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

Textile factory, female workers' dormitory.

Today is a day off, and most of the workers have gone to the supply and marketing cooperative or gone home. The house is bitterly cold.

On the hard bed in the corner, a thin, almost unrecognizable figure was curled up.

He Yushui was wrapped in the thin cotton quilt that had already hardened, and her exposed hands were covered with purple chilblains.

She was holding half of a dark, murky thing in her hands; it was a leftover cornbread bun from the cafeteria last night.

After sitting overnight, and with the freezing weather, this thing is as hard as a pebble on a riverbank; it could really kill someone.

"Click...click..."

He Yushui carefully rubbed the edge of the steamed bun with her front teeth.

I dared not use force, afraid of breaking my teeth, so I could only hold the crumbs in my mouth and wait for my saliva to soften the rough cornbread before I dared to swallow them.

She grabbed the chipped enamel mug and took a big gulp of the ice-cold tap water.

"hiss--"

My stomach clenched.

He Yushui was in so much pain that she curled up like a shrimp, but she didn't dare to utter a single groan.

She lived like this for almost three years.

Ever since that heartless father ran off with the white widow, hunger and cold have become the norm.

Do you hate it?

He Yushui looked at the bare old locust tree outside the window, her eyes surprisingly gentle.

Whom do you hate?

That guy who's only a fool in name only?

Or is it the father who abandoned them?

She doesn't hate anyone; in fact, she feels grateful for the manipulation she's been subjected to.

"Thanks to that old man..." He Yushui murmured the name in her heart, as if it were her only lifeline.

Last week when I returned to the compound, before leaving, Yi Zhonghai secretly slipped two steamed buns into Sister Qin's hand behind her back.

At that moment, the old man's hands were cold, but his words were warm.

"Rain, your father is a scoundrel; he's abandoned you. But don't be afraid, your uncle is still here. Don't cause trouble for your brother at the factory, and remember to be grateful, understand?"

Thinking of this, He Yushui's eyes welled up with tears.

Although Sister Qin later saw the two steamed buns and, half-crying and half-stealing, took one and a half and gave it to Banggeng, she remembered this kindness.

"In this world, besides my silly brother, only my uncle truly cares about me."

He Yushui sniffed, then took another bite of the rock-like black cornbread in her hand, forcing herself to swallow the bitterness as if it were honey given by Yi Zhonghai.

at this time,

"Bang!!!"

The dormitory door, which was already somewhat warped, was violently kicked open from the outside.

Dust fell from the door frame in a flurry.

He Yushui was so startled that she shuddered and the half of the black cornbread she was holding, which she regarded as a treasure, rolled to the ground and became covered in dust.

Two figures stood at the door, bundled up like bears, their eyebrows and eyelashes covered in frost, and snot still dripping from their noses.

It was Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu.

The two brothers were seething with anger.

On a freezing cold day, Liu Haizhong forced me to run errands with a feather duster. After riding five or six kilometers, I couldn't feel my inner thighs anymore.

"Damn it, what a jinx!" Liu Guangtian cursed as soon as he entered the room, took off his hat and slammed it on the table. His eyes, full of hostility, swept around before finally settling on He Yushui, who was huddled in a ball.

"I knew that brat was hiding under the covers to save food, she's so hard to find!" Liu Guangfu sniffled, his tone full of impatience.

He Yushui jumped out of bed, not even bothering to put on her shoes, and instinctively shrank herself even smaller.

This fear is ingrained in our very bones.

In the ecosystem of the courtyard house, she was at the very bottom of the food chain.

She was the punching bag when Sha Zhu caused trouble, she was the blood bank when the Jia family ran out of food, and now even the Second Uncle's son came knocking on her door, her first reaction was that she had done something wrong.

"Guang... Guangtian-ge, Guangfu-ge..."

He Yushui's teeth chattered. "Did...did my brother cause trouble again? Or did Uncle send you to scold me?"

She's used to it.

In the past, whenever Yi Zhonghai didn't want to lend money to Qin Huairu, he would look at her with a disappointed expression, making her reflect on whether she was being too selfish.

"Scolding you?" Liu Guangfu, with his sharp eyes, spotted the dusty black cornbread on the ground.

He walked over and kicked the cornbread under the bed, a mocking look on his face: "Hmph, your old man can't even clean up his own mess, how can he have time to give you a political lecture?"

"What did you say?" He Yushui was stunned.

Liu Guangtian was too lazy to waste words; the pent-up anger from the cold wind had nowhere to go.

He strode over, grabbed He Yushui's thin arm, and pulled her outside.

"Stop talking nonsense! Put on your shoes and come with us! This time it's not your silly brother Zhu who caused the trouble, it's your Yi Zhonghai, whom you treat like your own father, who's in big trouble!"

He Yushui was pulled so hard she stumbled, and her resolve to protect Yi Zhonghai instantly tightened.

"I don't believe it! You're talking nonsense!"

He Yushui, with a burst of strength from who knows where, flung Liu Guangtian's hand away.

Her sallow face, ravaged by malnutrition, flushed crimson: "That old man is a moral exemplar! He watched me grow up! How could something have happened to him? It must be you... it must be my heartless father who didn't want to pay, and you conspired to cheat me!"

In her heart, Yi Zhonghai was not only a neighbor, but also a pillar of support.

If even this pillar collapses, what will all the suffering and hardship she has endured over the past few years amount to?

Am I just unlucky?

Liu Guangtian wasn't angry when his hand was shaken off; instead, he seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world.

"Huh? A moral exemplar? Someone I watched grow up?"

Liu Guangtian sneered as he pulled a stack of papers from the inside pocket of his military overcoat.

Those were bills copied from Liu Haizhong, along with photocopies of several key remittance slips.

"Snapped!"

Liu Guangtian slammed the paper heavily onto the broken wooden table.

"He Yushui, open your eyes and see clearly!"

The sound shook the dormitory: "You think your dad, He Daqing, really doesn't care about you anymore? You think he ran off with a widow and forgot about you?"

"fart!"

Liu Guangtian pointed at the paper, spitting as he spoke: "Starting from 1955! The year you two siblings were so hungry you had to pick up rotten vegetable leaves! Your father sent ten yuan to the yard every month without fail! And what happened then? Your kind uncle, Yi Zhonghai, swallowed it all!"

"Zhou Jianguo intercepted the urgent registered letter right at the courtyard gate today! Caught red-handed! Yi Zhonghai is now waiting to die on the bench in the Intermediate Court! Look at that red stamp for yourself!"

This barrage of words struck He Yushui's heart like a machine gun, relentlessly.

Boom!

She stumbled to the table, her trembling hands grabbing the paper.

She recognized the words.

In December 1955, a remittance of 10 yuan was made to Yi Zhonghai (who was acting as a receiver).

In December 1955, a remittance of 10 yuan was made to Yi Zhonghai (who was acting as a receiver).

……

In December 1960, a remittance of 10 yuan was made to Yi Zhonghai (who was acting as a receiver).

The final total: 720 yuan.

"Seven hundred...more..."

She looked down at her worn-out cotton shoes with her toes sticking out.

He then turned his head to look at the half of a black cornbread under the bed, covered in dust and as hard as a stone.

For this half-eaten steamed bun, she had to put up with the cafeteria lady's attitude and endure stomach cramps.

Ten yuan... in this day and age, is enough for an adult to eat their fill every meal, and even have meat every few days!

What kind of life has she been living these past few years?

They're worse than beggars!