Courtyard House: Home Alone

Now Lin Yifan was in a dilemma. He still needed to go to Nanchong to pick up the people, but if he just left, these people would probably seek their own death.

Looking at the trembling, crying women before him, he felt a pang of sadness. Since he had saved them, he might as well finish the job.

So he said, "Alright, you don't need to rush to commit suicide. I have to go to Nanchong, which will probably take about a week. You wait for me here. When I come back, I will take you to Wudu. Whether you stay in Wudu or come to Beiping with me is up to you."

The women looked at each other, hardly believing their ears. The older woman, who seemed to be the leader, asked in a trembling voice, "Young master, are you... are you telling the truth? You really intend to take us with you?"

Lin Yifan nodded and said in a deep voice, "Since I said it, I mean it. You can stay here without worry. There's enough food and weapons in this stronghold. I'll teach you how to use them after you've eaten. As long as you don't wander off, you won't be in danger. I'll take you away when I return from Nanchong."

Upon hearing this, everyone could no longer suppress their emotions and knelt down before Lin Yifan. This time, Lin Yifan did not avoid them. He waited until they finished kowtowing before speaking, "Hurry up and get up to eat. You've been through so much, everyone must be hungry."

Everyone then stood up, scooped up steaming rice, and ate it in small bites. Their eyes were red as they thanked Lin Yifan profusely.

After finishing his simple meal, Lin Yifan went out first. When he came back, he had a bag in his hand. He opened the bag and found the Southern Fourteenth Pistol that he had just taken out of his spatial storage. Although this kind of gun had many flaws, it was enough for these girls to defend themselves.

He spent another hour teaching them how to shoot, and told them to lock the village gate and not to go out and cause trouble. Then he turned and left the village, heading towards the direction of the mountain under the cover of night.

On the way, he checked the time; it was already midnight, and he figured Master Yao must be getting impatient. He used his light-footed skill and arrived at the main road in just twenty minutes.

Lin Yifan quickly spotted Master Yao's truck hidden in the woods. Afraid of startling him, he called out from afar, "Master Yao, are you there? I'm back!"

Master Yao had been waiting anxiously in the car. Hearing Lin Yifan's voice, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly opened the car door to get out.

"Mr...Mr. Kobayashi, are you...are you alright? How are those bandits?"

Lin Yifan smiled, patted his arm and said, "It's all taken care of. Don't worry, there won't be any more trouble."

Master Yao's eyes widened, and it took him a long time to react. He never imagined that in such a short time, Lin Yifan had taken care of the entire gang of bandits. He repeatedly bowed to Lin Yifan, saying, "Young Master Lin, you are truly skilled! Truly skilled!"

Lin Yifan didn't explain much, and directly opened the car door and jumped into the passenger seat: "Let's go, we still need to get to Nanchong, we can't waste time."

Master Yao quickly responded, turned around, got into the driver's seat, started the truck, and drove towards Nanchong. The night was deep, the truck's headlights piercing the darkness as it smoothly drove along the bumpy road, heading towards its destination.

Fortunately, they didn't encounter any further problems on the way. The two took turns driving, and finally entered Nanchong City as night fell on the second day.

The bumpy ride had left Lin Yifan feeling quite tired. So, the two found a hotel to stay in and planned to go look for someone again early the next morning.

In Nanchong was a family member named Lü Wei. According to him, all that was needed in Nanchong was to pick up his parents, two younger brothers, and two younger sisters.

The other relatives haven't been in touch for several years, so it's unlikely they'll be implicated.

The next morning, Lin Yifan left Master Yao at the hotel and went to find the address left by Lü Wei by himself.

Lu Wei's family lived in an old alley in the west of Nanchong City. The house was small, a small courtyard. Lin Yifan found the door by following the house number and knocked on the wooden door.

After knocking for quite a while, a woman's voice finally came from inside the courtyard: "Who is it?"

"Excuse me, is this the home of Lü Wei? I am a friend of Lü Wei, and I have been asked by him to visit the two elderly people," Lin Yifan said.

The courtyard gate creaked open, and a woman with slightly graying hair poked her head out. She looked Lin Yifan up and down, and seeing that he was dressed appropriately, she didn't think he was there to cause trouble.

With tears welling in her eyes, she asked, "Are you Xiaowei's friend? How...how is he now? Is it...is it..."

"Auntie, Lü Wei is doing well now, so don't worry. He's worried about his family, saying that he has many younger siblings and is afraid that you won't be doing well."

"Since I'm in Chongqing this time, he asked me to come and see you all."

As they spoke, Lin Yifan followed Lü Wei's mother into the courtyard. The courtyard was filled with everyone's clothes and pants hanging out to dry. Two girls, around fourteen or fifteen years old, were washing clothes by the well, their hands red from the cold.

Upon seeing the stranger enter, she glanced up briefly before lowering her head again to continue washing the clothes in her hands. Her movements slowed slightly, and her eyes kept glancing in this direction with a mixture of timid curiosity and curiosity.

Lu Wei's mother ushered Lin Yifan into the main room, wiping her eyes as she walked: "We haven't heard from this child for over a year. We've been worried sick every day, fearing that he... Today we've finally received news from him."

Upon entering the main room, Lü Wei's mother poured Lin Yifan a cup of hot water. "His father and two younger brothers went out to find odd jobs and may not be back until noon. Sit down for a while, and I'll go get you something to eat."

After saying that, she was about to leave when Lin Yifan quickly stopped her: "Auntie, please don't bother. I just ate out before coming over. Please sit down. Lü Wei asked me to bring you some money and a letter. I'll give them to you right away."

After saying that, he took out two hundred yuan and a letter from his backpack and handed them to Lü Wei's mother.

"How come you brought back so much money? He must have been scrimping and saving on himself while he was away."

Lu Wei's mother took the money and letter and called out, "Xiao Bing, come in quickly, your brother wrote a letter, come and see what he wrote."

The young woman washing clothes outside quickly wiped the water off her hands, hurried into the main room, took the letter, opened it, and began to read it slowly, her voice trembling with a hint of tears.

Lu Wei's mother sat to the side wiping away her tears, nodding occasionally and asking a few questions about the contents of the letter. Lin Yifan sat beside her, waiting for them to finish reading the letter and calm down before speaking, "Auntie, Lu Wei is in Beiping now and wants you all to come there so he won't have any worries. Then you can see each other more often."