Siheyuan: Starting from the Old Society

"Huai Ru, I'm fine." Sha Zhu wiped his face and grinned, "This kid relied on his ability to show off in front of me all day long. Today I finally taught him a lesson. It feels so good!"

Qin Huairu walked to Sha Zhu, stretched out her hand to help him straighten his collar, and said softly: "You are just too impulsive. Xu Damao is not someone you can easily mess with. He will definitely not let it go."

"What am I afraid of? I'm doing an upright job. How can he eat me up?" Sha Zhu said nonchalantly, but he secretly remembered Qin Huairu's words in his heart.

"Okay, it's getting late, you should go back and rest early." Qin Huairu said, turned around and prepared to leave.

"Huai Ru, wait a moment." Sha Zhu called Qin Huai Ru. He hesitated for a moment and took out the yellowed book from his arms. "This is for you."

"What is this?" Qin Huairu took the book curiously.

"I don't know either. I bought it at a flea market." Sha Zhu scratched his head. "I thought it was interesting, so I bought it."

Qin Huairu opened the book and saw a few traditional Chinese characters written on the title page: "Siheyuan: Starting from the Old Society". She frowned slightly and looked at Sha Zhu in confusion.

"Why is the title of this book so weird?"

"Who knows? It might be something written by some sour scholar." Sha Zhu said nonchalantly, "You have nothing to do anyway, so take it home and read it. It might help you relieve your boredom."

Qin Huairu nodded and put the book away.

"Then I'll go back first, and you should rest early."

"Hey, good."

As Sha Zhu watched Qin Huairu leave, he suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of loss. He looked at Qin Huairu's graceful back, and her gentle smile, fair skin, and plump figure involuntarily appeared in his mind...

"Hey, what are you thinking about!" Sha Zhu shook his head, trying to get rid of those inappropriate thoughts, "She is the daughter-in-law of the Jia family, don't mess around!"

He took a deep breath, turned and walked towards his house.

After returning home, Sha Zhu lay on the bed, but couldn't fall asleep. His mind was full of the fight with Xu Damao just now, and Qin Huairu's worried eyes.

"Have I really fallen in love with her?" Sha Zhu's heart skipped a beat, and once this thought came to his mind, he could never get rid of it.

He tossed and turned but couldn't fall asleep, so he sat up, lit a cigarette, and began to think about his life.

He wanted to find a good woman, marry, have children, and live a normal life. But reality pushed him into the abyss again and again.

"Am I really going to be called a fool for the rest of my life?"

He took a deep puff of his cigarette, and his eyes gradually became firm.

"No, I don't want this!"

He stood up suddenly, walked to the table, picked up the yellowed book and opened to the first page.

On the pages of the book, lines of traditional Chinese characters come into view, like opening a door to a new world.

Sha Zhu read word by word, and gradually, a look of shock appeared on his face.

“This…how is this possible?!”

He turned the page and continued reading, the expression on his face becoming more and more exciting, from shock to confusion, from confusion to excitement, and finally into an indescribable fanaticism.

“So…it’s possible!”

Sha Zhu's breathing became rapid, and he felt his heart pounding as if something was about to break out of the ground.

At this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door, followed by Qin Huairu's anxious voice:

"Shazhu! Shazhu! Open the door! Something happened!"

Sha Zhu suddenly sat up from the bed, his heart still pounding. Qin Huairu's voice instantly sobered him up, and he grabbed his coat and rushed out.

"What happened, Huairu, speak slowly!"

Qin Huairu said breathlessly: "Jia Zhang...Jia Zhang...she can't do it anymore!"

When Sha Zhu heard this, he was stunned. Although Jia Zhang was always a big shot, she was the oldest elder in the courtyard after all. She suddenly became so unbearable, and he felt very upset.

"Let's go and have a look!"

The two of them trotted all the way to Jia's house, where the house was already in a mess. Jia Zhang was lying on the bed, her face pale, her lips purple, and she was breathing more than she was breathing in, and it looked like she was dying.

"This...what should I do?" Qin Huairu was at a loss, tears streaming down her face.

Sha Zhu was also confused when he saw this scene. Although he and Jia Zhang didn't get along, he wouldn't just stand by and watch her die.

"Stop crying, go call a doctor!"

"I've already gone to call him, but he hasn't come back yet!"

The room was in chaos, and the three children, Banggeng, Xiaodanghuaihua, were frightened by the scene and burst into tears. Shazhu looked at the mess and suddenly remembered a passage in the book:

“When a person dies, it is like a light going out. Once a person dies, everything ends. If you want to change your fate, you can only…”

He raised his head suddenly, and a hint of determination flashed in his eyes.

"Huai Ru, do you believe me?"

Qin Huairu looked at him with tears in her eyes, as if she was grasping at the last straw.

"Silly Zhu, I believe whatever you say, so you better think of a solution!"

Sha Zhu nodded, grabbed Qin Huairu's hand and pulled her out of the house.

"I have a way to save Jia Zhang, but you have to promise me one thing."

"What's the matter? Tell me, I'll do anything to save mom!" Qin Huairu said anxiously.

Sha Zhu looked at Qin Huairu's anxious expression, feeling mixed emotions. He took a deep breath and said in a low voice: "I want you... to be my woman!"

Qin Huairu was stunned. She didn't expect Sha Zhu to make such a request at this time. Her cheeks flushed immediately, and a trace of panic and struggle flashed in her eyes.

"Silly Zhu, you... don't do this..."

"Huai Ru, I love you! I have fallen in love with you a long time ago! I don't want to see you entangled with the Jia family anymore, come with me!" Sha Zhu grabbed Qin Huai Ru's hand and stared at her with burning eyes.

Qin Huairu's hands were trembling slightly. She looked at Sha Zhu's determined eyes, and her heart was filled with turmoil.

Just then, there was a sudden noise outside the house.

"The doctor is here! The doctor is here!"

The neighbors of the Jia family surrounded an old doctor and walked into the house. Qin Huairu quickly shook off Sha Zhu's hand and ran in in a panic.

Sha Zhu stood there, looking at Qin Huairu's back, feeling mixed emotions. He knew that some things, once spoken, could never be undone.

He looked up at the night sky, which was dotted with stars, but could not illuminate the confusion in his heart.

"Oh my god, are you kidding me?"

Sha Zhu suddenly jumped up from the bed, grabbed his clothes and rushed out. He had only one thought in his mind: Qin Huairu was in trouble!

As soon as he ran to the yard, he saw Jia Zhang standing at the door of his house, with disheveled hair, slapping her thigh and crying: "Oh, my son! Why do you have such a miserable life! How are we going to live after you leave?"

Sha Zhu's heart skipped a beat, and a bad feeling came over him. He rushed to the door of Jia's house in two steps, grabbed Jia Zhang's shoulders, and asked anxiously, "Jia Zhang, what's wrong with you? Where's Huairu?"

When Jia Zhang saw that it was Shazhu, she cried even louder, wiping her snot and tears on Shazhu's clothes: "Shazhu! You have to take care of our Huairu! Our Dongxu is gone!"

Sha Zhu suddenly felt as if he was struck by lightning, his eyes went dark, and he almost fell down. Jia Dongxu, gone?

"What's going on?" Sha Zhu grabbed Jia Zhang's arm and unconsciously exerted force on his hand, causing Jia Zhang to scream in pain.

"Ouch, Shazhu, be gentle! My bones are about to break!" Jia Zhang felt the pain and quickly explained, "Dongxu... he was hit by a tuk-tuk on his way home from get off work, and he died on the spot... just..."

Sha Zhu felt his head buzzing and his vision went dark. Jia Dongxu was dead? The man who was lazy but still Qin Huairu's husband, was gone?

He let go of Jia Zhang weakly and stumbled into the Jia family's house. He saw Qin Huairu slumped on the bed, her eyes dull, holding a crying baby in her arms.

Seeing this scene, Sha Zhu's heart felt like being stabbed by a knife, and he was almost breathless due to the pain. He walked to Qin Huairu and wanted to say something comforting, but found that his throat was dry and he couldn't say a word.

Qin Huairu seemed to sense Sha Zhu's arrival. She slowly raised her head and looked at him with empty eyes, like a puppet that had lost its soul.

"Silly Zhu..." Qin Huairu's voice was hoarse and nasal, "Dongxu... he's gone..."

Sha Zhu opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he didn't know what to say. What could he say? Say that he was in deep sorrow? Say that he would take care of her and the child? These words seemed so pale and powerless in the face of death.

He could only reach out and clumsily pat Qin Huairu's shoulder, trying to convey a little comfort in this way.

Qin Huairu did not dodge, and let Sha Zhu's hand stay on her shoulder. She lowered her head and looked at the child in her arms, tears silently falling on the child's tender face.

The child seemed to feel his mother's sadness and cried even louder, his little face turning red.

Qin Huairu hurriedly coaxed the child, her voice trembling, but she pretended to be calm: "Be good, be good, don't cry, mommy is here..."

Looking at this scene, Sha Zhu felt mixed emotions. He knew that for Qin Huairu, the real suffering had just begun. How would a weak woman with three children live in the future?

And what can he do for her when he can't even take care of himself?

The yellowed book and the strange words on the title suddenly appeared in Sha Zhu's mind: Siheyuan: Starting from the Old Society...

Could this be the opportunity to change my destiny?

Sha Zhu suddenly jumped up from the bed and opened the door.

"What's wrong, Huairu? What happened? Why are you so flustered?"

Qin Huairu was out of breath, her chest heaving violently. She grabbed Shazhu's arm and said in a trembling voice: "Shazhu, hurry... hurry and follow me, Banggeng... Banggeng is in trouble!"

When Sha Zhu heard the word "banggeng", his heart immediately rose to his throat. Without saying a word, he grabbed his coat and rushed out of the house with Qin Huairu.