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

The dimly lit room was filled with a nauseating, deathly atmosphere.

Ever since learning the news that Bang Geng's leg had been broken and that he would be sentenced to more severe punishment, Jia Zhangshi has gone mad.

Although she was paralyzed and bedridden, her mouth was never idle.

He's been cursing from morning till night!

He cried and cursed at the same time, his voice as mournful as an old ghost!

"My dear grandson...you bunch of heartless bastards...why didn't you save him?!"

"Qin Huairu! You jinx!"

"You're the one who caused all of this! You even killed my son!"

"Give me back my precious grandson!"

"Ahhhhh!"

Qin Huairu sat by the stove, numbly boiling a pot of cold water.

We ran out of coal, so we could only burn some rotten wood we'd collected, which filled the whole house with smoke.

She completely ignored her mother-in-law's curses, dismissing them as utter nonsense.

"Cough cough...cough cough cough!"

Perhaps she was scolding too harshly, or perhaps she was overwhelmed with anger, but Jia Zhangshi suddenly started coughing violently.

Her large body convulsed violently in the filthy bedding.

It made a whooshing sound from its throat, like a bellows.

A thick phlegm got stuck in her trachea at this critical moment.

"Uh...uh..."

Jia Zhangshi was speechless with anger.

Her face instantly turned a deep liver color, her eyes bulging out and bloodshot.

She tried desperately to breathe by opening her mouth wide, but she could only exhale and not inhale.

The hand that could still move flailing wildly in the air, its nails scraping against the bed frame with a series of "sizzling" sounds.

"Water...give me water..."

"Quick...help...help me..."

Jia Zhangshi looked at Qin Huairu sitting not far away, her eyes filled with a desire to survive and fear.

Qin Huairu heard the noise.

She slowly turned her head and looked through the swirling smoke at the old woman on the bed who was struggling to die.

In the past, Qin Huairu would have rushed over immediately.

They patted her back, cleaned her phlegm, and even carried her to the hospital.

Even if she gets scolded, she will still fulfill her duties as a daughter-in-law.

But now.

Qin Huairu just sat quietly, without even moving her bottom.

Looking at Jia Zhangshi's distorted face, she could only recall the grievances she had suffered over the past few decades.

It was this old hag who set rules for her from the moment she married into the family, treating her like a maid.

It was this old hag who forced her to hand over her wages every month after her husband died.

They even forced her to let others take advantage of her for a few steamed buns.

It was this old hag who corrupted Banggeng, turning him into a thief and a hooligan.

He eventually broke his leg and will spend the rest of his life in the Gobi Desert.

"Mom, are you feeling unwell?"

Qin Huairu suddenly spoke, her voice light and airy, yet as cold as ice.

"I'm feeling bad too."

"You've ruined my life."

"Ugh... Ugh!!!"

Jia Zhangshi's eyes widened even more, and she reached out towards Qin Huairu, desperately trying to grab something.

"Stop struggling."

Qin Huairu stood up, but not to save anyone.

Instead, he went to the door and tightened the bolt even more.

"We're out of money."

"Shazhu is dead too, now there's no one to carry you to the hospital."

"Besides, going to the hospital is just a waste of money."

"The doctor said your stroke and paralysis are incurable."

"Rather than living in suffering, it's better to go down to the underworld sooner, go see Dongxu, and pray to God to bless Banggeng."

Qin Huairu stood with her back to the bed, looking out at the gray sky.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, but a relieved smile appeared on her lips.

"Go in peace, I will burn paper money for you."

Behind me, a final, muffled "clunk" sound came.

That was the sound of phlegm completely blocking the trachea.

Immediately following was a violent spasm, and the bed board was kicked so hard it clattered.

A few minutes later.

The room became completely quiet.

That suffocating silence.

Qin Huairu stood at the door for a long time until her hands and feet were ice cold before slowly turning around.

On the bed, Jia Zhangshi remained in that ferocious posture.

She stared intently at Qin Huairu, her mouth agape, tongue lolling out, her eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.

His eyes held endless resentment and bitterness.

The most shrewish woman in this courtyard house, someone who has never suffered a loss in her life.

In the end, he was suffocated by a mouthful of phlegm.

Qin Huairu walked over, reached out her hand, and tried to close those unseeing eyes.

But after several attempts, my eyelids felt like they were rusted and I just couldn't close them.

"Fine, if you don't want to close it, then don't."

Qin Huairu took a tattered quilt and covered that terrifying face with it.

......

it's dark.

Qin Huairu walked out of the house and into the courtyard.

She didn't cry or wail, nor did she notify the neighbors.

Because she knew that no one would sympathize with the Jia family, and no one would come to their aid.

Sha Zhu is dead, Yi Zhonghai has fallen, and Li Xuan... he is an unattainable god.

She has to solve it herself.

But how do we solve this?

The Jia family has searched every corner of the house, but they don't even have the money to buy the cheapest coffin.

Qin Huairu stood in the courtyard for a while.

Finally, his gaze fell on the pile of tattered straw mats used to cover the cabbages in the corner.

It was an old item from several years ago, with several holes in it, and covered in mud and rotten vegetable leaves.

"Mom, I'm sorry you had to go through all this."

Qin Huairu muttered to herself, "You insisted on living a life of luxury while you were alive."

"Now that I'm dead... that's all that can be done."

She dragged the tattered straw mat into the house.

With great effort, they dragged Jia Zhangshi's heavy body off the bed and placed it on a straw mat.

Roll it up.

Tie it up with hemp rope.

Because the straw mat was too short, Jia Zhangshi's feet, which were wearing bound cloth shoes, were still sticking out, making it look particularly eerie.

......

It was midnight.

Qin Huairu borrowed a handcart and carried the heavy corpse onto it.

She dared not do it during the day, afraid that people would see and laugh at her, and also afraid that the neighborhood committee would question her about why she didn't take him to the hospital.

Pushing the cart, Qin Huairu walked out of the courtyard house step by step.

The wheels crunched on the snow, making a "crunch crunch" sound that carried far in the quiet night.

As Yan Bugui passed by the front yard, he seemed to hear a noise.

But he didn't dare come out; he just rolled over in bed and muttered something.

"Who is it? Delivering garbage in the middle of the night..."

Yeah, garbage.

For the Jia family now, this is just a pile of garbage they can't get rid of.

Qin Huairu pushed the cart, braving the cold wind, towards the crematorium outside the city.

Her back was hunched, her steps heavy, like a soulless ghost.

There was no crying, no one to see him off, and not even a decent burial shroud.

Jia Zhangshi, who used to throw tantrums and act arrogantly in the courtyard house.

Just like a dead dog, wrapped in a tattered straw mat, it disappeared into the cold winter night.

The snow covered the tire tracks.

It was as if this person had never existed in this world.

......