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

"Old Yi... this... is this real?" Liu Haizhong, heavily pregnant, leaned over, looking at the photo in the newspaper, his voice trembling with shock.

"Are you blind! It's printed in black and white on the front page! How could it be fake?!" Yi Zhonghai roared in frustration, like an angry, desperate old dog.

Liu Haizhong shrank back, swallowing hard, after being yelled at: "This Lin Yang... he's simply inhuman! In just six months, he wiped out hundreds of thousands of Kuomintang remnants? This isn't bandit suppression, it's like he's going to pluck stars from the sky!"

Yan Bugui from the front yard also ran over, adjusting his glasses, his face full of amazement and calculation.

"Good heavens! Commander! Our courtyard house has produced a true emperor!"

Yan Bugui's eyes darted around: "Old Yi, Old Liu, have you heard? Lin Fan rode his bike to the military compound early this morning with that Doctor Ding! I reckon that with Lin Yang back, Lin Fan's wedding is definitely on the way!"

When Lin Fan's marriage was mentioned, Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong's expressions became even more unpleasant.

They're working at the factory now, and they have to watch their step every day, watching Lin Fan's expression. Lin Fan, the head of security, is no pushover. A few days ago, Uncle Liu Haizhong was caught red-handed by the security officer for secretly taking a piece of scrap metal from the workshop to make a kitchen knife at home.

If Liu Haizhong hadn't knelt down and slapped himself more than a dozen times on the spot, Lin Fan would definitely have sent him to solitary confinement for three days!

"If this wedding goes ahead, our compound will be in for a commotion," Yan Bugui said, rubbing his hands together with some worry. "Lin Yang is now a division commander, and Lin Fan is the head of the security department. If we give too little in wedding gifts, it'll be a slap in their face; if we give too much, how will we make a living?"

"Give me a damn thing!"

Jia Zhangshi, who had been hiding in the corner, finally couldn't help but jump out.

Her face has completely healed now, but her triangular eyes are still filled with nauseating jealousy and resentment.

"Why should we pay for the Lin family's wedding? Lin Yang has become a division commander and embezzled so much money from the country, why would he care about our small contribution?"

With her hands on her hips, Madam Jia cursed at the air, "What a family of jinxes! That Lin Fan, that childless bastard, married a capitalist's daughter; sooner or later he'll have a son without an anus!"

"Snapped!"

Before Jia Zhangshi could finish speaking, a loud slap landed on the back of her head.

The person who assaulted her was none other than her own son, Jia Dongxu.

Jia Dongxu's face was deathly pale, and he was covered in sweat. He covered Jia Zhangshi's mouth and roared in a low voice, "Mom! If you want to die, don't drag me down with you! Didn't you see what the newspaper said? Lin Yang killed tens of thousands of bandits! He kills without blinking an eye!"

"If he hears you cursing Lin Fan here, he might just send his troops to raze our house to the ground!"

Madam Jia was startled by her son's fierce appearance. She struggled for a moment, then finally dared not make a sound.

Just then, the gate of the He family's house in the Intermediate People's Court was pushed open with a "bang".

He Daqing walked out with a radiant face, wearing a brand new white apron.

Sha Zhu followed behind him, carrying two gleaming kitchen knives, like two guardian deities.

"Oh, so everyone's having a meeting here?"

He Daqing swaggered to the center of the courtyard, glancing sideways at Yi Zhonghai and the others, his smugness practically overflowing.

"Old He, what are you doing with a kitchen knife so early in the morning? Are you going to slaughter a pig?" Liu Haizhong asked irritably.

"Slaughtering a pig? I'm going to do something earth-shattering today!"

He Daqing pounded his chest so hard that the whole courtyard could hear it.

"Section Chief Lin just called from the military compound!"

He Daqing paused deliberately, his gaze sweeping over the tense faces, before dropping a bombshell.

"Commander Lin has spoken! Next Sunday, we'll hold a wedding for Brother Lin and Doctor Ding! The Red Star Steel Rolling Mill's canteen will have a hundred tables for a continuous feast!"

"We'll also set up three fine tables in our courtyard to invite all the neighbors for our celebration!"

He Daqing proudly raised his chin and announced loudly, "Commander Lin personally appointed me, He Daqing, as the head chef for this courtyard banquet! All the dishes will be prepared according to the highest standards of Tan Family Cuisine!"

boom!

This news caused an uproar among the residents of the courtyard.

One hundred tables of continuous banquet!

Three tables of the highest-grade Tan family cuisine will be set up in the courtyard!

What a grand display! What immense wealth!

Yi Zhonghai felt a sudden dizziness, and his vision went black. He knew that once this event was successfully concluded, Lin Fan's status in the courtyard would completely surpass his former status as the eldest son, reaching a peak that no one dared to look up to.

Yi Zhonghai will forever be nailed to the pillar of shame, becoming the backdrop for the rise of the Lin family!

"Dad! Stop wasting time talking to them! Let's hurry to the market and pick out the best ingredients! We have to do a great job on what Chief Lin asked us to do!" Sha Zhu urged excitedly from the side. He was now Lin Yang's most loyal fan.

"Alright! Let's go!"

He Daqing strode out of the courtyard with Sha Zhu, leaving behind a group of beasts with different thoughts and jealousy, shivering in the cold wind.

A wedding destined to shock the entire city of Beijing and completely change the landscape of traditional courtyard houses is about to begin!

······

"A hundred tables for a continuous banquet? And you want to set up three tables of top-class Tan family cuisine in our courtyard?"

The open space in the courtyard remained silent for a full half minute.

Immediately afterwards, the entire courtyard exploded as if a ladle of cold water had been poured into a boiling oil pan!

The third uncle in the front yard, Yan Bugui, felt his vision blur and his legs go weak. He grabbed the door frame tightly to keep from collapsing to the ground.

His mind, which had been calculating all his life, was now working frantically.

"One hundred tables! Even if each table seats ten people, that's a full one thousand people!"

Yan Bugui's lips trembled, his voice dry as if he had swallowed a handful of sand: "In these years when even cornmeal is scarce, how many pigs would it take to set up a hundred tables for a continuous feast? How much wheat flour would it consume? This... how much money would that cost!"

The three women, pale with fright, gripped Yan Bugui's arm tightly: "Old man, stop calculating! This Commander Lin is a god in heaven! Even a single hair on his head is thicker than the waists of everyone in our entire compound! This kind of pomp and circumstance is unparalleled, not just in Nanluoguxiang, but in the entire city of Beijing!"

Liu Haizhong, heavily pregnant, stood at his own door, his eyes practically bulging with jealousy.

He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug deep into his flesh, yet he felt no pain whatsoever.

"A hundred tables of banquet...a hundred tables!" Liu Haizhong roared inwardly. "I, Liu Haizhong, have worked as a blacksmith my whole life, and I've always dreamed of throwing a couple of banquets at the factory to show off. Why should Lin Fan, a nobody, get this kind of treatment! Why?!"