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

His voice was hoarse, a very dejected one, like someone who had lost all hope for life. Zhang Dabiao stopped what he was doing.

He turned around, pulled up a chair and sat down opposite Sha Zhu, lit a cigarette, and tossed one to Sha Zhu as well.

"No hope? What are you hoping for?" Zhang Dabiao asked casually.

"I..." Sha Zhu opened his mouth, but didn't know where to begin.

Was he hoping to marry Qin Huairu? Or was he hoping to bring a good life to the Jia family? Or was he hoping to finally hold his head high at the factory and not be bullied?

He seems to be hoping for everything, yet he also seems to be able to rely on nothing at all.

"My salary was docked again today." Sha Zhu lowered his head, his voice barely audible. "Director Ma and Liu Cheng from the cafeteria teamed up to mess with me. Out of my 32.5 yuan salary, they only gave me 16 yuan."

"I'm too ashamed to face Sister Qin with just these few dollars..."

Zhang Dabiao listened quietly, his face expressionless; he had expected this all along.

Sha Zhu is skilled, but not very bright. He's offended Liu Cheng, so it's only a matter of time before he gets his comeuppance.

"So what?" Zhang Dabiao looked at him. "If you come here and cry, will Director Ma return the money to you tomorrow? Or will Liu Cheng kowtow and apologize to you?"

Sha Zhu was stunned by his words and looked up: "I...I'm just feeling aggrieved."

"Feeling stifled is normal." Zhang Dabiao picked up a pencil and twirled it between his fingers. "Feeling stifled means you still want a good life. If you can't even feel stifled anymore, then there's really no hope."

He put down his pen, leaned forward slightly, stared into Sha Zhu's eyes, and said, word by word:

"Silly Zhu, I'll be blunt with you today, take it or leave it."

"You want to marry Qin Huairu, right?"

Sha Zhu nodded subconsciously.

"Fine," Zhang Dabiao continued, "Then you have to accept your fate. You need to understand that you're not just marrying Qin Huairu, but also the mess her whole family is making."

"You have to accept your fate. That old hag Jia Zhangshi won't change her ways even if she goes back to the countryside. She'll be like a vampire, sucking your blood every month."

"You have to accept your fate. That ungrateful wretch Banggeng, no matter how good you are to him, he'll never acknowledge you as his father. He only cares about his deadbeat father and his bastard grandmother. You're just an outsider, a tool for his family to make money."

"You have to accept your fate. You're just a 'helper.' Do you know what a helper is? It means supporting someone else's wife and children, and in the end, you get nothing, not even a descendant with the surname He!"

"If you're willing to join forces, if you're willing to be a dog, then go ahead. It's your business, do whatever you want, go be your pure love warrior."

"Whether it's me, Xu Damao, Liu Guangqi, or Yan Jiecheng, we've said everything we needed to say to you. If you're willing, we'll just stand by and watch you make a fool of yourself, as a bit of fun. We have no obligation to help you."

"You chose it yourself."

Zhang Dabiao's words were like a sharp knife, each sentence stabbing painfully into Sha Zhu's heart.

Sha Zhu's face turned from red to white, then from white to green, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word.

He wasn't unaware of these principles.

Yi Zhonghai had tried to reason with him, but he always felt that people are made of flesh and blood, and as long as he treated Qin Huairu and the children well, one day they would accept him.

But Zhang Dabiao's words shattered this facade of hypocrisy.

"If you can accept this fate," Zhang Dabiao leaned back in his chair, his tone softening, "then don't feel resentful or complain. Go to work diligently, earn money honestly, and hand over every penny of your salary to Qin Huairu so she can fill the bottomless pit that is the Jia family. This is your own choice, and you have to see it through, even if you have to crawl on your knees."

"But if you can't accept this fate, if you can't bear this humiliation," Zhang Dabiao's eyes sharpened, "then give up on this idea as soon as possible! There are plenty of women in the world. You, Sha Zhu, have skills and aren't bad-looking. Why insist on hanging yourself on one tree?"

"If you just leave it hanging like this, neither alive nor dead, you'll suffer, and Qin Huairu can't rely on you either. That's what it really means to waste her time."

The whole room fell silent, with only the occasional chirping of insects coming from outside the window.

Sha Zhu kept his head down, not saying a word, but his shoulders were trembling slightly.

Zhang Dabiao's words hit his sore spot with every single one.

He loved Qin Huairu so much that he couldn't extricate himself.

But he was also afraid, afraid that he might really be like Zhang Dabiao said, working hard all his life only to end up with nothing.

That night, Sha Zhu sat at Zhang Dabiao's place for a long time.

He didn't say anything more, just sat silently, drinking glass after glass of cold water while smoking.

It was very late when he finally stood up. The confusion in his eyes was gone, replaced by something indescribable.

"Da Biao, thanks." He said in a hoarse voice, "I...I'll think about it some more."

After saying that, he staggered out of the east courtyard and disappeared into the darkness.

Zhang Dabiao watched his retreating figure and shook his head.

think?

Silly Zhu, some things you can't do just because you understand them.

This emotional hurdle is the hardest one to overcome in the world.

If I hadn't promised Rainwater that I would help you whenever I had the chance, who would bother with you?

They came to my door seeking advice without even bringing a gift. Thumbs down!

------------

Zhang Dabiao didn't take Sha Zhu's troubles to heart.

He has his own things to do.

On July 20th, after working through several sleepless nights, Zhang Dabiao finally added ink lines to the last draft of "Heroes and Daughters".

When the last stroke was completed, he let out a long sigh of relief, feeling as if his entire body had been hollowed out.

From conception, field research, and storyboard sketches to the final outline and final draft, a total of 180 sketches were created, taking him nearly four months of hard work from early April to mid-July.

He looked at the sketches spread out on the table, from Wang Wenqing recognizing his old comrade-in-arms Wang Fubiao in Korea, to Wang Cheng's heroic sacrifice on the battlefield, and then to Wang Fang singing loudly on the front line... one classic scene after another was reproduced under his brush.

He even readjusted the rhythm in many aspects based on the Schneider 15 metronome, and optimized the layout of the shots according to the cinematic style.

This is not just a comic book series, but also his tribute to that heroic era.

It can be said that it has raised the artistic level by one or two levels compared to the original film.

The next morning, Zhang Dabiao didn't even have time for breakfast. He carefully wrapped the drawing in an oilcloth, got on his cool motorcycle, and sped off to the Arts and Crafts School.

When he arrived, Professor Zhou Muye and Professor Chen were in the office discussing the teaching plan for the next semester.

—Snap—

Zhang Dabiao placed the thick stack of drawings on the table.

"Teacher Zhou, Teacher Chen, the manuscript is finished."