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

The moon gate leading from the middle courtyard to the back courtyard.

Lou Xiao'e wore a dark blue woolen coat and shiny leather shoes, and every step she took was filled with worry.

She had clearly heard the gossip of the older women in the front yard.

"Sha Zhu is practically spitting out his gall bladder, complaining that Qin Huairu is filthy!"

"Qin Huairu is the same; widows always attract gossip. I think things are going to turn bad!"

Lou Xiao'e frowned as she listened.

Although she disliked Qin Huairu, as a woman, she instinctively felt disgusted upon hearing such baseless rumors.

What made her even more ashamed was that the source of this rumor was none other than her husband, Xu Damao.

As if possessed, she walked to the backyard.

Of all the beasts in this yard, only the newcomer Zhou Jianguo looks like a normal person.

Perhaps he knows what really happened last night?

Just as Lou Xiao'e reached Zhou Jianguo's door, a rich aroma of braised pork hit her like a ton of bricks.

She was about to raise her hand to knock on the door.

"Oh! Isn't this our young lady?"

A strange, eerie aura emanated from behind.

Lou Xiao'e turned around and saw Xu Damao carrying an empty chamber pot, his hat brim askew, walking over unsteadily.

His face was flushed with excitement; clearly, the whole hospital was talking about Sha Zhu's shameful deeds, which made him feel incredibly good.

"Why aren't you staying home? What are you doing here at the door of this extinct family?" Xu Damao squinted his triangular eyes, his gaze lewdly shifting between Lou Xiao'e and the tightly closed door. "What? Can't you resist the smell of meat? Don't you know your place?"

"Shut up!" Lou Xiao'e's face turned red with anger. "Da Mao, you're so shameless! Everyone's saying Sister Qin is pregnant with Sha Zhu's child. What if it's true? What if it drives someone to their death?"

"Fake? That's irrefutable evidence!" Xu Damao slammed the chamber pot down on the ground with a loud bang.

He pointed to his eyes, his expression exaggerated: "Who am I, your man? I have eyes that can see through anything! Qin Huairu's waist got thicker, and Sha Zhu threw up. That's a logical loop, don't you understand? Only a blockhead like you can't grasp that!"

This shout drew out the Second Aunt from the backyard and several other idle neighbors.

The second aunt was sewing shoe soles when her eyes swept over Lou Xiao'e's flat stomach. She lowered her voice, but it was just loud enough for someone to hear: "Yes, Da Mao is clever. Unlike some women who have been married for years without a single sign of pregnancy, and still have the leisure to meddle in other people's business."

"She's just occupying the nest without laying any eggs. If this were the old society, she would have been sent back to her parents' home long ago." Another older woman covered her mouth and chuckled.

These two sentences were even more venomous than Xu Damao's curses, and they directly broke down Lou Xiao'e's defenses.

The words "cannot have children" were like a mountain weighing on her head, making her forever inferior in this courtyard.

Lou Xiao'e's face was deathly pale, and her lips trembled as she was unable to speak.

"Did you hear that? The eyes of the masses are discerning!" Seeing someone chime in, Xu Damao became even more arrogant, reaching out to shove Lou Xiao'e. "Get back inside right now! Don't embarrass me! If people find out my wife is knocking on a bachelor's door, I'll..."

Just as Xu Damao's fingers were about to touch Lou Xiao'e...

"Squeak—"

The door opened without warning.

Xu Damao missed his target, slipped, and almost knelt down to pay homage to Zhou Jianguo.

He was about to explode when he looked up and met a pair of cold eyes.

Zhou Jianguo leaned lazily against the door frame, holding a large bowl filled with glistening, trembling braised pork in one hand.

He picked up a piece of meat, slowly put it in his mouth, chewed it until the juices were flowing, and then turned his gaze past Xu Damao to the swaying Lou Xiao'e.

"Sister E."

"You're an educated young lady, how could you believe that someone who doesn't even know if their own seed is alive or dead could accurately tell if someone else is pregnant?"

Quiet.

A deathly silence.

This statement contained so much information that it completely overwhelmed everyone present.

The second aunt nearly pricked her hand with the needle: "Jianguo, what do you mean by that? What do you mean... is the seed alive or dead?"

Zhou Jianguo swallowed the delicious food, his gaze, tinged with a hint of mockery, slowly moving downwards until it precisely landed on Xu Damao's crotch.

"Xu Damao, you're so keen on spreading lewd rumors about Qin Huairu, even making up anti-biological jokes like 'Silly Zhu's morning sickness'..."

Zhou Jianguo paused for a moment: "Is it because, subconsciously, you have a kind of morbid jealousy about getting pregnant? Because you yourself... are simply incapable?"

"You...you're talking nonsense!"

Xu Damao bounced up a meter high like a wildcat whose tail had been stepped on.

"Jealous of Sha Zhu? I'm the projectionist! I'm the richest man in the compound! I have a wife!" Xu Damao spat as he spoke, veins bulging on his neck. "Zhou Jianguo, stop spouting nonsense! Believe me or not..."

"Has your wife ever been pregnant?" Zhou Jianguo interrupted his impotent rage.

Those seven words struck me like a heavy hammer blow to the chest.

Xu Damao's breath hitched, and his eyes began to dart around: "That...that's because Lou Xiao'e's body is weak! She's a pampered young lady! She can't lay eggs!"

"Yeah?"

Zhou Jianguo chuckled lightly, his laughter full of sarcasm.

He slowly straightened up, his height of over 1.8 meters giving Xu Damao a significant advantage.

"Although I am not a doctor, I learned some of the four diagnostic methods of traditional Chinese medicine from a national-level expert in my early years," Zhou Jianguo said casually.

He extended a finger and pointed it at Xu Damao in the air.

"A flat philtrum with no beard, dark and swollen eyes, he can't walk with his heels touching the ground, and he speaks with weak breath."

With each sentence Zhou Jianguo spoke, Xu Damao's heart clenched painfully.

God!

All correct!

"This is a typical case of congenital kidney deficiency and weak seminal control."

Zhou Jianguo's voice suddenly turned cold, "In modern medical terms, this is called asthenospermia, or even azoospermia."

"boom--"

At that moment, the entire venue erupted in cheers.

The way Aunt Er and the neighbors looked at Xu Damao changed. Their previous fawning became scrutiny, and they even looked at him with the curiosity of looking at an eunuch.

This is a matter of great importance concerning a man's dignity!

It's worse than killing him!

"You...you're talking nonsense! I'm going to the security department to report you for promoting feudal superstition! I'm going to sue you for defamation!" Xu Damao panicked, completely panicked, his calves were cramping.

"Whether it's nonsense or not, why not go to a major hospital for a checkup and find out?"

Zhou Jianguo didn't respond at all, and turned to look at Lou Xiao'e, who was already in a daze.

The most crucial step has arrived.

To kill someone, you must destroy their spirit.

To bring Xu Damao to ruin, mere words won't suffice; we must win over his closest associates.

"Sister E," Zhou Jianguo softened his voice, his eyes sincere, "After carrying the blame for so many years, have you even started to believe it yourself?"

Lou Xiao'e looked up, her eyes red-rimmed, something shattered in her gaze, yet something else came together again.

"Don't you find it strange?" Zhou Jianguo coaxed, "Why does Xu Damao absolutely refuse to let you go to a major hospital for a checkup? Why does he get angry every time the child is mentioned? Why does he only give you those random folk remedies?"

"Because he's afraid."

Zhou Jianguo pointed at Xu Damao, who was covered in cold sweat and whose legs were trembling, and said, word by word:

"He's terrified. Once he gets the test results, the whole hospital and the whole factory will know that the real infertile son is actually Xu Damao!"

Yes, after many years of marriage without conceiving, Xu Damao's refusal to go to a proper hospital, those bitter and unpalatable herbal medicines, and that outwardly strong but inwardly weak sex life...

"Xu...Da...Mao..."