Siheyuan: At the beginning, I can integrate everything!

With a crisp "crack," wood chips flew everywhere.

That old abacus that had been with Yan Bugui for decades, its surface gleaming with oil.

It snapped in two, and the abacus beads clattered to the ground like broken teeth.

The sound seemed particularly desolate in the empty main room.

Before Yan Bugui could recover from this surge of anger...

"Bang!"

The door to the Yan family's house was kicked open violently.

A nauseating, rancid stench, mixed with the sour smell of rotten mud, instantly filled the entire room.

Yan Jiecheng tumbled and crawled inside.

His face was a mess; it was swollen like a purplish pig's head, and his left eye socket was bulging so high that only a slit remained.

His tattered undershirt was completely soaked in mud, with black water dripping down it.

"My son! How did you get beaten like this!"

The three women let out a piercing scream and rushed over to help, but the stench made them gag.

"It's all that bitch's fault! That filthy slut Yu Li!"

Yan Jiecheng lay on the ground, spitting out mud and sand while roaring like a mad dog.

"She actually ordered the security guards to beat me up! And then they threw me into a stinking ditch!"

"Dad! Mom! You have to stand up for me! I can't swallow this insult!"

Yan Bugui looked at his eldest son, who was a hopeless case, lying on the ground.

The anger in my heart was about to erupt.

The curtain to the inner room was suddenly flung open.

The second son, Yan Jiefang, came out with a dark face, carrying a tattered snakeskin bag in his hand.

"Make decisions? Make decisions about what? Causing trouble in front of someone's company, don't you think the Yan family has already embarrassed itself enough?"

Yan Jiefang looked at his older brother on the ground with disdain, his tone devoid of any sympathy.

He walked to the table and grabbed the few coins that were left on it.

"Dad, I'm not paying for food this month. I'm not getting enough to eat here anyway."

"I'm going to the countryside to collect scrap right away. From now on, you can handle things yourselves."

"You...you unfilial son! How dare you not pay?!"

Yan Bugui was so angry that he trembled all over and pointed at Yan Jiefang's nose, cursing loudly.

"Your old man isn't dead yet! You eat my food and drink my water, and now you want to just walk away?"

"That was before!"

Yan Jiefang did not back down and retorted sharply.

"You used to scheme against us every day, even keeping score of every extra bite of cornbread we ate!"

"Now my sister-in-law is rolling in money, earning a million a year! And you're the one who swindled her out of it all!"

"If you hadn't been so stingy with your sister-in-law back then, our family would be living the high life by now, instead of arguing over a penny every day in this shabby courtyard."

Yan Jiefang's words were like sharp knives, each one piercing Yan Bugui's heart.

Upon hearing this, Yan Jiecheng, who was lying on the ground, also objected.

"Second brother! What nonsense are you spouting! That's my wife, what's it to you!"

"Your wife? Does she even know who you are now?"

Yan Jiefang sneered, his sarcasm palpable.

The two argued back and forth, their argument escalating.

The argument started with Yu Li's matter and went on to accuse Yan Bugui of being biased and scheming against each of them over the years.

Finally, the two brothers actually started fighting right there in the narrow main room!

"Stop hitting! Stop hitting! I can't live like this anymore!"

The three women cried and wailed as they tried to break up the fight, but were pushed to the ground by the two brothers who had lost their temper.

The entire Yan family was in complete chaos.

Pots and pans were shattered all over the floor, accompanied by desperate cries and curses.

Yan Bugui did not try to break up the fight.

He stared blankly at the pile of scattered abacus beads on the ground, like a puppet whose soul had been drained.

The harsh words Yan Jiefang had just uttered echoed in his ears.

"A million-dollar annual salary... you schemed to take it all away..."

Yan Bugui slowly turned his head.

Looking at the empty rice container in the corner, where even the flour had been scraped clean.

And look at this dilapidated house, filled with endless arguments.

Scenes from the past flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

Back when Yu Li first married into the family, she was a pretty and hardworking girl.

She didn't mind that the Yan family was poor, and she ate coarse grains with them.

But how did I treat her?

To save two cents on the water bill, he wouldn't let her boil water to wash her hair in the dead of winter.

To save her a single grain of cornmeal, a ration was set for her at each meal.

Even if it's just the young couple closing the door to eat some good food brought back from the wife's family.

He would shamelessly knock on doors, claiming it was to "get a taste".

He considered himself shrewd and regarded the saying "You won't get poor from eating or dressing, but you will get poor if you don't plan ahead" as his guiding principle.

He thought that with this abacus, he could keep the family firmly in his grasp.

But what was the result?

He drove his eldest daughter-in-law away.

Not only were they forced to leave, but they also encountered Zhang Huaimin, a once-in-a-century benefactor!

He transformed himself into the CEO of Future Technology Group!

She became a millionaire businesswoman whom Yan Bugui could never even look up to in his lifetime!

in case……

If only I hadn't been so stingy back then.

If only he could act like a normal father-in-law and show a little humanity to that family.

just now.

Is that bright red sedan parked in front of the Yan family's house?

Those big bosses who come to curry favor with him, haven't they already worn down his doorstep?

Has he already moved out of this dilapidated courtyard house and into a spacious and bright apartment building?

"It's over...it's all over..."

Immense regret and extreme disappointment gripped Yan Bugui's heart like an invisible hand.

He felt a tightness in his chest and couldn't breathe.

This karmic retribution is even louder and more vicious than Zhang Huaimin's slap!

He schemed his whole life, finding satisfaction in every penny he could.

result.

They picked up the sesame seeds but lost the watermelon.

No, what he lost wasn't a watermelon.

What he lost was a glittering mountain of gold!

"I, Old Yan... have been shrewd my whole life..."

Yan Bugui's legs went weak, and he could no longer support his body weight.

Tears streamed down his face as he looked up at the dim light bulb on the ceiling.

He let out a long, mournful sigh, filled with utter despair and endless regret:

"in the end……"

"They actually managed to trick a golden phoenix that flew into our home and make it fly away!"

"Thump!"

A muffled thud.

This is the most proud "intellectual asset" in the courtyard, this "Third Uncle" who has been good at scheming all his life.

Under extreme remorse and mental distress.

He collapsed onto the cold earthen bed, his eyes lifeless, as if all his vitality had been instantly drained away.

The sounds of smashing and crying continued inside the Yan family's house.

This family, held together by scheming, finally crumbled completely under the heavy pressure of self-interest.

At this time.

Outside the Hongxing Courtyard.

The once clear sky over the capital city has now been shrouded in an eerie, dim yellow hue.

The sun lost its brilliance and became a pale, white patch of light.

The air was filled with an extremely pungent smell of earth and sand.

The wind was getting stronger.

It carried a suffocating sense of oppression.

A massive sandstorm, the worst in a decade, resembled a raging yellow dragon.

It crosses the northern desert, blocking out the sky and the sun.

It is sweeping towards Beijing with overwhelming force!