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

Commander Liu pointed at Lin Yang, who was sitting quietly serving food to Tian Yu, and shouted, "You old fogies, all you know is that this kid is fearless in battle, a living devil. But does any of you know how he ended up in this uniform, how he joined our ranks?"

Upon hearing this, the banquet hall immediately quieted down considerably.

Ding Wei, Kong Jie, Zhao Gang, and the others put down their wine bowls and looked over curiously.

Even Lin Fan suddenly raised his head and pricked up his ears.

He knew nothing about what happened to his younger brother after he ran away from home. He only knew that his brother was only nine years old when he left, taking the few gold bars that the family had left and disappearing on that snowy winter night. For the past ten years, he had woken up crying countless times in his dreams, believing that his brother had long since died in the wilderness.

Commander Liu glanced at Lin Fan, his eyes becoming incredibly deep, as if piercing through the mists of time and returning to that era of war and arduous struggle.

"It was the winter of the thirty-ninth year. Outside Beiping City, the mountains were blocked by heavy snow, and it was so cold that even stones could crack from the cold."

Commander Liu's voice lowered, carrying an undisguised sense of vicissitude.

"At that time, I was a regimental commander, leading my troops in guerrilla warfare in the Pingxi area. That night, our underground party communication station was betrayed by a traitor. The main force of the Japanese devils relentlessly pursued us, and our troops were scattered. I was left with only two guards, and we were chased into a mass grave by more than a dozen puppet soldiers."

"We were out of ammunition and food! The three of us were back to back, our bayonets bent from fighting. Just as the puppet soldier's bayonet was about to pierce my chest, I thought to myself, 'That's it, I'm going to die in this snowdrift today.'"

The entire banquet hall fell silent. Everyone held their breath, drawn into that life-or-death situation by Commander Liu's narration.

"At that very moment!"

Commander Liu slapped his thigh suddenly, his eyes reddening, and his voice rose eight octaves.

"Suddenly, a dark figure darted out from the snowdrift behind the puppet troops! The figure was shorter than the puppet troops' belts, like a small leopard, holding a half-buried tombstone covered in ice. It silently crept up behind the leader of the puppet troops and leaped up to strike him hard!"

With a muffled thud, the puppet soldier's head was smashed open, blood and white splattering all over the ground. He collapsed without even uttering a sound!

Commander Liu pointed at Lin Yang, his fingers trembling slightly.

"Can you believe it? He was only nine years old! He was wearing tattered clothes, his lips were purple from the cold, and his hands were covered in frostbite and cuts. But his eyes were fiercer and brighter than those of the wolves in the mountains!"

"The remaining puppet troops were terrified. We seized the opportunity to counterattack and slaughtered all those traitors. After the battle, I asked the boy what his name was and why he had come to this desolate wilderness in the middle of the night."

As Commander Liu finished speaking, he picked up his wine bowl, tilted his head back, and took a large gulp, tears streaming down his face.

"The child threw away the blood-stained stone in his hand, and took out several gold bars wrapped tightly in oiled paper from his inner pocket, which was close to his skin, and handed them to me."

He raised his small, blue face from the cold and said to me, "My name is Lin Yang! My father is dead, my mother is dead, this world is unbearable! I brought the gold bars from my family to find a team that can save China and kill the Japanese devils! I want to join the Red Army!"

boom!

These words, like a thunderclap from the heavens, resounded throughout the banquet hall.

Li Yunlong's eyes widened in disbelief, his mouth agape. Ding Wei and Kong Jie exchanged a glance, their faces filled with incredulity. Zhao Gang, meanwhile, took off his glasses and secretly wiped his eyes.

Nine years old!

Carrying gold bars, he ventured alone into the snow-covered wilderness, smashing a puppet soldier to death with a broken tombstone, all in order to find the revolutionary forces!

What courage! What spirit! What faith!

"My God..." Monk Wei sat in the corner, gasped, and looked at Lin Yang with a gaze that had changed from admiration to fanaticism as if he were looking at a god.

Meanwhile, Lin Fan, who was sitting next to Lin Yang, was already in tears, sobbing uncontrollably.

He covered his mouth tightly to stop himself from crying out, but his violently shaking shoulders betrayed the turmoil in his heart.

It's been ten years!

He always thought his younger brother was young and ignorant, unable to bear the hardships at home, and had stolen gold bars to run away for his life. He even harbored resentment towards his brother's heartlessness on countless nights of hunger and cold.

But now, the truth has come out!

His younger brother was not a deserter at all! He was a lone hero who, at the age of nine, had the grand ambition to save the country and the nation! Those gold bars were not squandered, but turned into bullets for the revolutionary ranks and into military funds to fight the Japanese invaders!

"Yangzi... my dear brother..." Lin Fan grabbed Lin Yang's hand, sobbing uncontrollably, "I've wronged you... I've wronged you for the past ten years!"

Lin Yang grasped his elder brother's hand in return, a hint of tenderness flashing in his eyes, and gently patted his back: "Brother, it's all in the past. I was too young back then to take you with me. I'm sorry that you suffered for ten years in Beijing."

"No! You did the right thing! You are the pride of our Lin family! The pride of our ancestors for eight generations!" Lin Fan wiped away his tears, straightened his back, and his eyes no longer held the timidity of the past, but instead showed an unparalleled pride.

With a younger brother like this, Lin Fan's life is truly worthwhile!

"Come on! To our most ruthless Red Army lads, to our combat heroes, cheers!" Commander Liu raised his wine bowl and roared.

"Dry!"

Dozens of rough porcelain bowls clinked together, and the strong liquor went down their throats, burning away all restraint and sorrow, leaving only a heart full of boiling passion.

After a few bowls of wine, the atmosphere calmed down a bit.

As the cadre with the highest level of education and the keenest political sense present, Zhao Gang put down his wine bowl, gently tapped the table, and steered the conversation in a more profound direction.

"Comrades, it's good that we're gathered here today to reminisce about the past and appreciate the present. But we mustn't forget that the current situation is still far from optimistic."

Zhao Gang pushed up his glasses, his expression turning serious.

"Although the new China has been established, the world is not yet completely at peace. In the southwest, there are still a large number of bandits and remnants of the enemy stubbornly resisting. Along the southeast coast, Chiang Kai-shek's remnants are still clamoring for a counterattack on the mainland. More importantly, in our northeast, on that peninsula, the situation is already on the verge of war. Those Western imperialists have always regarded us as a thorn in their side."

Upon hearing this, all the generals present lost their smiles and their eyes sharpened.