Sha Zhu's Rebirth in the Courtyard: Starting with Hitting Someone in the Head

Chapter 110 The Death of Jia Dongxu

The workshop was filled with the roar of machines and the cutting edges of lathes spinning rapidly. Jia Dongxu stood in front of his lathe, turned the speed up to the fastest setting, closed his eyes, and leaned his head towards the spinning blade.

A muffled thud was shattered by the spinning blade, followed by the sound of flesh colliding with metal. Blood splattered from the spinning blade. Old Wu, a coworker nearby, was bending down to pick up a wrench that had fallen to the ground. Seeing the blood, he looked up, his expression shifting from confusion to horror. His mouth gaped open to its limit, and a distorted roar escaped his throat: "Something's happened! Jia Dongxu's in trouble!"

Everyone in the workshop stopped what they were doing. Some shut down the lathes, some ran to find the security office, and some stood there with their legs trembling. Old Wu, who was closest, was the first to run over, but after just one glance, he turned around and squatted on the ground, retching. A pool of blood was slowly seeping out beside the lathe, and Jia Dongxu lay on his side on the ground, half of his head gone.

The security personnel and the workshop foreman arrived one after the other. Master Wang asked Old Wu to describe what he had seen. The foreman stood by the lathe for a moment, then took off his hat and held it in his hand without saying a word.

The head of security squatted down to take a look, then stood up and shook his head, saying, "The lathe's speed was set to the highest, and the cutting head was spinning freely. It must have been due to fatigue; he suddenly fainted and hit the cutting edge. Report it as a work-related death."

The workshop director put his hat back on, his Adam's apple bobbed, and turned to Master Wang, saying he was going to find Jia Dongxu's family.

Jia Dongxu's body was carried onto a stretcher and covered with a white sheet. Two security guards carried the stretcher out of the workshop, followed by the head of security. One of Jia Dongxu's former colleagues ran out first to notify the family.

The white cloth was too thin, and blood seeped out from underneath. Master Wang, who was standing next to him, looked down at the dark red stain and muttered: "You silly boy, you're really brave. Luckily, the head of security ruled it a work-related death."

When the news reached the courtyard, Jia Zhangshi was sitting at the door sewing shoe soles. Her senior apprentice, Jia Dongxu, ran into the courtyard, standing at the door panting heavily, his face covered in sweat. Seeing his expression, Jia Zhangshi dropped the shoe soles she was holding.

"Aunt Jia, Dongxu is in trouble. He's in the back..." Before the man could finish speaking, Jia Zhangshi had already stood up, her face drained of all color.

"You lied to me! You lied to me!" Jia Zhangshi grabbed the man's work clothes by the chest, her voice shrill and piercing. "Dongxu smiled at me this morning! He said everything would be alright!"

Senior Brother Jia Dongxu broke free of her hand and took a step back.

Qin Huairu came out of the house and stood at the doorway, her face pale. She leaned against the door frame, her fingers digging into the cracks in the blue bricks, tears streaming silently down her face.

Qin Huairu suddenly understood why he had shared chicken legs with Bang Geng and then with her during last night's meal, and why he had touched her belly and said to take good care of the baby after it was born.

This morning he hugged her so tightly, saying everything would be alright. Dongxu isn't usually like that. He had planned this all along. This chicken meal was his farewell dinner, those words were for her; he was paving the way for them, mother and children, with his life.

The stretcher was carried into the front yard. People from the yard gradually gathered around.

They placed the stretcher at the doorway of the west wing. Jia Zhangshi rushed forward, lifted the white sheet, and glanced inside. She collapsed to the ground as if her bones had been removed, pounding the floor tiles with her hands. A heart-wrenching wail escaped her throat: "Dongxu! Dongxu, how could you be so heartless! You abandoned your old mother! You said this morning everything would be alright! You cruel son! You just left like this, how am I supposed to live?!"

Qin Huairu looked at her husband's figure under the white cloth, reached out her hand and then withdrew it. Jia Zhangshi threw herself on her son and wailed, repeatedly cursing those same words.

As Qin Huairu listened to her mother-in-law's crying and cursing, something inside her felt like it had cracked open. Tears streamed down her face, falling onto the back of her hand. She tried to wipe them away with her sleeve, but the more she wiped, the more tears flowed.

She never knew she could shed so many tears for Dongxu. Even on his deathbed, he gave his children chicken. But he didn't know he was infertile, and those three children weren't his.

Dongxu treated her so well, he cherished her and their child with his life. She didn't deserve this man who would die for her.

But she couldn't show the slightest sign of anything amiss. She understood better than anyone that Jia Dongxu chose to die at his post so that she could take his place at the factory and have a local household registration, allowing Banggeng Xiaodang and the baby in her belly to receive government-subsidized food rations.

He gave his life to save the lives of his wife and children.

If people realized this wasn't an accident, her chances of survival would be over. She bit her lip to swallow her sobs, wiped away her tears, but more tears welled up.

She didn't know if the expression on her face was grief or guilt, gratitude or fear. All she knew was that the man who had held her that morning and said everything would be alright was now lying in front of her, never to speak again.

She was his wife for ten years, and he repaid her with his life.

In the evening, everyone returned to the courtyard and helped set up the mourning hall. Yan Bugui was in charge of collecting the white envelopes and registering the names and amounts of money. Xu Damao handed over the white envelope and hurried home. His wife told him that his son was only a few months old and that he shouldn't linger there.

When Jia Zhangshi was exhausted from crying, she buried her face in her hands, her face covered in snot and tears. She wiped it haphazardly with her sleeve, then rushed to the coffin. Her hands trembled so much that she dared not lift the white cloth again, but just gripped the edge of the coffin, her knuckles turning blue.

Banggeng stood to the side, went up and tugged at his grandmother's sleeve, calling her "Grandma" and then "Father." No one answered him. He squatted down next to Jia Zhangshi, buried his head in his knees, and his shoulders trembled.

Qin Huairu sat by the coffin, tears streaming silently down her face. Xiao Dang got up from the kang (heated brick bed) inside the house and called out "Mom and Dad" several times, but no one answered. She climbed down, peeked out from the door frame, and looked at the mourning hall in the courtyard, wondering what had happened.

Old Li stood silently at the entrance of the main house in the courtyard for a while, then turned and went inside. Tian Xinghua hugged the child closer to her.

He Yuzhu leaned against the door of Old Li's house, coldly watching all of this.

Jia Zhangshi's wailing began again, echoing back and forth in the courtyard, mixed with Bang Geng's sobs. Qin Huairu sat there silently weeping.

He showed no expression, simply standing there watching. In his past life, he had also stood in this courtyard, watching Jia Dongxu's body being carried back, Jia Zhangshi collapsing to the ground and weeping, while Qin Huairu knelt beside him wiping away tears.

He felt sad at that time, but he had been standing in the same position all his life without any emotional turmoil.

No rush, it's not time to close the net yet. We'll tell Jia Zhangshi the truth after the locust flowers bloom.

He Yuzhu turned and went back to the side courtyard. He opened the wardrobe to pack his things, folded his change of clothes, and put them into a travel bag. Lou Xiao'e's due date was in the next few days, and he had to take her to the maternity hospital in advance.

Lou Xiao'e was feeding He Xiao rice cereal in the main room when she saw him come out carrying a travel bag and asked if he was going tonight.

"Xiao'e, go early, so we don't end up in a rush. Someone died in the courtyard tonight, so it's not peaceful here."

He handed He Xiao over to Shen Zhixia and helped Xiao'e onto the three-wheeled motorcycle. He instructed Yu Shui and Ma Hua to take good care of the family.

Ma Hua stood at the moon gate, nodding vigorously, while Yu Shui waved goodbye to them.

Upon arriving at the maternity hospital, after completing the admission procedures, Xiao'e was settled into her ward. He Yuzhu sat by the bedside, holding Xiao'e's hand.

Xiao'e looked at him. "Brother He, is something on your mind?"

He Yuzhu shook his head. "It's okay. I'll go ask the doctor when you'll probably give birth. I'll have to ask for leave tomorrow to be with you."

After settling Xiao'e in, He Yuzhu came out of the ward and ran into the doctor on duty in the corridor. He leaned against the counter at the nurses' station and chatted with the doctor for a few minutes, from workplace injuries in the hospital to blood types, and from blood types to genetics, casually asking, "Dr. Wang, about blood types, if the parents are type B and type O, what type can the child be?"

The doctor took the medical record from the nurse, glanced at it, and said without looking up, "Type B plus type O can only result in type B or type O; it's impossible to have type A. This is the most basic rule of blood type inheritance."

He Yuzhu knew in his past life that Jia Dongxu was blood type B and Qin Huairu was blood type O; these were all recorded in the steel rolling mill's medical examinations.

After Xiao'e gives birth, he'll need to find some time to go to Qin Family Village and try to find out Qin Gang's blood type. No rush, though; Huaihua is still several months away from being born, he has plenty of time.