Courtyard House: Home Alone

After instructing Tang Guoan to buy some necessities ashore, he disembarked first and hailed a rickshaw. The driver's eyes lit up when he heard he wanted to go to Shecun, saying, "Young master, Shecun isn't close to the dock; it'll be dark by the time you get there…"

"Don't worry, you'll get your fare." With that, he took out two silver dollars from his pocket (space) and tossed them to the rickshaw driver.

The driver immediately beamed with joy, quickly wiped the seat to help Lin Yifan sit comfortably, and then pedaled furiously, heading towards the outskirts of Nanjing.

At this time, Nanjing had just experienced several battles, and ruins could be seen everywhere in the suburbs. Many refugees were walking into the city in twos and threes. Lin Yifan sat in the car, his brows furrowing unconsciously, and a heavy feeling of unease settled in his heart.

After walking for about four hours, the rickshaw finally stopped at the entrance of Shecun Village. The driver, wiping his sweat, refused to go any further, saying that the road was difficult to travel. After Lin Yifan got off the rickshaw, he quickly turned around and headed back.

Lin Yifan followed the dirt road into the village, asking around until he found Sun Xiwei's courtyard. The wooden gate was ajar. He knocked gently twice, and an old voice came from inside the courtyard: "Who is it?"

The person who opened the door was an elderly man with gray hair. He was taken aback when he saw Lin Yifan, a strange teenager. Lin Yifan quickly smiled and said, "Grandpa, hello. I am Xiwei's friend. I came to Nanjing on business and he asked me to pick you and your two younger brothers up and take you to Beiping."

After saying that, he took out a lucky charm from his pocket and handed it to the old man. This was a gift from his mother when Sun Xiwei went to join the army.

Upon hearing that the person was sent by his son, the old man accepted the amulet and quickly ushered him into the courtyard. He then called out his wife and two young children from inside the house. When they heard that he could really go to Beiping to find his elder brother, the whole family burst into tears.

At this moment, the old man pulled Lin Yifan aside and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Young man, I have another request, I wonder if it's convenient for you." He then rubbed his calloused hands together.

"Sir, please tell me what you need. Don't be shy. I will definitely do my best to help you if it's within my power."

The old man sighed and pointed to a few leaky mud-brick houses at the west end of the village, saying, "Here's what happened. My son Xiwei is betrothed to the Zhou family's daughter at the west end of the village. You know the situation in Nanjing; there are Japanese devils everywhere. We live in fear every day."

"There's no guarantee that one day we won't have time to hide and will be harmed by the Japanese. So I'm asking if it's possible to take them with us. There are only four people in their family: their daughter, her younger brother, and their parents."

Lin Yifan nodded after listening and readily agreed: "No problem, sir. It's just four more people, no problem. You can go and tell them to pack up and leave together first thing tomorrow morning."

The old man was overjoyed that Lin Yifan agreed so readily. He immediately asked his wife to take care of Lin Yifan at home while he jogged to the west end of the village. In less than half an hour, he brought his family over.

When Zhou's parents heard that they could go to Beiping with him to find a way to make a living, they immediately knelt down in front of Lin Yifan, thanking him profusely for saving their lives. Lin Yifan quickly helped them up, comforted them for a few moments, and told them to hurry back and pack their luggage. He said they only needed to bring some personal belongings and a change of clothes, and not to bring anything else, so as not to be a burden on the journey.

Both families followed Lin Yifan's instructions and packed up overnight. They all squeezed into the Sun family's house that night. Lin Yifan sat in the courtyard for half the night, keeping an eye on the direction of the village entrance, guarding against the Japanese soldiers coming. He didn't doze off until dawn.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Lin Yifan woke up the two families and arranged for three oxcarts to haul goods. After negotiating the price, he drove the group towards the Xiaguan Wharf in Nanjing. They made frequent stops along the way and didn't arrive at the wharf until 2 p.m.

The eight members of the Sun and Zhou families boarded the ship, and Tang Guoan also prepared all the supplies. Schmidt saw that everyone had arrived and prepared to give the order to weigh anchor and set sail.

Just then, a Japanese patrol boat approached. Schmidt took out a cigarette from his pocket and threw it onto the patrol boat, intending to deal with it as usual. However, the Japanese soldiers on the patrol boat insisted on boarding for inspection.

Lin Yifan, who had just finished arranging for the Sun and Zhou families to return to the driver's seat, saw this scene and knew that things wouldn't end well today. A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

Throughout the journey, for the sake of the families on board, he tried his best to restrain his urge to kill the Japanese soldiers, but these Japanese soldiers just kept provoking him.

If these Japanese soldiers knew what he was thinking, they would definitely cry. If they knew there was a killer like him on the ship, even if there were mountains of gold and silver on board, we wouldn't have come any closer. We just wanted to get some money for drinks... Is it really worth it?

Seeing that the Japanese soldiers had already reached out and grabbed the edge of the ship, preparing to climb over, he immediately had a thought, and ten hand grenades appeared simultaneously in the ammunition compartments of two destroyers moored two hundred meters away from the dock.

Two loud "booms" rang out simultaneously, and the two Japanese destroyers almost jumped out of the water. They were blown in two, and the ships, billowing thick smoke, wobbled and sank to the bottom of the river. The Japanese soldiers on board sank into the river without even having a chance to shout.

The Japanese warrant officer who was climbing onto the ship was so frightened by what he saw that he froze on the spot, his hand slipped and he fell into the river. The remaining Japanese soldiers were also terrified and hurriedly pulled the warrant officer out of the water. Then they turned their patrol boat around and headed towards the place where the destroyer had sunk.

Schmidt stared, completely bewildered, for a long time before he could react. Lin Yifan quickly reminded him to arrange for someone to leave by boat.

Schmidt then realized what was happening and quickly ordered the anchor to be raised, and the engine to speed towards Shanghai, fearing that something else might go wrong.

Lin Yifan stood at the stern, watching the Xiaguan Wharf gradually disappear into the distance. He withdrew his cold gaze, turned around, and went back to his cabin. Most of the family members on board hadn't yet realized what had happened. They only heard two loud bangs before the ship set sail, but they weren't too panicked.

A day later, the cargo ship docked at the concession pier. Lin Yifan followed Schmidt off the ship first. Under Schmidt's guidance, the two went to an inn next to the pier, booked twenty rooms, and made arrangements for the families on the ship.

As night began to fall, Schmidt glanced at Lin Yifan and said, "Mr. Lin, you should take everyone to get some rest. I'll go find Schneider and see if his ship will be going to Tianjin in the next couple of days. I'll come and give you the news first thing tomorrow morning."

Lin Yifan nodded, took out ten silver dollars and stuffed them into Schmidt's hand: "You've had a hard journey. Gathering information also costs money. Take this first, and I'll thank you later when things are settled."

Schmidt accepted the money with a smile and hurriedly left the inn.