Chapter 1

1998, Forty-Nine City, heavy snow.

Lying under the bridge, He Yuzhu kept recalling his whole life; he had let down Lou Xiaoe and He Xia in this life, did not choose to go to Fragrant River, but ultimately chose the Qin Huairu family.

The child and elderly mother he had raised for others his whole life ended up being kicked out; gradually He Yuzhu lost consciousness.

He Yuzhu's soul slowly floated upward, seeing a wild dog about to pounce on him.

"Get lost, all of you get lost!" Suddenly He Yuzhu saw a familiar figure, shouting while holding a wooden stick, rushed over and drove the wild dog away.

He saw the person throw the wooden stick to the ground, sit beside He Yuzhu, and cry while speaking.

"Silly Zhuzi, you really are a silly Zhuzi," He Yuzhu realized this person was Xu Daming.

Xu Daming sat beside He Yuzhu and cried for a while, then went out to call a hearse; after sending He Yuzhu onto the vehicle, he stood in place for a long time without leaving.

He Yuzhu never expected in this life that the one handling his after affairs would be Xu Daming, after all they had fought each other their whole lives.

Gradually He Yuzhu's soul slowly floated upward, his vision blurred, then a bright light appeared before him, and he couldn't open his eyes due to the stimulation.

After feeling that the light wasn't so obvious, He Yuzhu opened his eyes, 'Am I not dead? Where is this?' He Yuzhu looked around, feeling somewhat familiar, realized he was lying on a bed, just as he was pondering what was happening.

Then he heard a door closing sound; although the sound was faint, in the quiet night it reached He Yuzhu's ears.

This also pulled He Yuzhu's thoughts back; he got up from the bed, and through the window saw a familiar figure slowly walking step by step out the door in the heavy snow.

"Is this He Daqing? He wasn't dead already? Could this be the underworld?"

Pa! He Yuzhu turned on the light, carefully examined his surroundings, seeing everything familiar, He Yuzhu gradually realized this was the side room of the Courtyard House.

Looking at his shrunken body, 'What on earth is going on? Is Heaven thinking I've lived too miserably this life, letting me live again?' He Yuzhu muttered.

He looked up at the calendar on the wall, which read December 9, 1951, and thought it seemed he had indeed been reborn.

"Given this date, He Daqing must have just gone out to meet the White Widow in the Protected City; should I stop him?" He Yuzhu thought, but after thinking he still didn't act, after all He Daqing's departure was too strange; even if He Daqing was lustful, even if He Daqing didn't care about himself.

But there was still Yushui; after all, Yushui was only nine, so this trip to the Protected City must be made, to find out exactly what happened; in the previous life, although He Daqing had died and then returned, He Yuzhu harbored deep resentment toward him, yet never asked him anything.

Even if later He Daqing revealed that Yi Zhonghai had embezzled money, He Yuzhu at the time felt Yi Zhonghai was closer to him than He Daqing.

After being angry with Yi Zhonghai for a couple of days, the matter fizzled out, so many questions in the previous life were never asked of He Daqing; by the time He Yuzhu realized, the grass on He Daqing's grave was over a person tall.

After watching He Daqing walk out of the Courtyard House through the window, He Yuzhu came out of the side room, glanced toward the gate, and headed for the main house.

He opened the door, He Yuzhu walked in quietly, looked at the square table, and indeed, just as in the previous life, He Daqing had left a letter; He Yuzhu went over and picked up the letter, without turning on the light he slowly walked toward the bed where He Yushui slept.

Seeing He Yushui sleeping soundly, perhaps a bit cold, he twitched his little nose and pulled the blanket up a bit for He Yushui, stroking He Yushui's head he silently swore.

"Yushui, in this life I will never let anyone bully you, and I will raise you to be fair and plump."

Recalling the words He Yushui spoke before her death while lying in the hospital bed, He Yuzhu felt a pang of sorrow; He Yushui had died of late-stage stomach cancer.

The doctor told He Yuzhu it was caused by a lingering ailment from early starvation, and because it was discovered too late, there was basically no hope of treatment.

That day He Yushui lay weakly in the hospital bed, her face, due to hunger, made her already frail body look even more delicate; He Yuzhu sat by the bedside, gripping He Yushui's hand, weeping and apologizing to He Yushui.

He Yushui spoke in a weak voice, 'Silly Brother, I don't blame you; blame the people in our courtyard for being so terrible.'

After saying that, He Yushui rested a bit, feeling that speaking those words had exhausted all her strength.

He Yuzhu quickly urged, 'Yushui, don't speak, rest well; I'll go borrow money, I'll sell pots and scrap iron to cure you,' saying this, He Yuzhu rose to leave.

He Yushui gripped He Yuzhu's hand and didn't let go, saying, 'Silly Brother, sit down; there's something I've never told you, but today I want to tell you, for I fear I may not have the chance.'

He Yuzhu gripped He Yushui's hand, weeping, and said, 'Yushui, you say, Silly Brother is listening, Silly Brother is listening.'

"Silly Brother, do you remember that time I fainted during a heavy snowfall? Actually I fainted from hunger; that morning you left before going out, giving me four steamed buns, and after I got up I thought of going to the main house to heat two steamed buns to eat."

"Just after leaving the side room I saw Bang Geng come out of your room; I asked, 'Bang Geng, what are you up to again?' He ignored me and ran off."

"After I entered the kitchen, I saw it was empty, nothing at all; I planned to knead some dough and make some steamed buns, but found the flour bin was also empty."

"Just as I thought of going back to the room to get some money, I remembered you had used the money you gave me to pay tuition, so I went back to the room, drank a couple sips of water, and fell asleep again."

"I thought, well, it's not the first or second time; I'll wait until you get off work in the afternoon to talk, but you never came back that day, I was so hungry I couldn't stand it, so I ran to the Back Courtyard old lady to beg for food."

"When I arrived at the old lady's door, I found she had closed it; the smell from inside made me even hungrier; I knocked and said, 'Grandma, open the door, I'm Yushui,' but the old lady also didn't open the door, standing at the doorway she said to me:"

"Who is it? Yushui? What? I can't hear clearly."

Then I said, 'Grandma, we have no food at home, my brother hasn't come back either; could you give me two steamed buns?'

"Oh, Yushui, you want to buy meat for me to eat? Sure, give it to your brother to have him prepare it and bring it over tomorrow; it's getting late, I'll go to sleep first." Silly Brother, this is the grandmother you hold dear in your heart.

"Seeing I couldn't get the door open, I went to Yi Zhonghai's house and knocked, but no matter how I knocked, no one opened the door, and soon the lights inside went out."

"Finally I went to Qin Huairu's house; Qin Sister, Bang Geng took my steamed buns this morning, I haven't eaten all day, my brother hasn't come back either; could you give me two steamed buns to eat?"

"Ah, Yushui, your steamed buns weren't taken by my Bang Geng; we have no food either; why not go to First Uncle's house to check?"

"In the end I could only return to the main house; but as soon as I arrived, I felt dizzy and fainted right there."

"I kept waiting for you to come back; after you carried me to bed and asked what was wrong, I only dared tell you it was a low‑blood‑sugar faint, because I was afraid you'd do something rash, Silly Brother."

"Silly Brother, I'm telling you now, I fear I may never get another chance to say this; you must guard against them; before I told you and you didn't listen, but now I'm barely able to speak, Silly Brother, you must listen."

After saying that, He Yushui slowly closed her eyes and never opened them again; He Yuzhu dazedly watched He Yushui's husband handle her aftermath, not uttering a word, only seeing the old man's head grow more white hair.

Thinking of this, He Yuzhu's tears involuntarily flowed again, and his gaze toward He Yushui grew more tender.

In the previous life, the day after He Daqing left, He Yuzhu took He Yushui to the Protected City to find He Daqing; when He Yuzhu returned from the Protected City he suddenly fell ill, giving Yi Zhonghai an opportunity, after which the subsequent events occurred.

Also recalling the previous life, when He Yuzhu was preparing a banquet for the relatives of the canteen Director Liu, that day Director Liu had drunk too much, grabbed He Yuzhu's hand and kept saying sorry to you, saying that He Daqing had actually already arranged an official position for you.

But Yi Zhonghai found him and said that appointing He Yuzhu as an official worker now was too early and bad for him, so He Yuzhu ended up working as an apprentice for two full years before becoming official.

At that time He Yuzhu was living in Yi Zhonghai's gentle affection, not thinking much of it then; looking back now, he truly deserves the nickname Silly Zhuzi.