togophonebook Chapter 242 Your sky has fallen, what does it have to do with me?
Chapter 242 Your sky has fallen, what does it have to do with me?
When He Yuzhu walked out of Lin Fan's courtyard, he was a completely different person.
This is not a feeling, but a fact.
The spiritual energy within him transformed into a gentle stream, silently washing over his limbs and nourishing his reborn body.
He could clearly hear the soft, grinding sound of scissors being sharpened at the entrance of the alley, smell the scent of locust blossoms mixed with dust carried on the wind, and even feel the temperature difference of every inch of sunlight falling on his skin.
The world is reconstructed in his perception in an extremely delicate way.
This is what it means to be alive.
He glanced back at the compound where he had lived for decades.
That place, which he once knew so well yet often felt exhausted and suffocated by, now resembles only a faded old painting.
The people and events in the painting are all isolated from him.
He is no longer the person depicted in the painting.
He Yuzhu strode towards his home, his steps steady and silent.
He Yuzhu is no longer the loud and boisterous man who used to walk with a reckless and foolish gait.
As soon as I entered the Intermediate People's Court, a familiar figure came to greet me.
"Silly Zhu, you're finally back."
Qin Huairu's voice, with its carefully crafted weariness and fragility, always manages to precisely scratch the softest spot in a man's heart.
In the past, if He Yuzhu had heard this voice, his legs would have gone weak, and any anger he felt would have vanished instantly.
Then came the usual questions: "Sister Qin, what's wrong now?" "Is there no rice at home, or are Banggeng and the others hungry again?"
But today, He Yuzhu only paused almost imperceptibly, without even lifting his eyelids.
He simply grunted an "Mmm" and continued walking toward his front door without stopping.
Qin Huairu stood frozen in place.
Not right.
Sha Zhu is acting very strangely today.
His faded work clothes were the same, and he himself was the same, but his aura was completely different.
The old Sha Zhu used to have a direct gaze when he looked at people, radiating a warm, intimidating aura.
He Yuzhu's eyes are now indifferent, like a dry well, deep and silent. When you look into them, you not only cannot see the bottom, but you also feel that all your thoughts are about to be swallowed by that void.
Moreover, he didn't even stop to ask himself.
Qin Huairu's heart skipped a beat, and a sense of panic surged up without warning.
She took two quick steps and blocked He Yuzhu's path.
"Shazhu, what's wrong with you?" She forced a familiar concerned smile, trying to make her voice sound more aggrieved and helpless. "Did you suffer any mistreatment at the factory? Tell me about it."
He Yuzhu finally looked at her properly.
That one glance made Qin Huairu's heart clench suddenly.
There was no longer any enthusiasm, heartache, or even a trace of pity in those eyes.
Only absolute calm remained.
It was so calm that it terrified her.
"I'm fine." He Yuzhu's tone was exactly the same as his eyes at that moment. "Sister Qin, if you're alright, don't block my way. I need to go home and cook."
Going home to cook?
To Qin Huairu, those four words were more offensive than any swear word.
When Sha Zhu used to cook at home, wasn't he just cooking for her family? Whenever he got something good, wasn't it always her and the three children who got it first?
Today, he actually said he was going home to cook.
Does that mean... they're abandoning her family?
Qin Huairu's face instantly turned pale.
She forced herself to calm down, thinking that she must be overthinking things, and that Sha Zhu was just in a bad mood.
Yes, that must be it.
She got into character and pulled out all the stops.
"Shazhu..." Her eyes instantly reddened, and her voice trembled with sobs. "I know I'm always troubling you, and I feel bad about it. But... but I really have no other choice. We're starving again at home. Banggeng and the others have been hungry since noon. As their mother, my heart is breaking."
As she spoke, she raised her hand to wipe the corner of her eye, which had no tears, and her shoulders trembled slightly.
That lonely, helpless look, crushed by life, was enough to make even the most hard-hearted man feel sorry for her.
In the past, once this tactic was used, He Yuzhu would immediately surrender, patting his chest and taking all the blame upon himself.
However, this time, all her calculations came to naught.
He Yuzhu simply watched her perform quietly.
He even found it somewhat amusing.
How could I have been so easily fooled by such a clumsy trick?
Is it because I'm really stupid?
No, it's because I willingly need to be deceived by her.
And now.
He doesn't need it anymore.
"Sister Qin," He Yuzhu said slowly, waiting until her sobs reached their peak.
Qin Huairu was overjoyed, thinking he was about to soften his heart. She immediately raised her tearful face, ready to accept his comfort and promise.
"It's not easy, it's your family's problem."
He Yuzhu's voice was very soft, but it froze the sorrowful expression on Qin Huairu's face.
"Your husband is dead, and you still have your mother-in-law and children. You're having a tough time. But in this neighborhood, who isn't?"
"My parents died early, and I raised my younger sister all by myself. Was it easy for me?"
"I helped you in the past because I wanted to. Helping you was a favor, not helping you was my right. You can't take my favors for granted."
"I, He Yuzhu, owe you, Qin Huairu, nothing."
His words were clear and each sentence was piercing.
Qin Huairu was completely stunned. She stared blankly at He Yuzhu, as if she were meeting him for the first time.
Tears still clung to her eyelashes, but she had already forgotten how to continue the performance.
Her mind was buzzing, completely blank.
Sha Zhu... how could he say something like that?
Shouldn't he have said, "Sister Qin, don't cry, I'm here for you," or "It's no big deal, I'll take care of it"?
How could he say... he doesn't owe me anything?
Just as Qin Huairu was feeling lost and distraught, a sharp roar came from inside her house.
"He Yuzhu! You heartless ingrate! Do you even speak human language?!"
Jia Zhangshi burst out of the house like a cannonball, her finger almost poking He Yuzhu's nose.
"What has Huairu ever done to wrong you? We sewed and mended clothes for you, did your laundry and cleaning, and now that you're all grown up, you don't recognize us anymore? All that cornmeal you ate, did it all end up in the dog's stomach?"
"I'm telling you, if you don't take care of our family today, I'm lying down in front of your house and refusing to leave! Let's see what you do about this heartless wretch!"
With her hands on her hips, Jia Zhangshi adopted the full posture of throwing a tantrum.
She refused to believe that she, as an elder, couldn't handle a simpleton like Sha Zhu!
He Yuzhu looked at the old, fat woman with a mean face in front of him, and his eyes instantly turned cold.
He recalled how, over the past few decades, this old hag had schemed against him, cursed him behind his back, and brazenly ate the food he brought, all while complaining about it.
A surge of pent-up emotions, suppressed for too long, welled up from the depths of my heart.
But he did not have an attack.
Mr. Lin taught him that true power lies in control, not in venting.
He Yuzhu slowly raised his eyes, his gaze transforming into two invisible ice spikes that pierced Jia Zhangshi's cloudy eyes.
He didn't use any spiritual power; he simply focused all his extraordinary spiritual will, which he had awakened, into his vision.
I'll say it again.
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chilling quality stripped of all human emotion.
"Don't bother me."
"Otherwise, I wouldn't mind letting you experience what it really means to...not be able to sleep."
Jia Zhangshi was frozen in place by that gaze, her whole body trembled, and her fierce aura was instantly extinguished.
She felt as if she wasn't being stared at by a person, but rather by a stone statue on a cliff, its gaze devoid of joy or anger, only a deathly stillness that could freeze one's soul.
She tried to open her mouth to curse again, but found that her throat felt like it was blocked by ice, and she couldn't utter a single syllable.
My legs went weak, and I almost collapsed to the ground.
She had lived most of her life and had never seen such a fool as Zhu.
No.
He's not a fool.
Sha Zhu is dead.
Standing before her was a man she didn't recognize at all, a man who instilled a fear in her to the very core of her being.
He Yuzhu stopped looking at her and didn't bother to look at Qin Huairu, who was now pale as a ghost.
He walked past them, went to his own front door, took out his key, opened the door, and went inside.
"Bang!"
The door closed.
The sound was like closing a door, and it also seemed to mark the complete end of an era in Qin Huairu's heart.
Qin Huairu stood stiffly in the middle of the courtyard, her hands and feet icy cold.
She stared at the closed door, with only one thought in her mind.
God, collapsed.