Siheyuan: At the beginning, I can integrate everything!

"Ah—! My head! Help!"

Bang Geng's piercing, ghostly scream shattered the quiet night sky of the courtyard.

Inside the main room of the central courtyard.

Qin Huairu had just put Xiao Dang and Huaihua to sleep and was wiping away tears by the brazier.

Hearing that familiar yet chilling sound.

The fire poker in her hand fell to the ground with a "thud," and she sprang up as if she had been electrocuted.

"A great joke!"

Qin Huairu was terrified. She didn't even bother to put on her coat before stumbling out of the house.

My son just got back from juvenile detention center less than half a day ago, how could he get into trouble again?!

Jia Zhangshi was also startled awake from the kang (a heated brick bed). She didn't even have time to put on her shoes properly before she scrambled out of the room and followed them out.

"My dear grandson! What terrible things has he done!"

Following the sound, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law ran all the way to the alley where the front yard and the middle yard met.

I just turned the corner.

Qin Huairu felt a sudden darkness before her eyes, her legs went weak, and she knelt down in the snow with a thud.

The scene before me was as terrifying as a hellish landscape.

The dog was lying in the cold snowdrift, rolling around frantically like a dead dog whose tendons had been pulled out.

His already thin face was now completely covered in blood.

Right in the center of his forehead, a bloody hole was bubbling out, staining a large patch of snow red.

"Bang Geng! Bang Geng, don't scare your mom!"

Qin Huairu cried her heart out, scrambling over and grabbing the blood-soaked stick into her arms.

"Mom...it hurts...that house is haunted...the stone just flew back and hit me..."

Banggeng convulsed in Qin Huairu's arms, his eyes unfocused, muttering incoherently.

He was still clutching the pebble stained with his own blood tightly in his hand.

Qin Huairu looked at the stone, then at the tightly closed door of the east wing room not far away.

She understood perfectly well what had happened!

It's Zhang Huaimin again!

It's that five-year-old child who has no descendants again!

New and old grudges, coupled with extreme fear and despair, instantly clouded Qin Huairu's judgment.

She dropped the stick and, like a mad she-wolf, charged towards the door of the east wing.

"Zhang Huaimin! You little beast! Get out here right now!"

"You've ruined my son like this, I'm going to fight you to the death today!"

Qin Huairu's eyes were bloodshot, and she raised her hands, intending to smash the solid wood door.

however.

Her hand hadn't even touched the door yet.

"Bang!"

The door to the east wing was suddenly pushed open from the inside.

A chilling wind, carrying the scent of gunpowder and the murderous aura of iron, swept over us.

Chen Bing, dressed in a heavy military overcoat, stood like an insurmountable iron tower at the threshold.

His cold, ruthless eyes were fixed on Qin Huairu.

His right hand was already expertly positioned on the grip of the Type 54 pistol at his waist.

"Click".

The sound of the insurance company pushing open was clearer than a death knell in the silent snowy night.

"Military restricted area. Trespassers will be executed."

Chen Bing's voice was devoid of any human warmth, chillingly cold.

"Take one more step and I'll kill you on the spot."

These twelve chilling words, coupled with the dark muzzle of a gun.

It was like a bucket of ice water poured over Qin Huairu's feverish head.

It extinguished her pitiful madness and courage, leaving not even a spark.

Qin Huairu's hand, which was raised high in the air, froze completely.

Looking into Chen Bing's murderous eyes, she knew he was definitely not joking.

If she dares to move even slightly, a bullet will pierce her head in the next second.

despair.

A deep, overwhelming sense of despair, a feeling of utter helplessness, instantly engulfed Qin Huairu.

She then suddenly came to her senses.

The place before her was no longer the courtyard where she could gain sympathy through tears and tantrums.

This is a restricted area protected by the state apparatus!

The five-year-old baby sitting in the house eating braised pork is a god that a lowly worker like her can never reach!

"I...I was wrong...Sir, I was wrong..."

Qin Huairu broke down and abruptly withdrew her hand.

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

In front of Chen Bing and the neighbors who had come to watch the commotion, she actually slapped herself three times, one on each side.

His mouth was bleeding from the slap.

"It's my fault for not disciplining my son properly! We deserve it! Please don't shoot!"

Qin Huairu cried out, turned around and rushed back into the snow, picking up Banggeng, who was barely breathing.

Together with Jia Zhangshi, who was also trembling with fear, they scrambled out of the courtyard and headed straight for the clinic at the entrance of the alley.

Chen Bing snorted coldly, put the gun back in its holster, and closed the door behind him.

The neighbors in the compound shook their heads and sighed as they watched this scene.

"The Jia family has truly committed a terrible sin."

"That brat Banggeng, he's incorrigible. He's only been out for one day and he's already provoking that little devil again. Isn't he just asking for trouble?"

"Serves him right! Of all people to mess with, he had to provoke a national treasure protected by the military region."

Hongxing Health Clinic.

The corridor was filled with the pungent smell of Lysol.

The red light in the emergency room was always on.

Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi slumped on the cold bench, both covered in the blood of the sticks, looking utterly disheveled.

"Doctor! How is my grandson?!"

Seeing the emergency room door open and Dr. Li on duty come out, Jia Zhangshi rushed over and asked anxiously.

Dr. Li removed his blood-stained mask, his brow furrowed, and shook his head helplessly.

"His life was saved, but his condition is terrible."

Dr. Li pointed to his forehead.

"That rock hit so hard that it smashed a hole in my forehead."

"If it had been just half an inch off, it could have damaged the brain nerves and killed someone on the spot!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Huairu felt a wave of dizziness wash over her.

"but……"

Dr. Li sighed, his tone somewhat heavy.

"Although he survived, he suffered a severe concussion and excessive blood loss."

"This child's intelligence will likely be severely affected in the future, and it's hard to say whether he can recover to a normal level."

"And the medical expenses..."

Intellectual impairment! Medical expenses!

These two words, like two sharp blades, pierced Qin Huairu's heart.

With a juvenile detention center record, it would be incredibly difficult for Bang Geng to find a job in the future.

If I were to become an idiot now...

Then the Jia family line will truly be completely wiped out!

Moreover, Dongxu's compensation hasn't been paid yet, and the family doesn't even have money for food, let alone to pay for such exorbitant medical expenses!

After Dr. Li left, the corridor fell into a deathly silence.

"God! Why are you tormenting our family like this?!"

Qin Huairu suddenly burst into an extremely mournful laugh.

She jumped up from the bench as if she had gone mad.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

She slammed her head against the cold, hard white-gray wall of the corridor with all her might and without mercy.

Each blow was heavier than the last, yet I felt no pain.

"Why! Why won't you give us a way to live!"

"What did we do wrong?!"

Qin Huairu banged her head against the wall while crying out in a hoarse voice.

Blood flowed down her forehead, staining the wall red.

She finally realized that all her scheming, tears, and tantrums were in vain in front of that five-and-a-half-year-old Zhang Huaimin.

It's all just the impotent rage of a clown jumping around.

The absolute disparity in power was like an insurmountable chasm, pinning the Jia family firmly to the mire.

Sitting in the chair, Jia Zhangshi looked at her crazed daughter-in-law, and this time she didn't even have the strength to curse.

She just stared blankly at the emergency room door, her eyes empty, like a walking corpse.

Two o'clock in the morning.

Qin Huairu returned to the Hongxing Courtyard, exhausted and covered in blood.

She dragged her heavy steps as she reached the moon gate in the backyard.

But I could vaguely see it at the door of that dilapidated woodshed that had been sealed off.

Xu Damao was originally supposed to be cleaning toilets in the factory.

Wrapped in a tattered military overcoat, it peered out like a ghost.

They were whispering to each other, talking about something.