Courtyard House: Starting by inheriting the tradition and suppressing the barbarians.

The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is the eve of the Lunar New Year.

Logically speaking, today should be the day when the Kitchen God goes to heaven to report good things, and every household should eat candied melons and offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God.

But the weather hasn't been cooperating this year!

After nightfall, a rare white blizzard swept through the entire city of Beijing.

The heavy snow, like torn cotton wool, blanketed the sky and pressed down.

The temperature plummeted to minus twenty degrees Celsius, and water froze instantly.

A thick layer of snow quickly accumulated on the ground in the courtyard.

In this situation, no one dares to come out.

"Cough cough...cough cough cough..."

suddenly!

A heart-wrenching cough rang out.

Along with it came heavy footsteps, which sounded particularly faint in the howling north wind.

Sha Zhu, dragging his almost broken body, trembled as he walked out of the cold, ice-cold back room.

He was so hungry.

It's so cold.

He had been freezing in the dilapidated house for two days since being kicked out by the Jia family.

That tattered cotton-padded coat, covered in mud and stench, offered no protection against the cold wind, and the body heat dissipated like water.

At this moment, his consciousness began to blur, and his vision began to go black intermittently.

"Sister Qin...give me some water..."

Sha Zhu mumbled incoherently, instinctively trying to crawl towards the Jia family's residence in the central courtyard.

That was the place he had served for most of his life, the place he considered "home".

However, just as they reached the vicinity of the moon gate leading to the backyard, a dizzying sensation struck them.

"thump!"

Sha Zhu's legs buckled, and he fell heavily onto the snow like a dead tree stump.

The biting cold instantly seeped into my entire body.

He tried to get up, but his hands and feet were frozen stiff and wouldn't obey him.

He lay there in the snowdrift, his face pressed against the cold ground, only his cloudy eyes fixed on what lay ahead.

Ahead, the warm light shines from the main house in the backyard.

That was Li Xuan's home.

......

Backyard, main house.

The room was warm as spring, and the fire in the stove was burning brightly.

Li Xuan was sitting in a rocking chair by the window, holding a medical book in his hands.

On the coffee table beside me is a steaming cup of ginseng tea.

Suddenly, he seemed to sense something, and his brows furrowed slightly.

His mental strength was exceptionally high, and he could clearly hear the muffled thud of a heavy object falling to the ground outside.

And that wheezing sound, like a broken bellows.

Li Xuan put down his book, got up and walked to the window, reaching out to gently pull back a corner of the curtain.

He could clearly see it lying on the snow not far from his doorstep, like a dying wild dog.

A hand reached out desperately in this direction, and a "hoho" sound came from its mouth, pleading for help.

[Ding! Important plot character He Yuzhu is in critical condition.]

[System notification: The host possesses the "Nine Needles of Resurrection" and "Spiritual Spring Water," which can save his life. Proceed with the rescue?]

A cold, impersonal system notification sounded in my mind.

Li Xuan stared at the writhing black shadow in the snow, his eyes calm and undisturbed.

save?

Why should I save him?

He remembered when he first transmigrated, Sha Zhu, in order to avenge Qin Huairu, took a rolling pin and tried to break his leg.

He recalled how he had kindly reminded Sha Zhu that Qin Huairu was faking her pregnancy, but Sha Zhu had cursed him, wishing him to be childless.

He recalled how, over the years, he had hinted and explicitly suggested countless times that he wanted to help this simpleton.

But what did we get in return?

This is repaying kindness with enmity, aiding and abetting evil, and being stubbornly unrepentant!

"Buddha saves those with affinity, and medicine can cure diseases that cannot be killed."

Li Xuan murmured softly, his voice revealing a cold indifference that seemed to have seen through the ways of the world, "He Yuzhu, you chose this path yourself."

"You gave your heart to the Jia family, you sold your life to the Jia family, so the Jia family should pay for your fate."

"If I were to save you, it would be a disrespect to the laws of nature and cause and effect."

Li Xuan slowly released his grip on the curtain.

The heavy velvet curtains were drawn back together, blocking out the wind and snow outside, and also blocking out that last glimmer of hope.

"Respect the fate of others and let go of the urge to help others."

Li Xuan turned around, walked to the table, and pulled the light switch.

"Clatter".

The backyard was plunged into darkness.

......

In the snow.

Sha Zhu watched as the only light suddenly went out, and the last glimmer of light in his eyes vanished as well.

despair.

Boundless despair.

He knew that Li Xuan had seen him, but Li Xuan chose to turn off the lights.

"He...he..."

Sha Zhu laboriously turned his head to look in the direction of the Jia family in the central courtyard.

The lights are still on there.

Who is it?

"Lying out like a corpse in the middle of the night?"

"Who are you trying to scare!"

Jia Zhangshi's sharp and sarcastic curses carried on the wind: "Get lost!"

"Don't die in our doorstep! It's bad luck!"

Immediately following was Qin Huairu's voice, tinged with hesitation: "Mom, it looks like Sha Zhu... Should we go out and take a look?"

"What are you looking at! It's minus twenty degrees Celsius outside!"

"If you get cold, who will take care of me?"

Madam Jia cursed viciously, "Besides, with his shabby appearance, he'll just make a mess of the house when he comes in!"

"Go to sleep!"

The lights inside flickered, but ultimately, no one came out.

The window was even closed even more tightly from the inside.

Sha Zhu lay on the snow, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes, instantly freezing into icicles.

He has dedicated his entire life to this family.

They stole lunchboxes from the cafeteria to feed them, gave them money sent by their own fathers, and offended everyone in the hospital to protect them.

He even went so far as to make himself childless for Qin Huairu's sake...

He became a porter, and now he's in this half-dead, ghostly state!

But before he died, all he got in return was a "bad luck".

"Heh...hehe..."

Sha Zhu wanted to laugh, but couldn't make a sound.

His body began to heat up; it was a final burst of energy before he froze to death.

In a daze, he seemed to see that afternoon ten years ago.

Back then, he was still the spirited He Yuzhu, wearing a pristine white chef's uniform and tossing a large ladle in his hand.

Rainwater followed him around calling him "brother," while a group of neighbors laughed and praised his cooking...

"If...if we didn't provoke the Jia family..."

"If...we listen to Li Xuan...Yu Shui..."

A final trace of regret flashed through Sha Zhu's mind.

The wind and snow grew heavier and heavier, soon covering his body and turning him into a white snowdrift.

Those hands, stretched out into the air, ultimately fell limply to their sides.

Those eyes, once filled with malice and scheming, were now wide open, gray and lifeless, staring blankly into death...

......