Courtyard House: Home Alone

Seeing that He Yuzhu was already sweating, he said, "Alright, Yuzhu, take a break. Come on, tell me, has anything happened in the yard while I was away?"

He Yuzhu wiped the sweat from his forehead, took the water Lin Yifan handed him and took a sip before saying, "What big thing could happen in the yard? It's just that a fat guy has moved into your backyard. It seems he works at the same factory as Uncle Yi. He has a wife and a son, and his son seems to have just turned one month old."

Lin Yifan immediately understood; it must be that power-hungry Liu Haizhong. So he asked, "Zhu Zi, is that family surnamed Liu?"

"Yeah, Brother Fan, how did you know?"

He Yuzhu stared wide-eyed in surprise. "That fat guy's surname is Liu, and his name is Liu Haizhong. I heard he also works at Boss Lou's steel rolling mill. He's so arrogant!" He said, pursing his lips, clearly disdainful of Liu Haizhong's boasting.

Upon hearing this, Lin Yifan's lips curled into a barely perceptible smile. Liu Haizhong, the character who evoked both anger and laughter in the original storyline, had finally made his appearance.

He remembered clearly that this guy was an opportunist, obsessed with officialdom, and had done many things that harmed others for his own benefit in order to climb the ranks. He especially liked to manipulate the neighbors in the courtyard.

"Oh? He works at a steel rolling mill? That's quite impressive." Lin Yifan said casually, without comment. "What's he like as a person? How does he get along with the other people in the compound?"

He Yuzhu put his water glass on the stone table next to him, leaned closer, and lowered his voice, saying, "Brother Xiaofan, you don't know, that Liu Haizhong is such a snob! He was very polite to Uncle Yi, after all, Uncle Yi is an old man in the factory and went there before him."

But with other people, he's incredibly arrogant. Yesterday, I was washing vegetables at the tap, and his son started crying. He insisted that I had disturbed his son and glared at me several times! If he hadn't just moved in, I would have argued with him already!

Lin Yifan patted He Yuzhu's arm, signaling him to calm down: "Alright, Zhuzi, he's a new neighbor, so some friction is inevitable. Don't take it to heart. If anything happens, have your dad handle him."

He thought to himself, "Liu Haizhong is still the same as ever. It seems that things won't be peaceful in this courtyard house from now on."

But it's good that there's such a "treasure" around; perhaps this oppressive and chaotic world can be given a few more unique "colors".

Just then, the sound of a baby crying suddenly came from the backyard, followed by a woman's soothing voice and a man's impatient scolding: "Cry, cry, cry! All you do is cry! It's so noisy!"

He Yuzhu frowned: "Listen, this is Liu Haizhong's family. I don't know what's wrong, but his son has been crying every afternoon for the past two days."

Lin Yifan nodded: "Alright, what does a one-month-old baby know? If he wants to cry, let him cry. Okay, practice hard from now on. You need to master the basics first."

"Okay, Brother Fan!"

He Yuzhu nodded vigorously, his eyes sparkling as if filled with renewed energy. "I'll definitely practice hard! By the way, Brother Xiaofan, you haven't eaten yet, have you? My mom made some cornbread and pickled vegetables today. Why don't you come over to my house for some?"

Lin Yifan smiled and said, "No, I just got back. I'll go back to my room and rest first, and we'll talk later."

He patted He Yuzhu on the shoulder and then turned to walk towards his backyard. As soon as he reached his door, he smelled a faint dusty smell, after all, he hadn't been back for several days.

He pushed open the door, and the furnishings inside were still simple and tidy, except that the tables and chairs were covered with a thin layer of dust.

He put down his backpack, fetched a basin of water, and quickly wiped down the tables, chairs, and bed. After finishing these tasks, he sat down in a chair and let out a long sigh of relief.

Despite the space he had to rely on during his long journey, he never relaxed his mental tension. Now, returning to this small courtyard house, though simple, gave him a rare sense of peace.

He closed his eyes and began to sort out the recent events. The pharmaceutical equipment had arrived, and he needed to go with the old man to Dr. Chen's place in the next couple of days to hand over the pharmaceutical formulas and documents that had been seized.

The next step is to get the pharmaceutical factory up and running as soon as possible to produce the first batch of penicillin, which is a hard currency comparable to gold in this era.

Meanwhile, Prince Asaka Yasuhiko has been imprisoned in the space for quite some time now, and it's time to execute him. I wonder how well the person that Old Master Tang found is recovering.

Perhaps, during this execution, they can also dig out a batch of bedbugs and rats.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Lin Yifan first used his mind to "see" and found that it was a deaf old woman. He stood up from the chair, went to the door and opened it.

The deaf old woman looked around, then lowered her head meekly and said softly, "Young...Young Master, I see everyone from outside calls you that, may I...may I call you that too?"

Lin Yifan was taken aback when he heard this. Looking at Mrs. Long, who usually didn't socialize much in the courtyard and always seemed aloof, he felt a little strange seeing her so cautious.

He knew this was the pressure the "ghost" was putting on her, but Lin Yifan remained calm, his face still bearing a gentle smile, and asked softly, "Grandma, what are you saying? We're neighbors, just call me Xiao Fan. Did you need something?"

The deaf old woman raised her head, a complex light flashing in her cloudy eyes. She seemed to relax slightly only after confirming that Lin Yifan was not displeased, but her voice remained very low: "Little...Little Fan..."

She changed her tune, "This old woman has a few things I'd like to say to you, you see... could we go inside and talk?"

Lin Yifan stepped aside to make way for the doorway and gestured for her to come in: "Grandma, please come in."

The deaf old woman nodded gratefully and carefully entered the house. Her eyes quickly swept over the furnishings inside; although simple, they were clean and tidy. She felt a growing sense of inexplicable awe towards Lin Yifan.

Lin Yifan closed the door, turned around, and asked, "Grandma, please have a seat. What brings you here?"

The deaf old woman sat down in the chair, her hands folded on her knees, looking somewhat uneasy. She was silent for a moment, as if choosing her words carefully, before slowly speaking, her voice still very low: "Xiao Fan, I... I advised Xing to stop getting involved in the affairs of Beijing and to live peacefully with me in Beiping."

But... but he said, he said fate is hard to defy. He... he used all his military merits to get me out of... out of the Military Intelligence Bureau.

"I'm here today because...I want to beg you, could you please, considering how well I've always treated you, plead with the 'ghost' and let my son go?"

Hearing this, Lin Yifan understood. Looking at the still charming and usually arrogant Mrs. Long, who was now humbling herself to beg for help for her son, he couldn't help but feel a complex mix of emotions.