Courtyard House: From Deputy Division Commander to Civilian, Progressing All the Way

Jia Dongxu was so badly hit that he saw stars, his head snapped back, and blood gushed from his nose.

Before he could react, Sha Zhu kicked out and landed squarely on Jia Dongxu's stomach.

Jia Dongxu screamed and bent over like a boiled shrimp, crashing heavily to the ground.

Sha Zhu, not one to back down, straddled Jia Dongxu and began raining blows on Jia Dongxu's face and chest with his fists, each the size of a clay pot.

"You dare insult my dad! You dare have such a foul mouth! I'll beat you to death, you little brat!" Sha Zhu cursed as he hit him, each punch landing squarely.

"Ouch! Stop fighting! Someone's going to die!" Jia Zhangshi was terrified and tried to break up the fight, but He Daqing blocked her with a kick.

The commotion in the courtyard was so loud that everyone in the household naturally heard it.

Yi Zhonghai pushed open the door a crack and looked outside.

Seeing his beloved apprentice Jia Dongxu being beaten and humiliated by Sha Zhu, his face covered in blood, Yi Zhonghai trembled with heartache.

Normally, he would have rushed out and shouted, putting on airs like a big shot, giving Sha Zhu a good scolding, and then siding with the Jia family.

But today, he dares not.

Lin Yang's house was in the middle courtyard. Although the door was closed, Yi Zhonghai always felt that a pair of cold eyes were watching him.

He knew that if he dared to go out and meddle, making a big fuss and disturbing that man, he might be humiliated again, or even face death.

"Old Yi, Dongxu is about to be beaten to death, aren't you going to do anything about it?" an older woman asked anxiously from behind.

Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth and resolutely closed the door a crack: "I don't care! Let them fight! Whoever shows their face now is doomed!"

Liu Haizhong, who lives in the backyard, also peeked out the window to watch the commotion.

Seeing Jia Dongxu, who was usually protected by Yi Zhonghai, get beaten up, Liu Hai felt incredibly happy.

"Hahaha, beat him! Beat him hard! Beat this little bastard to death!"

Liu Haizhong muttered to himself with schadenfreude, then casually picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip.

Yan Bugui, who lived in the front yard, shook his head and sighed, "From today onwards, things are about to change in this yard..."

Inside the Lin family house.

Lin Yang listened to the screams outside without even lifting his eyelids.

He picked up a piece of braised pork and put it into his older brother Lin Fan's bowl.

"Brother, let's ignore the dogs fighting outside. Let's just eat."

From that day forward, in this courtyard, only we get to bully them; no one else will dare to lay a finger on the Lin family!

Lin Yang's voice was calm and resolute, exuding an undeniable and powerful confidence.

·············

The cold wind outside was still howling, mixed with the occasional bark of a dog from somewhere. In the courtyard, the fighting between Sha Zhu and Jia Dongxu had subsided, leaving only Jia Zhangshi sitting at the door, her suppressed and vicious curses drifting intermittently on the night wind.

But none of this could break the long-lost warmth and enthusiasm in the main room of the Lin family.

On the octagonal table, the plate of bright red braised pork belly exuded a rich, oily aroma. Lin Fan held a white steamed bun in his hands, and his chopsticks held a trembling piece of pork belly, but he hesitated to put it in his mouth.

His eyes grew increasingly red, and tears fell like broken beads, large drops landing on the rough back of his hands and on the snow-white steamed bun.

"Brother, eat quickly, it'll get greasy if it gets cold," Lin Yang urged softly, his eyes full of concern.

"Yangzi..." Lin Fan's voice was choked and almost inaudible. He suddenly put down his chopsticks, covered his face with his hands, and his shoulders heaved violently.

The grievances, fears, loneliness, and despair that had been suppressed for ten years finally poured out like a flood under the warm gaze of her younger brother.

"Yangzi, I'm suffering inside..."

Lin Fan burst into tears like a helpless child.

"The winter you left, our family went hungry. I was all alone in Beijing, with no one to talk to. Later, I became an apprentice at a steel rolling mill, hoping things would gradually get better. But..."

Lin Fan raised his head, his face covered in tears, his cloudy eyes filled with deep fear.

"But these people in the compound, they don't treat me like a human being!"

"In the winter of 1944 or 1945, Beiping was eerily cold. While I was at work, Jia Zhangshi, along with Jia Dongxu, stole our only thick cotton quilt without any patches! She said it was interest I owed them! That winter, I endured it wrapped in a tattered sack in the back room, my toes were frostbitten and rotting, and now they ache terribly on rainy days..."

Upon hearing this, Tian Yu gasped, her eyes instantly reddening. She clenched her fists so tightly her nails dug into her flesh. She couldn't believe that such a ruthless neighbor existed right under the emperor's nose!

Lin Fan wiped away his tears and continued to sob.

"That's not all. Yi Zhonghai was an eighth-grade worker in the factory, a senior worker. He took advantage of that position to assign me all the dirtiest, most tiring, and most dangerous jobs in the workshop. Once, the overhead crane cable in the workshop broke, and a steel plate weighing several hundred pounds was about to fall. In order to push away the coworker next to me, a large chunk of flesh was scraped off my leg by the metal block..."

"But what about Yi Zhonghai? Not only did he not report my work injury, but he also scolded me in front of the whole workshop for not paying attention to my work and deducted three months' wages! He immediately took those three months' wages and gave them to the Jia family, saying it was to pay off my debts!"

"They're trying to drive me to my death! Yangzi, several times I've stood on the edge of the ice hole in Shichahai Lake, really wanting to plunge in and end it all. But I'm afraid to die. I'm afraid that if I die, when you come back one day, I won't even have a home anymore..."

Lin Fan sobbed uncontrollably, his frail body trembling violently under the light.

"Bang!"

Lin Yang squeezed the white porcelain teacup in his hand and cracked it.

The scalding tea overflowed and flowed onto his hands, but he seemed to feel no pain whatsoever.

His face was eerily calm, but those who knew him well knew that this was the sign that the young general was truly intent on killing. He had the same expression on his face when he watched his assault platoon fall one by one under enemy heavy machine gun fire outside Ping'an County.

Yi Zhonghai, Jia Zhangshi, Liu Haizhong...

These beasts in human skin, taking advantage of that chaotic era, tortured an honest young man into this inhuman and ghostly state!

"Brother." Lin Yang took a deep breath, suppressing the surging anger in his chest. He stretched out his steady and strong hands and tightly grasped Lin Fan's trembling shoulders.

"It's all in the past."

Lin Yang's voice was deep, yet it carried a powerful, calming force.

"From now on, with me here, even if the sky falls, I'll hold it up for you. Those who bullied you, no matter how much they swallowed, I'll make them spit it out, tenfold, a hundredfold!"