Reborn a day later, I emptied my enemy's possessions beforehand.

Zhou Hailong and Zhou Haiqing were both stunned, not knowing what their father was going to do.

Zhou Haibing put down the cornbread in his hand, wiped his hands, and turned his gaze to the doorway of the inner room.

When Zhou Fuxiang rushed out of the inner room, he was clutching a dark brown cloth belt in his hand. This cloth belt was his usual waistband.

He stepped onto a long bench, which wobbled slightly as he stood on it. He steadied himself by holding onto the wall with one hand.

With his other hand, he flicked the cloth strip over the roof beam above his head. The strip went around a thick wooden beam and hung down, with the two ends tied in his hand.

He tugged at the knot, pulled it to make sure it could support a person's weight, and then put the knot around his neck.

"Zhou Haibing!" Zhou Fuxiang's voice came from the stool, carrying a resolute, do-or-die tremor, his eyes fixed on Zhou Haibing.

"If you dare marry that Li Su'e, I'll kill myself right now!"

Zhou Hailong was terrified. He rushed over and grabbed his father's leg, his voice urgent and loud, almost crying:

"Dad! Dad, don't be impulsive! Don't do anything rash!"

He then turned to Zhou Haibing and shouted:

"Big brother! You have to promise Dad! You have to tell him you won't marry Li Su'e! Dad really might jump!"

Zhou Haiqing rushed over, gripping her father's other leg tightly with both hands. Tears welled up in her eyes, and her voice, high-pitched and thin, echoed in the main room:

"Big brother...big brother, say something...Dad, he..."

Zhou Haibing did not stand up.

He sat on the stool, looking calmly at his father who was standing on the long bench.

The cloth strap was around his father's neck. His father stood on tiptoe, his eyes wide open, staring intently at him.

This scene was so familiar that Zhou Haibing couldn't remember how many times his father had performed it in front of him.

Every time, he was the one who knelt down; every time, he was the one who compromised; every time, he was the one who said with tears in his eyes, "Dad, I was wrong, I'll listen to you."

This time it's different.

Zhou Haibing looked into his father's eyes, his voice neither loud nor soft, as calm as if he were saying, "The weather is nice today."

"Dad, if you dare to hang yourself, I'll hang myself with you and go with you to find Mom."

All the sounds in the main room vanished in an instant.

Zhou Hailong's mouth was open, as if something was stuck in his throat, and he couldn't utter a single word.

Zhou Haiqing loosened her grip on her father's leg a little, and looked up at her eldest brother with a look of surprise and bewilderment on her face.

Zhou Fuxiang stood on the bench, his eyes even wider than before, something inside his pupils trembling violently, as if someone had suddenly pulled the floorboards off his feet.

"What...what did you say?"

Zhou Fuxiang's voice was squeezed out of his throat, thin and short, like a thread about to break.

Zhou Haibing stood up from the stool, took a step forward, and his gaze remained calm.

He repeated what he had just said:

"If you dare to hang yourself, I'll hang myself with you. You leave, and I'll be right behind you."

Let's go see my mother together, so you won't be all alone on your way to the afterlife.

Zhou Fuxiang's lips trembled several times, and the cloth strap around his neck was digging into his flesh, so he probably felt uncomfortable too.

He shifted his feet on the stool, which wobbled again. He quickly reached out and grabbed the roof beam to steady himself. His expression changed from resolute to hesitant, and from hesitant to a kind of inexplicable panic.

His hands began to tremble as he tried to remove the cloth strip from his neck, but the more he tried, the less he could untie the knot. He frantically tried several times, but his hand slipped, and his fingernails scraped against the cloth strip, making a harsh sound.

Zhou Hailong quickly reached out to help him untie the cloth strip from his neck, and Zhou Haiqing also helped pull it from the other end.

The moment the cloth strip was pulled off, Zhou Fuxiang's legs went weak, and he slid off the stool, landing heavily on the ground, panting like a fish pulled ashore.

A red mark was left on his throat by the cloth strip, bright red and particularly noticeable on his neck.

He sat on the ground, panting for a while before he could catch his breath.

Then he looked up at Zhou Haibing, his eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions: anger, confusion, and a sense of apprehension that he himself might not even be aware of.

His finger was pointing in Zhou Haibing's direction, still trembling, his voice hoarse like sandpaper grinding wood:

"You...you unfilial son...you ingrate...you actually wished for my death..."

Zhou Haibing looked at his father sitting on the ground but did not respond to him.

He had almost finished eating and got up to leave to find Li Su'e. In this life, he would never lose Li Su'e again and would never let Li Su'e's tragedy repeat itself.

He glanced at the leftover food on the table, then turned and walked towards the door.

His steps were small and unhurried, like someone who had finally found their direction and no longer needed to panic.

Zhou Fuxiang's voice came from behind, loud and urgent, carrying a panic that even he himself didn't realize:

"Where are you going!"

Zhou Haibing paused at the threshold, turned his head, and said in a calm voice:

"It's too noisy at home, I want to go out and get some peace and quiet."

Zhou Fuxiang scrambled to his feet, one of his shoes missing. He shuffled to the door, slipping on his other shoe, and blocked Zhou Haibing's path.

Her eyes stared straight at him, her voice high-pitched and thin, carrying an ominous premonition:

"Are you going to find that Li Su'e? That plague goddess? Are you going to find her?"

Zhou Haibing's gaze immediately turned cold.

He turned around, looked directly into his father's eyes, and spoke in a voice that was not loud but carried great weight, like an iron block striking a stone:

"Li Su'e is not a plague goddess, I won't allow you to say that about her."

Zhou Fuxiang was forced to take a half step back by his gaze, but he still refused to admit defeat, his voice urgent and sharp:

"How can she not be a jinx? She's a capitalist's daughter! Her family background is bad! Anyone who gets involved with her is doomed! What else could she be but a jinx?"

Zhou Haibing was too lazy to argue with his father.

He turned his head away from his father and continued walking outside.

Zhou Fuxiang's voice came up from behind, shrill and loud:

"Zhou Haibing! If you dare to go see her today, you are no longer my son, Zhou Fuxiang's son! I'm severing all ties with you! From this day forward, you have no father like me!"

Zhou Haibing stopped in his tracks.

He stood in the courtyard outside the main room, the sunlight falling on his shoulders, casting a very long shadow.

He turned around and looked at his father standing at the door. His face was expressionless, and his gaze was indifferent, as if he were looking at someone who had nothing to do with him.

"Sever ties if you will."

Zhou Fuxiang's face looked as if he had been slapped hard, and he froze on the spot.