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

Chapter 30 Not one again.

After Yan Bugui was taken away, the Yan family collapsed.

Yang Ruihua cried all night and fell ill. Yan Jiecheng didn't go to school, so it was his turn to take care of the family, a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy.

Madam Jia sat at the doorway sewing shoe soles, and for once, she didn't say a word.

Tan Xiulan went to ask the deaf old woman for help, but was refused. The deaf old woman told her that she had only recently studied current affairs and policies at the Military Control Commission, and that the Three-Anti and Five-Anti campaigns were currently being carried out vigorously across the country, so no one would help her with this matter.

Tan Xiulan dared not go out. Yi Zhonghai was sentenced to one year of labor reform, and she herself became a family member of a labor reform inmate. She even walked close to the wall.

Yan Jiecheng squatted in the front yard, scratching at the ground with a twig. He scratched at the names until the twig broke. He looked up and glanced towards the middle yard.

At that moment, He Yuzhu was pushing his tricycle out of the passageway.

The two locked eyes. Yan Jiecheng didn't look away, but stared at him with eyes full of hatred.

He Yuzhu walked past him. Old Li, pushing his tricycle behind him, also saw this and went up to remind Zhuzi.

He Yuzhu kept saying he was fine, but his spatial awareness was activated, while Yan Jiecheng behind him was practically shooting knives at him.

From that day on, he began to pay attention to Yan Jiecheng's actions.

Every morning when He Yuzhu came out of the courtyard, he would use his spatial awareness. The main house in the middle courtyard was empty every night, making it easy for someone to take advantage of the situation. He would carefully sense the space morning and night to compare whether there were any changes.

These past two nights, Yan Jiecheng has been coming to the vicinity of Moon Gate.

That morning, He Yuzhu came out of the side courtyard and walked to the main house in the middle courtyard. He sensed a few faint footprints on the windowsill. There was still some blackish-gray powder left on the rim of the water vat inside. He reached out, dipped his finger in it, and smelled it; it smelled like garlic. Rat poison.

He didn't touch the water in the tub, but wiped the footprints off the windowsill. When Old Li arrived, he told him he wasn't feeling well and should rest for the day.

Old Li asked him if he wanted to go to the hospital, but Zhu Zi waved his hand and said he was fine and would rest here for a while.

After Lao Li left, He Yuzhu put the entire vat of water into his spatial storage, refilled it, and casually started kneading dough to make steamed buns.

After breakfast, with medicinal herbs simmering in the pot, he began practicing Xingyi Quan (a style of Chinese martial arts). When he was drenched in sweat, the herbs were ready. He took out a large wooden tub filled with hot water from his spatial storage. He poured the entire pot of herbal broth into the tub, stripped naked, and sat down for a medicinal bath.

This is the medicinal method from the three methods of Xingyi Quan. He soaks it once a week, which costs a lot, and all the herbs are old.

He Yuzhu endured the stinging pain and soaked in the medicinal bath until the color faded. He then took out a large wooden tub filled with clean hot water. After washing himself clean and getting dressed, the two tubs disappeared from the room.

He glanced at the time; it was almost ten o'clock. Yan Jiecheng should be arriving soon.

A dozen minutes later, Yan Jiecheng sensed that he had walked to the central courtyard's passageway and was looking at the main house.

He Yuzhu opened the door, locked it, and walked towards the front yard. Yan Jiecheng's eyes showed surprise.

He knew it was this kid; he's got guts. But you'll only have this one chance to be bold; there won't be another.

That night, Yan Jiecheng got up to use the restroom. He had just reached the corner of the public restroom when he was struck on the back of the head with a dull thud. Everything went black.

When he woke up, he was in pain all over his body; he had been woken up by He Yuzhu beating him with sticks.

A voice rang in my ears.

"Where did the rat poison come from?"

Yan Jiecheng's body stiffened.

"Who...who are you? Where is this? Ouch, stop hitting me...stop hitting me...you're Sha Zhu...Ouch, you bastard, let me go."

"Let you go? You're dead if you go in here." He Yuzhu pressed Liu Guangqi's corpse mouth to mouth against Yan Jiecheng.

"Yan Jiecheng, the person you're kissing right now is Liu Guangqi. He's been dead for over half a year, but his lips are still warm. Isn't that amazing?"

He Yuzhu then manipulated the corpse upwards, positioning the thigh bone towards Yan Jiecheng's mouth.

"Jiecheng, what's pressed against your mouth right now is his thigh bone. You can lick it; the blood's still warm. Exciting, isn't it? Say something, we're not gagging you."

A wooden stick struck his knee, making him yell in pain.

"You...you're not Sha Zhu, who are you? You madman...ugh...ugh..." Yan Jiefang couldn't move or vomit in the space.

"Answer me honestly, where did you get the rat poison? You can't buy rat poison in Beijing now, you need a certificate from your work unit. If you don't tell the truth, I'll stuff your mouth with Liu Guangqi's ass, or even his front, hehehe, what a great idea. Why don't you try not answering?"

"I'll tell you... I took it from home. My dad brought it back from school."

"I used several packets."

"One pack."

Do you have any left at home?

"Yes... there's another pack at home."

He Yuzhu was silent for a moment before speaking again: "Why don't you use both packets? This vat of water is so big, can one packet kill someone? You don't even know how to poison it."

The stick came down again, and the blows came in a flurry.

"Yan Jiecheng, you're a piece of trash, you were a piece of trash in your past life too. You can't even have children, what's the use of you living?"

Yan Jiecheng was dizzy from the beating and cursed, "Are you crazy? I didn't want to kill anyone, ouch... stop hitting me... I just wanted to get revenge on you and make you eat my... boxed lunch... my stomach hurts."

He Yuzhu didn't stop, he continued hitting, and kept saying:

"You don't know anything! I'm going to change that tank of water in your house so your family can taste the rat poison you made yourself. What's the point if it can't even kill anyone?"

He finished speaking, paused to catch his breath. Seeing that Yan Jiecheng didn't react, he struck him twice more hard with the stick. Dead? So fragile?

He Yu placed her hand under his nose for a while, and he stopped breathing. These Yan family members are no match for the Liu family; they're useless.

He Yuzhu exited the spatial dimension and returned to the courtyard. In the main room, he sat back in the armchair, picked up his teacup, and took a sip. It was cold.

The next morning, Yang Ruihua discovered that Yan Jiecheng was missing. She assumed her son had gone out early and didn't think much of it. When he hadn't returned by school time, she began to worry. In the afternoon, she went to the school to ask if he had come.

Yang Ruihua panicked and ran to the police station to report the case.

The police arrived and asked around the courtyard. Jia Zhangshi said she didn't see it. Tan Xiulan said she didn't see it. Wang Caifeng said she didn't see it. When asked, He Yuzhu said he lived in the adjacent courtyard and hadn't noticed.

The police officer took a statement and left.

Another child has gone missing in the courtyard. Yang Ruihua cries every day while cooking for the three children, and when she has a spare moment, she sits at the door, lost in thought, and then cries again.

Yan Bugui is still in detention and doesn't know his son is missing. Yan Jiefang and Yan Jiekuang are too young to go out and stay indoors. Yan Jiedi can barely speak and doesn't know what happened.

Inside the house, Jia Zhangshi whispered to Jia Dongxu, "Something's gotten weird in the courtyard. Old Liu's son is missing, and Old Yan's eldest son is missing too."

Jia Dongxu did not respond.

He Yuzhu set up and packed up his stall as usual. Every day, he pushed his cart past the Yan family's door. Yang Ruihua sat on the threshold, her eyes vacant, just like Wang Caifeng had always been. The two women who had lost their sons, one in the backyard and the other in the front yard, were symmetrical, separated by the middle yard.

Night. He Yuzhu sat in a grand chair in the main room. In the space, two corpses remained frozen in place.

He lit a cigarette. The window was open, and the night wind blew in. The courtyard was dark, except for the main room in the outer courtyard, which was lit. A yellowish light shone through the glass window, illuminating the pomegranate tree. The pomegranate tree was in bloom, its blossoms as vibrant as blood in the lamplight.