Chapter 615

In order to seize Shazhu's property.

Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu publicly labeled He Yushui, saying she had ill intentions and wanted to destroy her older brother's marriage.

Laoqianpo even urged Qin Huairu to go to the civil affairs bureau immediately to divorce Shazhu, so that Shazhu and Yushui could live together, saving Laoqianpo from having to constantly worry about Shazhu and still being talked about.

Bangeng also spoke up, saying he had no designs on Shazhu's house, that he didn't want it and would move out immediately, so Shazhu wouldn't estrange himself from the Jia family and his only blood sister, He Yushui.

Xiao Dang and Huaihua also tearfully pleaded with Shazhu not to sign over the house to the Jia family, so that Yushui wouldn't have cause to gossip about them.

This is simply pouring oil on the fire.

In the end, amid the Jia family's tragic performance, He Yushui came to be seen as a wicked person who couldn't accept Shazhu, while the Jia family appeared as kind-hearted people who wholeheartedly looked out for Shazhu.

Shazhu's house and his savings both ended up under the Jia name.

Once the house was signed over to the Jia family, Shazhu remained healthy, able to work and even earn money for Bangeng, so Bangeng and the others had him wait on them like a servant for a grandfather.

Unexpectedly, a serious illness struck, and the strong-as-an-ox Shazhu collapsed overnight, left half-paralyzed, needing to eat, drink, urinate, defecate, and sleep all in bed.

After a prolonged illness, there was no filial son attending his bedside.

Even his own sons found it a hassle, let alone mentioning Bangeng, an outsider with a different surname.

After looking after Shazhu for a few days, they began to despise him.

Mainly, Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu also treated Shazhu poorly, and Bangeng, Xiao Dang, and Huaihua—three white‑eyed wolves—followed suit, giving him a hard steamed bun and a bowl of cold water as his daily fare, leaving him to spend the day surrounded by filth.

The person who once patted his chest and promised Shazhu to look after Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi didn't even dare to show his face.

With no other option, Shazhu could only lie in his bed of filth and hurl the vilest curses at the Jia family widow, at the Jia family's three white‑eyed wolves, and at Yi Zhonghai.

A few days later.

No one knows whose beastly idea it was, but the notion arose to drive Shazhu out of the Jia family to fend for himself; ultimately, on a pitch‑black night, Bangeng drove a minivan and dumped Shazhu beneath an overpass, and after several hours he froze and starved to death.

The moment he saw Yushui.

All these past events flooded into the depths of Shazhu's mind.

He truly wanted to kneel before Yushui and say the three words 'sorry'.

He regretted not having listened to Yushui back then; otherwise he wouldn't have ended up like this.

Think about it carefully.

All of this is Shazhu's own doing.

After Qin Huairu became a widow, Shazhu, having believed Yi Zhonghai's words, devoted himself to caring for the Jia family widow, providing lunch boxes and money, while neglecting his own younger sister, He Yushui.

This caused Yushui to take issue with him.

Instead, Shazhu argued that raising Yushui to adulthood had already fulfilled his duty to his deceased mother.

Considering the years Shazhu had raised her, Yushui told him many things: that widows' gates are full of gossip, that Zhonghai gave no aid, and that only you, Shazhu, helped the Jia family widow; she asked, 'Do you still want to marry a wife, He Yuzhu?'

Shazhu once again answered Yushui using the words given by Yi Zhonghai.

After trying four or five times, seeing that Shazhu had a thief's heart but no thief's guts—clearly lusting after Qin Huairu's body yet daring not to act, even dragging Yushui's marriage into trouble—he realized Shazhu would never escape Qin Huairu's grasp for life; after marriage he never appeared in the siheyuan again, and if there were matters, they were discussed only at the steel mill.

Those past events.

They surfaced in Shazhu's mind.

Seeing a photo of Shazhu and Yushui together on little Yushui's desk, Shazhu's face showed a hint of guilt as he drifted toward the siheyuan that filled him with boundless regret.

A three‑entry siheyuan.

Thanks to Shazhu's efforts, of the twenty‑seven or twenty‑eight households on the block, twenty ended up in his hands.

During the period of exchanging apartments.

Shazhu bought it at market price.

It was a bargain for the Jia family beasts.

He circled the siheyuan and finally stopped before the window of the He family's ancestral house in the central courtyard; the largest and best‑located room in the siheyuan had already become the Jia family's gathering place, and on the night Shazhu froze to death in misery, the Jia family beasts were happily feasting there.

Ten couples gathered around a large table, eating and drinking happily.

The table was laden with chicken, duck, fish, and meat, plus a bottle of Maotai liquor.

Shazhu could see clearly that this was liquor given to him by a high‑ranking leader, which he had never brought himself to drink, and ended up being consumed by the Jia family beasts.

Jia Zhangshi, born in 1908, is still alive; thanks to Shazhu's blessing, she has never lacked food or drink since the 1960s, having been fed by Shazhu into a white‑and‑plump state, and is now 82 years old.

Spirited and vigorous.

She must live on for several more years.

As the Jia family's venerable matriarch, Jia Zhangshi unhesitatingly took the seat of honor, enjoying the fervent flattery of Bangeng and the other white‑eyed wolves.

Beside her sat Qin Huairu, born in 1933, her face glowing red, utterly lacking any guilt about driving Shazhu away tonight, and even feeling a sense of relieved ease.

She was celebrating having shed Shazhu, that burdensome encumbrance.

Below Qin Huairu sat Bangeng, his wife Tang Yanling, and the Jia family's sole precious grandson, Xiao Geng.

Jia Zhangshi spoke with certainty that the name Bangeng brought blessings to the Jia Family, and strongly demanded that Bangeng and Tang Yanling's son be named Jia Xiao Geng.

I don't know if it's because too many wicked deeds have been done.

After over ten years of marriage, they have only one son.

Opposite Bangeng sat Xiao Dang and Xiao Dang's son-in-law Zhang Tianliang; the two are not bad, and after marriage they had two sons and two daughters, all taking the Jia surname.

However, this displeased Jia Zhangshi, who several times told Qin Huairu and Bangeng that Xiao Dang's changing the children's surname to Jia was actually aimed at the Jia Family's estate, making Bangeng worry more about Xiao Dang.

Just now, taking advantage of Xiao Dang and his wife being absent, Jia Zhangshi also used the example of Shazhu being expelled from the Jia Family home to warn Bangeng.

And she gave Qin Huairu harsh words, saying the Jia Family's property can only belong to Bangeng; even if Xiao Dang bears more children, they are still members of the Zhang family.

Opposite Jia Zhangshi sat Huaihua and Huaihua's son-in-law.

Huaihua did not take an upstairs son-in-law; however, because the son-in-law's family had housing shortage, after marriage they lived in the Siheyuan, giving birth to two daughters, which reassured Jia Zhangshi considerably.

Surveying the scene of children and grandchildren surrounding her knees, Jia Zhangshi's face involuntarily showed a hint of joy.

This is all thanks to Jia Zhangshi's efforts; if Jia Zhangshi had not clung to Qin Huairu, preventing her from remarrying, and ultimately succeeded in hooking Shazhu, the Jia Family could not be as wealthy as it is now.

Her gaze drifted to Qin Huairu beside her; seeing Qin Huairu also wearing a smile, she knew Qin Huairu thought much the same as she did, both feeling pleased about the Jia Family's current situation.

This is the achievement of the Jia Family widows working together.

However, it was hard on Shazhu.