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

Sha Zhu is dead.

This news was like a stone thrown into a stinking ditch.

Although it stirred up a little ripple, it quickly returned to dead silence.

The neighborhood committee handled the funeral arrangements hastily and took him away for cremation.

Because they had no children, they didn't even have anyone to break the pot and wave the banner.

He Yushui simply brought the ashes back and buried them in some random desolate mountain.

The once invincible "Courtyard War God" disappeared silently in this cold winter.

However, for Xu Damao, this was a great joy.

"Crackling and popping!"

A deafening burst of firecrackers exploded at the back gate.

Xu Damao was wearing a brand-new military overcoat, his face beaming.

Holding a string of newly lit thousand-shot firecrackers, he laughed wildly.

"Good riddance! A wonderful death! A truly splendid one!"

As Xu Damao set off firecrackers, he shouted towards the direction of the Intermediate People's Court, "He Yuzhu, He Yuzhu!"

"You've been fighting with me for most of your life, and what happened in the end?"

"He's frozen to death! A ghost without offspring!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Although the neighbors thought Xu Damao's actions were extremely unethical.

But who dares to mess with the deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee these days?

They could only hide in their rooms, too afraid to utter a sound.

Li Xuan stood by the window, looking indifferently at Xu Damao, who was acting like a madman downstairs.

Some people, they laugh and then they cry.

With a flick of his finger, Li Xuan sent an envelope vanishing into the system space.

The next second, it precisely appeared on Xu Damao's desk at the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill.

"Xu Damao, this is a big gift for you, accept it."

......

After setting off the firecrackers, Xu Damao hummed a little tune and strode off to the factory with an air of nonchalance.

He now feels like he's a winner in life.

My arch-nemesis, Sha Zhu, is dead. He froze to death; it couldn't be more tragic.

He was promoted and made a fortune, held power in his hands, and had gold bars hidden in his house. He had reached the pinnacle of life.

My only regret is not having a child.

However, Xu Damao has come to terms with it now. Since he has money and power, he can just find a younger woman to have another child with!

Qin Jingru's inability to have children is her problem!

Xu Damao believed from beginning to end that he was still as virile as ever!

With this enigmatic confidence, he pushed open the door to the deputy director's office.

The room was very warm, and Xu Damao took off his coat and leaned back comfortably in the leather chair.

Just as I was about to make a cup of tea, my eyes were suddenly drawn to a thick kraft paper envelope on the table.

The envelope had no stamp or postmark, only four characters written on it: "[To be opened by Xu Damao]".

"Who delivered it?"

"Making it all so mysterious."

Xu Damao muttered something to himself, but didn't think much of it. He picked up a paper cutter and cut open the envelope.

"Splash!"

Several photos slipped out of the envelope and fell onto the table.

Xu Damao glanced at it casually.

However, it was just that one glance!

His pupils instantly contracted to the size of pinpoints, and he froze in his chair as if struck by lightning.

The photo shows a little boy who is about three or four years old.

The child, dressed in a smart little suit and wearing a stylish baseball cap, was riding a small wooden horse and smiling broadly.

But this is not the point.

The key point is—this child's face!

That face was practically a carbon copy of Xu Damao!

That distinctive long face, those slightly cunning little eyes.

Even the curve of his mouth when he smiles is exactly the same as Xu Damao's when he was young!

"This...this..."

Xu Damao's hands trembled.

He suddenly grabbed the photo, stared at it intently, and breathed heavily as if he were working a bellows.

"This child...could this child be...?"

He frantically opened the envelope and opened the letter inside.

The letter was only a thin page, with no salutation at the beginning and no signature at the end.

The stamp bears only one date: "Hong Kong, 1969".

But Xu Damao recognized the handwriting at a glance.

It's Lou Xiao'e!

His ex-wife, whom he ruthlessly abandoned and even reported for his own career advancement!

The letter was short, but every word was piercing:

"Xu Damao: It is as if we are meeting in person after reading this letter."

I heard you got promoted, made a fortune, and are living a good life.

Enclosed with this letter is a photo of my son, Lou Xiao.

It's four years old this year.

You have no doubt that this child is your elder, but he will never acknowledge you!

He will never know who his biological father is!

And you are destined to be childless in this lifetime!

The child's surname is Lou, and he will inherit the Lou family's vast fortune and become a high-society figure in Hong Kong.

His life has absolutely nothing to do with you, a petty person who spends all day scheming against others in Beijing.

Don't even think about going to find him or recognizing him.

In the current situation, if you dare to admit you have a son over there...

Then your current official position and your future will vanish in an instant.

So, just hold onto your power and money, embrace your fate of having no descendants, and live out your days in solitude.

This is the greatest revenge I can take against you.

......

"No!"

A heart-wrenching scream rang out in the office.

Xu Damao gripped the letter tightly with both hands, his eyes were bloodshot, and his whole body was trembling violently.

He regretted his decision to report Lou Xiao'e to some extent.

After all, this action cost him his only son!

Now that he has learned that his son will inherit the Lou family's vast fortune, he is even more excited!

But after the immense joy came an even deeper, unfathomable despair.

As the letter says, can he admit it?

Does he dare to admit it?

If people knew that he had a son in Hong Kong, born to Lou Xiao'e, a "capitalist who fled to Hong Kong"...

He, as the deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee, will immediately become a class enemy!

He will be dismissed from his post, criticized and denounced, or even executed!

Moreover, the child's surname is Lou, and his name is Lou Xiao.

They lived in a large villa in Hong Kong, enjoying a life of luxury.

And what about Xu Damao?

Living like a rat in a sewer, guarding this dilapidated steel mill.

"Lou Xiao'e... how cruel you are! How vicious you are!"

Xu Damao collapsed to the ground, pounding his chest and stamping his feet, crying with snot and tears streaming down his face.

This is a case of someone who clearly has a son but cannot acknowledge him.

The pain of being destined to be childless even though you're not, is a million times worse than being killed!

He was just mocking Sha Zhu for being childless.

In retrospect, Sha Zhu at least died in a daze, unaware of how miserable his life had been.

But Xu Damao had to watch with a clear head as his bloodline flowed out into the world, calling someone else "father" and inheriting someone else's family fortune.

And all I can do is shed tears over a photograph in the dead of night.

"I'm a joke... I'm the biggest joke!"

Xu Damao grabbed the wine bottle on the table and gulped down more than half of it.

Then he staggered out of the office.

He's crazy.

At least at this moment, he was overwhelmed by the immense psychological shock and his spirit completely collapsed.

On this day, everyone at the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill saw Deputy Director Xu, who was usually very imposing.

He wandered around the factory area like a madman, waving a photograph in his hand and shouting incoherently:

"I have a son... I'm the father of a billionaire..."

Nobody believed him.

Everyone thought that Xu Damao was either so happy he went crazy, or that he had gone mad as retribution.

In the backyard of the courtyard house.

Li Xuan listened to the mad ramblings carried on the wind and gently closed the book in his hand.

"Nothing kills more than destroying one's spirit."

"Xu Damao, you'll just have to bear the loneliness and isolation of this life."

......