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

Chapter 12 Beaten to Death

He Yuzhu returned home, closed the door, took out meat and fish from his storage space, and began to cook dinner.

To make braised lion's head meatballs and squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, fry the meatballs until golden brown, then take them out, add seasonings, and simmer them over a low flame on a coal stove.

Make neat, even diagonal cuts on the fish. Coat it with starch and deep-fry it. The oil sizzles as the fish turns golden brown, its tail curling up like a squirrel. Once fried, remove it from the oil, leaving a little in the pan. Prepare a sweet and sour sauce and pour it over the fish.

A whole tank of hot oil is collected into the storage compartment. No need to reheat it next time, so convenient!

The two dishes were served, and they looked quite appealing. He Yuzhu ladled out a bowl of rice and ate slowly. The lion's head meatballs were tender and soft, and the squirrel-shaped mandarin fish was sweet and sour—better than what he used to make in his previous life.

After finishing my meal, I lit a cigarette and felt quite satisfied.

After finishing his cigarette, he stood the chopping block upright against the wall, bottom side out. He took out six throwing knives from his storage space, stood seven or eight steps away, and threw them one by one. The first few missed; some hit the edge of the chopping block, and some fell to the ground.

He used spatial manipulation to retrieve the knives and continued throwing them. After half an hour, his accuracy gradually improved. He was able to land all six knives in the same area.

He then took out his bow and arrows, stood in the corner of the room, and shot at the vegetable chopping block. The arrows struck the wood with a thud. After shooting more than a dozen arrows, the vegetable chopping block was covered in thorns.

After putting the items back into his spatial storage, He Yuzhu lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed).

His mind raced, conjuring up the image of tomorrow afternoon around 4 PM, school letting out, in a narrow alley. He'd knock him down with a single blow, store him in his spatial dimension, and beat him to death inside. As He Yuzhu thought about it, a smirk crept onto his face.

He turned over, unable to sleep. Overwhelmed with excitement, he sat up and began practicing Xingyi Quan. He didn't lie down until he was exhausted, and didn't know when he finally fell asleep.

When He Yuzhu woke up the next day, it was already broad daylight. He glanced at his watch; it was 9:30. He sat up, his head feeling a little heavy, and went to the public restroom outside before returning.

He washed his face and sat there thinking about building a bathroom for Xiao'e, because he couldn't let her suffer any more in this life.

Searching through the laws and regulations in my mind: In 1955, the socialist transformation policy targeting "privately rented houses" began to be conceived and was fully implemented in 1958.

Among them, there are clear quantitative standards for the scope of "state rental":

The standard in Beijing's urban area is that if a private house has more than 15 rooms (approximately 225 square meters) for rent, the excess portion will be included in the "state-managed rental housing".

The three main rooms and the side rooms of the He family are now all under He Daqing's name. He bought the east courtyard himself, which has an area of ​​more than 500 square meters. It used to be a kitchen, a theater, and a warehouse, but now it is a ruin, with only the surrounding wall remaining.

We can open up the street-facing entrance, keep the moon gate entrance in the front yard, and build a large courtyard in the side courtyard. There will be a main house, three rooms each in the east and west wings, and the rear building is unnecessary; it can be replaced with three south-facing rooms. That would only be 12 rooms. How wonderful it would be if Xiao'e and I had more children!

The house in the middle courtyard is for Ma Hua to live in. This apprentice should be well-trained for life. This kid is only a few years old now; his master would have accepted him as a disciple a few years earlier.

He Yuzhu was still calculating when he was finally awakened by the gurgling sound coming from his stomach.

He ate a bowl of noodles, lit a cigarette, and glanced at his watch; it was not yet eleven o'clock.

It was still early, so I took out paper and pen and started designing the courtyard. After much consideration, I decided to separate an outer courtyard at the street-facing exit. This arrangement would be more ordinary, as it would be visible to the public on a daily basis.

I planted some common jujube trees, pomegranates, wisteria, and ivy in my own courtyard, which looked nice but weren't too eye-catching.

Choose antique furniture, preferably without elaborate carvings; Ming-style furniture would be excellent. My father-in-law, Lou Bancheng, should have an appreciation for it, which would be a plus.

Next to the three main rooms, build a bathroom with separate wet and dry areas, and a large bathtub so that Xiao'e and I can take a bath together. That sounds so... um, that's even more exciting... just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

No, I didn't understand these things in my past life. Whose lecherous memories are these? Didn't the judge say they were all cleaned up? Did this old bastard leave them on purpose? Just so I would give the He family more sons?

Hehe! These moves are really good, I've learned something new. I'll burn more paper money for him next Ghost Festival; even the judge is a ghost, he'll receive it, right?

It was three o'clock in the afternoon. He changed into some old clothes, wiped the dust off his face, and looked unremarkable.

He left the house at 3:10.

There weren't many people in the courtyard. At this time, people were either at work or at school. He Yuzhu pushed his bicycle out of the courtyard and rode towards the school.

Once we got near the school, we found a quiet alley and stored the bicycle in our storage space.

He walked to the narrow alley, stood against the wall, and waited.

Time is passing so slowly; it's finally past four o'clock.

Footsteps came from the other end of the alley. He pressed himself against the wall, activated his spatial awareness, and held his breath.

Liu Guangqi turned the corner and entered the alley, head down, chewing on something. Just as he reached He Yuzhu's side, the stick came down.

*Thud.* A muffled sound.

Liu Guangqi didn't even utter a sound before falling forward.

He Yuzhu put his hand on Liu Guangqi's shoulder, and with a thought, Liu Guangqi disappeared from the spot.

He Yuzhu put the wooden stick back into his spatial storage and quickly walked out of the alley. After turning a few corners, he exited through another alley, got on his bicycle, and rode home.

Arrive home, close the door, enter the space.

The space was pitch black. Liu Guangqi stood frozen in mid-air, a large bump swelling up on the back of his head.

He Yuzhu reached out, a wooden stick in hand, and began to strike Liu Guangqi repeatedly. He held nothing back, striking him again and again. After five or six blows, Liu Guangqi woke up.

He couldn't move, his eyes darting around, "Help...help me..." His voice trembled in the darkness, choked with sobs, "Who...who hit me...help me..."

He Yuzhu did not hide his voice.

"Guangqi, does it hurt?"

Liu Guangqi froze.

"Pillar...Pillar-ge? Pillar-ge, save me! Someone's hitting me! I can't move! I can't see!"

He Yuzhu smiled.

Laughter echoed through the space, a chilling, raucous sound.

"Liu Guangqi, I'm the one who got you in here. You want me to get you out?"

Liu Guangqi was stunned. Then his voice began to tremble.

"What...what did you say?"

"Relax, you're going to die today. I'll tell you a story so you'll understand why you're dying."

He Yuzhu moved closer to him.

"In your past life, on the second day of your marriage, Liu Guangqi, you absconded with all the Liu family's money and went to another place with your wife's family. Your father, Liu Haizhong, had three sons, but none of them took care of him in his old age. When he died, only your mother, Wang Caifeng, was left."

Liu Guangqi's face turned pale, and his lips trembled.

"You...you're talking nonsense...I'm only twelve..."

"I know you're twelve. I'm referring to your past life."

Liu Guangqi's voice began to tremble. "You're crazy...you're crazy..."

He Yuzhu ignored him and continued talking.

"Do you know how I died in my past life? In winter, under a bridge, a stray dog ​​gnawed half my face off. Who did it? It was these beasts in the yard. Yi Zhonghai, Old Deaf Man, Yan Bugui, Liu Haizhong, Jia Zhangshi. The most hateful ones are Qin Huairu and Bang Geng. Never mind, you don't even know those two."

Liu Guangqi was trembling like a leaf.

"I don't believe anything you're saying... You're crazy..."

"You don't believe me? Look at where you are. See if you can even move. Liu Guangqi, your Uncle Zhu has been reborn to seek revenge on you. I'll start with you today. Consider yourself unlucky; it's all because Fatty Liu kept talking. Anyway, you're an ingrate; you're useless in this world."

He raised the wooden stick.

"Guangqi, Master Zhu is sending you on your way. It'll be thrilling—beaten to death with sticks. No need to thank me."

Liu Guangqi opened his mouth to shout, but He Yuzhu's stick had already come down. Crackling and snapping, one blow after another. Hitting his head, hitting his face.

Liu Guangqi's voice changed from screams to groans, and then to silence.

He Yuzhu hit the target countless times before stopping to catch his breath.

Liu Guangqi was covered in blood and gore, but fortunately, the space didn't cause blood and gore to fly everywhere. The blood just stained the wooden stick and Liu Guangqi's body.

He Yuzhu threw the wooden stick aside, looked at Liu Guangqi's corpse, and gasped for breath.

He thought his hands would shake. No.

My mind felt clearer, like a dusty window being wiped clean. I felt relaxed all over, as if a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

He felt like something was off about him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

I looked down at my hands. There was no blood. I checked my body and clothes with my spatial awareness, but there was none.

A thought popped into his head. If he could use his senses within the space, could he sense the outside world as well?

He acted on his idea immediately. He extended his spatial perception toward the spatial wall.

They went through it.

Outside was still his house, with its kang (heated brick bed), table, pots and pans. Everything was clearly visible within thirty meters.

He Yuzhu grinned. That's great! From now on, when I go out of this space, I can scan the outside with my senses first, and I won't have to worry about being seen anymore.

He glanced at Liu Guangqi's corpse, thought for a moment, and then left it in the space.

Time stands still in this space; it won't rot no matter how long it's left there.

When Qin Huairu comes over, anyone who asks for meat, I'll cook them a good pot of meat to try. Uh, how could I have such a perverted thought? But, how exciting… I could feed it to the skewer, fatten them up, and then pour hot oil over them… Hehehe…

After leaving the space, He Yuzhu washed his hands, sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), and lit a cigarette.

Continue practicing Huaiyang cuisine.

By the time we finished eating, it was already dark.

Wang Caifeng's voice came from outside; it was very shrill.

"Guangqi! Guangqi, where have you been?!"

Liu Haizhong ran back from the front yard, his voice urgent. "Still not back? I went to the school to check."

Wang Caifeng burst into tears. "What time is it? School's long over!"

Liu Haizhong ran to the front yard and knocked on Yan Bugui's door. "Old Yan, Old Yan! My Guangqi hasn't come back. Can you help me look for him? At his classmates' houses, his teachers' houses..."

Yan Bugui quickly came out, and Jia Dongxu followed. The group walked out with flashlights. Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui went to Liu Guangqi's classmate's house, while Wang Caifeng and Jia Dongxu searched the alley.

He Yuzhu sat in the room, finished his cigarette, and lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed).

His lips slowly curled up; this was the first one.