Chapter 226: Yi Zhonghai hoped this was just a dream

The atmosphere inside the house.

It became unusually quiet.

Yu Li and her mother stared blankly at the Shazhu siblings.

After all these years.

They knew that the siblings' life was not easy.

Sometimes, when they looked back, both mother and daughter were filled with a lingering fear.

He Daqing followed the widow to Baocheng, while Yi Zhonghai schemed about the siblings and such; Yu Li didn't understand, but Yu Li's parents saw through it clearly.

Yi Zhonghai wanted to cut off the family line, hoping Shazhu would support him in his old age.

This person.

Kind-faced but ruthless.

He appeared honest and simple, with a face of a good-natured person, but behind the scenes he was full of prostitutes and thieves, scheming this, hooking up with that, truly bringing the words 'beast' to the extreme.

What he wanted was not just old-age support; he wanted to turn Shazhu into an obedient puppet, to control everything about Shazhu, including marriage.

If Yi Zhonghai's scheme succeeded, the first hurdle for Shazhu to marry would not be himself, nor the woman's family, but Yi Zhonghai.

Only those whom Yi Zhonghai took a fancy to, or those he deemed would not threaten his old-age plan, would consent to marry Shazhu.

Such people are either fools or have some connection with Yi Zhonghai.

This is the true terror of Yi Zhonghai.

But Shazhu, though young, had a firm mind.

The day after He Daqing left, he decisively cut ties with Yi Zhonghai; the two families severed all contact, thwarting Yi Zhonghai's scheme, and he himself got to hold his beloved great-nephew He Weiguo.

……

Detention center.

Yi Zhonghai clenched his eyes shut, not knowing how much time had passed—perhaps ten minutes, perhaps one—then he opened his eyes, staring with hopeful gaze, taking in everything around him.

Everything was as usual.

Still that small detention center with walls on all sides and iron bars on top.

How long ago.

Yi Zhonghai wished this were a nightmare so real it went to his bones; opening his eyes, everything would return to how it was, and he would no longer be the despised Yi Zhonghai stabbed in the back and cursed by countless people for eight generations, but rather the respected Level 8 Technician at Yagangchang whom workshop supervisors would greet with a smile and call 'Master Yi', and the esteemed Head Steward of the Siheyuan whom countless people admired.

He was disappointed.

The surroundings told Yi Zhonghai a fact he could not deny: this was not a nightmare, but an undeniable reality.

He had lost his freedom, his reputation was ruined, and like Ximen Qing, he would be infamous for ages.

Why did this happen?

Yi Zhonghai couldn't figure it out; from the police station to the detention center, he racked his brain but still couldn't grasp the key point.

Everything was fine.

Suddenly, an unimaginable scene appeared.

"Ai!"

He let out a heavy sigh in his heart.

Recalling these days of right and wrong, Yi Zhonghai felt endless regret welling up; he regretted it, regretted it to the bone.

The sequence of events was roughly straightened out.

It was Yi Zhonghai's own cleverness that backfired.

The deaf old lady threatened Yi Zhonghai, using the matters of Huaihua and Qin Huairu to manipulate him; unwilling to be controlled by her, he exploited the incident where she ruined the marriage of Xu Daming's couple, which Xu Daming exposed, staging a 'kill with a borrowed knife' plot.

He originally intended to send the deaf old lady away for good; even if he couldn't, he at least wanted her to behave honestly and not cause trouble in the Siheyuan.

It backfired.

The deaf old lady, going all out, exposed in front of countless neighbors the secret between Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu, saying that Huaihua bore the surname Yi.

Worried that the deaf old lady would expose more, Yi Zhonghai took the opportunity to attack the ancestors of the Dayuan.

In his heart.

And so the matter passed.

Who would have thought.

The eldest aunt made a move.

At night.

Thinking that Yi Zhonghai had backstabbed the eldest aunt, she also used a 'kill with a borrowed knife' scheme, killing the deaf old lady and throwing the blame onto Yi Zhonghai.

"Ai!"

Again, a heavy sigh rose in his heart.

He blamed himself.

If he had merely eased his relations with the deaf old lady, he would not now be handcuffed and facing imminent death.

Yi Zhonghai then thought of Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu.

The ones truly driving Yi Zhonghai to a dead end were none other than these two; if not for Jia Zhangshi fabricating a play in which Yi Zhonghai compensated the deaf old lady with his life, then on the spot she reversed testimony, further solidifying the relationship between Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu, forcing Qin Huairu to have to bump into a pillar to prove her innocence, and then placing a hat that went against Qin Huairu's wishes onto Yi Zhonghai's head, causing Yi Zhonghai to be unable to avoid death even if he didn't want to.

A bitter smile appeared on Yi Zhonghai's face.

He did it not for himself.

For Huaihua.

Yi Zhonghai begged his comrades, summoned the eldest aunt, and told her a mix of true and false words.

Hope it helps.

When a person is about to die.

His heart inexplicably calmed.

He leaned his body against the wall, head tilted back, gazing through the iron fence at the beautiful, brilliant starry sky.

How beautiful.

Yi Zhonghai was dazed.

He just kept staring.

A thought rose in his mind that even Yi Zhonghai found frightening: if only he could keep looking like this forever, how wonderful that would be.

Too bad.

Time waits for no one.

From now on, counting it out, he has at most five days.

Do you regret it?

A bit.

He regrets not having acted foolishly, ending up in a situation where his cleverness was thwarted by cleverness.

He also feels a bit unrepentant.

He solved the Yi family's incense problem; in the afterlife, he can also answer to the Yi family's ancestors.

……

Hospital.

Only after Shazhu gave a lot of comfort did he manage to calm He Yushui.

Unexpected.

A fiery little lass.

She's about to storm the Nine Provinces.

Yet she fears Yi Zhonghai.

Think about it.

He felt relieved.

When Yi Zhonghai was scheming against them, He Yushui was only eight, a clueless little brat; especially after hearing the harsh words of the deaf old lady and Yi Zhonghai about sending He Yushui away, it was inevitable that a lasting shadow would be left in his heart.

"Yushui, hold this, and you'll fear nothing."

Shazhu from his own pocket.

He pulled out a book.

With both hands, he earnestly gave the book to He Yushui.

He Yushui also solemnly received Shazhu's book.

Looking at the book's cover and calligraphy.

His heart was full of vigor.

Probably due to psychological factors, He Yushui, with a book in hand, no longer felt fear of Yi Zhonghai, and even arose a heroic spirit to fight Yi Zhonghai to the end.

She put the book into her own bag.

She shouted at Shazhu.

"Thank you, brother."

"Don't thank me, thank your sister-in-law."

"Aunt, look at my brother—he's got a wife and forgotten his own sister, constantly calling you his sister-in-law, making me, his sister, seem unimportant."

He Yushui deliberately tattled to Yu Mu.

A goofy scene.

It amused the three people inside.

"Yushui, Aunt can't make the decision for you, Aunt can't beat your brother; go find someone who can beat your brother to back you up."

Having understood Yu Mu's meaning, He Yushui blushed bright red, covered his face, and ran out of the room.