Courtyard House: Home Alone

Old Zhang laughed twice and then said, "There's another matter. The headquarters leaders asked me to specifically ask Mr. Lin about the many weapons, equipment, and supplies that you and 'Ghost' have donated to our Eighth Route Army over the years. The headquarters has always kept that in mind."

Now that victory in the War of Resistance is in sight, headquarters would like to ask you if there is anything you desire, or what your plans are for the future. We can sit down and discuss it.

Lin Yifan paused for a moment, then smiled. He leaned back in his chair and said, "What could I possibly ask for? My greatest wish is to drive the Japanese out of China and let the people live in peace. As for myself, I'm quite content as I am now, and I have no other requests."

Upon hearing this, Old Zhang shook his head and said seriously, "That's different. You've made such a great contribution to the War of Resistance, the headquarters has to give you an explanation."

Besides, after we defeat the Japanese, we'll be building a new China, and we'll need capable and visionary people like you to help us. The headquarters leaders value you highly and hope you'll seriously consider it."

Looking at Old Zhang's sincere eyes and then at Commander Chen's encouraging nod, Lin Yifan pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "I will definitely contribute to the construction of the new China. As long as it can improve the lives of the people, I will do my duty without hesitation."

As for positions or anything like that, I'm used to a leisurely life and I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to stand being restricted. Let's forget about it. Let me do some behind-the-scenes work; I'm fine with providing money and supplies."

Old Zhang didn't press the matter, and nodded with a smile: "It's alright, we understand your thoughts. There's no rush, you can take your time to consider it. Let's go and hand over the warship first."

Lin Yifan stood up and picked up his coat draped over the back of the chair: "Alright, let's set off now. The sooner we can complete the handover, the sooner we can get the warships into service."

After saying this, he told the three girls in the courtyard what he wanted to say, and then followed Commander Chen and Old Zhang out the door, heading straight for the convoy that had gathered outside the city.

The convoy arrived in Tianjin after 6 p.m. Before entering the city, the convoy stopped. Old Zhang approached the truck Lin Yifan was riding in and, seeing Lin Yifan getting out, asked, "Mr. Lin, it's getting dark soon, what do you think...?"

"Comrade Zhang, it's getting dark, and it's not convenient to go out to sea at night. I think we should stay in the city or Tanggu for the night and go out to sea to receive the goods first thing tomorrow morning!"

Old Zhang smiled and said, "Mr. Lin, you're very thoughtful. Okay, let's do it your way. Let's go straight to Tanggu. We contacted the guard troops there a long time ago, so it will be more convenient to eat and stay in the military camp."

Lin Yifan nodded, got into the car and headed towards Tanggu. Half an hour later, he arrived at the military camp in Tanggu. The regimental commander stationed there had been notified in advance and had prepared several clean guest rooms for them to stay in. The other naval personnel who were receiving the warships were arranged to squeeze into the barracks of the garrison soldiers.

The regimental commander specially arranged for the kitchen to prepare a hot meal. After eating, the group rested for a while before returning to their rooms to rest, agreeing to set sail early the next morning for the sea area where the warships were anchored.

Lin Yifan lay on the hard bed that had been arranged for him, silently calculating the situation of the warships in his space.

When we captured them from the Japanese, there were a total of sixteen ships of various sizes. In addition to a few small gunboats, there were three light cruisers that were originally Japanese naval vessels. They were all in good working order and had been fully fueled and armed, so they were ready to be put into service immediately.

At midnight, he teleported away. He had been to Tanggu countless times and was quite familiar with everything there, including where the warships could be moored.

These warships are all quite large, and they're at sea, so he dared not launch them from a distance; it wouldn't be fun if he accidentally capsized them.

He arrived at the seaside, launched the 022 boat, started the engine, and headed towards the designated sea area. About twenty minutes later, he arrived at the designated anchorage area. After confirming that there were no ships passing by, he anchored the 022 boat and launched the sixteen warships one by one from his spatial storage.

More than a dozen warships were neatly moored on the sea, their dark hulls gleaming coldly in the moonlight. Lin Yifan circled the fleet to check, confirming that all equipment was in good working order and there were no problems, before boarding the 022 boat again and returning to the Tanggu shore. He then teleported back to his cabin, lay down, and slept soundly until dawn.

The next morning, Lin Yifan followed the receiving team onto a fishing boat that the military had arranged in advance and headed towards the designated sea area. In the distance, he could see more than a dozen warships quietly anchored on the sea. The naval officer in charge of the team looked through his binoculars and was so excited that his hands trembled.

He repeatedly said to Old Zhang, "These are it! Great, they're all good stuff that can be used right away!"

Once the landing craft approached, the receiving personnel boarded the warships in batches to check and verify the equipment one by one. Cheers erupted as they boarded each ship.

All the warships had full tanks of fuel and ammunition, and even the maintenance manuals were neatly arranged in the command room.

After counting all the warships, the naval officer gripped Lin Yifan's hand tightly, too excited to speak, repeatedly saying that these dozen or so warships were equivalent to most of the coastal defense fleet, and had solved our urgent problem.

Old Zhang squatted to the side, looking at the ship's nameplate. He wiped the sweat from his face and laughed, echoing what the officer had just said. He said, "Young Lin, you've really done a great service to our Chinese coastal defense. If it weren't for 'Ghost's' intervention, we would have searched high and low and still not found these intact ships."

Lin Yifan was a little embarrassed by the praise. He pulled his hand away from the hand being held and scratched the back of his head, saying that it was just bad luck for the Japanese to run into someone from "Ghost". Being able to come in handy is better than anything else.

The officer hurriedly pulled out his notebook and scribbled something down. He looked up and said, "I'll send a telegram to headquarters right away. We simply can't handle so many ships. We need to ask headquarters to add more manpower so that we can start training in three months."

Old Zhang nodded and said that this was only natural. With such good equipment at our disposal, we should train our people as soon as possible and get these warships to stand guard for us.

After arranging for the receiving personnel to stay on the ship to organize and keep watch, everyone took a fishing boat back to Tanggu Wharf. Old Zhang pulled Lin Yifan aside and said, "The headquarters leader has long instructed that no matter what, this time we must invite you to come with us to the headquarters to meet the leader. The leader also wants to talk to you in person."

Seeing the other party's sincere attitude, Lin Yifan did not refuse any longer and agreed to go with them to the border region to meet the headquarters leaders.

After a short rest, the group set off from Tanggu and headed towards the border region headquarters in the northwest. The journey was smooth, and they arrived at the headquarters safely in just a few days.

The instructors, teachers, and headquarters leaders had already received the news and were waiting at the gate of the courtyard. When they saw Lin Yifan coming from afar, they all smiled and reached out to greet him.