Courtyard House: Home Alone

The man first quickly scanned the yard, his gaze lingering briefly on the clothes drying in the sun and the clutter piled in the corners. Only after confirming that there was nothing amiss did he look away.

He nodded slightly to Lin Yifan, his tone calm yet tinged with a hint of probing: "Your name is Lin Yifan, right? My surname is Yang, and my name is Yang Maoqing. It was... a friend of your parents who sent me to see you."

"My parents? You know my parents? Where are they now?" Lin Yifan asked, looking at the man who called himself Yang Maoqing.

"Yes, I've known them for a long time. They've gone on a long trip this time, and I don't know exactly where they're going. They just asked a friend to ask me to come and check on you and tell you to take care of yourself. They'll send someone to pick you up once they've settled in."

Here, this is the money they brought for you. Keep it safe. Also, they told me to tell you that if you need anything, you can go to the "Xilai Teahouse" on Gulou East Street behind the building and find Manager Zhou. He will help you.

As Yang Weimin spoke, he took a small cloth bag out of his pocket and handed it over. Lin Yifan took it; it felt heavy in his hand, and he knew without looking that it contained money.

He didn't open it immediately, but held it tightly in his hand, his eyes revealing just the right amount of excitement and a hint of confusion: "Thank you, Uncle Yang. My parents... are they alright?"

Yang Weimin glanced at Lin Yifan's reaction, a barely perceptible scrutiny flashing in his eyes, before softening his tone: "They're all fine, just a lot on their plate and can't come back for now. You're all alone in Beiping, so take good care of yourself, don't cause trouble, and if you have any difficulties, just go to Manager Zhou and mention your parents' names."

"Okay, I understand. Thank you, Uncle Yang." Lin Yifan lowered his head, his voice slightly choked, perfectly playing the role of a young man who missed his parents and felt somewhat helpless.

Yang Weimin gave him a few more instructions, nothing more than to let him live in peace and not to mention his parents to outsiders, and then got up to leave.

Lin Yifan pretended to try to persuade him to stay, but seeing that the other party insisted, he saw him to the door.

"Take care, Uncle Yang."

"Hmm." Yang Weimin responded without turning around and quickly walked out of the courtyard.

Lin Yifan closed the door, his expression instantly returning to calm. He weighed the oil paper package in his hand, a cold smile curling at the corner of his lips. Yang Maoqing? Probably an alias for Yang Weimin.

A friend of his parents? That's quite a... cliché excuse. The Xilai Teahouse on Gulou East Street, run by Manager Zhou... this is his "organization's" contact point in this world.

He went back inside, opened the oil paper package, and sure enough, there was a thick stack of banknotes inside, worth several hundred dollars. In those days, this was definitely a huge sum of money.

But for Lin Yifan, who robbed the Japanese bank and the overseas Chinese community, this amount of money was just a drop in the ocean.

He casually put the money into his spatial storage, his eyes gleaming. It seemed the organization valued him, the son of "The Wolf," quite a bit.

Lin Yifan put the money into his spatial storage, then walked into the courtyard and looked up at the sky. The setting sun cast a warm golden glow on the ancient courtyard. A faint festive atmosphere filled the air, and the distant sound of firecrackers could be heard.

"Ah, it's New Year's..." he murmured to himself. He Yuzhu would definitely come to invite him to have New Year's Eve dinner together. Everyone's having a hard time these days, so he should send some ingredients to his family. Anyway, he still had quite a few of these things in his space, all of which were seized from the warehouse of the Japanese army camp.

Thinking of this, Lin Yifan took out some vegetarian dishes, a cleaned chicken, and some eggs from his spatial storage.

These things can be said to have been brought from the master's place, and it would be perfect to send them to He Yuzhu's family.

He carried his things to the middle courtyard, where He Yuzhu was just coming out. "Brother Xiaofan, I was just about to go to the backyard to call you. Come on, we're about to have our New Year's Eve dinner!"

Lin Yifan smiled and waved the things in his hand, "I also have some dishes here, let's have an extra meal together."

"Wow! Chicken! And so many fresh vegetables! Brother Xiao Fan, where did you get all this?" He Yuzhu's eyes lit up. These days, being able to eat chicken during the New Year is a luxury.

"Oh, it was a gift from my master," Lin Yifan said casually, without offering any further explanation.

He Yuzhu didn't ask any further questions, and happily accepted the things: "That's great! I'll take it to my dad right away and ask her to add two more dishes!"

The aroma of food began to waft from every corner of the courtyard. The Jia Zhang family had also cooked meat, a rare occurrence, and although the quantity was small, the smell filled the entire central courtyard.

Lin Yifan and He Daqing's family sat around the table, which was laden with dishes. Although it wasn't lavish, it was considered a rather respectable New Year's Eve dinner in this era.

The New Year's Eve dinner ended in this somewhat peculiar yet harmonious atmosphere. Lin Yifan returned to his backyard, gazing at the bright moonlight and the occasional bursts of fireworks, his mind filled with countless thoughts.

He knew this brief calm was merely a facade. The undercurrents in Beiping remained turbulent, and the power struggles among various factions would not cease. And he, this unexpected intruder, had been thrust into the limelight.

"Xilai Teahouse, Manager Zhou..." Lin Yifan repeated the two names in a low voice, a sharp glint in his eyes. It seemed it was time to meet this "one of our own."

However, not now. It's the Lunar New Year; let's focus on enjoying the holiday first.

He stretched and turned to enter the space. The space was warm and cozy, a stark contrast to the cold outside.

He walked to the edge of the field, looked at the thriving crops, and a smile appeared on his face.

Since he was all alone, there was no need for him to stay up all night. So, he went to bed early in his virtual space. He decided to rest and recuperate for the next couple of days, knowing that the Japanese would definitely launch a fierce counterattack after the New Year, and he needed to make some preparations in advance.

When Lin Yifan woke up the next morning, it was still dark outside. He looked at his system value (original contribution value) and found that it had reached 127385 points, and he also had 127 points of non-attribute skill points.

Since he had nothing much to do on the first day of the Lunar New Year, he decided to upgrade his various skill levels and systems. So, he first allocated his 127 skill points evenly to Agility, Strength, Constitution, and Spirit, allocating 31 points to each, leaving 3 points for later.

After adding the points, he could clearly feel that his body had become lighter, his strength had increased significantly, and his mental state was better than ever before.

Next, he spent another 10,000 system points to upgrade the system, which increased the space area to about 1,000 acres, the domain range to 530 meters, and the viewing distance of his mental power to more than 800 meters.

That should be enough for the short term; the next system upgrade will require 20,000 system points.

In addition, he gritted his teeth and spent 10,000 system points to upgrade his original 'Basic Reconnaissance' to 'Advanced Reconnaissance'.

Because he saw the system's description of "Advanced Reconnaissance".