Qiu Hualan poured out all her years of bitterness, leaving it all here, not wanting to take any of it with her.

On the way back, Qiu Hualan kept asking about the family’s situation, but Boss Qiu remained evasive, and her daughter-in-law was hesitant to speak. Qiu Hualan understood there was definitely a problem, so she didn’t press further.

The convicted murderer who had been reformed for more than four years had returned, and most of the villagers had come out to their doorsteps or the village entrance, waiting to see Qiu Hualan become a laughingstock.

Qiu Hualan knew exactly what they meant, so she didn’t greet anyone and kept her head down until she reached home.

Back at home, Old Lady Qiu held her and cried, heartbroken over her daughter’s hard life.

After suffering so much in this life, just as things were about to get better, such a thing happened. Now, after barely making it through, her only son was gone.

Upon hearing her mother say this, Qiu Hualan finally understood what had happened and why her older brother and daughter-in-law were unwilling to say more on the way — Ah Ron was no longer there.

Qiu Hualan couldn’t understand how her son, who had never liked alcohol, had become a drunkard and even started hitting his wife, like Ye Weijun did.

Qiu Hualan was repulsed by men who hit their wives and felt the same even if it was her own son. Therefore, his death didn’t pain her much. From childhood to adulthood, the son was never close to her. Every time Ye Weijun hit her, the son would never intervene or help her, never once. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Even during the years she was in reformation, her son never came to see her.

To be honest, there was a slight sense of relief in her heart over Ye Rong’s death. Perhaps she was too disappointed and angry over her son’s violent behavior. All these years, her son had only learned to be unruly and heartless in their family, never learning a bit of compassion, not even sympathy.

She hated herself for failing to teach her son well and hated that her son carried the Ye Family’s blood, which led him to his current behavior.

"Mom, this is the money Ye... Ah Ron earned from doing business over the years. It’s all here. Keep it." After spending an afternoon at the Qiu’s, Fang Qiao accompanied Qiu Hualan to Ye Rong’s grave and then returned to look at their yard.

Fang Qiao meant for the yard to be left to her mother-in-law; she wouldn’t return here in the future.

"Qiao, these years I’ve spent as your mother-in-law, we didn’t have many days together. This money was earned by Ah Ron and you. As a couple, it’s rightfully yours. This money and the house, I don’t want them. To be honest with you, I... hate this place."

To Qiu Hualan’s words, Fang Qiao’s eyes reddened and she said, "Mom, I don’t want to come back here either. The moment I come here, I think about how Ye Rong beat me this year until there was no good spot left on me. I’m really scared of him. Now that he’s dead, I’m even more afraid... I won’t take this house." Fang Qiao dared not take it; she felt guilty in her heart.

Qiu Hualan knew the bitterness in her daughter-in-law’s heart. All the Ye Family’s daughters-in-law were the same.

"Mother-in-law, I won’t be coming back. Keep the money, and if you can’t handle the house, sell it to avoid the annoyance. If you don’t like living in the village, go find Ah Qing. She doesn’t know yet that Ah Ron is dead." Fang Qiao said while stuffing the money into Qiu Hualan’s hands, turned around, and ran out without hesitation.

This was the last time, her final visit here. She vowed never to return to Kao Shan Village in her lifetime.

"...Ah...Qiao, Qiao?" Qiu Hualan looked at the money in her hand and at Fang Qiao, who was already far away, sighed sorrowfully, and didn’t want to stay here any longer.

Back at the Qiu’s, Qiu Hualan asked Old Man Qiu to help sell the yard.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing that Qiu Hualan wanted to sell Ye Weijun’s house, the Ye Family’s relatives became unhappy. Now that the Ye Family had no people left, it should logically belong to their family. Qiu Hualan had long since divorced Ye Weijun, and it was Qiu Hualan who killed Ye Weijun.

No one would hand over their money and property to someone who killed one of their own, not even if Ye Rong was her son.

The Qiu Family, upon seeing the Ye Family’s relatives causing a scene, became furious and argued with them. When Ye Weijun died, they had relentlessly criticized and demanded compensation from the Qiu Family, but the Qiu Family refused. In the end, when seeing no gain, they shirked away, leaving the issue unaddressed. When Ye Rong died, they withdrew like turtles. Now, when there’s profit to be made, they’re jumping out one by one.

Logically, Ye Weijun’s two houses, left to his son after his death, now legally belonged to his daughter-in-law, given her husband’s death. Seeing her mother-in-law old and without income or children, she felt sorry for her and gave the house to her widow mother-in-law. Even without Qiu Hualan, there was still Ye Qing to contact — it wasn’t a matter for those people. Only Ye Qing couldn’t be reached now.

Otherwise, this thing wouldn’t have happened.

Ultimately, the village chief saw the argument escalate, so he went to the neighboring village to find Fang Qiao. Fang Qiao was in the county, and upon receiving the village chief’s call and seeing it becoming a big issue, she openly said not to give it to her mother-in-law, entrusted the village chief to sell the house, then secretly gave the money from the sale to her mother-in-law.

Qiu Hualan accepted her son’s money, but didn’t want the money from Ye Weijun’s house. After thinking it over, she asked Old Man Qiu to donate the money to the village school in Fang Qiao’s name. It’s what her son owed his wife, using the money for something beneficial to the village.

Qiu Hualan stayed in the village for more than two months, living in the Qiu’s, helping the family cook and take care of her parents.

Her older brother and second brother had long since split the family, and their parents lived with the older brother. Now, the older brother’s two sons were married with children, so living together as a big family came with many conflicts.

As their spinster aunt living there for long wasn’t fitting, after much thought, she decided to go to S City.