Courtyard House: The Frog Boy Brings Back a Genetic Potion at the Start

Sha Zhu approached the deaf old lady, scratching his head with a puzzled look on his face.

The deaf old lady glanced in the direction of the Jia family and saw Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu quietly leaving, knowing that they had gone to check the situation.

She was still a little worried, so she instructed Shazhu, "Go and see what's going on with the Jia family."

If they need help, you can lend a hand as long as you don't cause trouble.

"But remember, never get yourself involved."

We'll pretend we don't know anything about this, understand?

Upon hearing this, Sha Zhu immediately patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, old lady, I know what I'm doing."

Sha Zhu could never ignore anything that concerned Qin Huairu.

Even though people are talking about it now, he still feels a stirring in his heart whenever he thinks of Qin Huairu.

He had been secretly worried when he learned earlier that Jia Zhangshi had instructed Qin Huairu to steal the child.

Sha Zhu was already feeling uneasy, and now this new matter has made him even more restless.

If it weren't for the fact that the deaf old lady and the others hadn't tried to stop him from going to find Qin Huairu, he probably would have already rushed out to find out what was going on.

Hearing the deaf old lady relent, he was overjoyed, nodded repeatedly, and rushed out the door as if the wind was blowing.

Watching his hurried disappearing figure, the deaf old lady shook her head and sighed inwardly.

In her eyes, this was an inescapable, ill-fated relationship; Sha Zhu was probably destined to be entangled with Qin Huairu for the rest of his life.

Sha Zhu ran off excitedly.

Little did he know that as he turned to leave, Hao Jianguo's gaze followed his retreating figure thoughtfully for a moment.

All those whispers and supposedly secret plans had actually reached Hao Jianguo's ears.

He merely observed coldly, thinking these people were like clowns on a stage, insisting on directing and acting in their own absurd drama.

Since they were so restless, he decided to grant their wish and put on a "good show".

Qin Huairu and her friends never imagined that the stage they had painstakingly built would ultimately be filled with them, the very actors who would have nowhere to hide.

Hao Jianguo withdrew his gaze, his expression returning to normal, and continued to play with the child in his arms, as if all the disturbances around him were irrelevant.

Sha Zhu hurried as fast as he could and finally caught up with Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi at the alley entrance.

When the two men saw him appear, they were both startled and turned pale, thinking that their secret had been completely exposed.

Sha Zhu opened his mouth, about to explain his purpose, but before he could speak, he was choked back by Jia Zhangshi's piercing gaze.

The panic that Jia Zhangshi had shown moments before receded like the tide, replaced by an indescribable expression, her eyes even revealing a hint of pitifulness.

Just by meeting that gaze, Sha Zhu felt a chill run down his spine and became uneasy all over.

His heart pounded, and he even felt a chill run down his spine, thinking: Why does this old hag look like she wants to eat me alive? Could she really be going to devour me whole?

"Silly Zhu, you..."

Madam Jia pinched her throat and called out in a deliberately weak voice, as if she had a lot of grievances to confide in.

But Sha Zhu had no time to pay attention to her at the moment. He turned straight to Qin Huairu, his eyes filled with undisguised concern.

Seeing his differential treatment, Jia Zhangshi felt a surge of anger, and her glare at Qin Huairu was tinged with jealousy.

In her opinion, it was all Qin Huairu's fault for interfering and stealing Sha Zhu's attention.

If it weren't for her, how wonderful my life would be with Sha Zhu.

"What exactly happened?"

Sha Zhu didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "Weren't the children taken away by you? How come Hao Jianguo still has two?"

Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi exchanged a glance and immediately realized that it was the deaf old lady who had delivered the message.

Qin Huairu frowned and said in a low voice, "We were confused at the time, which is why we thought of checking to see if the child we hid was safe."

Now that you're here, let's go take a look together.

Not to mention Sha Zhu, even Qin Huairu, who had stolen the child herself, was filled with doubts at this moment, and even felt a chill down her spine, wondering if she had been possessed by an evil spirit, otherwise there was no way to explain this bizarre event.

Each of the three harbored their own secrets and hurriedly arrived at a long-abandoned low house.

After searching around, Sha Zhu found a rather large cardboard box next to a pile of miscellaneous items in the corner.

Lying in the box were Hao Jianguo's two children.

The two infants had woken up sometime earlier. They neither cried nor made a fuss, but simply stared at the three uninvited guests with their bright, dark eyes.

Its excessively calm demeanor was unlike that of an ordinary infant; instead, it exuded an indescribable strangeness.

In that instant, an absurd thought arose in the minds of all three: Are these really two babies?

"Something's not right with these two kids."

Qin Huairu stared at the cardboard box, her voice a little dry, and murmured the unspoken surprise and doubt among the three of them.

Hearing her say this, Sha Zhu next to her looked completely bewildered, clearly not understanding what Qin Huairu meant by "strange".

What exactly is it?

"What's strange about it?"

As soon as Sha Zhu finished asking his question, Jia Zhangshi interrupted Qin Huairu and spoke first.

Jia Zhangshi looked at Shazhu with pleading eyes, her voice filled with grievance: "Shazhu, you've never been a father, how would you know these things?"

"These two babies are so young, still infants. How can they be so well-behaved—not crying or fussing after waking up? Normally, they'd whimper a bit when they wake up, but look at them, so quiet and still. It's so unusual."

Sha Zhu glanced at Jia Zhangshi dismissively: "If you ask me, you're just speculating nonsense."

Maybe Hao Jianguo's two kids are just naturally easy to take care of?

"Easy to worry about?"

Jia Zhangshi shook her head, "Even the most carefree child won't understand anything at this age; crying and fussing are just part of their nature."

She turned to Qin Huairu and gestured, "Ask Huairu, she's taken care of three children, which one of them can sleep so soundly after waking up? Besides, I think Hao Jianguo's two children have been awake for quite a while, and they're still so quiet even though no one's paying attention to them, which is definitely not something an ordinary baby would do."

Jia Zhangshi spoke with certainty, after all, she was someone who had raised children.

Qin Huairu nodded immediately upon hearing this—she had personally raised three children, and just as Jia Zhangshi had said, she had never seen any newborn baby so well-behaved.

When she looked at the two children again, a hint of fear flashed in her eyes.

Thinking of the child's shadow that had mysteriously appeared in the house earlier, she felt a chill run down her spine: Could it be that she had really encountered something unclean?

"So tell me, what exactly happened?"

Sha Zhu muttered to himself, his gaze falling back to the two children in the box.

Upon seeing this, he gasped in shock and cried out in alarm.

"Silly Zhu, keep your voice down! If we attract outsiders, we'll be in trouble—"

Qin Huairu glared at him anxiously, and before she could finish speaking, she screamed as well.

Confused, Jia Zhangshi followed their gaze, and when she saw the scene before her, she too gasped in shock.

She watched as Hao Jianguo's two children's faces turned bluish-gray, then their features twisted into two ghostly faces, which grinned eerily at the three of them.

Qin Huairu was too frightened to bear it. Her legs went weak and she collapsed to the ground with another scream.

Although Sha Zhu was terrified, he still mustered his courage and rushed forward to help Qin Huairu up—he was the only man there at the moment, and he had to maintain appearances.

When Jia Zhangshi saw Sha Zhu embracing Qin Huairu, her eyes welled up with tears.

She longed to snuggle into Sha Zhu's arms again, but she understood that he would never take the initiative to hug her again.

But she had her own way. She immediately imitated Qin Huairu and screamed as she fell to the ground. Then she raised her eyes and looked at Sha Zhu with tears in her eyes. She looked like she was waiting for him to help her up.

But when Sha Zhu saw her acting like this, he felt utterly disgusted. In his opinion, she was deliberately trying to make people sick.

"Get out of my way!"

Sha Zhu immediately cursed angrily, not bothering to look at her again.

Sha Zhu has run into a difficult opponent.

Jia Zhangshi was like an unremovable plaster, clinging to him stubbornly.

No matter how fiercely he cursed, the old woman ignored him and instead took a few more steps closer to him.

For a fleeting moment, Sha Zhu almost raised his hand to slap him—but he held back in the end, and instead took several steps back to try and create some distance.

To everyone's surprise, Madam Jia followed closely behind, never missing a step.

"Ouch!"

Unfortunately, the old woman was unlucky. She had just caught up with him when she slipped and fell hard on a pebble.

His entire face slammed to the ground, and all the pustules that had covered his face burst, leaving a smear of blood and yellow pus all over his face.

Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu, who were watching from the side, felt their stomachs churning and were so nauseous that they almost vomited.

To be honest, the two of them really wanted to abandon her and turn around and leave—but Jia Zhangshi was quick and grabbed Sha Zhu's leg, refusing to let go no matter how much he shook her off.

Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu were burning with anxiety.

Those two babies were so eerie; they even made funny faces... I felt like I was going to lose my life if I stayed any longer.

"Jia Zhangshi, what exactly do you want!"

Sha Zhu stared wide-eyed and demanded an explanation.

Madam Jia Zhang started grumbling and complaining from the side:

"My leg... Sha Zhu, I broke my leg and can't walk, please help me!"

Her appearance was already frightening, and coupled with her affected manner, Sha Zhu felt his scalp tingle and dared not touch her.

He immediately raised his leg and kicked Jia Zhangshi, causing her to fall to the ground.

Just as Jia Zhangshi was about to yell and curse, a faint, cold laugh suddenly drifted over.

The three of them felt a chill run down their spines and turned their heads in unison toward the source of the sound—

Suddenly, the two children inside the box sat up straight and were staring at them with a sinister smile.

The three were terrified.

Sha Zhu grabbed Qin Huairu, whose legs were weak, and staggered back to the corner of the wall.

Qin Huairu huddled in his arms, trembling, and began to sob softly:

"Silly Zhu...are we seeing ghosts? I...I'm scared..."

Hearing "ghosts"

The word sent a chill down Sha Zhu's spine, and when he looked at the two infants again, his eyes were filled with fear.

But just then, the two children slowly lay back down, returning to their original quiet state, as if everything just now was an illusion.

Sha Zhu rubbed his eyes and looked uncertainly at the other two:

"Did they... just sit up?"

Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi looked bewildered, clearly not understanding either.

Qin Huairu was still sobbing, her fingers trembling as she pointed to the box:

"Never mind... I get anxious just seeing them."

Let's go quickly..."

She was terrified—after all, she had brought the child into the world herself, and she always felt like she was about to be entangled with him.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, Madam Jia lowered her voice and said:

"If you ask me... this must be Hao Jianguo's doing!"

"He must have realized we stole his child, which is why he got these two strange dolls. Otherwise, what a coincidence!"

Jia Zhangshi uttered those words with absolute certainty.

Qin Huairu's face darkened further.

She was already worried that the plan might have been leaked and that Hao Jianguo had overheard it. Now, Jia Zhangshi's words confirmed her worst suspicions.

She hated He Yushui to the core—that girl had previously sworn that no one else knew about this.

In retrospect, it was nothing but self-deception.

Thinking about the potential consequences of her actions being exposed, Qin Huairu almost wanted to flee back to the countryside immediately.

This courtyard house is a quagmire from which there is no escape.

"Pillar, let's go... just leave these two things here and don't worry about them."

Qin Huairu said in a trembling voice.

She didn't care about the lives of those two children; all she wanted was to get away as quickly as possible.

Sha Zhu also wanted to leave, and immediately hugged Qin Huairu tightly as they prepared to go.

But Jia Zhangshi held on tightly to his trouser leg and wouldn't let go no matter what.

"What about me? You can't abandon me!"

She screamed.

With a broken leg and two ghostly-looking children by his side, if he were left here, he would likely meet a terrible end.

Sha Zhu ignored her and kicked her away hard.

"Get lost!"

He roared.

The chill in those eyes sent a shiver down Jia Zhangshi's spine.

She glared at the two of them with resentment, her eyes like needles coated with poison.

"You two filthy sluts, your relationship was always shady, what shameful things are you up to now? Bah! You two adulterers!"

The shrew's true colors were fully exposed, and her curses grew louder and louder, particularly jarring in the silence.

Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu turned pale as they listened—although this place was remote, if she continued to shout, she would attract attention sooner or later.

The child abduction could no longer be kept secret.

"Jia Zhangshi, shut up!"

Sha Zhu roared in a low voice, wishing he could sew that mouth shut immediately.