Reborn as an 80s-aged woman, her unfilial son begs for forgiveness on his knees.

Old Mrs. Huang turned her head and saw that it was Zhang Wenying. She curled her lips and said in a sarcastic tone, "Oh, who do we have here? It's Zhang Wenying!"

"What, a divorced woman dares to interfere in the affairs of the Huang family?"

Zhang Wenying wasn't annoyed. She smiled and said, "Aunt Huang, I'm not meddling in your family's affairs. I'm just worried about your throat."

"You're yelling so loudly this morning, what if you lose your voice and have to spend money on medicine? It's not worth it."

Old Mrs. Huang snorted, "What business is it of yours if I scold my own daughter-in-law?"

"It's none of my business if you scold your own daughter-in-law, but your scolding offends my ears, and that's unacceptable."

And have you no shame?

Your son has been gone for over forty years. Sister Guilan has been a widow for forty years, raising her child all by herself, and you, this old hag, are still nagging her every day.

Ask yourself honestly, is there anyone in this world more shameless than you?

I heard that your son has already settled down and had children over there, and even has grandchildren.

Sister-in-law Guilan has served you for so many years. When there are some good things in the house, you secretly take them and give them to your other two sons. Do you think no one knows?

I advise you to have some good karma, lest you end up with no one to see you off in your final days.

If I were Sister-in-law Guilan, I would have kicked you out long ago and gone to find your heartless son.

Isn't that just heartless and cruel?

That bastard has been gone for forty years, without even sending back a single letter, leaving his old mother and wife at home while he goes out there enjoying himself.

When he returned, all he cared about was his newlywed wife and children; he never even glanced at his original wife and son.

And he has the audacity to say that he and Wang Guilan never got a marriage certificate and are not considered husband and wife. All these years, Wang Guilan has been willingly taking care of his mother.

He even forced Wang Guilan to leave the old house where she had lived for decades, saying that it was the ancestral home of the Huang family and that he wanted to return to live there after his death.

But who doesn't know that this courtyard is going to be demolished? He's eyeing the demolition compensation.

Wang Guilan waited for him her whole life, only to receive no explanation in the end. Instead, she had to take care of his mean-spirited old mother until her death.

In the end, he had nowhere to even stand, and later he hanged himself on the door frame of the Huang family's old house with a hemp rope.

It can only be said that there isn't a single good person in the Huang family.

The two younger brothers-in-law of the Huang family wanted to exploit the family's infertility, so that Old Mrs. Huang could continue to serve her eldest daughter-in-law and enjoy her retirement.

When Old Mrs. Huang saw that Zhang Guiying dared to speak like that, she was so angry that she trembled all over. She pointed at Zhang Wenying's nose and cursed, "You...you are a divorced woman. What right do you have to lecture me?"

You heartless slut!

Your parents didn't raise you well, resulting in the Zhang family producing such an unchaste woman.

"You're always running around outside, flirting with men, do you think nobody knows about your messy life? Pah!"

Zhang Wenying's smile faded slightly, but her eyes turned cold: "Aunt Huang, I only call you 'Aunt' because I respect you as an elder."

If you keep spewing nonsense, don't blame me for being impolite.

I, Zhang Wenying, have lived an upright and honest life. So what if I'm divorced? I'm still better than that beast of a son who abandoned his wife and mother.

"Don't you dare slander me!"

I haven't heard from my son at all. What makes you think he's started a family outside?

If you dare to talk nonsense again, I'll tear your mouth apart!

Old Mrs. Huang jumped up and down, spitting everywhere, her withered fingers almost poking Zhang Wenying's face.

Zhang Wenying didn't flinch or dodge; instead, she took a step forward, her voice low but clear: "You know better than anyone whether your son Zan has settled down or not."

Last October, you received two thousand yuan and a photo from your son.

That's his family photo over there.

You dare say you didn't know about this?

This was something she knew in her previous life.

Grandma Huang boasted to others that her eldest son was very successful, doing very well over there, and even sending her money and gifts.

Only Wang Guilan was kept in the dark and suffered a lifetime of torment.

Old Mrs. Huang's face turned deathly pale instantly, and her lips trembled as she was unable to speak.

The neighbors who had been watching the commotion immediately erupted in chatter, whispering amongst themselves and all eyes turning to Old Lady Huang's face.

Someone muttered under their breath, "So she knew all along that her son had started his own family outside, but she was just pretending not to know."

"That eldest son of the Huang family is a real scoundrel."

He was already married, yet he kept it a secret from his family, making Wang Guilan wait for so many years in vain.

"That's right, Old Lady Huang is still here cursing Zhang Wenying, she's really the one who's accusing others first."

She's treated Wang Guilan like a beast of burden all these years, and now she's turning around and accusing her—isn't she afraid of retribution?

Hearing these comments, Wang Guilan, who was in the courtyard, finally couldn't stop her tears from falling.

She bit her lip, trembling all over, but couldn't utter a single word. Her pale fingertips gripped the shovel tightly, as if it were her last resort.

Forty-three years have passed.

Forty-three years have passed since that man left.

He was only eighteen years old when he left, and had been married for less than a year.

Everyone says she is a lucky woman.

An ordinary worker married a capable military officer, and her future seemed limitless.

But who could have imagined that he would leave so soon after their marriage, without even leaving a word?

For decades, in order to support her son and her mother-in-law, she treated herself like a man.

After they went to sleep, she would still be pasting matchboxes under the lamp, sometimes until most of the night, until her fingers were covered in cuts and bleeding.

Even after retiring, she still goes out to sea with fishing boats, getting tanned on the deck and her hands covered in calluses and cracks.

She thought that as long as she suffered enough, God would eventually take notice and that man would come back.

She never considered remarrying.

She is waiting, waiting for him to come back, waiting for him to give her a complete family.

But Zhang Wenying's words, "He's already married and had children over there, and even has a grandson. He's holding his grandson now," were like a dull knife, brutally tearing open the shell she had built up with blood and tears over forty-three years. What she thought was waiting was just a joke.

She didn't know if what he said was true or false.

But many of the men who went there never came back, and many of them started their own businesses there.

She wasn't unaware of these rumors, but she was unwilling and dared not believe them.

Now that Zhang Wenying has exposed her in public, she felt dizzy and as if she were walking on cotton.

Perhaps, all of this is true.

He already has a new family over there, enjoying the happiness of being surrounded by his children and grandchildren.

She was nothing more than an old dream left behind, a shadow he had forgotten deep in the past.

Then why should I continue to suffer under this wicked mother-in-law's thumb?

She slowly raised her head, her gaze sweeping over the faces in the yard, some sympathetic, some gloating, before finally settling on Old Mrs. Huang's pale, paper-white face.