He Yuyang: The tough eldest brother of the courtyard house

Spring came earlier than usual in 1956. The poplar trees in the military compound in Baoding were just sprouting tender buds when Xu Xiuli's belly was already as big as a small pumpkin. She sat in a wicker chair in the courtyard, sewing shoe soles. Sunlight filtered through the new leaves, warming her face and making her feel sleepy. He Yuyang squatted beside her, loosening the soil in the vegetable garden, glancing at her every now and then, his anxiety barely concealed—her due date was still two weeks away, but he always felt uneasy. He often dreamt at night of Xu Xiuli having complications during childbirth, waking up drenched in sweat.

"You've been daydreaming again." Xu Xiuli put down her needlework and gently patted her belly. "The little one kicked me just now, probably because he thinks you're too noisy."

He Yuyang quickly put down his hoe, leaned over, and pressed his ear to her stomach, listening to the faint movements inside. A smile involuntarily crept onto his lips: "This kid's got some strength." Every day, he used spiritual spring water to make chicken soup and boiled eggs for Xu Xiuli. He also prepared various dishes for her using the vegetables in his spatial dimension, watered with spiritual spring water, hoping that she and the baby would both be healthy. His colleagues in the operations department often joked that he was "almost becoming a model husband," but he only smiled and remained silent—only he knew how much lingering fear from his transmigration was hidden within his cautiousness.

One late night in late March, Xu Xiuli suddenly curled up in pain. He Yuyang hurriedly dressed and carried her to the military hospital. The moonlight in the alley was bright, making the bluestone pavement gleam white. He ran with uneven steps, feeling the person in his arms breathing rapidly, her hands gripping his shoulders tighter and tighter.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here." He reassured him, panting, but his steps quickened. The breathing techniques from the lightness skill manual came in handy at this moment, and the distance that usually took him fifteen minutes to walk, he covered in less than ten minutes.

When the delivery room lights came on, He Yuyang was stopped outside. He paced back and forth in the corridor, his palms sweaty, a small porcelain bottle in his pocket containing spiritual spring water—he had already told the head nurse, Zhou Lan, that in case anything happened, the water should be given to Xu Xiuli. Although Zhou Lan found the origin of this "specially made nutrient solution" suspicious, she couldn't resist her son-in-law's insistence and had to agree.

The corridor was quiet, save for the ticking of the wall clock, each tick like a blow to He Yuyang's heart. He recalled the harrowing birth of his mother, He Yushui, in 1944, and how he had painstakingly cared for her health after his transmigration to save her life. Now, with Xu Xiuli in the next situation, that same fear surged back. He quietly pulled out a porcelain bottle, his fingertips clenching it until they turned white. The coolness of the bottle couldn't quell the anxiety in his heart.

After an unknown amount of time, a loud cry of a newborn baby suddenly rang out from the delivery room, like a thunderclap shattering the silence of the corridor. He Yuyang stopped abruptly, as if all her strength had been drained away. She slowly slid down the wall and sat on the floor, tears falling without warning.

"It's a baby boy! He's a big, healthy boy!" Zhou Lan lifted the curtain of the delivery room and came out with a smile on her face. "Mother and child are both safe. Xiuli is very strong and didn't suffer much."

He Yuyang jumped up and staggered toward the delivery room, but was stopped by a nurse: "Don't rush, the mother is still getting her wound stitched up, you should check on the baby first."

Inside the incubator in the nursery, a tiny, rosy-cheeked baby was whimpering with its eyes closed. Its skin was fair, and its cry was loud, unlike the wrinkled appearance of a typical newborn. He Yuyang peered through the glass, his heart overflowing with tenderness. This was his son, his and Xu Xiuli's child, the continuation of the family he had risked everything to protect after traveling to this era.

"This child is really strong, he weighs half a pound more than the other kids," the nurse said with a smile. "His eyebrows and eyes are like yours, and his nose is like his mother's. He's a handsome boy."

He Yuyang grinned, reaching out to touch the glass, but then hesitated, afraid of startling the child. He suddenly remembered something and asked the nurse to bring the baby out to check his foot. The nurse, though puzzled, complied. On the little one's right foot was a faint red birthmark, shaped like a crooked five-pointed star, standing out starkly against the fair skin.

"That's wonderful," He Yuyang murmured to himself. This was something he and Xu Xiuli had dreamt about at the same time one night. Feeling uneasy, he went for a prenatal checkup the next day. During the checkup, the doctor said that the birthmark wouldn't affect his health, but he felt that it was a unique mark given to him by God.

The next morning, He Yuzhu arrived from Beijing, carrying a large net bag filled with eggs and brown sugar. "Brother! I'm an uncle now!" He rushed into the ward, his voice so loud it almost lifted the roof off. Zhou Lan glared at him, and he lowered his voice. "Our mother sewed ten pairs of small cloth shoes overnight and asked me to bring them over. They say they can ward off evil spirits."

He Yuyang took the net bag, inside which was a cloth bag. Opening it, he saw a tiger-head pillow embroidered by Qin Huairu. The stitches were fine and dense, and the tiger's eyes were embroidered with great wit. "Sister Qin said that this is to share in the hero's family's good fortune, so that the child can be as successful as you in the future." He Yuzhu scratched his head. "She originally wanted to come by herself, but she was too busy at the factory. She asked me to pass on a message to you, saying that she will make two sets of little clothes by hand and send them over when the baby is a month old."

Xu Xiuli leaned against the headboard, holding her child in her arms. Her face was still a little pale, but her eyes were full of smiles. "Have you thought of a name yet?" she asked softly.

He Yuyang sat on the edge of the bed and held her hand: "I've thought it through. I'll name him He Jianguo. Jianguo means 'building the motherland.' I hope he will become a useful person to the country in the future."

"Jianguo, He Jianguo," Xu Xiuli murmured softly, touching the child's cheek with her fingertips. "It sounds so nice."

The baby stirred in his arms, smacking its lips as if responding to the name. He Yuyang looked at his wife and child, feeling a sense of peace, but he didn't notice a furtive figure flashing past the window.

That afternoon, a woman in a nurse's uniform pushed a stroller into the nursery, saying she needed to take the baby for a routine check-up. She expertly checked the name on the incubator, picked up He Jianguo, and started to walk out, her movements unusually fast. Just then, Zhou Lan came to deliver something and frowned as she watched the nurse's retreating figure—this nurse's gait didn't seem like that of someone from a hospital.

"Wait a minute!" Zhou Lan called out.

The woman stiffened and quickened her pace to slip away, but Zhou Lan stopped her: "Which department are you from? I've never seen you before."

"I...I was temporarily assigned to help out." The woman's voice was tense, and her eyes darted around.

Zhou Lan became even more suspicious and reached out to take the child: "Let me check on the child, it seems like he peed just now."

The woman suddenly tightened her grip on the child and turned to run. Zhou Lan screamed, "Catch the spy! Someone's trying to steal my child!"

He Yuyang, who was peeling an apple for Xu Xiuli in the ward, heard the shout and his heart skipped a beat. He dropped the apple and rushed out. When he saw the woman's back, he remembered a recent espionage case reported by the Operations Department—an intelligence organization wanted to kidnap the children of military families to blackmail officers, but unexpectedly, they had come after him.

"Stop!" He Yuyang used his lightness skill to catch up with the woman in a few steps and reached out to snatch the child. The woman did not expect him to run so fast, and in her panic, she took out a small knife from her pocket and stabbed at He Yuyang.

He Yuyang dodged to the side, grabbed her wrist with his other hand, and twisted it hard, causing the knife to clatter to the ground. He snatched the child into his arms, only to realize that something was wrong with the child—dark-skinned, skin and bones, and a weak cry; it was nothing like his chubby, fair-skinned son!

"Where is my son?" He Yuyang's eyes were bloodshot, and he tightened his grip.

The woman grimaced in pain, but gritted her teeth and remained silent. Just then, hospital security arrived and pinned her to the ground. He Yuyang rushed into the nursery carrying the fake baby, only to find the incubator empty; her heart sank to the bottom.

"Where's Jianguo? Where's my child?" He grabbed a terrified nurse, his voice trembling.

"Just now... a cleaner said the baby was crying and took him to be breastfed..." the nurse stammered.

He Yuyang turned and ran outside, his mind blank. He sprinted down the corridor, his eyes scanning every corner like radar, when suddenly he saw a man in a cleaner's uniform carrying a swaddled baby running down the stairs. A five-pointed star birthmark flashed briefly on the baby's tiny foot peeking out from the swaddling clothes!

"Put down my son!" He Yuyang roared, increasing his speed even further, catching up with the man like the wind, and kicking him to the ground. The swaddled baby in the man's arms fell to the ground, and He Yuyang quickly rushed over to hug him. When he untied the baby, he saw that it was his son, He Jianguo. The little guy was so frightened that he cried loudly, and the birthmark on his right foot was clearly visible.

"It's alright, Daddy's here." He Yuyang hugged the child tightly, his voice trembling, his shirt soaked with cold sweat. Just a moment ago, he thought he was going to lose this child; the fear was even stronger than facing a hail of bullets on a battlefield.

The man struggled to get up, but was firmly held down by the guards who arrived shortly after. He Yuyang then realized that this man and the nurse from before were in cahoots; they planned to switch the babies in the chaos, exchanging a weak infant for He Jianguo, and then hide him as hostages. Fortunately, Zhou Lan was vigilant, and fortunately, He Jianguo's birthmark was conspicuous enough; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

When Xu Xiuli carried the child back to the ward, she already knew what had happened. Her face was pale as she clutched the blanket. When she saw the child in He Yuyang's arms, tears welled up in her eyes. "Jianguo..." she reached out her hand, her voice trembling uncontrollably.

He Yuyang handed the child to her, then poured some of the spiritual spring water into his own hand and gently rubbed it on the child's forehead. He watched as the child slowly stopped crying before finally letting out a sigh of relief. "It's alright, it's all over now," he said, hugging Xu Xiuli and whispering in her ear. "Don't tell our family in Beijing about this, so they won't worry."

Xu Xiuli nodded, burying her face in his chest, her tears soaking his shirt. She knew that He Yuyang didn't want his mother and younger brother, who were far away in Beijing, to worry, but what she had just witnessed had left a shadow in her heart—it turned out that even in peaceful days, danger was never far away.

In the following days, the military strengthened security at the hospital, and colleagues from the operations department visited several times, saying that the two spies had confessed to their accomplices and were being apprehended with all their might. He Yuyang appeared calm on the surface, but secretly used the sign-in system to exchange for miniature surveillance equipment, which he quietly installed in hidden places in the ward and at home. He also diluted the spiritual spring water and put it in a spray bottle to disinfect the corridors of his home and the hospital every day, claiming it was to "prevent infectious diseases."

He Jianguo seemed completely unaffected, eating and sleeping as usual, growing stronger and stronger, with fair and rosy skin. Every time He Yuyang held him, he would stare at her with his big, dark eyes, and his little hands would grab He Yuyang's fingers and not let go.

The day they were discharged from the hospital, the weather was beautiful and sunny. He Yuyang carried the child, and Xu Xiuli linked arms with him as they slowly walked home. The spinach in the yard was ready to eat, and the chives, though cut, had sprouted new leaves. In the chicken coop in the corner, the mother hen was leading her chicks to peck at the rice.

"From now on, this will be our home for the three of us," Xu Xiuli said softly, looking down at the child in her husband's arms, her fear gradually replaced by tenderness.

"There are four people," He Yuyang corrected with a smile, "plus the chickens in the yard and the vegetables in the garden, they're all part of our family."

Xu Xiuli was amused by him and reached out to touch the child's little face: "Jianguo, did you hear that? Your dad is just joking with you."

The little guy seemed to understand, moved his little mouth, and blew a bubble.

The first thing He Yuyang did upon returning home was to send a telegram to Beijing, simply stating, "Mother and child are safe. A boy has been born, named Jianguo." Two days later, Liu Yan's reply arrived, filled with joy. She said He Yuzhu had already begun planning what dishes to prepare for the full-moon celebration, and Qin Huairu had also sent a handmade baby dress, red with yellow flowers, every stitch filled with heartfelt sentiment.

He Yuyang read the letter to Xu Xiuli, who leaned against the headboard, holding her child, a smile on her face. Sunlight streamed through the window, warming them. Watching this scene, He Yuyang silently vowed that no matter how many spies or dangers there were, he would do everything in his power to protect this mother and child, to protect this family.

At night, He Jianguo slept peacefully in the small cradle beside him. He Yuyang sat by the bed, gazing at his wife and son's sleeping faces in the moonlight, and reached out to touch the birthmark on his son's foot. This five-pointed star was a mark, and also a talisman. From now on, he would protect this home like a fortified position, ensuring that this small courtyard would forever be filled with sunshine and laughter.

The poplar trees outside the window rustled, as if singing a lullaby for this newborn life. He Yuyang gently tucked Xu Xiuli's blanket in, then turned and blew out the kerosene lamp. In the darkness, his eyes were exceptionally firm—as long as he was there, this family would always be safe and sound.