Courtyard House: In times of famine, my hamster became a spirit.

"Whether it works or not, you'll know once you try. If one needle doesn't wake them up, try ten; if ten needles still don't wake them up, I have an even thicker one here. I'll just go straight for that acupoint on their throat. I can even bring a dead person back to life."

Zhou Jianguo pinched Yi Zhonghai's middle finger, his fingernail pressing against the gleaming needle tip:

"Uncle, I'll count to three. If you still haven't performed a medical miracle by then, then I'll truly be your savior today."

"one……"

Although Yi Zhonghai's eyes were closed, his sense of touch was extremely sensitive at that moment.

He could even clearly feel that the damned steel needle had pierced the tenderest layer of skin under his fingernail.

The terrifying image of a long needle piercing his bones sent chills down his spine, completely overshadowing his fear of death.

You know, the last time this deaf old lady got a needle pricked by this kid, she jumped three meters high! I don't even want to think about what would happen if he pricked my whole body with his needles!

"two……"

Zhou Jianguo suddenly pressed his wrist down, as if to stab.

"Ouch...ouch!! I'm awake! I'm awake! Don't prick me!!"

Just a second ago, Yi Zhonghai was on the verge of death, but now, as if he had a spring under his butt, he let out a howl and tumbled out of the old lady's arms.

Because he started too fast, he almost crashed into the millstone next to him. He was as agile as a fifty-year-old child.

He was breathing heavily, his old face turned a deep purplish-red, and his eyes were filled with the terror of escaping death.

"Wow, sir, you're in pretty good shape!" Zhou Jianguo put away the needle, which he hadn't used much force at all, and clicked his tongue regretfully. "You succeeded before you even finished counting to three?"

The courtyard was initially deathly silent.

Immediately following was an overwhelming chorus of boos and mockery.

"Hey! This is truly an eye-opener! Just a moment ago, he was rolling his eyes and about to lie on the floor, but now that he's seen a needle, he's more affectionate than seeing his own father?"

"This isn't a heart attack, it's a total embarrassment attack! I've completely lost face today, there's no way I can even salvage it!"

Yan Bugui adjusted his broken glasses, his face full of shrewd calculation, and exclaimed sarcastically, "My goodness, Zhou Jianguo's medical skills are amazing! I think from now on, if anyone in our compound has a headache or fever, they shouldn't waste money at the hospital, they should all go to Jianguo! As soon as that needle flashes, even the King of Hell will curse and leave the group chat, afraid of getting a needle stuck in his throat!"

Yi Zhonghai stood in the eye of the storm, filled with shame and indignation, wishing he could disappear into the ground.

What he did just now was a physiological instinct for survival, but this jump completely trampled his last bit of dignity into the mud.

"Old Yi...you...you were faking it?" An old woman sat blankly on the snow, tears still on her face, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"I...I was really dizzy just now...I was scared awake..." Yi Zhonghai stubbornly kept his head down, not daring to look at the neighbors around him.

"Alright! Stop acting out this ghost story!"

Liu Haizhong felt the time was right; the scepter of power in this courtyard house was now lying on the ground, gleaming.

If he didn't pick it up, he would be letting down the ancestors of the Liu family!

With his hands behind his back and his famously pot-bellied figure, Liu Haizhong strode into the center of the crowd with an air of utter disdain.

At that moment, it felt as if he were not in a courtyard house, but on the stage of a mass rally.

"Yi Zhonghai, now that you're awake, stand still and stand trial! To put it mildly, this is embezzlement; to put it more seriously, it's undermining unity! This is a serious ideological decline! It's a crime!"

Liu Haizhong waved his hand dismissively, pointing with an air of official authority at his two sons cowering in the back of the crowd: "Guangtian! Guangfu! Where have you been? Haven't you understood the organization's arrangements yet?"

Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu were squatting against the wall, watching the play with their necks hunched over, when they were suddenly called out, which startled them.

"Dad, what do you want from us in this freezing weather?" Liu Guangtian rubbed his stomach. He had only drunk a bowl of cornmeal porridge this morning, and now he was so hungry that his stomach was churning with acid.

"You clueless good-for-nothing!" Liu Haizhong glared, instinctively reaching for his Seven Wolves belt. "Now, immediately! Get on our bicycle and head to the textile factory!"

"Bring He Yushui back to me! Tell her that the money her biological father sent to save her life has been found and is being held by Yi Zhonghai! Let her come back and make a decision! She's a witness, understand?"

"Huh? Going to the textile factory at this hour? The roads are blocked by heavy snow. Wouldn't we be exhausted going back and forth?" Liu Guangfu muttered under his breath, his eyes revealing his annoyance and resentment towards the old man.

"I'd rather die from exhaustion than be beaten to death by me!" Liu Haizhong roared, spitting as he spoke. "This is ridding our compound of a menace, a great achievement! If you get it done, I'll have your mother fry you some eggs! If you dawdle any longer, I'll use you two as a sacrifice!"

The two brothers exchanged a glance, their eyes barely concealing the gloom beneath.

But under Liu Haizhong's years of corporal punishment, they didn't dare to resist. They could only grumble and curse as they wrapped their patched cotton-padded coats tighter around their waists and pushed their broken bicycles out of the back gate of the compound.

The courtyard gate slammed shut.

"Everyone, guard the door!" Liu Haizhong pointed to several burly young men who usually followed him, hoping to get some benefits. "Until He Yushui returns, this courthouse will be a temporary court. Yi Zhonghai, and that stack of remittance slips—no one is allowed to touch them! Anyone who dares to tip anyone off at this time will be treated as an accomplice!"

Several long benches were moved over and placed across the hanging flower gate, completely blocking the retreat.

Yi Zhonghai was supported by several young men and forcibly pressed onto a cold, hard bench.

Despite wearing a thick cotton-padded coat, Yi Zhonghai was still shivering from the cold.

That kind of coldness comes from the very marrow of your bones; it's a chill of utter despair.

He subconsciously looked at Zhou Jianguo, who was not far away.

Zhou Jianguo was leisurely leaning against his own door frame, pulling out a handful of pumpkin seeds from somewhere, cracking them open with a "crack" right in front of Yi Zhonghai, and then spitting the shells onto the snowdrift at Yi Zhonghai's feet, looking quite content.

"Jianguo... I really didn't touch that remittance slip. You have to believe me. I watched you grow up too..." Yi Zhonghai's voice trembled as he tried to make a final stand.

Zhou Jianguo didn't even look up; he simply patted the crumbs off his hands, his tone chillingly calm:

"Old man, save your breath, don't waste your breath on me. When it comes to the rain, you should think about how to explain the days when she couldn't afford tuition and had to wash dishes in the cafeteria kitchen to get dry food."

"After all, the hole in people's hearts can't be filled with the dirty money you have."

In short, Yi Zhonghai was sentenced to death.

Dozens of eyes, some angry, some mocking, some disgusted, were all fixed on Yi Zhonghai.

Everyone is waiting.

For Yi Zhonghai, every second of this long wait was more painful than being slowly sliced ​​to death.