Chapter 56: Speaking of that day, He Yushui attempted suicide by hanging

The night swallowed the last sliver of the setting sun.

The darkness was like the velvet curtain of a theater, wrapping the courtyard tightly.

The ground, scorched all day long, steamed with heat, making people feel irritable and restless.

Considering that a grand meeting was to be held in the courtyard tonight to discuss He Yushui severing ties with Shazhu, and given the sweltering weather, no one was in the mood to cook anything elaborate.

Li Aiguo made a simple bowl of egg noodles.

He pried open the plug of the coal stove.

A black steel pot sat atop the stove.

He boiled water.

He cracked seven or eight eggs into the pot and whisked them in.

He added fresh noodles.

He added some bok choy.

A humble bowl of egg noodles was ready.

After eating and washing the dishes, Li Aiguo picked up a copy of *How the Steel Was Tempered* to read.

The book was printed in vertical traditional Chinese characters.

It featured illustrations in the middle and was over six hundred pages long; holding it felt like holding a brick.

"Steel is forged in blazing fire and tempered through intense cooling, which is why it is so strong. Our generation, too, is forged through struggle and rigorous testing."

Just as he reached a gripping part, a commotion suddenly erupted outside.

"Something happened! It's bad! Someone come quickly!"

Something happened?

Li Aiguo stood up and pulled open the door. He saw several neighbors standing at their doorways, looking toward the Crescent Gate with expressions of confusion.

Zhang Gangzhu ran in from outside, clutching a string of pig intestines.

He shouted as he ran, "It's bad! He Yushui has hanged herself!"

Boom!

The heavy voice rang in everyone's ears like a dull roll of thunder.

The heavy footsteps felt like they were stomping on people's hearts, and expressions of shock and suspicion appeared on the residents' faces.

"What are you all waiting for? Hurry and save her!"

Li Aiguo roared, stepping toward Shazhu's house in the middle courtyard.

The door to Shazhu's house was tightly shut. He Yushui's classmate, Wang Ruxin, stood at the door, standing on tiptoe to peer inside.

Seeing Li Aiguo, a flash of joy crossed Wang Ruxin's eyes. Pretending to be in a state of panic, he yelled at the top of his lungs, "Brother Aiguo, it's bad! He Yushui has hanged herself! The door is locked from the inside and I can't open it! Please, save her!"

Li Aiguo: "..."

Fake. It was far too fake.

With acting skills like that, even in a nursery school, the teacher wouldn't pick him for a role. He'd be stuck sitting on a small stool, watching the other children look majestic on stage with their red-tasseled spears.

Wang Ruxin thought his acting was exceptional and reached out to grab Li Aiguo's arm: "Quick, quick, save—"

"Cry!"

"Huh?" Wang Ruxin looked bewildered.

"Don't tell me you don't know how to cry?"

Li Aiguo had figured it out by now.

There was no such thing as He Yushui hanging herself; it was all a play staged by He Yushui.

The lead was He Yushui, and the supporting actors were Wang Ruxin and Zhang Gangzhu.

The goal was to seize the initiative in the "Severance Meeting" when facing the onslaught from Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady.

Li Aiguo had realized this the moment he ran out of the Crescent Gate.

If He Yushui had truly hanged herself, why would Zhang Gangzhu be thinking about bringing pig intestines home instead of rushing to save her?

"I... I can cry..."

Having received guidance, Wang Ruxin nodded and made a wronged expression, but his small face only turned red from straining, and not a single tear escaped.

He looked up pitifully, "Brother Aiguo, I can't cry."

"Think about the night your father found out you and He Yushui skipped class to go to the park... what did he use to discipline you? A brass-buckle belt or a leather whip and handcuffs?"

"The brass-buckle belt... hanging from the ceiling beam..."

A flash of terror crossed Wang Ruxin's eyes. Panic surfaced on his face, his nose twitched, and a bubble of snot formed. Once his emotions were primed, he let out a wail.

"It's bad! He Yushui has hanged herself! Waaaah! Hurry and save her!"

Wang Ruxin began to wail loudly, as if he had suffered a great shock.

The crying wasn't loud, but it was piercing, making people's hearts tremble.

"Good kid, you're quite quick on the uptake," Li Aiguo said, giving a thumbs up.

"Louder! They're coming!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Li Aiguo saw Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and several other residents rushing over from behind.

Only then did Li Aiguo pretend to be anxious and burst through the door of Shazhu's house.

Entering the room, a thick hemp rope was seen hanging from the ceiling beam.

He Yushui was squatting on the eight-immortals table, her feet swinging back and forth as she leisurely munched on a piece of cake.

He Yushui looked at the cake, then at Li Aiguo, looking aggrieved, "Brother Aiguo, I waited for a long time but didn't see you guys coming. The cake Wang Ruxin brought was just too delicious, I couldn't help myself."

"I thought you hadn't eaten lunch and were hungry," Wang Ruxin explained while crying. "I even sneaked this cake out from home!"

He Yushui nodded. "This one is red date flavored. I prefer the osmanthus flavor."

Wang Ruxin: "Don't worry, there's a big box at home. I'll bring you some osmanthus flavored one later."

Li Aiguo:...

Was this acting, or were they playing house?

These two truly were two peas in a pod. They had great ideas, but their execution was completely unreliable.

"Quick, Yi Zhonghai is here!"

"Ah! I'm not ready yet!"

He Yushui fell into a flurry of panic. She threw the cake aside and stood on a chair, trying to reach for the thick hemp rope, only to find that she was too short and the rope was too high.

She looked at Li Aiguo pitifully, "Brother Aiguo, can you help me move a stool?"

Li Aiguo thought to himself, *Good grief.* They had skipped even the rehearsal steps before the actual performance.

And they expected applause from the audience?

Li Aiguo rushed over, placed the stool on the table, and helped He Yushui stand on it.

"You're so clumsy. Don't actually put the rope around your neck. When Yi Zhonghai and the others burst in, we'll pretend we just finished saving you."

Seeing how unreliable He Yushui was, Li Aiguo was a little afraid she might accidentally turn the fake act into a real one. That would be a disaster.

Seeing that Wang Ruxin was still standing there, he hurriedly urged, "You come over too and start crying loudly."

"Okay, okay! I'm really good at crying now..." Wang Ruxin nodded vigorously, his small face tilted upward.

Seeing that He Yushui's neck was smooth and fair, Li Aiguo frowned. "There isn't a single mark. That won't work."

"Yushui, do you have any red ink?"

"I do, I do! I'm the class academic monitor; I'm responsible for helping the teacher grade homework."

He Yushui brought over a bottle of red ink.

Li Aiguo dipped a thin string into it, looped the string around He Yushui's neck, pulled it tight, and then quickly released it.

*Snap.*

A red mark appeared on He Yushui's neck.

He then used his fingers to smear it evenly, creating a red mark with a surrounding flush, making it look exactly as if it had been strangled by a rope.

Wang Ruxin clapped, "It looks so real! Brother Aiguo, you're amazing!"

"Keep crying!"

"Ah, waaaaah..."

Li Aiguo looked at He Yushui, her hands gripping the rope, and Wang Ruxin, who was wailing while clutching He Yushui's legs.

*Heh, this feels just like playing a game with a toddler.*

"Old Yi, did we push her too hard?"

"That girl He Yushui actually hanged herself."

"Hey, Old Yi, slow down! I can't keep up!"

It was a hot summer day. After running a few steps, the pot-bellied Liu Haizhong felt out of breath.

"Slow down?"

Yi Zhonghai lowered his voice and scolded, "Everyone in the courtyard is watching. If we dawdle and something actually happens to He Yushui, neither of us will be able to escape responsibility."

He cursed Liu Haizhong inwardly.

*If you hadn't insisted on taking He Yushui as your goddaughter just to prevent her from severing ties with Shazhu, would the girl have been scared like this?*

Seeing the residents all running toward the He family's house, Liu Haizhong also realized the gravity of the situation and quickened his pace.