Chapter 671

After taking a deep breath for a while, Qin Huairu suddenly felt something staring at her; she forcibly endured the fear in her heart and slowly turned her head to one side.

In her line of sight, there was, to her astonishment, Shazhu's memorial photo hanging on the wall.

In the black-and-white photo, Shazhu wore a gloomy expression, his gaze fixed on Qin Huairu.

As for Shazhu, Qin Huairu was not unfamiliar; deep down she even felt a little pride, for Shazhu had always been a plaything in her palm, allowing Qin Huairu to conspire with her rival Xu Daming to sneak into the warehouse; yet in Shazhu's heart, Qin Huairu remained his widow goddess, and the Jia family's estate came about just like that.

How could it be that this glory, accompanied by Shazhu's death, still left Qin Huairu having two consecutive nightmares; it was no longer as before, she no longer felt any glory toward Shazhu, only endless dread.

Qin Huairu trembled all over, step by step walking toward Shazhu's memorial photo.

She had intended to point at Shazhu's memorial photo and utter a few harsh words, but the atmosphere gave her no chance; just as Qin Huairu stretched her finger toward Shazhu's memorial photo, the closed door suddenly swung open, a gust of cold night wind blowing in from outside, the sudden shift between cold and heat causing a chill to rise on Qin Huairu's body.

Qin Huairu's scalp.

A numbness.

Her hair seemed to stand up strand by strand.

As she turned around to close the door, she suddenly heard a strange sound of something slapping the wall behind her; Qin Huairu's heart felt as if it were about to jump out of her chest.

She trembled as she turned her head, seeing Shazhu's memorial photo hanging properly on the wall, when it suddenly began to sway back and forth, the frame striking the wall and producing a pap-pap-pap sound.

When had it ever been.

She had seen such a frightening scene.

Her body instantly went limp and she slumped to the ground.

The frame that had been striking the wall also stopped its striking.

Qin Huairu was drenched in sweat, as if she had just been pulled out of the water, and she moved her body backward as much as she could.

She looked almost like a maggot wriggling in a cesspool.

Finally, she leaned helplessly against the door, panting heavily, and painful tears welled up in her eyes.

There was no pretense; she was simply terrified.

No one knows how long passed—maybe ten minutes, maybe an hour—Qin Huairu, sitting on the ground, suddenly gained strength; she muttered a few old sayings through clenched teeth, crawled up from the ground, ran a few steps to Shazhu's memorial photo, casually took it down, placed it upside down on the table, then, gritting her teeth, she trembled as she crawled into the blanket, dazedly dreaming again of Shazhu.

……

The cause of the events in the dream was that Bangeng stole Xu Daming's old hen.

Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi worried that Bangeng would acquire a thief's reputation over this, affecting his future employment and schooling, so they sent Qin Huairu leading the widows to try to fool Shazhu into taking the blame for the chicken theft.

The widows did not immediately state their purpose of having Shazhu let Bangeng bear the blame; instead, they adopted certain measures.

"Shazhu, on the way to your house just now, I heard Xu Daming say that he saw you coming out of Yagangchang with a lunch box, and it felt heavy; he said you stole things from Yagangchang's cafeteria, stealing from Yagangchang's cafeteria—that's a serious crime, not just a matter of docking your wages; you'll end up in jail. Think of Yushui—she's at the stage of discussing marriage. If you had a jailed brother, how would her in-laws view her? Yushui's whole life could be ruined."

Shazhu quite liked Qin Huairu's pleading expression, and he especially enjoyed the glory of being able to help Qin Huairu, smiling narrowly as he retorted.

"What do you mean, Sister Qin? What should I do?"

Shazhu's hand.

He seized the opportunity to grab Qin Huairu's hand.

Qin Huairu's heart skipped a beat.

Is this still the Shazhu she knows?

He had become so bold.

"Shazhu, what I mean is, you just say that the chicken in your lunch box is Xu Daming's old hen—that you, having been at odds with Xu Daming for so many years, deliberately stole his old hen; then let the elder call a meeting of the great courtyard, where big matters are made small and small matters are smoothed over, so it will just blow over—after all, a chicken can't belong to two people at once, and there's still this distance between them."

Qin Huairu laughed and played the affection card, wanting Shazhu to take the blame; first she had to smooth his feelings, then make him willingly bear the blame for the Jia family.

"If I do as you say, Sister Qin, my sister would also effectively have a chicken-thief brother; word would get out, and that would sound just as bad."

"Since you think admitting that is no good, then just say you took the old hen from Yagangchang's cafeteria." Qin Huairu, not expecting Shazhu to go off script, quickly changed her tone: "You say our Jia Family's orphaned widows have it hard; I, Qin Huairu, a widow raising three children and a mother-in-law, live a life called hardship; as a resident of the Siheyuan, seeing you in need, you brought a lunch box from the cafeteria—whether it was theft or not, at least the lunch box you brought back saved five lives of our Jia Family; this is merit, nothing outweighs a life."

"So you'll marry me?"

"Shazhu, you."

"When I was alive, you made me take the blame for Bangeng's chicken theft, nearly getting my sister kicked out by her in-laws; now that I'm dead, you still want to frame me, Qin Huairu—you're a black-hearted poisonous widow. I ask you, will you or won't you draw up the divorce papers with me? Down below I saw Jia Dongxu; I beat him into submission, and he doesn't want you anymore, Qin Huairu. While alive you schemed against me, scheming my whole life; now that you're dead, you must compensate me."

Shazhu moved toward the hand that Qin Huairu had grabbed.

Suddenly it turned into a ferocious claw, which clenched Qin Huairu's throat, cutting off her breath; just as Qin Huairu felt she was about to suffocate, a surge of energy suddenly burst from her body, she flung open Shazhu's bloody claw, and immediately Qin Huairu gasped heavily.

……

"Huh!"

Heavy breathing sounds.

Arose inside the house.

Qin Huairu was still drenched in sweat and miserable; she felt afraid, wanted to find someone to help, lifted her head, and tearfully called out 'Mom'.

That cry of 'Mom'.

It had a hint of the hypocritical pity of a cat crying over a mouse.

Too bad.

The house was silent as silk.

Besides Qin Huairu, there was no one else present.

Not waiting for Jia Zhangshi's response, Qin Huairu instinctively went to look for her figure, her gaze sweeping around the room; her pupils dilated markedly, and her body trembled intensely once again.

The memorial photo.

Shazhu's memorial photo underwent a change.

Qin Huairu clearly remembered that she had just placed Shazhu's memorial photo face-down on the table, but now, the photo that should have been face-down on the table miraculously hung on the wall.

Inside the house, besides Qin Huairu, there was no outsider.

Who did it.

Shazhu?

A great doubt rose in Qin Huairu's heart.

She stared at Shazhu's portrait and explained a few sentences.

Shazhu, you've worked so hard all these years; even if you were just feeding a dog, the dog would wag its tail for you, and when encountering bad people, it would bravely pounce out and bite them. Our Jia family of five—my mother-in-law, me Qin Huairu, Bangeng, Xiao Dang, and Huaihua—have all stabbed you in the back. You're unwilling to accept this, and you've come back to cause trouble for me, Qin Huairu. But what can I do? Who let me be a widow? Shazhu, I, Qin Huairu, beg you, please stop bothering me. I'll burn paper money for you, yes, yes, yes, I'll burn lots and lots of paper so you'll have money down there to marry many beautiful young ladies, all prettier and stronger than me, Qin Huairu. Please, stop bothering me.

Qin Huairu knelt before Shazhu's portrait.

Bang bang bang—three kowtows, knocking her forehead until it bled.

You've helped our Jia family so much; my mother-in-law doesn't say it, but speaking of Bangeng, Xiao Dang, and Huaihua—although they've always called you Shazhu from start to finish, unwilling even to call you 'uncle', they definitely have you in their hearts. All mistakes, thousands of them, are my Qin Huairu's fault—no, it's my mother-in-law's fault. If my mother-in-law hadn't stopped me, in the second year after Dong Xu died, I would have married you and borne your children. Please, don't look for me; look for my mother-in-law.

Qin Huairu gathered her courage.

She rose from the ground.

She took down Shazhu's portrait from the wall again; this time she didn't place it upside-down on the table but stuffed it into the cabinet, then hid her own body under the covers.

She painfully closed her eyes.

Repeated dreams about Shazhu terrified Qin Huairu half to death; in that hazy state between sleep and wakefulness, Shazhu once again invaded her dream.

……

Finally, it wasn't a dream about forcing Qin Huairu to marry him; it turned into a questioning of Qin Huairu.

"Qin Huairu."

"Shazhu, you speak."

"Have you had an IUD?"

"This, this, this matter, Shazhu, let me tell you, this matter."

"Qin Huairu, answer me, have you had an IUD or not?"

"Yes."

"On the seventh day after Jia Dongxu's death, you had an IUD, right?"

"Yes."

Qin Huairu, do you think you've done right by me? You, a widow with an IUD, constantly poking into my house—do you think you've done right by me? I thought I treated the Jia family well; after listening to Yi Zhonghai's words, I gave you both lunch boxes and financial aid, even neglecting my own sister. Yet you, Qin Huairu, repay my kindness to the Jia family like this? Are you serious? Qin Huairu, by doing this, do you think you've done right by me? Or have I been cut off from descendants? I gave you two ancestral houses, and you, Qin Huairu, are content? Qin Huairu, I just want to ask you: where exactly have I offended you that you treat me like this? You're trying to push me into extinction.

"Shazhu, listen to my explanation."

Explain, explain why you got an IUD, explain how Yi Zhonghai in the late night gave you assistance with stick noodles—I'm puzzled. Assistance is originally a good thing; Yi Zhonghai even let me openly assist you, this widow. But why does it fall to him, Yi Zhonghai, to secretly assist you at night when no one's around? Qin Huairu, are you two having an affair?

"Shazhu, I have no relation with Yi Zhonghai at all—what's wrong with you? Why are you suddenly asking me these questions out of the blue?"

"Because I don't want to end up cut off from descendants just like Yi Zhonghai."

"Our Jia family will support you in your old age, Shazhu—you can rest assured."

"Bangeng will support me in my old age; seeing me, he keeps calling me 'Shazhu'. As a child he was constantly stealing and petty thieving—you guys don't trust such a person, yet you let me trust him—do you really think I'm stupid?"

"And there's Xiao Dang and Huaihua."

"Xiao Dang and Huaihua—what's the difference between them and Bangeng? They call me 'uncle', but they have to add the word 'silly' in front. I know that in your Jia family's hearts, I've always been the foolish, big-spending simpleton—Shazhu, silly uncle, anyway, just a fool."

"Shazhu, what's gotten into you? What have Bangeng and the others done to upset you?"

"I say a few things about them, and you get upset, Qin Huairu—what do you think I am? A lackey for your Jia family? I just want to seek justice for myself; alive, I couldn't get it, and dead I still have to demand an explanation from you, Qin Huairu."

"Shazhu, can't you stop going crazy? What's wrong with you?"

"Am I crazy, or are you Jia family members doing disgusting things? While I'm alive, you scheme against me; when I'm dead, you're still scheming—you really treat me as a fool."

"No!"

"Come with me to see King Yama, so King Yama can judge between us."

Shazhu grabbed Qin Huairu and headed underground.

Qin Huairu knew she couldn't go with Shazhu, having heard that there's a taboo about this—if she truly followed a dead person into the underworld in a dream, she wouldn't survive either.

She didn't want to die.

She wanted to live.

After finally causing a stir in the Jia family, Qin Huairu hadn't even properly enjoyed it, and no matter what she couldn't leave.

She and Shazhu started grappling.

During the struggle, Qin Huairu opened her eyes and discovered she was fighting against Shazhu's portrait.

Portrait.

Shazhu's portrait.

Before going to sleep, Qin Huairu had stuffed it into the cabinet, but upon waking she found Shazhu's portrait had flown into her hand.

Something evil was afoot.

Shazhu had come back to settle scores with Qin Huairu.

With an "ah" a shrill scream flew from Qin Huairu's mouth, yet it didn't startle anyone—it was Qin Huairu at the peak of terror, voiceless, unable to speak.

She flung Shazhu's portrait onto the ground.

Miraculous.

Amazingly, the glass didn't break.

Qin Huairu felt she might have a heart attack; something sounded, she scooped some ashes from the pot's bottom, circled Shazhu's portrait, and scattered them around.

Surprisingly, this could ward off evil.

She dared not sleep, fearing to dream of Shazhu; she gritted her teeth and waited until she woke again, only to find it was already broad daylight, her gaze hastily turning toward the ground.

Shazhu's portrait miraculously hung back on the wall, and on the pot ashes appeared a pair of faint footprints.

Qin Huairu also felt it was daylight, and things that shouldn't appear wouldn't show up; she found Shazhu's shoe, compared it to the footprints on the pot ashes, and nearly gasped—she was almost scared to death.

Neither too much nor too little.

It fit exactly.

Shazhu is dead, yet his shoeprint appeared on the floor of Qin Huairu's room.

What does that indicate?

Qin Huairu fainted outright.