Courtyard House: In times of famine, my hamster became a spirit.

The main building of the Intermediate People's Court was already completely dark.

He Yuzhu lay stiffly on the hard bed, staring at the spider webs on the roof beam, his whole body in a state of CPU overload.

Yi Zhonghai's theory of hallucinations caused by poisoning provided a way out.

He Yuzhu desperately tried to back down and brainwash himself: Sister Qin was acting against her will; she washed my underwear and tidied the house for me every day, that was the real Sister Qin.

But as soon as I close my eyes...

The face from the cellar was right in front of me.

The face was contorted and twisted, spewing stench, and cursing him as a "dead beggar" and "childless."

"That's poisoning...that's poisoning..." He Yuzhu buried his head in the pillow, muttering incantations, trying to exorcise the evil spirits from himself.

My stomach was cramping.

I didn't eat dinner, but right now I'm not even hungry, and the thought of anything oily makes me nauseous.

……

The backyard, Zhou Jianguo's house.

The kerosene lamp was out, but the person was still awake.

Zhou Jianguo leaned against the headboard. On the system panel, [Hospital-wide Hearing Enhancement] was activated, allowing him to hear all the sounds and noises throughout the entire courtyard.

"Squeak—"

The faint sound of door hinges came from the central courtyard.

Immediately following was the soft crunching of old cotton shoes on snow, as they cautiously made their way to He Yuzhu's house.

"Oh, so after-sales service has arrived already?"

Zhou Jianguo's eyes turned cold. "I knew it. How could this vampire let the blood pack get cold? He's afraid his long-term meal ticket will grow legs and run away."

Since you want to act in a ghost story, I'll set up a stage for you.

He pointed his finger into the air and summoned a large enamel mug from the system space. Inside was deep well ice water drawn from the space's well, which was refreshingly cold.

A thought crossed my mind.

"Splash—"

The water appeared out of thin air without a sound, precisely splashing onto the three-tiered bluestone steps and high threshold in front of He Yuzhu's door.

The Great Cold solar term, minus fifteen degrees Celsius.

The water had just hit the ground when it froze into a layer of crystal-clear ice.

Done and that's it.

Zhou Jianguo pulled the blanket tighter around himself and closed his eyes comfortably: "Please begin your performance."

……

Intermediate People's Court.

Qin Huairu stopped in her tracks at He Yuzhu's door.

She prepared her special skill, and tears welled up in three seconds.

She just got home and was given a good scolding by her mother-in-law, Jia Zhangshi, which completely sobered her up.

We absolutely cannot lose Sha Zhu, this donkey that's been helping us out, otherwise the Jia family will run out of food in three days.

We must win them back, no matter the cost.

Qin Huairu reached out and tidied her temples, then gritted her teeth and unbuttoned the top button of her old cotton-padded jacket.

Her neckline was slightly open, revealing a small patch of collarbone shivering in the cold wind.

This is called a combination of self-inflicted injury and a honey trap; it's a game-changer against a bachelor like Sha Zhu.

Adjust your expression: your brows are slightly furrowed, your eyes show three parts sorrow, seven parts regret, and also restraint.

perfect.

Qin Huairu took small, quick steps forward, completely unaware of the unusual light beneath her feet.

"Tap, tap."

The knock was very soft, and it sounded tentative.

"Is Pillar...asleep?"

His voice was heavily nasal, as if he had just cried, trembling and making one's heart tremble.

Inside the room, He Yuzhu suddenly opened his eyes.

Sister Qin is here!

The moment He Yuzhu uttered the word "pillar," half of the defenses he had just built up crumbled.

Coming here so late, you must be feeling down...

He sighed, ultimately unable to bring himself to do it.

"No...no." He Yuzhu's voice was hoarse as he lifted the covers and got out of bed.

Slipping on his shoes, he walked to the door and unlatched it.

"Click".

As soon as the door opened a crack, a cold wind carrying Qin Huairu's familiar scent of soap, mixed with a hint of earthy cellar smell, rushed in.

When Qin Huairu saw the door open, she was secretly delighted: This is halfway done!

To make the performance convincing and show her anxiety, she didn't wait for He Yuzhu to invite her, but instead took a big step forward, trying to squeeze in.

This step was taken hastily and ended heavily.

The cotton shoes with their multi-layered soles landed steadily on the thin ice that Zhou Jianguo had meticulously crafted.

"Swoosh—!"

A crisp, scratching sound pierced the night sky.

Qin Huairu's bitter expression crumbled, turning into a terrified emoji.

She lost all sense of gravity, her feet flew forward in a shovel, while her upper body lurched forward due to inertia!

"Why--!"

"Bang!!!"

A loud bang.

Because she slipped too hard, Qin Huairu's knee slammed heavily against the high threshold, and she crashed straight down towards He Yuzhu, who had just opened the door.

That was a standard, brutal charge.

As soon as He Yuzhu opened the door, before he could even see the person clearly, he felt a dark shadow pressing down on him like a mountain.

Holy crap!

He Yuzhu instinctively wanted to retreat, but there was a coal stove behind him, and he had nowhere to retreat.

"Thump!"

Qin Huairu, weighing over 100 pounds, crashed solidly into He Yuzhu's arms.

His forehead hit He Yuzhu's chin, and his knees landed on He Yuzhu's feet.

"Ugh!" He Yuzhu groaned, his tongue almost being bitten off.

Qin Huairu was in so much pain that her vision blurred, and this time she didn't need to act out her tears.

"Ouch... my leg..."

The two were in extremely strange and disheveled positions.

Qin Huairu knelt on the ground, her upper body gripping He Yuzhu's thigh, gasping for breath in pain.

"Sister Qin... Sister Qin?!" He Yuzhu, ignoring her own pain, rushed to help her up. "What happened? Why is the ground so slippery? Get up quickly!"

Qin Huairu's knees hurt so much she couldn't exert any strength, but as a top-tier "green tea" (a manipulative woman), her mind worked incredibly fast.

This pose... is perfect!

This is kneeling down to admit wrongdoing!

She endured the excruciating pain, her body went limp, and she collapsed to the ground, clutching He Yuzhu's oil-stained trouser leg with both hands.

She tilted her head back, revealing a tear-streaked face in the moonlight.

The unbuttoned collar trembled in the cold wind.

"Pillar...don't pull me...I'm too ashamed to get up..."

Qin Huairu cried out, "I won't get up... I just came here for you to beat me up! Beat me to death! Beat this heartless woman to death!"

She cried as she grabbed He Yuzhu's hand and pulled it to her face.

He Yuzhu had never seen anything like this before.

The goddess knelt down, begging to be hit or scolded.

The visual impact was so strong that it overwhelmed his meager rationality.

"Sister Qin! What are you doing! Get up quickly, the ground is cold!" He Yuzhu was sweating profusely with anxiety.

"No! I won't get up!" Qin Huairu clung tightly to his leg and began to unleash her PUA techniques.

"Zhu Zi, do you know how much I suffered in the cellar? Every time I inhaled the poison gas, all I could think about was you... all I could think about was how our family was holding me back and I couldn't get married..."

"I'm scared... I'm really scared you'll hate me. So when I got poisoned, that fear in my heart turned into something else entirely..."

She gave a bitter laugh, her acting skills on point: "So when I call you childless, a beggar... I'm actually calling myself bad luck! I want to use the most vicious words to wake you up, to drive you away! To send you far away from me, to let you live a good life!"

"Waaaaah... Pillar, am I being incredibly selfish? Just to make myself feel better, I'm stabbing your heart with a knife..."

This logic is simply turning black into white and excrement into something fragrant.

But to He Yuzhu, this sounded like thunder.

So it was love turned to hate? Or was it all well-intentioned?

He Yuzhu's saintly aura has been activated again, and his self-conquest is 100% complete.

I'm so damn stupid!

Sister Qin is suffering so much, how can I blame her?

He Yuzhu's eyes reddened, and without caring about the dirty ground, he knelt down and held Qin Huairu's shoulders, his voice choked with emotion: "Sister Qin... don't say anymore... I heard it from Uncle Yi, it's poisoning, her mind isn't clear. I don't blame you, really!"

Qin Huairu felt a great weight lifted from her shoulders.

Even if my knees hurt so much I wanted to curse, and my butt was so cold I couldn't feel it, it was all worth it.

Sha Zhu is still the same Sha Zhu; a little sweetness and he'll be fooled into doing something stupid.

Qin Huairu leaned forward, her body limply resting against He Yuzhu's chest, cupping his greasy face in her hands.

The distance is reduced, and you can hear each other's breath.

"Zhu Zi...you're so good...you're the only one in this world who truly understands me..."

Qin Huairu's eyes were glazed over, her head tilted slightly, and her red lips parted slightly.

He Yuzhu's body stiffened, and his blood rushed to the top of his head.

This is Sister Qin! This is a goddess throwing herself into my arms!

He instinctively wanted to respond and hug the woman in front of him tightly.

however.

Just as their faces were touching, only a few centimeters apart.