Courtyard House: Home Alone

He put down his water glass, quickly washed up, and lay down on the bed. After a busy day, he was quite tired and soon fell into a deep sleep.

In his dream, he seemed to see a vibrant farm, with flocks of chickens and ducks, pens full of cattle and sheep, fields full of lush green crops, and fruit trees in full bloom...

The next morning, Lin Yifan was awakened by a knock on the door. He used his mind to see that it was He Yuzhu standing at his door. He quickly got out of bed, put on his clothes, went back to his room, and opened the door.

"Pillar! So early?" he said, yawning.

"Brother Xiao Fan, you said you'd teach me kung fu, so... so I came early. I actually came yesterday morning, but... but my mom said you just got back and need to rest, so I didn't come..."

"Alright, you can practice your horse stance in the yard first. Come on, stand to my side and watch my movements."

After speaking, Lin Yifan walked to the center of the courtyard, his feet shoulder-width apart, his body weight lowered, his knees bent, his thighs parallel to the ground, and his hands raised in front of his chest with palms facing each other, which was the standard horse stance.

"See? Just like me, keep your back straight, lower your hips, don't let your knees go past your toes, focus your energy in your lower abdomen, and breathe evenly."

You might not be able to stand for long at first, that's okay. Take it slowly, keep at it every day, and you'll be able to stand for longer and longer.

He Yuzhu quickly tried to stand up like Lin Yifan, but as soon as he stood still, his legs began to tremble uncontrollably, and his face turned red.

"Brother Xiao Fan, this...this is too tiring!"

He grimaced as he spoke, feeling as if his legs were filled with lead.

Lin Yifan glanced at him and said calmly, "Kung Fu isn't that easy to learn. This horse stance is the most basic of the basics. It trains your lower body stability and endurance. If you can't even stand firmly in a horse stance, what kind of martial arts do you want to learn? Zhuzi, I believe you can do it."

He Yuzhu gritted his teeth, thinking that made sense. Xiao Fan was so good, he must have trained step by step like this.

He took a deep breath, trying to regulate his breathing, wanting to persevere.

Lin Yifan said nothing more and remained in a horse stance, standing with He Yuzhu. The courtyard was exceptionally quiet in the early morning, with only the rustling of leaves in the wind and He Yuzhu's slightly heavy breathing.

Time passed second by second, and fine beads of sweat appeared on He Yuzhu's forehead. His legs trembled more and more violently, and he felt that he was about to give up at any moment.

He secretly glanced at Lin Yifan, only to see that Lin Yifan was still standing there steadily, expressionless, breathing evenly, as if rooted to the spot, not moving an inch.

This made He Yuzhu secretly admire him, and he gritted his teeth and persevered, not wanting to lose face in front of Lin Yifan.

After a while, He Yuzhu couldn't hold on any longer and sat down on the ground with a "thump," panting heavily. His legs were sore and numb, and he had almost lost all feeling in them.

"Alright, that's enough for today."

Lin Yifan also stopped his stance, walked to his side and said, "It's already quite good that you were able to stand for so long for the first time."

He Yuzhu rubbed his legs, looking miserable, and said, "Brother Xiao Fan, this horse stance is too torturous."

Lin Yifan smiled and said, "If you want to gain something, you have to give something in return. Let's continue tomorrow and try to stand for another 15 minutes."

Watching He Yuzhu walk towards the front yard, Lin Yifan returned to his room, lit the stove, and cooked some porridge. Then, he began to wash up.

After washing up, seeing that the porridge on the stove would still be ready in a while, he decided to go to Grandpa Zhang's place in the front yard. So he opened the door and walked towards the front yard. When he arrived at the middle yard, he saw Li Ermazi sneaking around there. When he saw Lin Yifan come out, his eyes flickered, he coughed twice as if to make a sound, and then turned around and went back to his room.

Lin Yifan's lips curled into a cold smile. He knew without a doubt that this guy wanted to find out what happened last night.

He ignored Li Ermazi and walked straight to the front yard. Upon arriving, he saw Grandpa Zhang repairing a bench and called out, "Grandpa Zhang, busy at work?"

Grandpa Zhang looked up, saw it was Lin Yifan, and a kind smile appeared on his face: "Oh, it's Xiaofan. The stool leg was loose, but we can fix it and it'll still work. You, kid, you didn't suffer anything yesterday, did you?"

He put down the plane, his eyes showing concern. He naturally knew about the commotion in the yard yesterday.

Lin Yifan felt a warmth in his heart and shook his head: "It's alright, Uncle Zhang, it was just a small misunderstanding, it's all been resolved. I'm sorry to have worried you."

"It's good that it's resolved, it's good that it's resolved." Grandpa Zhang nodded, then sighed, "That's just how Aunt Jia is, you should stay away from her in the future."

"I know, Uncle Zhang," Lin Yifan replied. "By the way, Uncle Zhang, could you please keep an eye out for me these next few days and see if anyone comes looking for me? It's almost Chinese New Year, and I'm worried my parents might send someone to look for me in the courtyard."

"Oh? Your parents are sending someone?" Upon hearing this, Grandpa Zhang stopped what he was doing and looked at Lin Yifan with some surprise. "Your parents...where are they now? Didn't they say before..."

He stopped mid-sentence, afraid of touching on Lin Yifan's painful memories.

Lin Yifan smiled calmly: "They're all doing well, they're just busy out of town and can't come back for the time being. It's almost Chinese New Year, and I was thinking they'd ask someone to bring me some things."

So, Mr. Zhang, could you please keep an eye out for me? If any strangers inquire about me, or say they're from my area, please let me know.

"I see, then that's fine!"

Grandpa Zhang immediately nodded in agreement, patting his chest to assure him, "Don't worry, Xiao Fan, leave this to me! As long as someone comes looking for you, I'll definitely tell you! Your parents are really carefree, letting you stay here alone."

Lin Yifan felt a warmth in his heart and thanked him, saying, "Then thank you very much, Uncle Zhang."

After chatting with Grandpa Zhang for a few more minutes, Lin Yifan turned and walked towards the backyard. Once home, he closed the door and went straight into the inner room, entering his spatial dimension with a thought.

The space remained the same familiar scene, with various supplies piled up like mountains. The first batch of rice had long since been harvested. However, the harvested rice had already been planted as seed, and it was estimated that it would be ready for harvest in another day. Next, they would need to plant more corn and other crops, as poultry and livestock would require feed.

He walked to the natural breeding area, where only a few chickens were wandering around, and two others were incubating chicks. These were the chickens he had initially seized from the Matsui Trading Company. Looking at the empty ground, imagining the future scene of flocks of chickens and ducks and the fragrance of fruits, a slight smile involuntarily crept onto his lips.