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

On the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, we sweep the house.

As dawn broke, the snow on the streets had not yet been trampled dirty, giving off a somber white hue.

Aunt Zhang, who was in charge of the sanitation of this area, walked into the Hongxing Courtyard wrapped in a thick cotton-padded coat, carrying a large broom, and her breath steaming in the air.

As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw a dark shape in the snowdrift near the moon gate.

"Who threw their junk in their yard? They have no sense of public morality."

Aunt Zhang muttered as she walked over, intending to sweep the dark shape away with a broom.

However, when the broom touched the dark shape...

The hard, heavy feeling made Aunt Zhang's heart skip a beat.

She mustered her courage and used a broom to sweep away the layer of loose snow covering the surface.

A bluish-purple, distorted face, covered in ice crystals, suddenly appeared before her eyes!

Those grayish eyes were wide open, staring intently ahead.

One hand was even still in a forward-scratching position, as if trying to grab some lifeline.

"Ah! Someone's dead!"

A piercing scream shattered the morning tranquility, waking the entire courtyard from its slumber.

......

Half an hour later.

The Intermediate Court was completely surrounded.

Police officers from the local police station had set up a cordon, and the veteran forensic doctor was examining the body in the snow.

All the residents of the compound stood outside the cordon, covered in their clothes, their faces pale, pointing and whispering.

"Isn't this Sha Zhu? How... how did he freeze to death here?"

"My God, look at his hand, isn't it aimed at the Jia family?"

"That posture... he died with his eyes wide open!"

At this moment, the Jia family's door finally opened.

Qin Huairu helped Jia Zhangshi out.

Upon seeing the corpse on the ground, Qin Huairu swayed, almost losing her balance, and her face turned completely pale.

But Jia Zhangshi's triangular eyes darted around.

My first reaction wasn't to cry, but to shout at the top of my lungs:

"Oh dear! How did this silly Zhu end up dead here?"

"This has nothing to do with us!"

"Officers, you must make sure you get to the bottom of this; he fell down on his own!"

"We didn't see him last night!"

That old hag, she's already trying to distance herself from the situation before she's even completely dead.

The police officer taking a statement frowned: "Who are you?"

How do you know he fell?

"I..."

Madam Jia's eyes darted around, and she suddenly pointed towards the backyard, "I know! It must be Li Xuan!"

"Shazhu died at the backyard gate! Li Xuan must have killed him! Or maybe he just stood by and watched him die!"

"Yes! It was that heartless doctor who did it!"

She used this tactic of shifting the blame to another party quite skillfully.

"hehe."

A cold laugh came from behind the crowd.

Li Xuan, dressed in a neat overcoat, walked slowly out of the backyard with his hands in his pockets.

He glanced at the idiot on the ground, his eyes completely unmoved, as if he were just looking at a pile of garbage.

"Mrs. Jia, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want."

Li Xuan walked up to the police officer, his expression calm. "Officer, I have something to report."

"you say."

"Two days ago, Sha Zhu came back from the factory after receiving his wages and went straight to the Jia family."

"The third uncle in the front yard and several neighbors in the middle yard should have seen this."

Yan Bugui immediately emerged from the crowd: "Yes, yes, I saw it!"

"That idiot Zhu reeked of money, and he was clutching some in his hand, saying he was delivering it to the Jia family!"

Li Xuan nodded and continued, "Then, not long after, I heard Jia Zhangshi cursing inside the house."

They called Sha Zhu a "stinking beggar" and kicked him out.

"Immediately afterwards, Qin Huairu closed the door."

"I'd like to ask Jia Zhangshi, where did the money that Sha Zhu had go?"

"If it didn't enter your house, why were the corpse's hands empty?"

"Does money grow wings and fly away?"

These words caused an uproar in the room.

The police officer's gaze sharpened instantly, fixing on Jia Zhangshi: "Confess!"

"Did He Yuzhu come to your house two days ago?"

"Is the money in your hands?"

Madam Jia panicked, her eyes darting around: "That...that's what he owes us! He gave it to us willingly!"

"Heh," Li Xuan said coldly, "What a fine example of 'voluntary'."

"So, according to you, Sha Zhu was kicked out of here voluntarily?"

"Did they voluntarily choose to freeze to death?"

At this point, Li Xuan's voice suddenly rose, carrying a chilling aura.

"When they take money, they call them 'good pillar,' but when they run out of money, they curse them as 'stinking beggars'!"

They wouldn't even give us a sip of hot water, and they took every penny we had!

"They were so destitute they didn't even have money to buy a matchmaker, and some of them froze to death!"

"Jia Zhangshi, Qin Huairu, aren't you two behaving rather disgracefully?"

"You're killing people without a knife! You're pushing them to their deaths!"

The neighbors were immediately in an uproar.

"That's absolutely outrageous!"

"Sha Zhu raised their family for over ten years, and this is how they ended up?"

"What vampires! They suck you dry and then throw the scraps in the snow!"

Faced with everyone's accusations, Qin Huairu could no longer pretend and covered her face, squatting on the ground and crying bitterly.

"I don't know... I didn't know he was outside... Waaah..."

"Alright! Stop acting!"

The police officer shouted sternly, "Although you can't be convicted of murder under the law."

"But morally speaking, your behavior is absolutely outrageous!"

"Comrade He Yuzhu died of hypothermia, but the contributing factors were overwork and hunger and cold."

"You took his money and then kicked him out; the neighborhood committee will keep a record of this!"

Jia Zhangshi sat down heavily on the ground, her face ashen.

She knew that this time, not only had she failed to get on Li Xuan's good side, but she had also gotten herself into a lot of trouble.

......

Just then, a rapid bicycle bell rang.

He Yushui pushed her cart and hurried back, looking travel-worn.

She had obviously received the notification, and didn't even change out of her work clothes.

Upon seeing the stiff corpse on the ground, He Yushui stopped the car and walked over step by step.

Everyone fell silent.

Waiting to see the brother and sister's final farewell, waiting to see if Yu Shui will weep bitterly, or if she will tear Qin Huairu apart.

However, to everyone's surprise...

He Yushui did not cry.

There wasn't even a trace of sadness on her face.

She just stood there quietly.

Looking at her own brother, who had once beaten and scolded Qin Huairu for her sake, and even tried to kick her out of the house.

He remained in the same posture, begging from the Jia family, until his death.

a long time.

He Yushui took a white cloth out of her bag and gently covered Sha Zhu's distorted face.

"elder brother."

She called out softly, her voice so calm it was frightening.

"Look, this is Sister Qin, whom you've protected your whole life."

"This is the Jia family you treat like your own son."

He Yushui turned around, her gaze sweeping coldly over Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi, who were sprawled on the ground.

Finally, it landed on the corpse.

She didn't shed a single tear; instead, a highly sarcastic smile curved her lips.

"Your life has been a joke."

After saying that, He Yushui looked at the police officer and said, "Comrade, I am a relative of the deceased."

"Please provide a certificate; I need to take him for cremation."

......