All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

"Quick, quick, call the people in the yard to help! Grandma is dying!"

The two little girls, Xiaodang and Xiaokuihua, were so frightened that they cried loudly and ran outside.

Bang Geng stopped crying in fright, but still looked at the scene with a hateful gaze.

At this moment, He Yuzhu was still slowly making his way into the compound. Under the pretext of looking for sticks, He Yuzhu simply went back to the factory canteen and drank a couple of ounces of liquor. If it weren't for the freezing weather, he would have been prepared to spend the night in the canteen warehouse.

Because he knew that Banggeng would be found sooner or later. In the original story, He Yuzhu was so foolish that he saw Banggeng was frozen and spent a long time making hot soup. In the end, as soon as he entered the house, Banggeng pushed the soup away, and all his efforts were in vain.

Since that's the case, I'll just go back later. When Bang Geng sees me tomorrow, so what if he hates me? I'll just continue living my own life. What business is it of yours what happens between me and your mother?

But when He Yuzhu arrived at the compound, he found that things were much more complicated than he had imagined, and even beyond some of his expectations.

Qin Huairu's grandmother suffered a heart attack and nearly died on the spot after being scolded by her grandson. This incident quickly alarmed everyone in the courtyard, and a human drama was unfolding in the courtyard that night.

The whole courtyard was in chaos. At the homes of the second and third uncles, they were frying meat with bamboo sticks, making the two rascals scream and shout. Xu Damao, the person in charge, saw that things had gotten a bit out of hand and had already run away with Qin Jingru.

The old woman with the squinty eyes was so angry that she went to the hospital. Several uncles accompanied her there. When He Yuzhu returned to the courtyard, he could still hear wails coming from the third uncle's house.

The dramas of other families have long since ended, leaving only the howling north wind in the dead of night, chilling one's back.

He Yuzhu originally wanted to go to the hospital to see a doctor, but he vaguely sensed that something was wrong, but he couldn't find the key point. At this time, he decided not to join in the fun, so as not to be misunderstood.

He Yuzhu glanced into Qin Huairu's room, guessing that only a few children were sleeping inside. He figured he shouldn't go looking for trouble, so he turned and went back inside.

An hour later, the old man and his companions returned first. They looked into He Yuzhu's room, shook their heads, and said nothing.

It was late at night when Qin Huairu dragged her tired body home. She lay down for a while after getting home, because she had to make breakfast for the children the next morning and then go back to deliver food to her mother-in-law. Everything was a mess.

Lying in bed, Qin Huairu's eyes were vacant. After a silent sigh, she couldn't fall asleep. She got up and looked out the window, only to see that He Yuzhu's door was closed. She wondered if he had returned.

She glanced at the children beside her; on the faces of the two girls, Xiaodang and Xiaokuihua, she could still faintly see tear stains.

Bang Geng, however, was still muttering in his sleep from time to time, shouting things like "Get out... no... I don't want you," clearly indicating that today's experience was still giving him nightmares.

Clearly, the emotional trauma Bang Geng suffered today was more severe than she had imagined. Qin Huairu felt an overwhelming loneliness in her heart, and a hint of hatred slowly surfaced on her face as Xu Damao's image appeared in her mind.

The next morning, before dawn, Qin Huairu, who had only been lying in bed for two or three hours, got up exhausted and started preparing breakfast. At this time, she saw that He Yuzhu's door was closed from the inside, indicating that he had obviously returned.

Qin Huairu wanted to wake He Yuzhu to discuss something, but after thinking about it, she held back. However, she still steamed an extra batch of cornbread.

They were busy until breakfast was almost ready when He Yuzhu's door across the hall finally opened.

He Yuzhu also came out yawning. When he saw Qin Huairu so early, he wanted to greet her with a smile, but thinking about what happened to her family last night, he thought it wouldn't be appropriate to greet her with a smile now. So he put on a stern face and called out to Qin Huairu, who was carrying a washbasin.

"Sister Qin, is your mother-in-law alright?"

Qin Huairu nodded, her face full of worry.

"It's nothing serious, I just got so angry and haven't recovered yet!"

He Yuzhu nodded solemnly. Although he was somewhat surprised that the hatred of the gangster had been transferred to his grandmother, since this had happened in their family, He Yuzhu, as a neighbor, thought for a moment and continued to speak.

"Sister Qin, do you need any help? If the hospital fees aren't enough, I have some..."

Before He Yuzhu could finish saying the word "have," Bang Geng, who wasn't even wearing a coat, came from Qin Huairu's room, grabbed a stool, and hurled it at He Yuzhu while cursing him in a heart-wrenching voice.

"Get out of here! Get far away from me! This is my family's business, none of your concern! Get out! Stay away from my mom! Get out, get out, waah... waah, get out..."

He Yuzhu quickly dodged the stool, somewhat bewildered. Looking at the child in front of him with eyes full of hatred, He Yuzhu really didn't understand what was going on. What exactly did that brat from the Yan family do to this kid yesterday? The psychological trauma must be too great.

He Yuzhu didn't want to argue with the kid any longer, so he snorted and went back to his room. Even after He Yuzhu finished washing up and went to work, that kid was still glaring at him with hateful eyes, as if he was afraid that he would do something to his mother.

As Qin Huairu watched this scene, she grew increasingly exhausted, and tears streamed down her face. Looking at her son with his hateful eyes and He Yuzhu's retreating figure as he went to work, her hatred for Xu Damao intensified.

He Yuzhu didn't care about such things. In the original story, he already disliked Bang Geng, that ingrate. Now that he had that hatred, he could maintain a certain distance from Qin Huairu. If it weren't for this farce, He Yuzhu would have really lost his guard against Qin Huairu.

When He Yuzhu got home last night, he lay in bed and thought carefully about what had happened these past few days. He felt that something was wrong, as if everything he was experiencing now was going back to the original plot.

He hadn't gotten together with Qin Jingru, Lou Xiao'e, or Teacher Ran, and now he had this ambiguous relationship with Qin Huairu. It all felt a bit off, as if some invisible hand was pulling the plot back on track.

He Yuzhu pondered all night but couldn't find the real answer. It wasn't that he hadn't considered whether Qin Huairu was behind all of this, but after carefully thinking about Qin Huairu's actions over the past six months, it seemed there really were no flaws.

The farce of the "stick joke" also served as a wake-up call for him, reminding him that he might really be trapped in a vicious cycle.

However, the shadow cast by Qin Huairu's original work still made He Yuzhu somewhat wary.

He suddenly thought of a key person, Ran Qiuye. After he fell ill, he lost contact with Ran Qiuye. He really needed to find time to ask his third uncle to pass on a message and ask what was going on with Teacher Ran.

Chapter 56: Treat the person the same way you would treat them.

He Yuzhu returned to work in the cafeteria, where his position was unchallenged. In this era, he truly lived a free life.

There was just a slight annoyance with someone. Xu Damao had been particularly active lately, personally writing the daily factory broadcast scripts, as if only he could understand the instructions from above and only he was qualified to lead the steel mill workers onto... something.

Given his current popularity, he's starting to resemble the second-in-command of a factory.

Many workers were talking about him, but the topics they discussed were not good. Most of them were talking about which family had been targeted by Xu Damao, and which family had been singled out and criticized by Xu Damao.

Everyone just thought this person was so damn wicked, so wicked that he'd make his sons born without an anus.

Many people who knew Xu Damao said that this was retribution for him, which is why he had no descendants. Xu Damao had also vaguely heard such rumors, and he naturally had to keep a note of these people in his mind.

However, he remained arrogant. Three days after the incident with the stick, he returned to the compound with his pigeon-toed gait.

Everyone was shocked by his audacity, but when it came to the actual execution, apart from the deaf old lady smashing another window in his house, no one in the compound dared to curse him for being immoral to his face; they could only curse this bastard behind his back.

The squinty-eyed old woman who had been hospitalized for two days has also been discharged. However, the relationship between her family members is now complicated. Banggeng still has a lot of grievances against her and always gives her a cold look during meals.

This made the old woman, who had always centered her life around her grandson, feel as if she had lost her support. In recent days, her spirits have been getting worse and worse. Even when she speaks and walks, she is timid and hesitant, like an old mouse, listless and without direction in life.

For the past few days, Qin Huairu has had a cold expression on her face, and it's unclear what she's thinking. Because of the incident with Bang Geng, her relationship with He Yuzhu has also cooled down rapidly. Although Qin Huairu is extremely anxious, she is still powerless to do anything. In her heart, her child is always more important than anything else.

However, Qin Huairu, who had already evolved into her complete form, could only watch helplessly as Xu Damao bullied her.

That is impossible!

A cunning woman who has evolved to the point of scheming never seeks revenge by shouting it out loud; if someone wants to play, she plays it hard.

Xu Damao, don't you like to play dirty tricks?

For several days in a row, Qin Huairu came home very late from get off work, but no one in her family paid any attention to her. Her cross-eyed mother-in-law seemed to have lost her usual vitality and looked like a sickly person.

Every day, he keeps his head down, doing housework, and no longer chats with the other people in the compound. He often sits alone on the edge of his bed, holding old photos, feeling sad and lost in thought.

In just a few days, it seemed that everyone in the compound had forgotten about the incident. Xu Damao and Qin Jingru continued with their lives as usual, and people often saw Qin Jingru showing off two ounces of meat in the compound early in the morning.

That day, Qin Huairu came home exceptionally early; in fact, she had taken the afternoon off to return. Once home, she carefully opened the drawer and took out several medicinal herbs that she had painstakingly prepared over the past few days. She wrapped them in brown paper and looked at the wrapped herbs with a blank expression on her face.

Her hand trembled slightly as she picked up the herbs, betraying her true feelings. Despite her nervousness, Qin Huairu's eyes showed unwavering determination.

With Xu Damao around, he will eventually ruin her relationship with He Yuzhu.

Xu Damao's power is enormous, and she, a weak woman, cannot possibly defeat him. But to expect her to just tolerate her child being bullied and to let Xu Damao use the child to destroy the hard-won emotional foundation between her and Zhuzi, is just a pipe dream!

Would you, Xu Damao, use my child to disrupt the harmony of my family?

Didn't you want to use my child to hurt my relationship with Zhu Zi?

Then let's fight fire with fire! Die, Xu Damao!

Qin Huairu glanced into the inner room. Her mother-in-law was sitting on the edge of the bed, as usual, staring blankly at the old photos on the wall, as if she were a statue.

She no longer sews cloth shoes. After being hated by Bang Geng, the old woman seemed to have lost her spiritual support and became an empty shell. The culprit behind all this was Xu Damao.

The hatred in Qin Huairu's eyes finally reached its peak, and her previous tension and unease vanished without a trace. At this moment, only determination remained.

She quietly closed the door, picked up her medicine bag, and walked towards the inner courtyard.

Upon arriving at Xu Damao's house, Qin Huairu took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Qin Jingru's voice came from inside.

"Who is it?"

"it's me!"

The room fell silent, as if no one had spoken just moments before. Qin Huairu wasn't in a hurry; she simply stood at the door, waiting expressionlessly.

Almost a minute later, the door finally opened slowly. Qin Jingru looked embarrassed, but she still stepped aside to let Qin Huairu into the room.

Qin Huairu entered the room and, without saying a word, threw the medicine into Qin Jingru's hand, her tone indifferent, as if nothing had ever happened.

“This medicine is for Xu Damao. It was prepared by an experienced doctor and it’s especially effective for fertility. The medicine costs 3.5 yuan. Also, lend me 20 yuan. The cost of my mother-in-law’s medical treatment should be paid to Xu Damao. Qin Jingru, you should tell Xu Damao to do less immoral things in the future. If you weren’t my sister, I wouldn’t bother with you!”

Qin Jingru accepted the Chinese medicine without the slightest suspicion. On the contrary, seeing her cousin's appearance, she felt even more guilty. However, when she heard that her cousin was coming to "borrow money" again, she suddenly felt a tightness in her chest.

This time, however, Qin Jingru didn't say anything. Somewhat reluctantly, she took out twenty yuan from the tin box and handed it to Qin Huairu.

Qin Huairu nodded, but continued to reach out her hand, speaking in a calm tone.

"The medicine costs 3.5 yuan!"

"Humph!"

Qin Jingru snorted and reluctantly took out another three yuan and fifty cents. After Qin Huairu took it, she didn't say anything more and left Xu Damao's house directly.

After Qin Huairu walked away, Qin Jingru quickly closed the door and breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at the medicine packet in her hand, humming a little tune as she went back home.

This silly girl never imagined that her cousin Qin Huairu would harm her. Qin Jingru was worried for several days about the consequences of Xu Damao's actions a few days ago, fearing that Qin Huairu would come looking for trouble for her.

But when I saw my cousin today, she kindly gave me medicine, which warmed my heart. It's so good to have an older sister!

Qin Huairu walked out of the inner courtyard without any change in expression. It wasn't until she entered her room and closed the door that a hint of pain appeared in her eyes.

Seeing that her cousin didn't blame her, Qin Jingru felt much lighter after her worries subsided. Since it was still early, she hummed a little tune and started preparing dinner.

Women are truly strange creatures; they can be gentle or strong.

She can be reckless for love and dedicate her life to her family. When she is kind, she can't bear to hurt the flowers and plants at her feet, but when she becomes ruthless, she can be as venomous as a snake!

Chapter 57: Da Mao, drink up!

When He Yuzhu returned to the compound after get off work, he walked all the way to the middle courtyard without being greeted by anyone. He felt that the whole compound was somewhat lifeless.

Now the three old men in the courtyard don't care about anything anymore, and everyone is living cautiously. The few ungrateful kids from Qin Huairu's family across the street used to cause trouble, but they've quieted down recently.

Bang Geng has been coming home very late these past few days. After being tricked once, the kid has become sullen and doesn't like to talk anymore. He always looks like he's full of hatred. He Yuzhu is too lazy to pay attention to this weird look at such a young age.

He Yuzhu also figured it out. He would find some time that evening to talk to his third uncle and ask him to help arrange for Teacher Ran to come out. He needed to have a proper talk with Teacher Ran himself.

He had a vague suspicion that Qin Huairu was behind this, since in the original story, it was Qin Huairu who ruined the relationship between Teacher Ran and He Yuzhu.

Although Qin Huairu in this world seems to be completely different from the one in the original work, how can a person's personality be changed so easily? Thinking of Qin Huairu's past, He Yuzhu felt that his guess was very likely.

So these past few days, he has been deliberately avoiding Qin Huairu. Qin Huairu has been extremely busy these past few days, and although she noticed He Yuzhu's avoidance, she hasn't been able to focus on it.