Old Chen's voice was soft, but what he said was infuriating: "I said I won't pursue the matter with her; you can bring her back."

Chen Xiangbei: "If I don't go, she should go to jail."

Old Chen shouted angrily, "I'm the one who's injured, and you're not going to pursue this for me? Even if the police come and question me, I'll give the same answer, and she'll still be released."

Chen Xiangbei shouted, "She stole all the money, and you still have the nerve not to pursue it? That's the money of us brothers and sisters, what gives you the right to make decisions for us?"

Old Chen was panting heavily, and even saying these few words gave him a headache, but he still insisted on saying, "There's still no conclusion as to who stole it. If she really did steal it, even if she refuses to hand it over, I will make up for the money with my wages for the rest of my life."

"If it wasn't her who stole it, but you guys, Third Brother, put your hand on your heart and tell me, do you really want to watch me suffer for the next few years paying off debts because of one mistake you made?"

His gaze was fixed on Chen Xiangbei, making Chen Xiangbei panic. But he still said, "I can't explain it to you. I don't know what you mean. You should tell your second brother what you have to say."

He ran away feeling guilty, knowing that his second brother would definitely come to the hospital after he came out of the police station, and he knew exactly what to say.

Chen Xiangbei was in a state of confusion. On one hand, he felt jealous of how good his father was to Yang Su's family. As his biological son, his father hadn't even thought of getting him a good job, yet his stepson, whom he had only known for a few months, could receive so many benefits from him. He really felt it was very unfair.

But when he thought about his father's words—that even if the money was lost, he would work hard to pay back every penny that was owed to them—he felt a pang of sadness. His father was certainly despicable, but he wasn't really so foolish as to give away money meant for his children's important events.

He walked dejectedly toward Grandma Xia. When he didn't know what to do, he thought he might as well ask his mother. Although he would definitely get a beating, he was too internally conflicted right now. Even if he got a beating, he wanted to resolve this internal conflict.

Grandma Xia's eyelids started twitching again, and she had a feeling that something bad was going to happen today. She didn't want to sit and wait for her fate, so she decided to go out. "Sister, let's go for a walk. The weather is so nice today, even the breeze feels warm."

Xia Yu'e had just finished washing the dishes. Hearing this, she felt that going for a walk after dinner would make her feel much better, so the two sisters went out.

When Chen Xiangbei arrived, the whole house was dark. Seeing this, Chen Xiangbei felt it was the perfect opportunity to get the money back, so he went around to the back of Old Lady Xia's house and nimbly climbed up.

Then... his world collapsed.

He yelled and looked up and down several times, climbing up and down to search everywhere, but he still couldn't find the money he had hidden.

That was all his father's savings! Chen Xiangbei felt utterly hopeless. He had just been wondering what to do with the money, but now, there was no point in thinking about it anymore, because the money was gone.

He lay down on the riverbank in despair, like a dead fish.

Qiao Yi came to see Grandma Xia. She had vaguely heard that Grandma Xia was going to run for office, so she came to ask if there was anything she could help with.

But no one was inside. Remembering that Grandma Xia often kept a chair by the back door for convenience, Qiao Yi thought she would go to the back door and move a chair to the front yard to sit and wait for them to come back.

Just as she turned the corner into the backyard and saw the chair, thinking to herself that it hadn't been put away, her foot stepped on something soft, and then someone beneath her screamed.

It got dark so quickly, especially around the back door; you really couldn't see anyone lying on the ground unless you were paying close attention.

After all, what normal person would lie down anytime, anywhere, especially in the dark?

Chen Xiangbei felt incredibly unlucky. Not only did he lose such a large sum of money, but he was also being trampled on while lying on the ground, and the trampling target was his head!

Qiao Yi and Chen Xiangbei called out at about the same time. After calling out for a while, they realized that the other's voice was very familiar.

"Sister Qiao, just say you want to kill me." Chen Xiangbei frantically rubbed his forehead, feeling like his head had been crushed by a foot stomp. It was terrifying.

Qiao Yi patted her chest, still shaken, "What were you doing lying here so late at night? Were you trying to scare me to death?"

Speaking of this, Chen Xiangbei started to sigh. Anyway, Qiao Yi was family, so there was nothing wrong with talking about it. At this moment, Chen Xiangbei suddenly felt the urge to confide in her.

Qiao Yi was forced into a chair by him, and then she saw him plop down next to her and start rambling on about his unfortunate experiences and his father's messy affairs.

Amidst Qiao Yi's exclamations and indignant curses, Chen Xiangbei strangely felt a sense of calm.