Chapter 614

The biting night wind.

Carrying an extreme chill.

It howled and lunged at a person who had curled up as much as possible, and the surrounding temperature dropped to freezing in an instant.

Shazhu, already plagued by hunger and cold and living under the overpass, felt a bone‑deep chill; his body, which had gone days without food or water, felt utterly empty and grew ever weaker.

It is said that when a person is near death, they will hastily review the events of their entire life.

That is true.

The many memories flashing before Shazhu's eyes ran from He Daqing following the widow, all the way to Shazhu being driven out of his home by Bangeng, where he froze and starved to a miserable death.

This is Shazhu's final flicker of consciousness before death.

Under the icy night sky.

He died, victim of many plots, at the mercy of the unscrupulous Jia family.

Under a sudden light, floating sensation, Shazhu felt his body warm considerably, then, like an inflated balloon, he rose lightly into the air.

His gaze turned downward.

A frozen corpse suddenly appeared before Shazhu's eyes.

He stared at that familiar cheek.

Shazhu halted!

His face showed a mix of emotions—resentment, loneliness, but above all, ferocity.

After a lifetime of toiling like an ox and horse for the Jia family, he ended up with such a miserable fate in his old age—he didn't die on his bed, but under the overpass.

Frozen to death.

Starved to death.

This is the promise that Bangeng will provide for your old age, which Yi Zhonghai repeatedly told Shazhu! This is what Jia Zhangshi said—that our Jia family will never fail you, Shazhu! And this is also the vow of the conniving Qin Huairu—that as long as she lives, Bangeng and she will never neglect Shazhu!

Like a fart.

Shazhu's unwilling fixation—just gazing at his own body—suddenly made him want to see those who cared for him, and he found himself outside an ordinary apartment building.

This is Yushui's home.

A girl who looks very much like Yushui, slumped over the table doing homework, is Yushui's older sister; Shazhu isn't sure exactly how old she is.

The little girl could be eight or nine; in any case, she's under twelve, because she's counting on her fingers, anxiously even counting her toes.

He Yushui was nearby, tidying the child's clothes.

Shazhu's gaze fell on Yushui, and he saw this sister whom he hadn't seen in nearly two and a half years.

A vague sadness welled up in his heart for no apparent reason.

More than anything, it was regret.

He regretted not having heeded He Yushui's advice back then, which had led to his present plight.

Two years ago.

Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi repeatedly urged Shazhu to transfer all the houses in the courtyard to Bangeng, Xiao Dang, and Huaihua.

The Jia family widow's reason was that, as Shazhu's stepson, Bangeng lived in Shazhu's house and privately complained that they always felt like they were living under someone else's roof; they had mentioned several times to Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu that they wanted to move out, returning only during holidays to visit Jia Zhangshi and Shazhu.

Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu discussed whether they could get Shazhu to transfer the house into Bangeng's name.

Anyway, Qin Huairu is married to Shazhu, so Bangeng's step‑father, foolish dad, and little dad all call him Shazhu, and Shazhu's old‑age support must certainly be provided by Bangeng.

Rather than invite trouble later, it's better to settle future affairs now while one can still walk, move, and speak, to avoid any mishap that would cause the Jia family to fall apart.

Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi, pounding their chests, assured Shazhu that Bangeng would provide for his old age, don mourning garb, and smash the fire basin.

If Bangeng fails to provide for Shazhu's old age, Jia Zhangshi will not let him off the hook, nor will Qin Huairu.

At first Shazhu was reluctant, even though Bangeng, Xiao Dang, and Huaihua kept calling him 'foolish dad,' he still felt uneasy.

He felt it was unsafe.

But unable to resist Qin Huairu's pillow talk, he finally agreed to sign over all the courtyard houses to those three white‑eyed wolves; Shazhu's two ancestral homes went to the Jia family, Yi Zhonghai and his wife's house, the deaf old lady's house in the rear courtyard, Xu Daming's house, Liu Haizhong and others' houses—all now bearing the Jia name.

The deaf old lady's and Yi Zhonghai's houses were left by will, explicitly stating they belonged to Shazhu.

The houses of Liu Haizhong and Xu Daming et al. were purchased by Lou Xiaoe after she returned, as she spent money specifically to take Shazhu away from Qin Huairu.

But thanks to the efforts of Yi Zhonghai, Qin Huairu, and Jia Zhangshi, Lou Xiaoe and Hexiao and his mother were defeated; the house was sold to Shazhu at a rock‑bottom price, severing Hexiao's father‑son bond with Shazhu and also ending Lou Xiaoe's marital intentions toward him.

As she left, Lou Xiaoe told Shazhu, 'You will surely die without a grave, for you cannot distinguish good from bad.'

In the end, Lou Xiaoe's words came true.

Shazhu indeed died without a grave, and through his miserable fate he finally grasped the true meaning of the saying 'dog meat won't stick to a sheep.'

This also made the Jia family become a well‑known wealthy household far and wide.

In the three‑gate courtyard, aside from the front and central courtyards, the entire rear courtyard—including part of the central courtyard—was wholly transferred from Shazhu's He lineage to the Jia family's Jia name.

He vaguely recalled that when he had transferred the house to Bangeng and the others, a rare pang of conscience struck him: thinking of all those years, he felt sorry for Yushui, having never fulfilled his brotherly duty to see her married off, and he was preparing to transfer the He family's two ancestral homes to He Yushui's name.

But Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu teamed up to brainwash him, bluntly stating that a married‑out daughter is like spilled water, the courtyard's rule being to pass property only to males, not females; they called He Yushui a money‑losing commodity, unqualified to take the house from Shazhu, claiming that in all those years since her marriage she had never once come back to see him, and that if it weren't for Shazhu she would have starved to death, slapping her with the label of ungratefulness.

Shazhu, his mind muddled, believed the Jia family widow's words and felt that Yushui was not close to him.

But on the day of the transfer.

He unexpectedly ran into Yushui.

When Yushui learned that Shazhu was going to transfer all the courtyard houses to Bangeng and the others, her expression showed little surprise.

Her brother.

For the widow Qin Huairu.

She would do anything.

Not to mention transferring the house—he would even give up his own life without hesitation.

As a child born to parents, Yushui still couldn't bear to let Shazhu end up in his old age without support, and kindly advised Shazhu a few words.

I said I don't want your house, but you can't transfer the whole house to the Jia Family, okay.

Even a biological son can't always be counted on, and you're pinning your hopes on an outsider?

Bangeng used to call out "Shazhu" constantly when he was young, and he even saw Shazhu as a sworn enemy who had taken his mother.

When did the dog stop eating poop?