Siheyuan: At the beginning, I can integrate everything!

Xu Damao stood at the Jia family's door like a ghost, clutching the medical report tightly, without uttering a word.

His bloodshot eyes stared intently at Qin Huairu, making her feel uneasy.

"Da...Da Mao, you've been here all day, is something wrong?" Qin Huairu greeted him, forcing herself to speak.

Xu Damao ignored her, but instead glared fiercely at Banggeng, who was lying on the kang, over her shoulder.

Then, he snorted coldly, said nothing, and turned to stumble towards the backyard.

The back view had an indescribable sense of desolation and eeriness.

Qin Huairu was baffled by his reaction, but with the family struggling to make ends meet, she couldn't worry about anyone else.

She sighed, picked up the wooden basin full of dirty clothes, and went to the public pool in the middle courtyard.

The well water was bone-chillingly cold in winter; Qin Huairu shivered as soon as she put her hand in.

But she didn't stop, because out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Sha Zhu carrying a net bag as he walked out of the house.

Sha Zhu is off work today and is going to the market to buy some cabbage.

As soon as I stepped outside, I saw Qin Huairu washing clothes in the cold wind.

If it were before, Sha Zhu would have been heartbroken and would have rushed over to snatch the laundry tub, while also stuffing the good stuff from the net bag into her hands.

But today, Sha Zhu only glanced at it before looking away.

He lowered his head, quickened his pace, and prepared to walk around it.

Qin Huairu was not about to let this opportunity slip by.

The family is almost starving, and Banggeng needs money to buy medicine for his injury.

She had to cling to Sha Zhu as her lifeline.

"Pillar……"

Qin Huairu stopped what she was doing, turned around, and called out in an extremely weak, tearful voice.

Sha Zhu paused in his steps.

Seeing this, Qin Huairu quickly ran a few steps and stood in front of Sha Zhu.

She looked up, and two lines of clear tears streamed down her face, which was pale from the cold wind.

"Zhu Zi, are you angry with your sister?"

"These past two days, every time I see you, you avoid me..."

Qin Huairu sobbed as she wiped her tears with the back of her hands, which were red from the cold. She looked so pitiful.

"I know I said the wrong thing that night, it was all... I was so angry I didn't think straight!"

"You know, I've always considered you my own brother."

Looking at Qin Huairu's tear-streaked face, Sha Zhu felt inexplicably irritated.

He used to be willing to give his life for her if she ever cried.

But now, whenever he sees that face, Zhang Huaimin's clear, childlike voice involuntarily rings in his mind.

"A perfect match, a family without descendants..."

"You big idiot..."

"Frozen to death under the bridge..."

These words were like a curse, swirling wildly in Shazhu's mind, impossible to shake off.

"Sister Qin, please don't cry."

Sha Zhu took a deep breath, suppressing his frustration, and said stiffly, "I'm not angry with you, I'm just... a bit busy lately."

Qin Huairu was delighted to hear this, thinking that she had fooled Sha Zhu again.

She quickly pressed her advantage, and her tears flowed even more fiercely.

"Zhu Zi, I really have no other choice but to come and beg you."

"That kid Banggeng is so immature; he's suffered terribly these past few days, crying in pain every night..."

"We don't even have money left to buy cornbread."

As Qin Huairu spoke, she stepped forward and instinctively reached out to tug at Sha Zhu's sleeve.

"Zhu Zi, could you... lend me another twenty yuan?"

"I'll definitely pay you back when I get my salary next month."

Twenty yuan.

In those days when pork only cost seven cents a pound, this was no small sum.

This is about the amount an average worker earns in half a month.

If it were the old Sha Zhu, he would have taken out 30 yuan without hesitation, let alone 20.

But today, just as Qin Huairu's hand was about to touch his sleeve...

Sha Zhu seemed to be electrocuted, and suddenly took a big step back.

Looking at Qin Huairu's exquisite yet greedy face, he felt a surge of fire in his chest.

All the grievances and resentment that had been suppressed over the years erupted like a volcano at this moment!

"Snapped!"

Suddenly, Sha Zhu raised his hand and slapped the edge of the washbasin hard.

The loud noise startled Qin Huairu, making her tremble and hold back her tears.

Several middle-aged women who were hanging clothes to dry nearby were also startled by the commotion and turned to look in this direction.

"Qin Huairu! What do you take me for?!"

With red eyes, Sha Zhu let out a long-suppressed roar by the pool in a rough voice.

"Your own brother? How can you treat your own brother like this?!"

"In the past few years, every penny of my salary, every good meal I brought back from the cafeteria, has ended up in your Jia family's stomachs!"

"To help you, I even cut back on my own sister Yushui's food rations!"

Sha Zhu became increasingly angry as he spoke, his chest heaving violently, and his voice was so loud that it could be heard clearly throughout the entire central courtyard.

"But how did your Jia family treat me?!"

"Your kind mother-in-law, Jia Zhangshi, calls me a fool and says I'm childless every day behind my back!"

"Your precious darling, Bang Geng, eats my flesh and drinks my soup, but when he sees me, he doesn't even call me 'Uncle He,' and behind my back, he calls me by my full name, 'Silly Zhu'!"

"How can you take advantage of others and then curse them?!"

Qin Huairu was stunned by Sha Zhu's sudden outburst.

Her face turned deathly pale, and she staggered backward, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Is this still the same silly Zhu who always obeyed her and was at her beck and call?

How could he say such a thing?!

"Zhu Zi...you...you're talking nonsense! Bang Geng is just young and doesn't know any better..."

Qin Huairu tried to explain, but her voice trembled violently.

"Ignorant? Why wasn't he ignorant when he was stealing chickens and dogs?!"

Sha Zhu sneered, his tone filled with utter disappointment and contempt.

"Qin Huairu, I think I understand now."

"Zhang Huaimin, that five-year-old, is right!"

"I'm a complete and utter idiot!"

"I gave you my heart, and you're only thinking of squeezing every last drop of blood out of me so that I won't have money to get married when I'm old, and will eventually freeze to death under a bridge!"

"Your Jia family is utterly shameless!"

Sha Zhu's words were extremely vulgar, but also extremely satisfying.

Like a sharp knife, it mercilessly pierced through Qin Huairu's hypocritical facade of kindness.

The selfish and greedy ugly face of the Jia family was laid bare before everyone in the courtyard.

The middle-aged women who were watching the commotion nodded in agreement and pointed at each other when they heard Sha Zhu's words.

"That's right, everyone has seen how much Sha Zhu has subsidized the Jia family over the past few years."

"That guy is such an ingrate, he ate their food and didn't even praise them."

"That Qin Huairu is really shameless, asking for twenty yuan right off the bat. Does she think Sha Zhu is an ATM?"

The pressure from public opinion surged like a tidal wave.

Qin Huairu stood in the center of the crowd, listening to the harsh comments.

I felt a burning pain on my face, as if I had been slapped hard several times in public.

She knew that the fragile image she had painstakingly cultivated had completely collapsed at this moment.

Sha Zhu, who had been a powerful backer, was now gone forever.

Qin Huairu could no longer bear this humiliation and blow.

She covered her face, even abandoning the laundry tub on the floor.

She burst into tears, turned around and ran back to the Jia family home as if her life depended on it, slamming the door shut.

Watching Qin Huairu's disheveled escape.

Sha Zhu stood by the pool, panting heavily.

Although I felt a little empty after I finished cursing, I felt an unprecedented sense of relief and liberation.

It felt like a huge stone that had been weighing on my heart for years had been lifted.

He turned his head and spat fiercely on the ground.

"Pah! What is that?!"

Just then, Sha Zhu caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye that the window of the east wing in the front yard was slightly ajar.

A five-and-a-half-year-old toddler was perched on the windowsill, watching the spectacle with great interest.

Sha Zhu looked into those clear, cunning eyes.

He suddenly grinned.

Then, Sha Zhu raised his right hand and gave Zhang Huaimin through the window a big thumbs up.