The Courtyard House: The story begins with He Yuzhu beating up the White Widow.

Ye Guoliang's eyes darted around, and he said with a smile, "The canteens have been merged, so the canteen procurement will no longer be handled by two different people. Let's merge them together! But I'd like to transfer He Yuzhu to our police station."

Wu Jiangyong smiled and pointed at Ye Guoliang a few times, saying, "So that's what you were planning?! What a clever scheme!"

Wu Yonghua looked at Ye Guoliang and then at Wu Jiangyong, and asked, "Old Wu, what's going on?!"

Wu Jiangyong said, "I genuinely want to help the comrades at the police station. But Ye Guoliang only treats us temporarily. Old Wu, you don't know, He Yuzhu is a real chef. It's just that his father's situation made him hate being a chef, so he chose to be a purchasing agent. That kid always says that cooking is a hobby and he could never make it a profession. Originally, I was thinking that since He Yuzhu's father has come back and the father and son have reconciled a lot, after a few years, when Old Xu retires, we can make He Yuzhu our canteen chef."

"So, it seems Comrade Ye Guoliang is really a bit unethical?!" Wu Yonghua couldn't help but laugh after saying that, and at the same time became even more curious about He Yuzhu.

If Wu Jiangyong hadn't brought it up, Ye Guoliang wouldn't have known about it. Ye Guoliang hurriedly explained, "Old Wu, I wouldn't have known if you hadn't mentioned it. The reason I took a liking to He Yuzhu was entirely because of his abilities." Then Ye Guoliang told Wu Jiangyong about He Yuzhu discovering the enemy agent.

Wu Jiangyong looked surprised and said, "Why didn't he mention this when he came back?!"

Wu Yonghua said, "What's incredible to us is just basic stuff to that kid."

"That's true!" Wu Jiangyong agreed, then suddenly thought of He Yuzhu's uncle and said, "Old Wu, speaking of which, He Yuzhu and your Old Xing have some connection."

"What?!" Wu Yonghua's face immediately showed a puzzled expression.

Wu Jiangyong said, "Wasn't your old Xing the deputy commander of the Jin-Sui Independent Regiment when he was fighting the Japanese?!" Seeing Wu Yonghua nod, Wu Jiangyong continued, "He Yuzhu's uncle is Zhang Dabiao."

Wu Yonghua asked excitedly, "What?! He's Zhang Dabiao's nephew?!"

"Yes!" Wu Jiangyong replied, then asked, "What's wrong?!"

Wu Yonghua said, "Speaking of which, Zhang Dabiao is actually a benefactor to my family. If it weren't for Zhang Dabiao, I might be a widow by now. My husband, Lao Xing, knows that Zhang Dabiao has a younger sister and has been helping him search for her. I never expected that she would be right in front of me. I'll go back and tell Lao Xing later." After saying that, Wu Yonghua raised her wrist to check the time on her watch and said, "It's getting late, I'll go back now. I'll come back in a few days."

"Okay!" After seeing Wu Yonghua out of the office, Wu Jiangyong looked at Ye Guoliang, who was sitting in the office.

Ye Guoliang took out a cigarette case from his pocket, pulled out two cigarettes, handed one to Wu Jiangyong, and asked, "Old Wu, who was that just now?!"

Wu Jiangyong took the cigarette and asked, "You don't recognize him?!"

Ye Guoliang said, "I don't know him! If I knew him, I wouldn't be asking."

Wu Jiangyong said, "She is the director of our district's Women's Federation. Her husband, Xing Zhiguo, is the director of our district's post office."

"So it was her!" Ye Guoliang muttered, then said, "Old Wu, I think you should transfer He Yuzhu's contact information to our office!"

"Don't even think about it!" Wu Jiangyong replied, and after sending Ye Guoliang away, he felt increasingly uneasy, so he went to Wang Xia's office.

Wang Xia, who was busy working, heard a knock on the door and looked up to see Wu Jiangyong standing there. Wang Xia asked, "Old Wu, what's up?!"

Wu Jiangyong walked into the office, sat down, and said, "Old Wang, I need to talk to you about something."

Wang Xia asked, "What's wrong?!"

Wu Jiangyong said, "Ye Guoliang from the police station next door just came by. They've taken a liking to He Yuzhu."

"What?!" Wang Xia was stunned for a moment, then said, "Old Wu, you're not kidding, are you?!"

Wu Jiangyong said, "Would I lie to you about this?! But then again, Lao Wang, our Military Control Commission is only a temporary unit. It might be dissolved in a few years. Zhu Zi is fine with us now. But once we're dissolved, it won't be so easy to arrange a job for him."

Wang Xia said, "I'll ask him what he thinks later. If he doesn't want to, then let him stay here. Even if we can't find him a job after we're officially disbanded, his uncle's comrades won't abandon him."

"That's true!" Wu Jiangyong thought for a moment and agreed, saying, "You should ask him when he comes to work tomorrow."

"Okay!" Wang Xia replied, watching Wu Jiangyong leave her office, her brows furrowing involuntarily.

The next morning, after breakfast, He Daqing tidied himself up and rode his bicycle out. After he left, He Yushui couldn't help but ask, "Brother, is Dad bringing Aunt Liang back today?!"

He Yuzhu nodded and said, "He's going to pick up Aunt Liang now so we can go to the military control commission to get our marriage certificate."

He Yushui sighed and asked, "Brother, do you think Dad will still care about us in the future?!"

He Yuzhu said, "If he takes care of things, we'll treat him like our father. If he doesn't, we'll treat him like a relative. Once he gets married, if things are going well, we'll live together. If not, we'll separate from him. Anyway, as long as you have food to eat, I'll never let you go hungry."

Stepping outside, He Daqing's heart swelled with excitement at the thought of winning the heart of his beloved. Cycling became even easier for him. In just half an hour, He Daqing arrived near the alley where Jiu lived. At a small shop not far from the alley entrance, he bought two cartons of cigarettes, two bottles of wine, two boxes of pastries, and three jin of fruit candy. He weighed out one jin of candy separately and put it in the cloth bag he carried with him.

Another ten minutes or so passed before He Daqing arrived at the courtyard house where Na Jiu lived. An old man sitting at the entrance saw He Daqing and asked, "Comrade, who are you looking for?!"

He Yuzhu replied, "I'm looking for Na Jiu; I'm his sworn brother!"

"I know you! Go inside!" Just as the old man finished speaking, Na Jiu's son, Na Hu, came out of the courtyard. Seeing He Daqing, Na Hu excitedly called out, "Third Uncle!"

"Tiger!" He Daqing greeted him, then asked, "Is your dad home?!"

Na Hu chuckled and joked, "Third Uncle, you shouldn't be asking if my father is home. You should be asking if my aunt is home."

"You little rascal!" He Daqing pulled a handful of candy from his bag and shoved it into the tiger's hand, urging, "Guys, stop standing there! Lead the way!"

"Oh!" The tiger stuffed the candy into his pocket and led He Daqing into the courtyard with a smile.