Courtyard House: I Have Countless Bodyguards

Liu Jianguo stopped in his tracks. He could have pretended not to see it and gone straight back to his warm little courtyard.

But the thought of himself as the deputy director of the factory and a prominent cadre in the institute made him realize that it would be too inhumane and damaging to his image if word got out that he was watching a child from his own institute drinking cold water in the dead of winter under the watchful eyes of many (some might be peeking through the window). He couldn't turn a blind eye, neither for his own sake nor for his own.

Thinking of this, Liu Jianguo pushed his bicycle and turned to walk towards the water tap in the central courtyard.

He slowed his pace and walked behind He Yushui, trying to make his voice sound gentle: "Yushui, why are you drinking cold water here? It'll chill your stomach."

He Yushui was focused on drinking water when the sudden sound startled her. She whirled around, her face still wet with water droplets, her eyes filled with the wariness and fear of a small animal. Seeing that it was "Director Liu," the new resident of the backyard, she remembered her brother saying he was a high-ranking official. She lowered her head even more nervously, clutching the hem of her clothes, her voice barely audible.

"I...I'm thirsty..."

Liu Jianguo sighed inwardly, his tone softening slightly: "Drinking cold water can make you sick. I have hot water boiling in my room, come with me and have something hot."

He Yushui raised her head, glanced quickly at Liu Jianguo, then quickly lowered her head again, her fingers twisting together like a child caught doing something wrong, and whispered:

"I...I'm a little hungry...I'll drink some water...it'll fill my stomach and I won't be so hungry anymore..."

As soon as she said this, her face turned bright red, as if she had said something extremely embarrassing.

"Didn't you eat enough?"

Liu Jianguo frowned slightly upon hearing this.

In his memory, He Yuzhu was still an apprentice in the canteen. Although the salary was low, the canteen was full of oil and fat, so he was not worried about food and drink. Logically speaking, he should not let his sister go to the point of drinking cold water to fill her stomach.

Could it be that Sha Zhu is now acting like a "simp," offering financial assistance to Qin Huairu? But Qin Huairu is with him right now! He wondered, and asked directly:

"Your brother works in the cafeteria, how could he let you go hungry?"

He Yushui's eyes reddened, and her voice trembled with tears:

"Brother...brother didn't bring much food...I...I ate just a little bit and said I was full...actually...I wasn't full..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but Liu Jianguo understood. Sha Zhu had brought back a limited amount of food, and the little girl was sensible, wanting her brother to eat more while she herself went hungry.

Looking at He Yushui's thin figure and her lips turned blue from the cold, Liu Jianguo's sense of alienation towards "Silly Sister Zhu" due to his memories of his past life faded a little, replaced by a feeling of pity.

He tried to make his tone sound reliable: "Rain, don't be afraid, I'm Uncle Liu, who just moved into the backyard. Everyone in the yard knows me. Don't worry, I won't sell you. Come with me, I have some food in my house, I'll get you something to eat first."

After saying that, he pushed the cart and gestured for He Yushui to follow him back to the east courtyard.

Upon entering the warm and cozy main room of the east courtyard, He Yushui stood awkwardly at the door, not daring to look around.

Liu Jianguo took out a bowl from the inner room containing several slices of braised pig's head meat, and two steamed buns, and handed them to He Yushui:

"Are you starving? Eat it while it's hot."

To everyone's surprise, He Yushui, looking at the greasy meat and snow-white steamed buns in the bowl, not only didn't take them, but also took a small step back in fear, putting her little hands behind her back and shaking her head repeatedly. Although she was only eleven years old, children from poor families mature early, and she knew how precious meat and white steamed buns were, things that she and her brother usually couldn't afford.

She thought to herself, "I've eaten such good food, how am I going to pay it back? What if I can't pay it back?"

The overwhelming temptation and her inner fear left her frozen in place, her face flushed red, at a loss for what to do.

Liu Jianguo was taken aback at first, then realized what was happening and felt a little uneasy.

He picked up a steamed bun and shoved it directly into He Yushui's cold little hand, his tone firm and unyielding, yet deliberately softening his voice:

"Take it and eat! Uncle has plenty of steamed buns, one or two more won't make a difference. You're shivering from the cold, eat this and warm up, don't be shy."

Holding the hot steamed bun in my hand, the aroma wafted straight into my nose.

He Yushui was, after all, a child. Extremely hungry, she couldn't resist her instincts and didn't care about anything else. She took the steamed bun, took a small bite quickly, and then couldn't resist anymore. She started to gnaw on it in big bites, swallowing the whole bun with almost no chewing, and choked so hard that she stretched her neck.

Liu Jianguo frowned as he watched, quickly pouring a bowl of warm water and handing it to him: "Eat slowly! Nobody's going to take it from you! Drink some water to soothe your throat, don't choke! There's more in the pot, all you can eat!"

He Yushui took the bowl, gulped down several mouthfuls of water, and put the steamed bun down, but suddenly burst into tears. Tears streamed down her face like broken beads, mixed with crumbs of steamed bun.

She was crying while mechanically stuffing food into her mouth.

Liu Jianguo was startled, thinking she had really choked, and quickly asked, "What's wrong? Are you really choking? Drink some water!"

He Yushui shook her head vigorously, choking back tears, and said intermittently:

"No... I didn't choke... Thank you... Thank you, Uncle... I... I haven't had a proper meal in over half a month..."

She became more and more upset as she spoke: "The adults in the courtyard... when they see me... they all avoid me... afraid I'll borrow money or food... only... only one old man... saw that my brother was really hungry... so he invited him to his house... to eat some leftovers... I didn't dare say I was hungry... I know my brother doesn't earn much... it's not easy for him to even survive... sob... thank you for the steamed bun, Uncle..."

These tearful words, spoken by an eleven-year-old child, carried a hardship and maturity beyond his years. Only those who have truly endured hunger and scorn can understand the despair within.

Listening to He Yushui's logically sound, yet ingratiating, tearful complaint, Liu Jianguo sighed inwardly:

It's true that children from poor families mature early; this eleven-year-old girl has already seen through the coldness of human relationships and the hardships of life so clearly.

But then a question arose in his mind: even if He Yuzhu's apprentice wages were low, he should be able to support his younger sister, even if he was frugal, so that his sister would not go hungry for half a month and have to drink cold water to fill her stomach.

He recalled watching a drama in his previous life, where He Daqing sent living expenses to Sha Zhu and his sister every month after he ran away. Although Yi Zhonghai was "managing" the money, they shouldn't be so poor.

Could it be that... Yi Zhonghai had already begun to withhold the money He Daqing sent back at this time, using "hunger" to control Sha Zhu, so that he could raise whatever he wanted. Today's incident was purely accidental.