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

"Okay!" Liu Haizhong readily agreed, watching Pan Zhihang lead Liu Guangqi and Pan Guilian into another jeep, then said to his wife, "Old woman, let's go back too!"

"Yes!" Ma Cuilan responded, turning around to ask, "Honey, who do you think did this?! Could it be Guangtian and Guangfu?!"

Liu Haizhong stopped and thought for a moment before replying, "Who knows?!" Actually, Liu Haizhong had a vague feeling that this matter was inextricably linked to the brothers Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu. However, Liu Haizhong had no evidence. Even if he told the police his suspicions, they might not necessarily investigate.

Back home, Liu Haizhong took a sip of tea, calmed himself down, and went back to bed. He hadn't slept for long when he was woken up. He groggily opened his eyes and saw his wife holding a letter, looking at him anxiously.

Liu Haizhong asked impatiently, "What happened?!"

As Ma Cuilan handed the letter to Liu Haizhong, she said, "I just got up and, having nothing to do, I thought I'd help Guangqi clean the house. I never expected…!" Then, her voice choked with emotion, Ma Cuilan urged, "Husband, look! We've all been deceived by Guangqi."

"What?!" Liu Haizhong involuntarily shuddered, grabbing the letter from Ma Cuilan's hand to read it. When Liu Haizhong saw that Liu Guangqi had written, "I don't want to see my child see his grandfather beating people," Liu Haizhong broke down. He never imagined that he was such a person in Liu Guangqi's eyes. Liu Haizhong roared, "Ungrateful wretch! A complete ungrateful wretch! How dare he do this?!"

No matter how much Liu Haizhong roared, it was useless. He had three sons; it was somewhat understandable that Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu had run away. But Liu Guangqi running away was unacceptable. In Liu Haizhong's heart, Liu Guangqi's actions were not just betrayal, but a genuine stab in the back followed by rubbing salt into his wounds.

From that day on, Liu Haizhong completely lost his spirit. Every day, besides going to work and teaching his apprentices, he would come home sighing, drinking, eating scrambled eggs, and complaining.

Ma Hongming was a pretty good uncle. When Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu came to live with him, Ma Hongming took good care of them, much better than Liu Haizhong, their father. After observing them for two months, Ma Hongming found that aside from their slightly lower level of education, Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu were quite good. They were also very loyal. Just then, Ma Hongming was transferred to a grinding wheel factory that was still under construction. Through his connections, he got Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu jobs there as well.

Days passed, and before they knew it, it was October 1962. With the new grain harvest, the natural disasters had finally passed, and food supplies began to gradually return to normal. Song Ran, Kong Lianqing, and Yu Li, as if by prior arrangement, all became pregnant. He Yushui and Xu Xiaoling both graduated from vocational school. Because of her good grades and Wang Xia's help, He Yushui was assigned to the district finance bureau after graduation. Xu Xiaoling was assigned to the tax bureau. Meanwhile, things remained the same at the Nanluoguxiang police station.

"Hey?! Yukun, practicing?!" That day, He Yuzhu returned home from get off work at about the same time as usual. As soon as he entered the yard, he saw He Yukun practicing flipping a small pot.

He Yukun said with a bitter face, "Brother, now I understand why you didn't want to be a chef!"

He Yuzhu asked with a smile, "Why?!"

He Yukun replied, "Brother! This is so tiring! And it's bad for my arms too!"

He Yuzhu laughed, but he wasn't gloating. After a while, he said, "Yukun! Cooking is a family tradition. To put it bluntly, it's the last skill you have to survive since you didn't do well in school. Even though I'm not a chef anymore, I still come home every day to cook for you! As the old saying goes, 'It's never a bad thing to have more skills.' Learning more won't hurt. In a few years, when you're older, I'll teach you how to drive."

When He Yukun heard that He Yuzhu was going to teach him to drive, his eyes lit up immediately. He said, "Brother, Brother Da Mao took me for a ride in a truck before. Those things were so cool!"

He Yuzhu said, "You think driving a truck is easy?! Turning the steering wheel takes strength. Silly kid, you should keep practicing!"

He Yuzhu had only cooked half of the dish when Song Ran returned. As usual, Song Ran greeted He Yuzhu, made a cup of malted milk powder, and sat down with the child next to He Yukun to watch him toss the wok. A little while later, He Daqing and Liang Wanping returned. Perhaps due to the special bond between grandparents and grandchildren, the first thing He Daqing and Liang Wanping did upon returning wasn't to see their youngest son, nor to look for He Yuzhu, but to play with He Yuzhu's son, He Hanchun. After playing with him for a while, He Daqing handed the child to Liang Wanping and went into the kitchen. He Yuzhu, who was cooking, glanced at He Daqing and asked, "Dad, is there no hospitality at your factory today?!"

He Daqing replied, "Li Huaide is away on a business trip. Shuji is away for training. Only the factory director and a few deputy directors are left, so there hasn't been much hospitality lately." Then He Daqing changed the subject and said, "Zhuzi, I feel like something's not quite right lately. But I just can't quite put my finger on it."

He Yuzhu replied, "Not only do you feel something's wrong, but I feel something's wrong too."

Song Ran walked in from outside and said, "Zhu Zi, my mom called me today and asked us to come over for dinner on Sunday."

He Yuzhu was taken aback and asked, "Why did you suddenly decide to send us back for dinner?!"

Song Ran said, "I guess my dad's going to another city with the army?!"

He Yuzhu said, "We've talked about you going to be stationed in other places with the troops so many times. Every time it ends up the same. Is it really happening this time?!"

Song Zhaohong walked in from outside and said, "This time it's really over. Dad is going to be stationed on the plateau with the army, and he probably won't be back for a while. Mom is going with him too. But my eldest brother's children will stay behind."

He Yuzhu said, "Isn't that simple?! Just register the children's household registration here." Then he asked, "Is your father-in-law leaving this time?!"

Song Zhaohong replied, "Let's go! They'll go together. Besides, their new posts aren't far apart. It'll be convenient for us to visit them later. Oh, by the way! After you got off work, Director Zhang called and asked you to go to the branch office tomorrow."

He Yuzhu asked, "Did he say anything?!"

Song Zhaohong replied, "He didn't say what it was about. But I heard he's being transferred to the police academy as principal. I don't know the specifics. He wouldn't be trying to recruit you, would he?!"