The Courtyard House: The Little Red Devil Returning from the Peninsula

Zhao Weiguo did not go back to his room to sleep.

He dragged the broken wooden cabinet behind the door aside, its legs scraping against the blue bricks with a harsh sound. Shadows flickered on in the windows of the courtyard again.

Yan Bugui peeked through the crack in the door.

"Weiguo, what are you doing? Moving house in the middle of the night?"

Zhao Weiguo leaned the wooden cabinet against the door and then moved two broken bricks to wedge the cabinet legs.

"Block the door."

"Blocking the door doesn't have to be this noisy, does it?"

"You were sleeping soundly when the Japanese spies entered the hospital."

Yan Bugui blushed, and the crack in the door narrowed by half an inch.

Jia Zhangshi was groaning and moaning inside the house.

"Will this place still be habitable? There are knives and guns everywhere, it's terrifying."

Zhao Weiguo turned and looked at her window.

"If you're worried, move out as soon as possible tomorrow morning."

The room immediately fell silent.

He Yuzhu slipped out from behind the moon gate, clutching half a rolling pin in his hand. He walked very lightly, but the soles of his shoes were covered in snow mud, making a pattering sound.

Zhao Weiguo did not turn around.

"Did your father let you out?"

He Yuzhu hid the rolling pin behind his back.

"I need to pee."

"Peeing with a stick attached?"

"To keep dogs away."

"Where did this dog come from in the yard?"

He Yuzhu glanced at the Jia family's window but didn't dare to answer.

Zhao Weiguo pointed to the back wall.

"You said that brick is loose, where is it?"

He Yuzhu's eyes lit up, and he immediately ran over, squatted down by the back wall of the old lady's house, and dug out a pile of frozen grass.

"Here. Last time I was raiding a bird's nest, the brick shook when I stepped on it. See?"

He reached out and pushed, and a blue brick at the base of the wall sank in half an inch, revealing a dark crack.

Zhao Weiguo squatted down and used an iron ruler to pry open the brickwork. Behind the wall was a narrow alley, which led to the back shed of the coal shop. The shed had a low ceiling, too narrow for adults to pass through, but a child could squeeze through.

The system panel then lit up.

[Covered evacuation route: Can be established]

Materials needed: three wooden boards, six scrap nails, and some covering material.

Zhao Weiguo looked at He Yuzhu.

"Go to your kitchen and get three broken planks. Don't get anything that can be used for cooking."

He Yuzhu puffed out his chest.

Why should I listen to you?

Zhao Weiguo tossed him a deformed bullet casing.

The cartridge case rolled in his palm, the brass casing cracked open, and the edges were still blackened by gunpowder.

He Yuzhu's breathing stopped.

"Give me?"

"Change the planks, or not?"

"make a deal."

He Yuzhu ran very fast and soon returned with three pieces of old cutting board scraps covered in flour, followed by He Daqing's cursing.

"You little brat! What are you doing with the board I used to prop up the stove?"

He Yuzhu placed the wooden board next to Zhao Weiguo's feet.

"Father, this is military business."

He Daqing choked and glared at him.

Do you even know what military affairs are?

"Brother Weiguo knows."

He Daqing looked at Zhao Weiguo, his anger subsiding somewhat.

"What do you need these for?"

Zhao Weiguo stuffed wooden boards into the cracks in the wall, nailed in scrap iron nails, and covered the entrance with frozen grass and tattered mats.

"Stay alive."

He Daqing's lips moved, but he didn't curse. He reached out and pulled He Yuzhu to his side.

"Go back inside after you're done watching."

He Yuzhu remained squatting motionless.

"Father, let me take one more look."

As Zhao Weiguo closed the entrance and stood up, he heard hurried footsteps coming from outside the alley.

Three short and two long.

dong dong dong.

dong dong.

Everyone in the courtyard held their breath.

Zhao Weiguo didn't open the door; he just stood against the door panel.

"Who?"

There was a low voice outside the door.

"Old Xu."

Zhao Weiguo looked at He Daqing.

"Turn off the lights."

He Daqing blew out the lamp with his hand behind his back.

The courtyard grew dark.

Zhao Weiguo pulled open the latch halfway, and Old Xu crawled in, his shoulders covered in dust, his sleeve torn, and a blood-stained strip of cloth clutched in his hand.

He took a couple of breaths and looked at Zhao Weiguo first.

"Knife Boy, we've found the place."

Zhao Weiguo's eyes turned cold.

"Don't call me that."

Old Xu grinned, but there was no smile on his face.

"It's not me who's shouting. That's how everyone shouts in the Japanese camp."

Zhou Shichang then entered, carrying a small wooden box. The lid was stamped with Japanese characters, the edges were stained with tobacco oil, and it smelled of sweet, cloying tobacco.

He placed the wooden box on the stone table.

"In the backyard of Guanghetang, in the opium den's cellar, two escaped, and one was caught. Your portrait and information are posted on the wall."

He Yuzhu took a breath.

"A portrait? Brother Weiguo has a portrait?"

Old Xu spread out the blood-stained strip of cloth.

A thin, small child was drawn on the cloth with charcoal, wearing a short cotton-padded jacket, with cold eyes, and holding a large knife in his hand. The two characters next to him were written crookedly.

Knife Boy.

A scream came from Jia Zhangshi's room, but it was covered up again.

Yi Zhonghai emerged from the shadows, his face deathly pale.

"Are they really watching him?"

Zhou Shichang opened the wooden box.

There was no gold or silver inside, only a few sheets of oiled paper, a copper whistle, half a pencil, and a simple map of eastern Beiping. On the map, No. 95 Nanluoguxiang was circled in red, with a line of Japanese writing next to it.

Zhou Shichang pointed to that line of text.

"Found it. 'Knife Boy, can modify blades, suspected of knowing weapons, capture him alive is preferred.'"

Old Xu spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

"They also wrote down a reward of fifty silver dollars."

He Yuzhu's eyes widened.

"Fifty dollars? My dad couldn't save that much in a year!"

He Daqing slapped him on the head.

"Shut up, that's money to buy your life."

Zhao Weiguo picked up the simple map, his gaze sweeping over the red circles, arrows, and evacuation points. The system simulation unfolded, and several lines intersected in his mind: Guanghetang, the opium den, Nanluoguxiang, and the 29th Army's armory, finally converging on a single point.

The inn outside Qianmen.

Zhao Weiguo pressed his fingertip on the picture.

"Those who escaped probably won't leave the city."

Zhou Shichang looked up.

How did you know?

"There's a meeting point here. You can change clothes and vehicles at the inn, and even blend into the vegetable delivery team to sneak back unnoticed."

Old Xu picked up the knife.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's chase after them!"

Zhao Weiguo rolled up the cloth strip that read "Knife Boy" and stuffed it into the wooden box. Then he picked up a pencil and wrote two characters on the back of the oiled paper.

Knife Boy.

Zhou Shichang frowned.

Why did you write this?

Zhao Weiguo folded the oiled paper back to its original shape and stuffed it into the copper whistle.

"They want the live knife boy."

He looked up at Zhou Shichang.

"Then let's give them a message that they can walk."