Courtyard House: Home Alone

Upon hearing this, Schmidt looked at Lin Yifan, who was a boy of about ten years old, looking at Boss Liu with a puzzled expression: "Boss Liu, are you sure it's this child who wants to rent the boat? You should know that these are all two-thousand-ton ships of mine, and chartering them is not cheap."

Mr. Liu quickly explained with a smile, "Don't worry, Mr. Schmidt, this Mr. Lin is very generous and not someone who can't afford the boat fare. Just name your price."

Upon hearing this, Schmidt suppressed his doubts, gestured for the two to sit down, and then ordered the innkeeper to bring three cups of tea before asking, "Mr. Lin, how much cargo do you intend to transport? Do you want to charter the entire ship or just rent part of the cabin? When do you depart?"

Lin Yifan spoke frankly: "Actually, my destination is Tianjin. I'm not transporting goods, but people—about fifty of them, all my relatives. I want to take them to Tianjin. I wonder if Mr. Schmidt could make the trip?"

Schmidt paused for a moment after hearing this, then stroked his beard and pondered, "To get from Chongqing to Tianjin, you have to go along the Yangtze River to Shanghai first, and then transfer to a sea liner to go north. My ship can't go to sea; it can only take you to Shanghai. Once you get there, you can transfer to a ship to Tianjin. How about this arrangement?"

"As for the fare, with over fifty people plus their carry-on luggage, I'll reserve half the cabin space for you and charge you..."

Schmidt pointed to a number, "This price includes their food and lodging along the way. If you think it's reasonable, we can sign the contract and set off in three days."

Lin Yifan nodded: "The price is fine, then it's settled. We'll depart on time in three days. I'll pay you half the deposit first, and you can pay the other half when we arrive in Shanghai."

However, there is another problem that I wonder if Mr. Schmidt could help me solve? That is, once I arrive in Shanghai, could you help me contact a ship to Tianjin, preferably one from Germany?

You know, the coastal areas of China are currently controlled by island nations, and Germany is an ally of those island nations. This will reduce a lot of trouble on the roads.

Schmidt laughed and waved his hand, saying, "Don't worry, Mr. Lin, I have many German colleagues and friends at the docks in Shanghai."

Once we get to Shanghai, I'll take you to my friend Schneider. He has connections with ocean liners that run between Shanghai and Tianjin. As long as the price is right, he'll definitely be happy to arrange it for you, and no one will cause you any trouble along the way.

Lin Yifan was very happy after hearing this. He immediately took out the silver notes and handed them to Schmidt. He also arranged to meet him at the dock three days later to board the ship. After everything was settled, he bid farewell to Boss Liu and left.

On his way back, Lin Yifan stopped by his home in Fu'anli to tell his mother that he would be leaving in three days to take these people to the north to settle them down. He would return to Wudu to visit them after he had settled them in.

Before Meng Zhuolin could finish listening, tears welled up in her eyes. She held onto Lin Yifan's hand tightly, unwilling to let go. Her lips trembled, and she couldn't speak for a long time. Finally, she wiped away her tears and said, "You've only been back for a few days. Why are you leaving again? It's such a long journey. You have to take good care of yourself. Remember to send a message home when you get there. Don't make your dad and me worry."

Lin Yifan reached out to wipe away his mother's tears and comforted her with a smile, "Don't worry, I'll be back soon. I'll be careful on the way. Once I've settled everyone in, I'll go back to Wudu to be with you."

Lin Yifan held Yu'an and played with her for a long time before saying goodbye to his mother. He then turned back to Jingya Lane and told everyone that they would be leaving in three days. He told everyone to take a good rest in the next two days, pack their things, and leave on time.

With everything arranged, Lin Yifan headed towards Tang Juye's house, leaving that for last since it was in Wudu City. It was almost dark, and Tang Juye's family should already be there.

He hailed a rickshaw and headed towards the address Tang Juye had left.

Before he even arrived at the destination, he saw a group of people gathered at the entrance of a courtyard. He used his spiritual power to see that the number on the gate of the courtyard was 63, which was Tang Juye's house.

Surrounding the entrance were two men in suits and a group of men who looked like thugs. He told the rickshaw driver to stop the rickshaw, threw him a silver dollar, and then strode towards the crowd.

Through the gaps in the crowd, one could see a middle-aged man in a suit and gold-rimmed glasses pointing arrogantly at the man blocking the entrance to the courtyard and saying, "Tang Guoan, let me tell you, you have to move out whether you like it or not. I'm giving you two days. If you haven't moved out by this time the day after tomorrow, I'll have someone set your dilapidated courtyard on fire."

"Mr. Kong, you can't bully people like this! My yard is so big, and you only want to compensate me with 100 silver dollars? That's not even enough to rent a place for a few days! Where am I supposed to move my whole family here?!" Tang Guoan said, his eyes red and his fists clenched, his voice filled with resentment and helplessness.

The Tang family members standing nearby all had red eyes. An elderly woman in her seventies leaned against the door frame, trembling uncontrollably as she looked at the group of fierce-looking people in front of her, but she still gritted her teeth and stood in the courtyard gate, refusing to move aside.

After hearing this, Mr. Kong, who wore gold-rimmed glasses, sneered and kicked Tang Guoan hard in the chest: "You think you're so great? Trying to bargain with me? This is land that Yangzi Company has its eye on. Giving you a hundred silver dollars is already a favor. Don't push your luck!"

"Let me tell you, if we delay the company's warehouse expansion and cause losses to the goods in the warehouse, you couldn't afford to compensate even if you sold your whole family."

Tang Guoan was kicked so hard that he stumbled backward, hit the threshold with a groan, and couldn't get up for a long time.

The onlookers dared not speak out in anger. Everyone knew that although this man surnamed Kong was only a collateral branch of the Kong family, he had the Kong family and the Yangzi Company backing him up. Not to mention in Chongqing, he could walk sideways in the Kuomintang-controlled areas of the whole country, and no one dared to offend him.

When Lin Yifan saw this, his eyes instantly turned cold. Before coming to Wudu, Tang Juye had talked to him about his family situation. He knew that this Tang Guoan was Tang Juye's father, that the old lady in her seventies was probably his grandmother, and that the people behind the courtyard gate were probably his mother, younger brother, younger sister, and sister-in-law.

His sister-in-law was holding a girl who looked to be about three years old. However, Tang Juye's brother, Tang Shouye, was nowhere to be seen. He must have gone out to find work and earn money.

Lin Yifan pushed through the crowd and knelt down to help Tang Guoan, asking, "Mr. Tang, are you alright? I'm a friend of Ju Ye's. I came to Wudu on business and came to visit you today, but I didn't expect to run into something like this."

When Tang Guoan heard that the other party was Tang Juye's friend, he was stunned for a moment, unable to understand why his son would make a friend with a child.

Seeing that the other party was well-dressed and spoke with composure, he didn't seem like someone who came to have fun casually. So he straightened up, cupped his hands, and thanked him in a hoarse voice: "So you are Juye's friend. Thank you for speaking up for me, young brother. But you can't handle this matter. You should leave quickly and not get involved with these fierce people, or you'll just cause trouble for nothing."