Courtyard House: My Long and Hard Body Makes Me Play with All the Women in the Courtyard

“Because I love you.” Su Ting’s voice was unwavering. “That’s why I can’t let you in. The fire will burn you. You have to live. You must live.”

“But I’m all alone… I’m so scared…” Ah Ning sobbed, “My dreams are full of fire, full of the sound of doors closing… I can’t run, I call for you, but you can’t hear me…”

“I heard you,” Su Ting said softly. “A-Ning, I’ve been listening. Every second, every night, I’ve been listening behind the door. You called me, and I answered. Now, it’s my turn to tell you—don’t open the door. Promise me, don’t open the door.”

"But...I want to see you..."

“You’ve already seen it,” Su Ting said. “You heard my voice, didn’t you? You felt my hand? Although you can’t see it, I’ve always been here, guarding this door. I didn’t let you in because it’s too dark, too cold, and too painful outside. But you… deserve the light, the warmth, and the sweetness.”

He paused, his voice as soft as falling snow:

Do you remember orange candy? I bought it for you when you were little. You said it was so sweet, like sunshine melting in your mouth. Do you remember?

Ah Ning's sobbing suddenly stopped.

A few seconds later, she said softly:

"...I remember. You said that you weren't allowed to cry as long as you got candy."

“Yes.” Su Ting smiled. “So now, have a candy, and then… go home.”

A very soft gasp was heard from inside the door.

Then came the sound of footsteps—very light, like a little girl tiptoeing away.

From the depths of the corridor, the sound of a door clicking shut echoed.

Immediately afterwards, the entire dark corridor began to tremble.

Lin Wan looked up abruptly—the pocket watch suddenly vibrated violently, the case cracked open with a "snap," and the hands swung wildly!

"What's going on?!" Xiaoyin grabbed his arm tightly.

Lin Wan stared intently at the crack in the door: "The obsession... is crumbling! Someone has said goodbye!"

From inside the door, Su Ting's voice suddenly came, weak and calm:

"she left."

"What about you?!" Xiaoyin screamed, "How are you?!"

“I…” Su Ting gasped for breath, “I’m still here. The door… isn’t closed yet.”

"Then come out!" Lin Wan roared, "While you can still come back!"

“There’s no way out.” Su Ting chuckled. “The other side of the door… is gone. She took her dream with her, but mine isn’t over yet.”

Xiao Yin pounded on the door, crying, "What do you mean? You're trapped?!"

“Perhaps,” Su Ting’s voice trailed off, “but just now… I lied to her.”

"what?"

“I’m not her father,” Su Ting said. “But as I was speaking… I suddenly felt like I had actually been a father once.”

Lin Wan was startled: "You...remembered something?"

Chapter 1319 Unnumbered Fragment

“A snowflake,” Su Ting murmured. “A very small child, standing in the snow, clutching a piece of orange candy in her hand. She looked up at me and called me… Dad.”

Xiao Yin's breath hitched: "That's...your memories?"

"I don't know." Su Ting's voice was ethereal. "But at that moment, when I said those words, my heart ached. It felt like I had truly lost something."

Lin Wan suddenly remembered something, her voice trembling:

"Su Ting... In the archives, there's an unnumbered tattered file. It tells of a car accident eight years ago, on a snowy night. A father and daughter were involved; the father died on the spot, and the daughter suffered amnesia and was sent to an orphanage. The father's name... no one remembers. But the daughter's last words in her sleep were—'Daddy said, candy is sweet, don't cry.'"

Xiaoyin stared intently at the crack in the door: "So... you didn't 'hear' A-Ning's call. You... instinctively responded to a child?"

Inside the door, a long silence followed.

Then, Su Ting said softly:

"Perhaps... I never went into the corridor to save anyone."

"What was the purpose of that?"

“It’s to find someone,” he said slowly, “the child in the snow who called me Dad.”

He paused, his voice almost inaudible:

Where...is she now?

Sudden--

The pocket watch made a "ding".

The pointer starts moving.

6: 00.

6: 01.

6: 02.

The sunlight suddenly flooded the ground.

The mahogany door remained tightly shut, but no longer let in darkness.

Xiao Yin knelt on the ground, her palms pressed against the earth, her voice trembling:

"Hey, Su Ting."

From inside the door came a very soft response—

"Ok?"

“If you find her…” Xiaoyin choked up, “remember to tell her that you came back.”

“If I find her…” Su Ting’s voice suddenly paused, as if recalling some distant scene, “I will bring her an orange candy.”

Xiao Yin's tears welled up again, her laughter tinged with sobs: "You...you still remember the taste?"

“I remember,” he said softly. “It was as sweet as someone slipping a small piece of sunshine into your hand in winter.”

Lin Wan suddenly looked up, her eyes sharp: "Wait—you said you responded to A Ning 'instinctively'? Not through empathy, not through identification, but... your body reacted before your mind?"

“Yes.” Su Ting’s voice was weak but clear. “Just like my hands, I remember how to hold a child; my throat, I remember how to lull her to sleep. But my mind… is blank.”

Lin Wan stared intently at the door, then suddenly lowered her voice: "Do you know what's the strangest thing? The tattered file in the archives says that the car accident happened at 5:58 a.m. But the time recorded by the hospital when the girl was out of danger was... 5:59. A full minute, time stopped."

Xiao Yin's breath hitched: "So... you died, but her 'obsession' dragged you into the corridor? Or... you weren't completely dead at all?"

“I don’t know,” Su Ting said. “But I do know one thing—I’m not the first person to enter the corridor, nor will I be the last. Everyone who stops at 5:59 does so because they can’t let go. But have you ever thought… that some things you can’t let go of are actually the result of being remembered?”

Lin Wan's pupils contracted: "You mean... obsession can not only trap the dead, but also drag the living into it?"

“No,” Su Ting corrected, “it’s love. Love existed before rules, and it’s more stubborn than death. It doesn’t obey time, nor does it heed logic. It only recognizes one direction—wherever that person is, that’s where I’ll go.”

Chapter 1320 I Was Sentenced to Death

Xiao Yin choked back tears: "So now... are you dead or alive?"

There was silence inside the door for a few seconds.

Then, a soft laugh rang out.

"Have you heard the legend that a person sees their entire life flash by before they die? But what if they don't want to go through it? What if they turn back to those memories and say, 'Let me replay it'?"

Lin Wan's voice tightened: "You will be stuck between memory and reality."

“That’s right,” Su Ting said softly. “I’m acting out that scene right now—snow, car lights, a child crying, I rush over and push her out. Then… firelight. Excruciating pain. Then, darkness. But I didn’t leave. I was waiting for her to wake up, to see her one last time. But she didn’t wake up. She was taken away, and I was declared dead. But my heartbeat still seems to be echoing.”

Xiao Yin suddenly looked up: "Then you're not trapped in the corridor—you're trapped on the extended line of 'the last second before death'!"

“Clever,” Su Ting smiled. “That’s why I was able to hear A Ning. Because she’s also waiting for someone who will never come. She and I are both echoes of time.”

Lin Wan suddenly sneered: "Then what are you now? A ghost? A memory? Or... some kind of 'echo' that shouldn't exist?"

“Perhaps,” Su Ting said calmly. “But when you stand behind the door and say ‘Don’t open the door’ to a girl, you suddenly feel—even if I’m not human, those words are true. I may not be her father, but that ‘A-Ning’ was called out from my heart.”

Xiao Yin trembled as she reached out and pressed her hand against the door: "So... you're not a substitute. You're a father in another form."

Inside the door, there was a long silence.

"Xiaoyin," Su Ting suddenly called her name.

"Ok?"

"If you open this door... what will you see?"

She paused, startled: "I...I don't know. Maybe it's you, maybe it's just emptiness."

“No,” he said softly, “you will see yourself.”

Her heart skipped a beat: "What did you say?"

“Everyone who enters the corridor eventually faces themselves.” Su Ting’s voice was like a breeze brushing past your ear. “You think you’re saving people, but you’re actually asking yourself—if I’m gone, will anyone wait for me? If I’m trapped at 5:59, will there be someone willing to stand between life and death for me?”

Lin Wan sneered: "So you're the same. You think you're looking for your daughter, but actually you're looking for someone willing to wait for you."

“Maybe,” Su Ting admitted frankly, “but when I smelled that orange candy, I no longer cared whether it was an obsession or a hallucination. I only knew that I wanted to see her again. Even if she forgot me, even if she didn’t remember my face, I wanted to tell her: When Dad pushed you out, he was thinking that you would be able to eat lots and lots of candy in the future.”