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

"Brother, I'm leaving. If you need anything, come find me at the compound. Little Li will come over regularly to bring you supplies." Lin Yang patted Lin Fan on the shoulder.

Lin Fan's eyes reddened, and he nodded vigorously: "Yangzi, take good care of yourself over there, and Tianyu, take care of yourself too. Don't worry about things back home, I'm here."

Lin Yang turned around and got into the GAZ command vehicle.

"Let's go!" Monk Wei gave the order.

The convoy moved slowly, crunching through the snow on the ground, making a "crunch crunch" sound, and finally disappeared around the corner at the end of the alley.

Only when the faint red light of the taillights completely disappeared into the wind and snow did the oppressive feeling in the courtyard, which seemed to freeze even the air, finally begin to ease.

"call--"

In the east wing of the courtyard, Yi Zhonghai let out a long breath of stale air, and slumped on the heated kang as if all his bones had been drained.

The kang (heated brick bed) wasn't very hot, and the temperature inside was only slightly warmer than outside. An older woman came over with a bowl of hot water, looked at her husband's pale face, which looked ten years older in an instant, and sighed with heartache.

"Old Yi, have some hot water to warm yourself up. Lin Yang... he's finally gone." The old woman's voice carried a clear hint of relief.

Yi Zhonghai didn't take the water bowl. Instead, he pulled out a half-empty pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from his pocket, took one out, and put it in his mouth. His hand trembled violently as he struck the matches, and it took him three tries to light the cigarette.

"He's gone? You think things will be easier for us now that he's gone?"

Yi Zhonghai took a deep drag on his cigarette, and the acrid smoke made him cough violently, even bringing tears to his eyes.

He pointed to the magnificent main house outside the window, its lights still on, and his voice was terribly hoarse: "Didn't you hear the harsh words he uttered when he left? He left the house to Lin Fan! He was telling us that even though he went to the military compound, his eyes were still fixed on this courtyard house!"

The woman was so startled that she almost dropped the bowl of water in her hand.

"Then... what are we supposed to do from now on? Are we just going to stand by and watch Lin Fan bully us like this?"

"To bully and lord it over others?" Yi Zhonghai gave a bitter laugh. "He's a quality inspector at the steel rolling mill now, and he's about to marry a female doctor from the machine repair shop. Even if he does nothing, as long as that house is there, as long as Lin Yang is alive, who in this yard would dare to lay a finger on him?"

Yi Zhonghai threw the cigarette butt on the ground and crushed it with his foot.

"Old woman, you remember this. Starting tomorrow, whenever you see Lin Fan, you have to greet him with a smile! If he has any difficulties, we have to take the initiative to help him! Not only can we not offend him, we have to treat him like royalty! The world in this courtyard has completely changed!"

Meanwhile, in Liu Haizhong's house in the backyard, a full-blown brawl was unfolding.

"Snapped!"

A crisp slap rang out, and Liu Guangtian covered his face, falling to the ground on the threshold.

"Cry! All you do is cry! You good-for-nothing!"

Liu Haizhong was panting heavily, clutching a thick fire poker in his hand. He had been freezing in the yard for half a day, and a burning anger was brewing inside him. When he got home and saw his two sons scrambling over half a cornbread on the table, that nameless rage instantly flared up.

"Dad! What did I do? You hit me again!" Liu Guangtian cried out in grievance.

"I'm going to beat you up!" Liu Haizhong slammed his stick against the table leg, making the bowls and chopsticks clatter. "Look at Lin Fan! A son without parents, now he lives in a main house with big windows, red carpets, and a wife as beautiful as a fairy! And look at you two brothers, all you do is eat all day long!"

Auntie Er quickly stepped in to stop him: "Old Liu! Are you crazy! Lin Fan is only doing this because of his brother! Lin Yang is now a high-ranking officer in the military compound. Our family is so lucky, we don't have that kind of luck!"

Upon hearing the words "military compound," Liu Haizhong deflated instantly, as if he had been pricked by a needle.

He threw down the fire poker, plopped down on the bench, covered his face with his hands, and painfully tugged at his hair.

Jealousy! Deep jealousy gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake!

He dreamed of becoming an official, of living in a luxurious family compound with bodyguards. But after struggling for half his life, he was only a level seven blacksmith. Lin Fan, on the other hand, easily obtained everything he could never achieve in his lifetime simply because he had a good younger brother.

"Don't mess with him... whatever you do, don't mess with him..." Liu Haizhong muttered to himself, his eyes filled with fear. "The look Lin Yang gave me before he left was murderous! Anyone who dares to scheme against Lin Fan again will really be dead!"

Yan Bugui, in the front yard, was frantically fiddling with his abacus under the dim kerosene lamp.

"Red pine wood, five cents a foot, and the furniture in that room will cost at least three hundred yuan. Large panes of glass, two yuan each, that'll be twenty yuan. And then there's lime, moisture-proof carpet..."

Seeing his dazed expression, the old woman couldn't help but give him a push: "Old man, what are you worrying about? Those things belong to the Lin family, what does it have to do with us?"

Yan Bugui stopped what he was doing, adjusted his glasses, and his eyes gleamed with shrewdness.

"What do you know! I'm calculating the Lin family's resources! Old woman, think about it carefully, what does it mean that Lin Yang can casually give such a luxurious house to Lin Fan?"

"What does that mean?"

"This shows that Lin Yang doesn't care about this little bit of money at all! It shows that he went to the military compound, where he has a better house and higher benefits!" Yan Bugui lowered his voice, his tone revealing a sense of awe.

"Everyone in our compound knows perfectly well how they treated Lin Fan before. Lin Yang didn't lay a hand on him when he left because he thought it would dirty his hands. From now on, no matter what happens to our family, even if we suffer a loss, we absolutely cannot have the slightest conflict with Lin Fan. Do you understand?"

The three women nodded repeatedly: "I know, I know. Lin Fan is the real big shot in our courtyard now."

Meanwhile, in the Jia family's residence, located in the far corner of the central courtyard, the atmosphere was oppressively icy.

Although the swelling on Jia Zhangshi's face had subsided somewhat, her mouth was still cracked. She lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), listening to the sound of the truck driving away outside, her eyes filled with tears of resentment.

"Why...why does all the good stuff fall on the Lin family's head!"

Madam Jia, biting the corner of the blanket, spoke in a weak but vicious voice: "Heaven is truly blind! Our Jia family, a widow and her orphan, lives such a miserable life. Dongxu couldn't even pass the exam for a third-level worker. Why does Lin Fan deserve to live in the main house! Why does he deserve to marry a female doctor!"

Jia Dongxu sat by the stove, silently smoking cheap cigarettes without saying a word.

He no longer even had the courage to be jealous of Lin Fan. When someone is only slightly better than you, you might feel jealous; but when that person is already standing on the clouds, and even looking up at them feels like looking at a blinding light, all that's left is deep fear.