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

After calming his older brother down, Lin Yang's eyes instantly turned cold, sweeping across everyone in the courtyard like a blade.

Finally, his gaze fell on Yi Zhonghai.

"An old man, right?" Lin Yang's voice was frighteningly calm.

Yi Zhonghai swallowed hard, forcing out a smile that looked more like a grimace:

"Yo...Yoko, you're back! This is such a joyous occasion..."

"I just heard that old woman say..."

Lin Yang pointed to Jia Zhangshi on the ground.

"You awarded the main house of the Lin family to the Jia family? My brother is now living in the drafty rear house?"

Lin Yang took a step forward, his leather boots echoing heavily on the bluestone slabs.

"Come here, sir, explain to me properly how you've been 'taking care' of my brother for the past ten years!"

The autumn wind swirled a few withered yellow leaves in the courtyard of No. 95 Nanluoguxiang.

The entire courtyard was deathly silent, save for the sound of the wind and the heavy, frantic breathing of the people.

Lin Yang's chilling question was like a heavy hammer that slammed into Yi Zhonghai's chest.

Yi Zhonghai's face instantly turned from deathly pale to ashen, and cold sweat trickled down his face and dripped into his collar.

His eyes, which always seemed to gleam with shrewdness and calculation, were now filled with barely concealed panic.

"Yang...Yangzi, what are you saying?"

Yi Zhonghai forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, rubbing his hands nervously in front of him. "In the ten years you've been away from home, the world has been so chaotic. Your brother was all alone in the city, with no one to rely on. We old folks and the neighbors in the courtyard have helped him a lot."

"Sponsor?" Lin Yang's lips curled into a mocking smile, his gaze sharp as he stared at Yi Zhonghai. "Sponsoring me to the point of transferring the main house of my Lin family to the Jia family? Sponsoring me to the point of my brother having to wash clothes in the freezing cold in a drafty outbuilding? Yi Zhonghai, do you take me for a three-year-old, or do you think this military uniform of mine is just for show?!"

Lin Yang suddenly raised his voice for the last half of his sentence, and a fierce killing intent emanated from his body, as if he had been drawn from a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood!

Yi Zhonghai was so frightened that his legs went weak, and he instinctively took two steps back, almost falling to the ground.

Standing to the side, Uncle Liu Haizhong, who usually loved to speak in official jargon and act like a leader, was already feeling intimidated when he saw the incomprehensible but incredibly high military rank on Lin Yang's shoulder and the two bodyguards behind him with eyes that could kill.

But he still mustered his courage and stepped forward, stammering, "Commander Lin... this matter has historical reasons. After you left, your brother fell seriously ill, and the family was so poor that we couldn't even afford to eat."

This house has been in disrepair for years, and your brother can't live there alone. We did this for your brother's own good. The Jia family was relatively well-off at the time, so they paid for your brother's medical treatment. This house is considered... considered mortgaged to the Jia family. This was a decision made collectively by the entire hospital!

Liu Haizhong's words sounded grand and righteous, attempting to use "collective decision" to pressure Lin Yang.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Uncle Yan Bugui from the front yard quickly chimed in, adjusting his worn-out glasses and shrewdly agreeing, "Yangzi, you can't do it that way. Back then, with years of war, prices skyrocketed; a single grain of cornmeal could cost a life. The Jia family provided life-saving grain, and your brother, to repay their kindness, voluntarily gave up the main house and moved to the back room. It's all in black and white, and we three uncles are all witnesses. Don't you all agree?"

Yan Bugui turned to look at his neighbors, trying to win them over.

But at this moment, facing Lin Yang's imposing military jeep and heavily armed guards, which of the surrounding neighbors dared to speak? They all lowered their heads, not daring to breathe.

Lying on the ground with her mouth full of blood, Jia Zhangshi heard the three old men speaking up for her family, and her rascal-like and shameless nature resurfaced.

She covered her slurred mouth and howled incoherently, "That's right! Lin Fan, that penniless man, was starving to death back then, and our old Jia gave him half a sack of cornmeal! That was life-saving food! It's only right that he mortgaged his house to us! Even if you become a high-ranking official, you can't be unreasonable! Everyone, please be the judge! The soldiers are bullying ordinary people!"

Seeing these beasts still trying to provoke trouble and twist the truth, Lin Yang's eyes grew colder and colder.

Just then, a loud and angry shout suddenly came from behind the crowd.

"Pah! That's a load of bull!"

Everyone was startled and turned to look.

He Daqing emerged from the crowd. He had just returned from preparing a banquet and was still wearing his greasy apron.

He Daqing's shrewd eyes were fixed on the guards and jeep behind Lin Yang, and he had already started to make his plans.

Although he was a cook, he had traveled all over the country and his judgment was far superior to that of the three old men in the courtyard. He could tell at a glance that Lin Yang's entourage was so impressive that even the district head, let alone the head of the neighborhood committee, would have to treat him with utmost respect! This was a real high-ranking military officer!

If you don't latch onto a powerful figure now, when will you?

He Daqing pointed at Yi Zhonghai and Jia Zhangshi's noses and cursed, "Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, have you no shame? What life-saving food? What voluntary giving up of the house? Bah!"

He Daqing turned to Lin Yang, his face immediately plastered with a fawning smile, and he bowed and scraped as he said, "Commander, don't listen to these old bastards' nonsense! It wasn't like that at all back then!"

Yi Zhonghai's expression changed drastically, and he shouted angrily, "He Daqing! What's wrong with you? What nonsense are you spouting!"

"I'm spouting nonsense?" He Daqing sneered, his back ramrod straight. "Today, I'm going to expose the true colors of you beasts in front of the leader!"

He Daqing pointed at Jia Zhangshi and said loudly, "Back in the winter of 1943, Lin Fan was indeed sick and so hungry that he couldn't get out of bed. The Jia family did give him grain, but it wasn't even half a sack; it was just a small bowl of moldy cornmeal! That little bowl of rotten noodles, that old hag Jia Zhangshi insisted was worth a gold bar!"

The entire audience erupted in uproar.

He Daqing became increasingly agitated as he spoke, pointing at Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong and continuing his tirade: "And then what? Those two old bastards, Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong, relying on their prestige in the courtyard, dragged Lin Fan out of bed in the middle of the night, forced his hand, and made him press his fingerprint onto a property transfer deed! The next day, the Jia family threw Lin Fan's bedding roll into that drafty outbuilding! This wasn't a mortgage; it was outright robbery! This was taking advantage of someone's misfortune!"

"He Daqing! You're spouting nonsense!" Liu Haizhong was trembling with anger as he pointed at He Daqing and cursed him.

Madam Jia became even more agitated, scrambling to her feet to grab He Daqing's face: "I'll tear your mouth apart! You cook, you've got ulterior motives!"

"That's enough!"