Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

The three members of the Jia family were completely dumbfounded, sitting there blankly with empty eyes, as if their souls had been ripped out.

Yi Zhonghai muttered to himself, "I did it for his own good... I wanted him to be able to support the family sooner... I never expected... I never expected it to turn out like this..." His voice was full of confusion, regret, and despair, his hands trembled, and the color drained from his face.

Qin Huairu covered her face and cried uncontrollably, "It's all my fault... It's all my fault for getting pregnant with my third child, which increased the burden on the family... It's all my fault for not making him eat more and not letting him rest properly... I've ruined him! I'm so sorry to him!" She cried so hard that her heart was breaking, her body trembling, and she almost fainted.

Jia Zhangshi suddenly snapped out of her daze and lunged at Yi Zhonghai, grabbing his face and screaming, "It's all your fault! You're the one who ruined my son! You forced him to take two exams in a row! You had to torment him! You old bastard! I'll fight you to the death!"

Yi Zhonghai, his hair disheveled and clothes torn, instantly turned red-eyed. He shoved Jia Zhangshi away and roared, "My fault? If you hadn't been so greedy and taken all the food, would Dongxu have gone hungry? It's all your fault! You killed Dongxu!"

"It's your fault!"

"It's your fault!"

The two women started fighting, tearing at each other and cursing, creating a chaotic scene. Qin Huairu wanted to step in and break them up, but because she was pregnant, she had to protect her belly and dared not move.

Banggeng rushed forward, scratching and biting Yi Zhonghai, shouting, "You killed my dad! I'll bite you to death!"

The police rushed forward and, with great effort, managed to separate the group.

Zhang Dabiao stood in the dock, coldly observing everything, a chilling smile playing on his lips—this was the result he wanted.

Let them blame and hate each other, let them expose all their ugliness and depravity in front of everyone, let them suffer more than if they were dead.

The presiding judge raised his hand to signal the police to maintain order. After the situation calmed down, he said in a serious tone, "Stop! This is a courtroom, not a place for fighting! Anyone who dares to act recklessly will be detained according to the law!"

The three members of the Jia family, intimidated by the judge's imposing presence, stopped what they were doing, but remained standing there, panting heavily, glaring at each other with eyes full of resentment and hatred. Yi Zhonghai straightened his tattered clothes, his face so dark it seemed to drip water, his chest heaving violently, clearly furious; Jia Zhangshi, her hair disheveled, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, continued to mutter curses under her breath, her eyes filled with madness; Qin Huairu sat on the ground, clutching her lower abdomen, tears streaming down her face, her eyes filled with despair and self-reproach, repeatedly muttering, "Dongxu, I'm sorry."

The elderly judge glanced at the two judges beside him. The three discussed the matter in hushed tones for a long time before picking up the judgment. He slowly stood up, his tone solemn and serious: "After a public investigation and examination, the facts of this case are clear and the evidence is conclusive. The defendant, Zhang Dabiao, had neither the time nor the motive to commit the crime. The plaintiff's accusation of 'murder by witchcraft' has no factual or scientific basis whatsoever and is purely a feudal superstition and false accusation. In accordance with relevant regulations, the judgment is as follows: The defendant, Zhang Dabiao, is not guilty and is released in court! At the same time, the plaintiffs, Jia Zhangshi, Qin Huairu, and Yi Zhonghai, are given a verbal warning, ordered not to falsely accuse or frame others for any reason, otherwise they will be held legally responsible!"

"good!"

A thunderous cheer and applause erupted from the crowd. Neighbors clapped and cheered, and many shouted to Zhang Dabiao, "Dabiao, you're alright!"

"Great, they're innocent!"

Mu Wanqing finally relaxed, a faint smile appearing on her lips. Aunt Mu also breathed a sigh of relief and nodded to Zhang Dabiao from afar, indicating that he could rest assured.

The police officer stepped forward and slowly unlocked the handcuffs on Zhang Dabiao's wrists. Zhang Dabiao moved his wrists, looked at the red marks, and didn't say much—he'd see if the Municipal Bureau would handle Chen Guangliang's case first; if not, he'd file a complaint himself.

Chen Guangliang stood in the corner, watching Zhang Dabiao being released, his face growing even uglier. He planned to immediately return to the station to organize the materials, then submit a separate report to the Municipal Bureau that very night, proactively admitting the procedural error in order to seek leniency and keep his position.

It's all because of greed.

But at that moment, Jia Zhangshi suddenly broke free from the police's restraints, pointed at Zhang Dabiao, and roared, "Zhang Dabiao! You heartless bastard! Our Dongxu is your cousin! (a distant relative)!"

"You clearly saw that Dongxu's health was failing long ago, yet you coldly watched him die? Are you even human?"

"You have hundreds of thousands of dollars, yet you refuse to help our family! You deliberately watched Dongxu die! You deserve a horrible death! You're a heartless rich man! You're an animal!"

Her eyes were crazed, her hair was disheveled, and there was blood at the corner of her mouth; she looked like a demon.

She shifted all the blame onto Zhang Dabiao, partly to vent her anger and partly to ruin Zhang Dabiao's reputation.

Let's all be dragged down together, if we're going to die, we'll die together!

Zhang Dabiao sneered: "Heh."

"I didn't start scheming against my family's house and workplace shortly after my father passed away."

"We made it clear at the beginning of last year that I would never have anything to do with your Jia family again, have you forgotten?"

Zhang Dabiao twisted his arms as he said, "As for saying that it's cold-blooded of me to see it and not warn you?"

"Silly Zhu, didn't I remind Jia Dongxu to be more restrained back then?"

Sha Zhu and the others nodded repeatedly. Everyone knew about it, and Zhang Dabiao had even beaten Sha Zhu because of it, so they still remembered it vividly.

"And what did Jia Zhangshi say? She said I was being a scoundrel? That I still have designs on Qin Huairu?"

"Wouldn't that be like trying to be kind but getting nothing in return?"

"Hey guys in compound number 95, I just have one question for you: did I give you a heads-up?"

Xu Damao, Sha Zhu, Liu Guangqi, and others testified one after another: "Yes, yes! They said it at the time, we all heard it!"

"As for saying I have money and food but won't help your Jia family—I'm not your father, why should I help you?"

"Besides, where do you think Xiao Dang gets all that milk, eggs, and candy from? Would Qin Jingru dare to raise Xiao Dang like this without my permission?"

"Qin Jingru and I are supporting one of your children! Be content, you expect me to support your whole family? Have some shame, Jia Zhangshi."

"Me, rich and heartless? Whether I'm rich and heartless or not, the whole neighborhood knows! You, Jia Zhangshi, can't smear me even if you try!"

Speechless after being confronted by Zhang Dabiao's reasoned and well-founded rebuttal, Jia Zhangshi collapsed to the ground.

But Zhang Dabiao wasn't about to let them off the hook, pointing at each of them and calling out their names one by one—

"If only you, Jia Zhangshi, ate a little less or found some work at the neighborhood office to ease Jia Dongxu's burden; if only you, Qin… well, you're pregnant, so I won't say anything; if only your Jia family had listened to advice and changed to urban household registration when it was possible; if only you, Yi Zhonghai, had given the Jia family more financial assistance instead of always just barely making ends meet—don't you know how much Jia Zhangshi can eat? And if only you, Yi Zhonghai, hadn't been so greedy and forced Jia Dongxu to take two exams at once, it wouldn't have been difficult for you to teach him to be a Level 2 worker a few years ago. Why did you have to restrict his worker level just to control Jia Dongxu—"

"If any one of you three did even one of these things! Just one!"

"a little!"

"Jia Dongxu won't die!"

Zhang Dabiao's deafening voice rang out, and everyone fell silent, especially the neighbors of No. 95 Courtyard, who knew what was going on.

Yes, Zhang Dabiao is right. If they could do any one of these things, Jia Dongxu might not necessarily die.

"So, Jia Dongxu was manipulated by you step by step—"

"One step at a time!"

"He was driven to his death by his own hands!"