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

"Brother Guangtian..."

He Yushui looked up, and her eyes, which were originally timid and dull, were now frighteningly red.

"Is this... real?"

Liu Guangfu curled his lip and added the most hurtful blow: "The whole hospital is in an uproar, how could it be fake? Zhou Jianguo practically slapped the evidence in Yi Zhonghai's face. That money your dad sent back was half for your brother's wedding and half for your tuition. And what happened?"

He sneered, his eyes filled with contempt: "Your brother is still a bachelor, and you're starving like a ghost. All your money went into Yi Zhonghai's funeral savings! And he expects you to be grateful? Grateful for what? Grateful that he took your father's money to buy you two black cornbread buns, and then Qin Huairu took half of them to feed you?"

These words shattered He Yushui's last psychological defenses.

"ah--!!!"

A piercing scream shattered the tranquility of the textile factory dormitory.

He Yushui frantically clutched the copy of the remittance slip, tearing the paper to shreds.

"Come on! Take me back! I want to go back!"

She didn't even bother to grab her coat before rushing headlong into the snowstorm.

On the way back to the courtyard house, I didn't feel any pain from the wind blowing on my face.

He Yushui sat on the back of Liu Guangtian's bicycle. Her thin clothes were penetrated by the cold wind, but she did not feel cold.

In her mind, those scenes that once moved her to tears were rewinding wildly, and then collapsing.

That year, she passed the high school entrance exam but was five yuan short of the tuition fee. She knelt at Yi Zhonghai's door and cried like a beggar.

Yi Zhonghai, holding a large tea mug, sighed and took out five yuan, saying earnestly, "Yushui, this money was collected by everyone. Your father doesn't care about you, but remember, you must repay the compound and your Sister Qin in the future, understand?"

The truth is: it was her own money! Yi Zhonghai used her money to play the philanthropist and even made her kneel down and kowtow in gratitude!

During the Spring Festival, the Jia family was eating dumplings there. Bang Geng's mouth was full of oil, and she was so envious that she kept swallowing her saliva at the door.

Yi Zhonghai patted her head and said, "Yushui, be good. No pain, no gain. The Jia family has it tough, so you have to be considerate of your younger brother."

The truth is: it was the living expenses her father sent that fattened up those ungrateful wretches! She was feeding these man-eating beasts with her own flesh and blood!

The wind grew stronger, and the snowflakes stung my face, but they were nothing compared to the pain in my heart.

We've arrived at Nanluoguxiang.

Liu Guangtian felt a chill run down his spine and couldn't help but turn around to look.

He Yushui, sitting in the back seat, was no longer the timid and submissive girl she usually was.

Those eyes were fixed on the vermilion gate of the courtyard house, devoid of tears, only filled with indifference.

The silly little sister, who would be grateful for just two steamed buns, died in the dormitory of the textile factory.

……

Courtyard house, central courtyard

The atmosphere was suffocating.

The wind and clouds changed color, and the crowd was so dense that it was impossible to move, yet there was an eerie silence.

Yi Zhonghai sat alone on that cold bench, feeling as if he had nails stuck to his bottom.

He had his hands tucked into his sleeves and his neck hunched, looking pitiful and frail, but in reality, his cloudy old eyes were staring intently at the entrance through the gaps in the crowd.

Fear crept up his spine, a chill unique to those who have done wrong.

At this moment, Liu Haizhong was holding a chipped enamel mug, standing on the steps, trying to stick out his not-so-prominent potbelly.

This is a huge deal.

More than seven hundred yuan—this is a case of immense scale!

Liu Haizhong was both excited about the mountain that had been weighing on him for years and afraid that it would collapse and bury him as well.

"Old Yi, stop pretending to be so profound." Liu Haizhong cleared his throat, trying to break the silence. "The postman is still at the door, he hasn't gone far. There's plenty of evidence and witnesses. You'd better give everyone an explanation."

The neighbors around him began to whisper and point, their pointing and whispering making Yi Zhonghai feel extremely uncomfortable.

Yi Zhonghai knew he couldn't wait any longer.

Once that brat He Yushui returns, that will be the real battleground.

He had to stir things up before that happened, and win back even a little bit the hearts of these fickle neighbors!

"well--"

A long sigh, filled with endless sorrow and grievance, drowned out the surrounding noise.

Yi Zhonghai slowly raised his head, his usually dignified and upright square face now full of wrinkles and tear stains.

He shakily reached his hand out from his sleeve and wiped away his tears:

"Old Liu, and all you neighbors... I know you're all cursing me in your hearts right now, calling me a greedy hypocrite, a scumbag who eats up the family fortune..."

When the words "childless" were mentioned, Yi Zhonghai's body trembled violently.

This tremor was incredibly artistic, a performance worthy of an Oscar.

The noise from the crowd did indeed subside somewhat.

In this day and age, "having no descendants" is the harshest insult, and it is also the deepest pain in the hearts of these elderly people who have no children.

Yi Zhonghai keenly noticed this. His eyes were red and his gaze swept sadly over several elderly neighbors in the crowd who also had no children, finally landing on the shrewd-looking Third Uncle Yan Bugui.

"Old Yan, we've known each other for decades. Don't you know what kind of person I am? Do you think I, Yi Zhonghai, am short of money? My wife and I can live on my monthly salary of ninety-nine yuan."

Yan Bugui adjusted his glasses, opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

Indeed, Yi Zhonghai is the richest man in the hospital, so in theory he shouldn't have broken the law for this.

Seeing this, Yi Zhonghai immediately intensified his attack, slapping his thigh and wailing:

"Did I stop this money for myself? Huh? I did it for Sha Zhu! For the rain!"

"That bastard He Daqing ran off with the widow. How old was Shazhu back then? How old was Yushui? Suddenly having so much money, what if he gets swindled by some shady people? What if Shazhu, with his reckless nature, squanders it all? How will these two siblings live in the future?"

Yi Zhonghai's shout was so powerful and moving, with snot and tears streaming down his face, and even the veins on his neck bulging.

"I have no children, God has punished me to be childless! I truly consider Shazhu and Yushui my own children! I haven't touched a single penny of this money! I wanted to save it for them! To save it for Shazhu to get married, and to save it for Yushui's dowry! I thought that when I get old and can't move anymore, at least I'll have something to remember me by, someone to break the pot for me..."

These words were as powerful as a heavy tear gas canister.

In an era where raising children to provide for old age and clan ties are extremely important, the logic of an elderly person with no descendants entrusting their money to their godchildren in order to find someone to support them in their old age is impeccable, and even carries a tragic heroic quality.

A commotion began to break out in the crowd.

Even the usually most easily swayed Aunt Wang had tears welling up in her eyes. She tugged at the sleeve of the person next to her and said, "Hey, don't you think we've misunderstood that old man? He's quite pitiful, having no children. He's only doing this for the good of his kids."

"Yes, if the money really wasn't touched and was just being kept safe, then... then it's a case of good intentions gone wrong," another neighbor chimed in.

Even Yan Bugui, who had been eager to kick someone when they were down, began to waver.

He was calculating in his mind: if Yi Zhonghai could really produce the seven hundred yuan intact, then this matter would at most be considered a family dispute. But if he went too far now, Yi Zhonghai might be able to turn the tables later...

Seeing that the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, Liu Haizhong was so anxious that he was sweating profusely, and he could barely hold the large teacup in his hand.

It seemed that Yi Zhonghai's few crocodile tears were about to turn the tide of public opinion around.

"Oh."

A soft laugh suddenly rang out.