Courtyard House: Home Alone

Just as he reached the door, the maid holding the child was sunbathing in the yard with her younger sister. Seeing Lin Yifan, this unfamiliar child, approach, she immediately stood up warily, took a step back with the child in her arms, and asked cautiously, "Child, who are you looking for?"

Lin Yifan smiled gently, trying to appear less aggressive: "Hello, I am Lin Qiqing and Meng Zhuolin's son. My name is Lin Yifan. I came from Beiping to visit my parents and sister."

"Mr. Lin?" The maid paused, looking Lin Yifan up and down as if trying to recall something. She hadn't been working for the Lin family for long, and had only heard the master and mistress occasionally mention their son in Beiping, but had never actually met him.

Just then, her mother's familiar voice came from inside the house: "Wang Ma, who is it?"

"Madam, this is Mr. Lin, who claims to be your son. He's from Beiping," Wang Ma called out.

"Yifan?" His mother's voice was filled with disbelief, surprise, and trembling. Then, a figure stumbled out of the house. It was Meng Zhuolin, the mother he had been thinking about day and night.

Her hair was slightly disheveled. When her gaze fell on Lin Yifan, she suddenly stopped in her tracks, her eyes instantly reddened, and tears rolled down her cheeks like broken beads.

"Yifan...is it really you? My son!" The mother's voice trembled, almost unable to believe her eyes. She reached out to touch him, yet seemed afraid that everything before her was just an illusion.

Lin Yifan could no longer hold back. He rushed forward and hugged his mother tightly, his voice choked with emotion, "Mom, it's me. I've come to see you."

His mother's body trembled slightly in his arms. Her long-suppressed longing and worry finally erupted at this moment. She pounded on Lin Yifan's back and cried, "You brat! I told you to stay in Chongqing, but you insisted on going back to Beiping. Now I have to look for news about Beiping in the newspapers every day."

Lin Yifan hugged his mother, feeling her warm tears soaking his shoulder. Overwhelmed with mixed emotions, he could only keep saying, "Mom, I'm sorry for making you and Dad worry."

"By the way, Mom! Did you go to work?" Lin Yifan asked.

"Yes, it's not far, it's a church hospital. The current situation is bad, even your dad's salary is... so I go out to work to supplement the family income. That's why I rushed back at noon to feed your sister some milk."

Seeing Lin Yifan holding Meng Zhuolin, Xiao Yu'an used her little hands to pull at Wang Ma, babbling as she tried to rush towards her mother.

Hearing her daughter's voice, Meng Zhuolin snapped out of her excitement, quickly wiped away her tears, took Xiao Yu'an from Wang Ma's arms, and held her in her arms. She choked up as she said to Lin Yifan, "Xiaofan, look, your little sister has grown so much. Yu'an, Lin Yu'an, your brother even gave you that name."

She gently patted little Yu'an in her arms and said softly, "Yu'an, look, this is your brother, your brother from Beiping. Your brother ran away when you were just a month old."

Little Yu'an blinked her big, dark eyes and curiously looked at the unfamiliar "brother" in front of her, making "ee-ya" sounds with her little mouth, and reaching out her little hand to grab the beautifully packaged bag that Lin Yifan was carrying.

Looking at his little sister's adorable face, Lin Yifan felt a surge of tenderness in his heart. He handed the gift in his hand to Xiao Yu'an and said with a smile, "Yu'an, this is a gift your brother brought for you."

Meng Zhuolin gave Lin Yifan a reproachful look: "You're back, so why did you buy so much stuff?" Although she said that, she couldn't hide the smile in her eyes.

Holding Xiao Yu'an, she stepped aside to clear the doorway: "Quick, come inside. Your dad went to the military hospital. He's on duty tonight, so he probably won't be back."

Lin Yifan followed his mother into the house, which was a small two-story building. The first floor had a living room and kitchen, and the second floor had a bedroom.

The room was simply furnished but tidy, and the air was filled with a faint smell of cooking and the unique milky scent of a baby.

Meng Zhuolin took out a French coin from her pocket and sent Wang Ma out to buy some braised vegetables. Then she placed Xiao Yu'an in the baby cradle in the living room, turned around to pour Lin Yifan a cup of hot water, and then busied herself getting him some fruit.

Watching his mother's busy figure, Lin Yifan felt a long-lost warmth welling up in his heart. He looked around the house; although it wasn't big, it was filled with his mother's care and attention.

On the wall hangs a photo of his father in his Nationalist Army colonel uniform, next to which is a photo of him with his parents, taken before he left Chongqing. He looks a bit young in the photo.

"Mom, how are you and Dad? How is my sister?" Lin Yifan took the water glass and asked softly.

Meng Zhuolin sat down in the chair opposite him, picked up an apple and started peeling it. Hearing this, she sighed and said, "Your dad is still the same as always. He's busy at the military hospital and is rarely home."

He's still in pretty good health, but he keeps talking about you. Yu'an is a good child; he eats and sleeps well, but sometimes he gets fussy at night.

As she peeled the apple, tears welled up in her eyes again. "Xiao Fan, you're still a child. How can you be so bold? How is Beiping doing now? You were the one who caused trouble in Tianjin a while ago, weren't you? I was so worried about you, but I didn't dare tell your father."

Lin Yifan's heart tightened. He knew his mother was worried, so he tried to speak in a relaxed tone: "Mom, don't worry. When I went back last time, I killed so many Japanese devils that I forced them to sign an agreement with Beiping. Beiping is relatively stable now."

For the first half of the month, I took some people to Tianjin to do business with the foreigners, but the foreigners came to provoke me again, so I took the opportunity to teach them a lesson.

"I came back this time for two reasons. First, I wanted to see you and my sister, and second... I have some other things to take care of. I didn't send the telegram in advance because I didn't want you to worry, and I also wanted to give you a surprise." He wasn't telling the truth; he didn't want his mother to worry about him anymore.

Meng Zhuolin cut the peeled apple into small pieces, arranged them on a plate, and handed them to him.

Just then, little Yu'an started whimpering in her stroller, fidgeting with her little hands and feet. Meng Zhuolin immediately got up, went over, picked her up, and soothed her, "Yu'an, be good, are you hungry? Mommy will feed you."

Holding Xiao Yu'an in her arms, she turned to Lin Yifan and said, "Xiaofan, sit down for a while, I'm going to the inner room."

Lin Yifan nodded, watching his mother carry his younger sister into the inner room, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

He knew that his parents had suffered a lot for their beliefs and principles. His father's salary had definitely gone to the Communist Party, leaving his mother to support the family.

He glanced at the mountain of legal tender in the spatial warehouse, and with a thought, put about 200,000 yuan in legal tender into his backpack.

The current legal tender is still quite strong. It won't be until 47 or 48, when inflation will occur, and the largest denomination of legal tender will be printed as 500 million. Keep these for your mother; they should be able to improve our family's life, and she won't have to commute to work so much anymore.