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

The autumn wind is bleak, swirling up the yellow leaves on the ground, as if bidding someone a farewell.

At the entrance of the suburban crematorium, Qin Huairu stood like a clay or wooden sculpture.

She was tightly clutching a square box wrapped in red cloth.

That was the cheapest urn she bought with the last bit of money she had left.

Inside the box was the only male heir of the Jia family, her beloved son whom she had doted on her whole life—Banggeng.

"Let's get out of here quickly."

The staff member handed her the paperwork, his eyes showing absolutely no sympathy.

It is a great relief that a heinous criminal has been executed!

Why sympathize with the families of criminals?

Qin Huairu nodded blankly, without saying a word or shedding a tear.

Her tears had already dried up when Bang Geng went to the Northwest, when Bang Geng broke his leg, when Bang Geng beat her...

At this moment, her heart felt empty.

It's like a leaky bellows, blasting in cold air.

......

We walked back to the Hongxing Courtyard.

The middle-aged women in the alley were gathered together sewing shoe soles and chatting idly.

As soon as they saw Qin Huairu return carrying a box, they scattered like sparrows from a nest that had been disturbed.

"Get out of here! It's bad luck!"

"That's Jia Geng's ashes, isn't it? Don't get them on you!"

"The Jia family is now completely wiped out!"

"Serves him right! He's been spoiled rotten since he was little, he's become completely lawless."

"I knew it! This kind of heinous criminal would get his comeuppance sooner or later!"

The harsh whispers reached Qin Huairu's ears, but she acted as if she hadn't heard them.

She even had a strange smile on her face as she walked briskly into the central courtyard.

Push open that dilapidated door.

The room was filled with a musty smell.

Since the two daughters ran away and Jia Zhangshi died, the house has been devoid of life.

Qin Huairu walked to the eight-immortal table that was missing a leg and propped up with bricks.

She swept away the dusty clutter on top.

Then, she carefully placed the urn containing the ashes in the very center.

Next to it was a portrait of Jia Dongxu.

"Bang Geng, we're home."

"You won't be lonely with your dad by your side."

Qin Huairu said softly, her tone as gentle as if she were soothing a baby to sleep, "You must be tired, right?"

"Mom will pour you some water first."

She turned to get the thermos, but it was already empty; all that came out was cold limescale.

Qin Huairu didn't care. She carried the half-bowl of dirty water back to the table and placed it in front of the urn.

"Drink it, you won't be thirsty anymore."

The room was deathly silent.

The urn stood there silently, cold and unresponsive.

Qin Huairu stared at the box for a long time.

His gaze began to become unfocused, as if something deep within his pupils was shattering and collapsing.

Suddenly, she smiled.

"Hehe...you kid, what's with the way you talk?"

"Are you still angry with Mom?"

Qin Huairu stretched out her withered, tree-bark-like hands and gently stroked the cold, sharp edges of the urn.

It was as if she were stroking her son's face.

"Do you think the water doesn't taste good?"

"Mom knows you want to eat meat, don't you?"

"Wait a minute, Mom will make you braised pork right away!"

"Just like... just like the ones Sha Zhu used to bring us! Oily and fragrant!"

"Oh, and Mom will make you fried rice again!"

"Whatever you want to eat, Mom will make it for you!"

As Qin Huairu spoke, she busied herself in the empty room.

She chopped vegetables into thin air, lit a fire on a cold stove, and kept muttering to herself:

"Why hasn't that idiot Sha Zhu brought the lunchboxes yet today?"

"Are you itching for a beating again?"

"When he arrives, have him bring you two bottles of good wine!"

"You're the pillar of our Jia family; you deserve to eat and drink well!"

"Our Jia family is counting on you."

Then, she walked to the rice bin in the corner.

It's so empty inside that even mice don't bother with it anymore.

Qin Huairu grabbed a handful of air, threw it into the pot, and started stir-frying it with great practiced ease.

"Sizzle!—"

It looked as if there was actually cooking smoke rising up.

"It smells so good... Bang Geng, can you smell it?"

Qin Huairu carefully carried the empty bowl back to the table and placed it in front of the urn.

"Eat! Eat quickly! Eat it while it's hot!"

She picked up her chopsticks, grabbed that wisp of air, and placed it on the box.

While feeding him, she made feeding motions, saying, "Ah! Open your mouth! Mommy's feeding you!"

"You're the one Mom loves the most."

The chopsticks tapped against the wooden box, making a crisp "thud, thud" sound.

In the dimly lit room, the sound seemed especially eerie.

"Eat! Why aren't you eating!"

Qin Huairu's expression suddenly changed. She slammed down her chopsticks, pointed at the urn, and yelled, "Do you think Mom's cooking isn't good enough?"

"Do you want to go out to eat?"

"You good-for-nothing!"

"Just like your deadbeat father!"

As she was cursing, she suddenly started crying again.

He hugged the cold box tightly and rubbed his face against it.

"Waaaaah... My son!!"

"It was Mom's fault... Mom won't scold you anymore..."

"You're the apple of my eye... As long as you're alive, as long as you're okay, I'll give you anything!"

"Silly Zhu! Silly Zhu, where the hell have you been?!"

"Quick, bring the lunchbox! Bang Geng is hungry! My son is hungry!"

Qin Huairu shouted frantically towards the door, her voice shrill and piercing.

Like a lost soul wandering in the wilderness.

At this moment, Yan Bugui, who was passing by the Intermediate People's Court, heard the noise inside the house and curiously peeked through the crack in the window.

That one glance was enough to terrify him.

In the dimly lit room, Qin Huairu stood with her hair disheveled, holding an urn containing ashes in her arms.

One moment she's crying, the next she's laughing, and then she's cursing "Silly Zhu" at the air.

They even used an empty spoon to feed the food to the box.

On that old, distorted face, there was a chillingly happy smile.

"She's gone mad... Qin Huairu has completely lost her mind!"

Yan Bugui shuddered and scrambled back to the front yard.

"From now on, no one should mess with the Jia family! That house...it's not clean!"

inside the house.

Qin Huairu continued her one-woman show.

In her world, time seemed to have flowed backward twenty years.

At that time, Jia Dongxu was still alive, and Banggeng was still a child.

Silly Zhu was still foolishly following behind her, carrying a fragrant lunchbox in his hand.

Li Xuan was just a pitiful orphan.

And she was still the prettiest young wife in the whole courtyard!

With just a snap of her fingers, countless men would be willing to risk their lives for her.

"Hehe...eat...eat it all!"

"Our Jia family... is living a very prosperous life!"

Holding that box of cold ashes, Qin Huairu sank deeper and deeper into her imagined paradise.

I never want to wake up again.

The setting sun outside the window bathed the dilapidated little house in a poignant red glow.

A beautiful widow, she eventually went mad!

......