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

"I don't know him."

These five words sound so light and airy.

But it was like a heavy hammer, striking Xu Damao's heart through the glass.

I don't know him.

I don't know him!

Xu Damao, who had been shouting wildly, suddenly froze.

He heard it.

He heard it clearly.

That son he longed for day and night, the one he cherished as his lifeblood.

Look at him with the kind of look you give trash, and say—you don't know him.

"No...no!!!"

Xu Damao's eyes instantly became bloodshot, so red they looked like they were about to burst.

"Son! How can you disown your father!"

"I'm your biological father!"

"Is it Li Xuan?"

"Was it that bastard Li Xuan who instigated you?!"

Xu Damao pointed at Li Xuan and cursed, "Li Xuan! You bastard!"

"You've ruined me! You'll die a horrible death! You stole my son!"

Two strong prison guards gave him no chance to throw a tantrum, and directly twisted his arms behind his back and roughly pushed him to the ground.

"Behave yourself! Take him away!"

"Let me go! I need to see my son!"

"Son! Come back! Come back!"

Xu Damao pressed his face against the cold, dirty cement floor, desperately turning his head to look at the resolute departing figure.

That was his only hope in this life.

That was the entire meaning of his life.

However, that figure did not stop or hesitate for a moment.

Lou Xiao followed Li Xuan out of the visiting room.

......

"Bang!"

The heavy iron door slammed down like a guillotine.

The light in the visiting room and the young man in the suit were completely separated into another world.

Xu Damao lay on the cold cement floor, his ten fingers digging into the cracks between the tiles, his nails cracking.

Several shocking red streaks of blood were left on the ground.

"Don't go...please don't go..."

"Son! I'm your father!"

"Come back and look at me! Look at me just once more!"

Xu Damao let out a dying howl like a wild beast.

Even though the iron gate was already tightly closed, he still banged his head against the hard wall like a madman.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

He bumped his forehead and blood was streaming down his face, but he couldn't feel any pain.

Compared to the huge hole in my heart, what are these physical injuries?

That's what he's been thinking about day and night for over a decade...

The only thing that kept him alive in that cannibalistic prison was his son!

But now...

His son had just been standing right across from him, looking at him with the kind of eyes that look at trash or bedbugs.

He even said coldly:

"I don't know him."

This statement was even harsher than the kick that Sha Zhu gave him in the groin back then.

They kicked him out of the last bit of his life!

"What are you doing! What are you doing! Trying to escape from prison!"

Two prison guards rushed up and pinned down the frenzied Xu Damao, one on each side.

The rubber baton in his hand was stabbed mercilessly into his ribs.

"Behave yourself! This is a prison! Not a place for you to throw a tantrum!"

"Let me go! I need to find my son!"

"He's a billionaire! He'll come to save me!"

Xu Damao was still struggling hysterically.

His bloodshot eyes were wide open as if they were about to burst, and drool dripped from the corner of his mouth.

"You dare arrest me? Wait until my son arrives, and he'll buy this entire prison!"

The prison guards exchanged glances and shook their heads helplessly.

"That old man has completely gone mad."

"Take him away and put him in solitary confinement!"

"Let him wake up!"

......

Solitary confinement.

This is a small, dark room that is only three square meters in size.

There were no windows, only a dim yellow light bulb overhead, emitting a pale light.

"Go in!"

Xu Damao was thrown in like a bag of garbage.

"Bang!"

The iron gate closed again.

A deathly silence fell over the surroundings.

Only Xu Damao's panting, like a broken bellows, echoed in the narrow space.

Xu Damao huddled in the corner, his whole body trembling violently.

The crazy impulse from before has passed.

Instead, there was only boundless cold and despair.

He shakily pulled the photo out of his pocket.

Because of the struggle, the photo was crumpled and stained with his blood.

By the dim light, he carefully wiped away the bloodstains with his sleeve.

The movements were as gentle as if caressing a rare treasure.

"Son...you dislike your dad too...don't you?"

Xu Damao looked at the little boy riding the rocking horse in the photo, and tears streamed down his face.

"It was my fault for being so foolish back then. I should never have abandoned you!"

"So...so Dad wants to make it up to you, wants to give you the best of everything..."

"Those five gold bars...that money...if that bitch Qin Jingru hadn't run off with it..."

"I can give it to you right now... then you definitely won't look down on Dad anymore..."

remorse.

Overwhelming regret engulfed him like a tidal wave.

He thought about his entire life.

If I hadn't divorced Lou Xiao'e back then, if I hadn't reported the Lou family back then.

So now he's sitting in a big villa in Hong Kong, enjoying a life of luxury?

If I hadn't fought with Sha Zhu back then, and hadn't schemed against those neighbors, wouldn't I at least be able to enjoy a peaceful old age?

One step wrong, step by step wrong.

Xu Damao prided himself on being clever all his life and scheming his entire life.

But in the end, his schemes backfired, leading to the destruction of his family and the alienation of everyone around him.

Money gone, power gone, woman gone.

Now, even his only son has severed ties with him.

He's a joke.

What a complete joke!

"Well..."

Suddenly, a sharp, stabbing pain shot through my chest.

It was as if an invisible hand had gripped his heart tightly.

Xu Damao's face instantly turned bluish-purple, and his eyeballs bulged out.

"It hurts...it hurts so much!"

"Help...help me!!"

He opened his mouth wide, desperately trying to breathe.

But it felt like there was a wad of cotton stuffed in my throat; I could only exhale, not inhale.

This is an acute myocardial infarction caused by a sudden surge of internal heat!

In this solitary confinement cell where no one can hear your cries for help, this is death's pronouncement.

Xu Damao collapsed to the ground in agony, his body curled up like a shrimp.

Fingernails scratched white marks on the cement floor.

My vision started to blur.

In a daze, he seemed to see a courtyard house.

Sha Zhu was grinning foolishly while holding a lunchbox, while Qin Huairu was washing clothes.

The old man was calculating that one cent of electricity bill...

There was also Lou Xiao'e, holding a little boy's hand, standing in the sunlight waving at him.

"Xiao'e...son..."

Xu Damao reached out, trying to grab that image.

However, his hand, stretched out halfway, fell limply to the ground.

His pupils gradually dilated, fixing on that last, non-existent illusion.

Even in the last moment of life.

His other hand was still gripping the crumpled photograph tightly.

They gripped the child tighter and tighter, as if trying to meld the child into their very bones.

......

The next morning.

The prison guard delivering the food opened the small window of the solitary confinement cell.

"Xu Damao! Dinner's ready!"

No one answered.

The prison guard frowned, opened the iron gate, and went inside.

Xu Damao was found curled up stiffly in the corner, already lifeless.

His distorted face still bore traces of wet tears and extreme pain.

"Dead?"

The prison guard checked his breathing, sighed, and said, "That old man, he was perfectly fine yesterday, how could he just be gone like that?"

He wanted to pry Xu Damao's hands open and take out the photo to archive it.

However, that hand was as stiff as an iron clamp, and no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't pry it open.

The photograph was crumpled to pieces and stuck to his flesh and blood.

"Never mind, let him be."

The prison guard shook his head, turned, and walked out.

"Notify the family... Oh no, his file says he's widowed and alone, so no one will claim his body."

"Just take it to the crematorium and dispose of it."

Autumn of 1988.

The last troublemaker in the Hongxing Courtyard.

In the cold, solitary confinement cell of prison, he ended his sinful and tragic life...

......