Courtyard House: The Long-Lost Eldest Son Returns with Military Merit

Director Wang took a set of keys from the staff and then led Jia Dongming and Xiao Guo toward No. 95 Courtyard.

On the way, Director Wang introduced to Jia Dongming: "Section Chief Jia, No. 95 is a three-section courtyard house, with more than 20 households and more than 100 people living there."

"The three stewards in the courtyard are Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and Yan Bugui, who are both experienced workers at the steel rolling mill.

The three walked and talked, and soon arrived at the courtyard gate.

As soon as he entered the front yard, a middle-aged woman saw Director Wang and immediately came up to greet him: "Director Wang! What brings you here today?"

Director Wang responded with a smile: "Oh, it's Auntie San! Let me introduce you. This is Comrade Jia Dongming from the Security Department of the Steel Rolling Mill."

The factory assigned him that side courtyard in the compound, and I brought him here specifically to familiarize him with the place.

Then, he said to Jia Dongming, "Section Chief Jia, this is Third Uncle's wife, Yang Ruihua. You can just call her Third Aunt."

Yan Bugui is a primary school Chinese teacher. He is fond of nitpicking words and calculating, and often uses the saying, "You won't get poor from eating or dressing, but you will get poor if you don't calculate."

It's something they always say.

But after all the calculations, the family ties have actually become thinner.

After hearing the introduction, Jia Dongming politely greeted the third auntie: "Hello, Third Auntie!"

The three women were visibly startled when they saw Jia Dongming, and only came to their senses after he greeted them. They quickly responded warmly, "Hello, Section Chief Jia! Welcome to our compound."

After they finished exchanging pleasantries, Director Wang said to Jia Dongming, "Section Chief Jia, you have to go through the central courtyard to get to your side courtyard."

"Come with me, I'll show you around."

Watching Director Wang and Jia Dongming walk towards the Intermediate People's Court, the three women couldn't help but mutter, "Are there really people in the world who look so alike? And this Section Chief Jia's name is only one character different from Jia Dongxu's. Could they be relatives of the Jia family?"

After passing through the hanging flower gate, Director Wang led Jia Dongming to a door next to the west wing, took out his key, unlocked the door, and pushed it open. "Section Chief Jia, this is the courtyard the factory allocated to you."

"The courtyard isn't very big, but it has five rooms, which should be enough for a family to live in when they get married and have more children."

Jia Dongming walked into the courtyard and saw that the flowers, plants and trees were arranged well, making it a very pleasant place to be.

After showing him several rooms, Director Wang handed him the set of keys: "Section Chief Jia, here are the keys."

If you encounter any difficulties while living here, you can first ask the three elderly men in the courtyard for help; if they can't solve it, you can come to the neighborhood office to find me anytime.

Jia Dongming took the keys and thanked him repeatedly, saying, "Director Wang, thank you so much!"

After seeing Director Wang leave, Xiao Guo said to Jia Dongming, "Section Chief Jia, I have completed my task."

If you have nothing else, I'll head back to the factory now.

Jia Dongming remembered that his luggage was still at the security office, and hurriedly said, "Xiao Guo, my luggage is still at the factory. I can take your bicycle to get it."

After locking the door, Jia Dongming got on Xiao Guo's bicycle and headed towards the steel rolling mill.

Not long after Jia Dongming left, the news of the side courtyard being separated spread like wildfire throughout the entire courtyard.

"Erniu's family! You said that the side courtyard where Engineer Xue used to live was really separated? Or was it assigned to someone else? Is the information reliable?"

An older woman pulled the woman who was delivering the message aside and pressed her for more information.

The older woman nodded firmly: "Sister Li, I heard it from the third aunt in the front yard."

The three women said the new guy who moved in was the head of the security department at the steel rolling mill.

When Jia Zhangshi woke up from her afternoon nap, she was sitting at the door sewing shoe soles when she heard people in the courtyard discussing the allocation of rooms in the side courtyard.

Ever since Engineer Xue was transferred, Madam Jia Zhang had been thinking about that secluded courtyard.

She also approached Yi Zhonghai, hoping he could help her apply for a room at the factory.

No sooner had Yi Zhonghai agreed than the factory had already allocated the houses.

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhangshi became anxious and hurriedly asked the old woman, "Erniu's wife! You just said that the house in the side courtyard was allocated to the factory, is that true?"

When the middle-aged woman heard Jia Zhangshi ask about it, she nodded without hesitation and replied, "Aunt Zhang! There's no mistake about it. I heard from Third Aunt that the five rooms in the neighboring courtyard were all allocated to the head of the security department of the steel rolling mill."

Upon hearing that the houses in the adjacent courtyard had indeed been divided up, Jia Zhangshi became agitated and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Heavens above! Our family of five is crammed into this tiny room, while one person has taken up all five rooms next door! Is there no justice in this world?!"

Everyone in the courtyard knew Jia Zhangshi's temperament perfectly well.

When the women saw that she was about to start "calling back the soul" again, they all quietly hid to the side.

An older woman who had just returned from the backyard saw Jia Zhangshi sitting under the eaves muttering to herself and quickly went up to her to persuade her, "Sister-in-law Jia, please stop cursing."

The person who allocated the apartment is a leader at the steel mill. If you offend him, he might make things difficult for Huairu at the factory, and your family's life would be even more difficult then.

To everyone's surprise, Madam Jia Zhang not only didn't appreciate it, but instead pointed at the old woman and started cursing: "It's all your fault for being so useless! If Yi Zhonghai had been more efficient, would all five rooms have ended up in one person's hands?"

"It won't lay eggs"

These words struck a nerve with the middle-aged woman. Her face darkened, and she retorted angrily, "My husband, Lao Yi, is just a foreman in the factory, not a manager. What ability could he possibly have to help you get a house in the neighboring yard?"

The gossipy third aunt heard Jia Zhangshi's commotion coming from the middle courtyard, so she put down what she was doing and rushed over, just in time to witness Jia Zhangshi scolding the third aunt.

Thinking of the newcomer's appearance and name, the third aunt advised Jia Zhangshi, "Sister-in-law Jia, please say less."

The newly arrived head of the security department is also surnamed Jia, named Jia Dongming. He looks about seven-tenths like your Dongxu; he might even be a relative of yours.

Jia Zhangshi was originally going to scold even the three aunts, but when she heard "Jia Dongming"...

Upon hearing those three words, he suddenly froze, standing motionless.

After a long pause, she suddenly stood up, grabbed the old woman's sleeve, and asked in a trembling voice, "Old woman! What did you just say? The new section chief... is named Jia Dongming? And looks like my Dongxu? Is that true?"

Jia Zhangshi's reaction puzzled the three aunts, but she still nodded: "Aunt Zhang! I was introduced by Director Wang of the Street Office. Section Chief Jia's name is Jia Dongming, and he does look quite like Dongxu."

"Our names are only one character different. I'm thinking, maybe we really are related to you."

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhangshi burst into tears, sobbing, "Dongming! My son! You're finally back... I've been searching for you so desperately!"

The crying startled both the third aunt and the still-angry older aunt.

In their memory, didn't Jia Zhangshi only have one son, Jia Dongxu? How come another one has suddenly appeared? The two looked at each other, their hearts filled with doubt.

While crying, Jia Zhangshi seemed to suddenly remember something, turned around and ran to the side courtyard, only to find that the gate was locked.

Seeing the lock on the door, Jia Zhangshi hurriedly turned back and grabbed the Third Aunt, asking, "Third Aunt, do you know where my Dongming has gone?"

Instead of answering Jia Zhangshi directly, the third aunt asked curiously, "Aunt Zhang, don't you only have one son, Dongxu? What's the story with Jia Dongming?"

When asked this question, those memories that Jia Zhangshi had long suppressed in her heart suddenly surged up.

A complex expression appeared on her face as she slowly said, "Dongxu actually has an older brother, my eldest son, named Jia Dongming."

"Back in 43, that heartless old Jia took Dongming to buy grain, and on the way they ran into the Japanese soldiers on the street."

Old Jia, fearing for his life, grabbed the grain and ran home, completely forgetting his eldest brother who was following him.

"When Lao Jia escaped home with the grain, he realized that his eldest son hadn't come back with him."

Later we searched the whole street, but we could never find Dongming again…

After hearing this, the three women immediately thought of Jia Dongming's appearance and said, "Aunt Zhang! That Jia Dongming looks seven or eight parts like your Dongxu. Judging from this, he could very well be your eldest son who went missing back then."

These words agitated Jia Zhangshi, who quickly pressed, "Third Aunt, do you know where my Dongming has gone?"

The third aunt recalled the conversation between Jia Dongming and Xiao Guo when they left, and said to Jia Zhangshi, "Aunt Zhang, if I heard correctly, Section Chief Jia should have gone to the steel rolling mill to pick up his luggage."

I reckon I'll be back soon.

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhangshi quickly clasped her hands together, looked up, and murmured, "Amitabha... Heaven help me, my Dongming is finally back..."

Several middle-aged women around looked surprised after hearing this story about the Jia family.

Several gossipy individuals huddled together and began whispering amongst themselves.

At this time, Jia Dongming was unaware of what was happening in the courtyard.

He sat on the back of Xiao Guo's bicycle, picked up his luggage at the steel mill gatehouse, and then headed back towards Tongluoguxiang.

When Jia Zhangshi learned that Jia Dongming had gone to the factory to pick up his luggage, she decided to wait for him outside the courtyard gate so that she could see him as soon as possible.

Madam Jia waited outside the courtyard gate for a long time. After about half an hour, she finally saw a familiar figure slowly approaching.

Upon seeing Jia Dongming carrying two large bags of luggage, Jia Zhangshi's tears immediately welled up. She rushed forward and cried out in a sob, "Dongming! You're finally back! I've suffered so much searching for you all these years!"

As Jia Dongming was about to reach the entrance of the courtyard house, he heard shouts from ahead. He instinctively looked up and saw Jia Zhangshi running towards him, wiping away tears.

While talking to Li Huaide that morning, Jia Dongming realized that he had arrived at "Qingman Siheyuan" (a courtyard house full of affection).

In the story, he also became Jia Zhangshi's eldest son, who should not have existed in the first place.

Because the original owner had no memory of her past, Jia Dongming took two steps back when Jia Zhangshi rushed up to him, asking with some confusion, "Auntie, do we know each other? Are you sure you haven't mistaken me for someone else?"

Jia Zhangshi, who was eagerly anticipating reuniting with her son, burst into tears upon hearing this, pounding her chest and crying out, "Heavens above! What is going on? How can my own child not even recognize his own mother?"

Seeing her like this, Jia Dongming felt a headache coming on and quickly advised, "Auntie, please don't shout."

Shouting like that is feudal superstition; if the neighborhood committee hears it, it'll cause trouble.

Upon hearing "street office," Jia Zhangshi...

"Trouble!" The crying stopped abruptly.

Her eyes were red-rimmed, and she asked in a trembling voice, "You...you're really not my Dongming?"

Whether it was the lingering emotions of the original owner or not, Jia Dongming felt a sudden pang in his heart and explained in a low voice, "I hit my head when I was eight years old. I only remember that my father's name was Jia Youcai and my mother's name was Zhang Cuihua. I can't remember anything else."

Jia Zhangshi's originally gloomy face instantly brightened.

She hugged Jia Dongming, who was still carrying his luggage, and exclaimed excitedly, "Dongming! I am Zhang Cuihua, your mother! You can ask the people in the compound if you don't believe me!"

Jia Dongming knew the truth in his heart, but he still pretended to be skeptical: "Are you really my mother? This... how could this be?"

After Jia Youcai lost his child, Jia Zhangshi held a grudge and refused to pay for his medical treatment even when he was seriously ill.

After Jia Youcai left, her youngest son, Jia Dongxu, became her only support, but an accident took Dongxu's life.

From then on, Madam Jia was constantly anxious, fearing that Qin Huairu would remarry and leave, so she kept her daughter-in-law close to her.

Now that her eldest son has returned, Madam Jia feels as if she has grasped a lifeline.

She wiped away her tears and smiled, "Dongming, come with me into the courtyard first, and we can find out the answer by asking anyone."

Jia Dongming nodded: "Auntie, please put your hands down, I'm still carrying my luggage."

Only then did Madam Jia hurriedly release him and reach out to take the luggage: "Let Mom help you carry some, let's go home."

Jia Zhangshi, carrying some of the luggage, led Jia Dongming into the courtyard.