Chapter 1: Driven Out of the Home, Shazhu Dies

The bitter night wind.

Carrying a hint of chill.

Howling, it lunged at a person who was curling up as much as possible.

The surrounding temperature dropped to freezing point in an instant as the night wind assailed.

Shazhu, already suffering from hunger and cold and living under the overpass, felt a bone-deep chill; his body, weakened by days without food or water, felt utterly empty and grew ever more feeble.

This was the fifth day since Shazhu had been driven out of the Jia family home for being unable to work.

He could see that he was about to die on the spot.

In a haze.

Numerous scenes flashed before Shazhu's eyes.

August 12, 1933: Qin Huairu was born.

March 10, 1935: Shazhu was born.

December 10, 1951: He Daqing ran off with the white widow; that year Shazhu was sixteen and He Yushui was nine.

June 20, 1953: Shazhu successfully promoted from apprentice worker to regular employee; that same year Qin Huairu married into the siheyuan.

In 1961, Jia Dongxu met with misfortune, and Yi Zhonghai had Shazhu provide aid to Qin Huairu.

In 1977, Bangeng married because he needed a house and a job, reluctantly agreeing to the marriage between Qin Huairu and Shazhu.

In 1990, Yi Zhonghai and his wife both died.

In March 1997, Shazhu froze to death under the bridge.

The many past scenes flashing before Shazhu's eyes were actually the deathbed recollection of his final moments; he died, dying in this bitter cold night, dying at the hands of the Jia family's ruthlessness.

Under a light, floating sensation, Shazhu felt his body warm considerably, then, like an inflated balloon, he floated up lightly.

His gaze turned downward.

A corpse already frozen stiff came into Shazhu's view.

Looking at that familiar cheek.

Shazhu paused!

If the person lying dead on the ground is Shazhu, then who am I?

A moment.

He understood everything.

The corpse on the ground was indeed Shazhu's corpse.

He, hovering in midair, must be Shazhu's obsession before death.

The miserable ordeal of being driven out of the Jia family home and freezing to death made Shazhu begin to resent the Jia family members who abandoned him! Qin Huairu, Bangeng, Xiao Dang, Huaihua—all became objects of his resentment!

Having spent his life toiling like an ox and horse for the Jia family, giving his all, he never expected to end his years in such a miserable plight.

He was unwilling!

Shazhu's unwilling obsession simply gazed at his own corporeal form.

He continued to watch until several days later when someone discovered his corpse.

Among the onlooking crowd.

Shazhu saw his sister, whom he had not seen for nearly twenty years; at that moment, Yushui's face flickered with a faint sorrow, her gaze lingered on Shazhu's corpse for a moment, she sighed, then turned and left.

She had walked less than two steps.

She stopped.

She turned her head to look at Shazhu's corpse, which was being surrounded by onlookers.

She let out another resentful sigh.

She stepped away and left.

Shazhu, floating in midair, watched Yushui depart, and with his gaze awaited the appearance of his rival, Xu Daming; he saw Xu Daming struggle to push through the crowd and appear before his corpse.

Even more unexpected to Shazhu was that, upon seeing Shazhu's corpse frozen to death from hunger and cold, Xu Daming utterly disregarded his branded clothing and plopped down on the ground.

Tears welled up from Xu Daming's eye sockets.

This bastard actually would cry.

He wept for the death of his rival.

"Damn Shazhu, I've told you before, the Jia family are just ungrateful white-eyed wolves; you damn well refuse to believe me, and you even said I had designs on Qin Huairu.

I tell you, I once had relations with Qin Huairu.

You bastard, you won't listen to my good words, insisting on listening to Qin Huairu's nonsense.

And Yi Zhonghai—what kind of good person is he?

If you had listened to me back then, would you have ended up in this state?

Do you know or not, I, Thus: Thus: Mahua, and Yushui—the three of us searched for you for a full four days; Yushui heard you had left the Jia family, jumped from the hospital sickbed to look for you.

The Jia family said Shazhu had suffered hemiplegia, didn't want to burden the Jia family, and left home alone; I don't believe that, Yushui doesn't believe it either, Shazhu!

"!

Shazhu in midair.

His whole being was contradictory.

Toward Yushui.

Toward Xu Daming.

Toward Thus: Thus: Mahua.

He never expected that in the end it would be his rival Xu Daming who would help him collect his corpse, watching Xu Daming call to notify the funeral home's vehicle, watching Xu Daming, together with Thus: Thus: Mahua and Yushui, discuss Shazhu's afterarrangements, watching Xu Daming approach the Jia family and suggest that they let Shazhu wear mourning clothes, and also seeing the Jia family's cold-blooded ruthlessness as they said no to Xu Daming.

At Shazhu's funeral.

Not a single member of the Jia Family came, not even Qin Huairu, who was most entangled with Shazhu, showed up, and not a single wreath was sent.

Too beastly.

Looking at himself lying in the coffin, and then at the weakly busting He Yushui, Xu Daming, and Thus: Thus: Mahua, Shazhu truly didn't know what to say.

In the end, he had misplaced his affection on certain people.

Since Bangeng and they didn't come, no one acted as Shazhu's filial son and grandson, causing his resentment toward the Jia Family to build up to a peak.

He had painstakingly helped Qin Huairu raise her children, found a wife for Bangeng, secured mothers-in-law for Xiao Dang and Huaihua, and treated Qin Huairu's mother-in-law as his own mother, yet ended up like this.

No place to be buried!

It was his rival Xu Daming who collected his corpse! It was his estranged sister He Yushui who helped knock over the fire basin.

This was originally something only a son could do, but this sister He Yushui did it, and she carried the soul‑summoning banner to bury Shazhu's ashes in this cemetery.

Shazhu's obsession in mid‑air turned into specks of light, which quickly vanished.

……

December 10, 1951.

The day after He Daqing ran off with the widow.

Shazhu, who had spent his whole life toiling for the Jia Family, helping Bangeng take a wife, helping Xiao Dang and Huaihua earn their dowries, yet in his old age was cruelly driven out by the Jia Family due to his immobility, suffering cold and hunger until death, miraculously was reborn.

Looking at himself in the mirror.

Shazhu truly couldn't believe what he saw; he thought he was dreaming, raised his hand and slapped himself hard, the pain of his palm striking his cheek telling him a fact he could not deny—he had been reborn, and the heavens that could not bear to look gave him a chance to compensate for his past life's regrets.

"Hahaha, I've been reborn, hahaha."

Even as Shazhu laughed, tears streamed down; he didn't know whether he was happy or merely venting the extreme resentment pent up in his heart.

Perhaps both.

Laughter and tears were intertwined.

In Shazhu's mind.

He couldn't help recalling the bits and pieces of his previous life.

Shazhu's suffering was personally caused by Yi Zhonghai.

A grudge has a source.

A debt has a master.

Come back to life.

No matter what, he had to go to Yi Zhonghai to ask for advice.

Through the glass.

He turned his gaze toward the Yi Zhonghai household across the way.