Siheyuan: At the beginning, I can integrate everything!

"Let's pull off something big!"

These four words seemed to possess a magical power, instantly igniting the passion in Lou Xiao'e's heart.

She knew that the "big" Zhang Huaimin mentioned was definitely the kind of monstrous wave that could overturn the entire Hong Kong business community and even shake the global capital circle.

"Okay! Huaimin, I'll do whatever you say!"

Lou Xiao'e's eyes lit up with excitement, and she nodded repeatedly.

Inside the east wing, the two men, over a cup of hot tea, began to sketch out the business empire that would soon sweep the globe.

At this time.

Outside the courtyard house.

The cold wind of early spring swirled up coal ash from the ground, stinging people's faces.

In the dark alleyway between the front yard and the middle yard.

A hunched figure, reeking of a stinking outhouse and resembling rotten mud, was lying on the ground.

That was Xu Damao.

More than a decade of cleaning toilets, plus the psychological torment of being scorned by the entire factory after the loudspeaker self-destructed.

This has completely destroyed the once spirited projectionist.

His hair was gray and messy, like a chicken coop, with a few straws mixed in.

The work clothes he was wearing were already worn out, their original color was no longer visible, and they were stiff and covered in dirt.

The worst part was his feet.

The toes of those worn-out rubber shoes were worn through long ago, revealing two toes that were frozen purple and covered in chilblains.

He was clutching a broken porcelain bowl with one half chipped in his hand.

"Gurgle..."

Xu Damao's stomach let out a thunderous roar.

He was hungry!

The meager monthly rations the factory provided were simply not enough for him.

He's like a stray dog ​​no one wants now, forced to scavenge rotten cabbage leaves and spoiled cornmeal scraps in the corner of a courtyard house to stave off hunger.

"Cold...hungry..."

Xu Damao shivered as he used his dark hands to stuff a frozen cabbage stalk into his mouth and chewed it with difficulty.

Just then.

A series of neat and heavy footsteps came from the front yard.

What followed was the neighbors' barely suppressed gasps of amazement.

"Oh dear, Mr. Lou, you're leaving already? Won't you stay a little longer?"

"Please take care on your journey, and come back to visit the hospital often when you have time!"

Boss Lou?

Xu Damao shuddered, and his chewing motion abruptly stopped.

This name, like a rusty awl, pierced deep into the depths of his mind.

He struggled to lift his head and peered through the gap in the alleyway into the front yard.

Upon closer inspection...

Xu Damao's cloudy, numb eyes widened instantly, becoming as big as copper bells!

His eyeballs are practically bulging out of their sockets!

All I could see was the center of the front yard.

He was surrounded by eight burly bodyguards in black suits and sunglasses.

A woman is walking out with graceful steps.

She wore an exquisitely tailored white mink coat and had on delicate makeup. Her demeanor was noble and aloof, like a queen reigning over the world.

That kind of elegance and nobility that emanates from his very bones is something Xu Damao could never have dreamed of in his entire life!

"E...E'zi?!"

The broken porcelain bowl in Xu Damao's hand fell to the ground with a "clatter" and shattered into pieces.

He couldn't believe his eyes!

Is this really the woman he used to beat and verbally abuse, humiliate by calling her a "barren hen," and ultimately kick out of the house penniless?!

How could this happen?!

Shouldn't she be suffering in the countryside, living a life even more miserable than his?!

Why would she come back in a luxury car that even high-ranking officials might not be able to afford, accompanied by so many fierce-looking bodyguards?!

The huge sense of disparity was like a raging tsunami.

In an instant, it completely shattered Xu Damao's pitiful self-esteem and understanding!

He looked at Lou Xiao'e's haughty demeanor, then looked down at his own filthy, beggar-like appearance, which made him look worse than a dog.

An unprecedented and extremely intense sense of humiliation and resentment surged wildly into my heart.

"E'zi! It's me, E'zi!"

Xu Damao didn't know where the strength came from.

He suddenly scrambled to his feet and, like a mad dog, stumbled and rushed out of the alley.

He stretched out his filthy, foul-smelling hands, trying to grab Lou Xiao'e's pristine white mink coat.

He had only one crazy thought in his mind:

As long as I can cling to Lou Xiao'e's coattails, as long as she still has a shred of old affection for me, I can escape this damned dry toilet and start living a good life again!

"E'er! It's me, Da Mao! Please forgive me, I used to..."

however.

His hand hadn't even touched a single hair on Lou Xiao'e's clothes.

"Get out of here!"

A furious shout, as loud as thunder, rang out.

The bodyguard captain standing behind Lou Xiao'e's side had a cold look in his eyes.

He didn't even see what the foul-smelling thing that rushed out was.

Out of the instinct to protect the employer's safety.

The bodyguard captain suddenly raised his right leg and delivered an extremely sharp side kick with a whistling sound!

"Bang!"

This kick landed squarely and mercilessly on Xu Damao's chest!

"Snap!"

Faintly, one could hear the crisp sound of ribs breaking.

"ah--!"

Xu Damao let out a piercing scream.

His emaciated body looked like a tattered sack.

He was kicked backward by this terrifying force!

It flew more than three meters away.

With a "thud," it crashed heavily against the base of the courtyard wall.

That was the biggest, muddiest mud puddle, the one where the snow had just melted yesterday!

Xu Damao crashed into the mud pit, splashing mud and water everywhere, instantly covering his face and body.

The commotion startled the neighbors who were seeing him off.

Upon closer inspection, everyone recognized that the person lying in the mud like a dead dog was Xu Damao.

No one stepped forward to help.

Some people even covered their noses in disgust and took two steps back.

"Pah! Has this toilet cleaner gone mad? He even dares to rudely confront Boss Lou!"

"Serves him right for getting kicked! He's so blind!"

The neighbors' mocking laughter was like knives, stabbing deeply into Xu Damao's heart.

But what made Xu Damao most desperate was...

It wasn't the excruciating pain of that kick, nor the mockery of the neighbors.

It was Lou Xiao'e's reaction.

From the moment he rushed out until he was kicked into the mud pit.

Throughout the entire process, Lou Xiao'e's steps never faltered even once.

She merely frowned slightly, and gently covered her mouth and nose with her black leather-gloved hand, as if she had smelled something nauseating.

then.

She didn't even glance at Xu Damao in the mud pit.

I didn't even glance at it out of the corner of my eye!

It's like passing by a pile of trash that was accidentally left on the side of the road.

Surrounded by bodyguards, he walked out of the courtyard house gate gracefully without looking back.

I got into the Rolls-Royce Phantom that gleamed blindingly in the sunlight.

boom--

The car engine let out a deep roar and sped away.

"No...it shouldn't be like this..."

Xu Damao lay in the mud pit, his body ice-cold and shivering violently.

He stared intently at the departing luxury car, his eyes bloodshot, his pupils almost bursting out of their sockets.

He once thought that as long as he divorced this "barren hen," he could find a young and beautiful woman, have a big, healthy son, and reach the pinnacle of life.

But the reality was that he himself was a eunuch, and ended up sweeping toilets for the rest of his life.

The woman he abandoned became a god he would always look up to!

Regret! Jealousy! Humiliation! Despair!

Countless negative emotions, like ten thousand meat grinders, were frantically tearing apart his internal organs.

"puff--!"

Xu Damao suddenly felt a violent heaving in his chest.

He suddenly tilted his head back.

A large mouthful of dark red blood, mixed with mud and fragments of internal organs, spurted directly from his mouth!

It sprayed all over my face.

His eyes rolled back as he convulsed violently in the mud, like a loach dying of thirst.

Life is better than death.

This is the cruelest retribution for this once selfish and wicked scum!

Just as the neighbors in the compound were watching Xu Damao struggle in the mud with indifference, they shook their heads and prepared to leave.

In the shadows of the passageway in the middle courtyard.

A figure wearing a faded but very clean blue cotton jacket slowly walked out.

Qin Huairu straightened her clothes and gathered her slightly gray hair.

She watched the Rolls-Royce tire tracks outside the gate gradually disappear.

Those eyes, though somewhat cloudy, still shone with shrewdness.

A glint of extremely complex, yet calculating light flashed across his face.