He Yuyang: The tough eldest brother of the courtyard house

The autumn wind, like a mischievous child, swirled through the courtyard, bringing with it an ever-increasing chill. The leaves of the old locust tree rustled in the wind, and every now and then a few withered yellow leaves would fall and tumble on the bluestone slabs, as if foreshadowing the approaching winter.

When they woke up in the early morning, a thin layer of frost had already formed on the courtyard wall, and it was icy cold to the touch. He Yuzhu hunched his neck, buried his face in his faded white jacket, and still stamped his feet from the cold: "Mom, it's so cold."

Liu Yan rubbed her hands, which were red from the cold, and brought the freshly cooked sweet potato porridge to the table, breathing out white puffs of air as she said, "Hurry up and drink some porridge while it's hot to warm yourself up. It'll get colder in a few days, so you'll have to dig out your thick clothes."

He Yuyang sat at the table, drinking his porridge, his gaze fixed on his mother's rough hands. Those hands, worn from years of hard work, had deformed knuckles and several frostbitten cuts at the base of her thumb and forefinger; if soaked in cold water for too long, they would bleed. A slight pang tightened in his heart. He silently circulated his internal energy, a warm current slowly flowing from his dantian, trying to dispel the chill in his body and the bitterness in his heart.

Since the beginning of autumn, the weather has grown colder day by day, especially with extreme temperature differences between morning and evening. The He family was already struggling financially, and their winter clothing was even more scarce. He Daqing's cotton-padded coat was so stiff that the cotton had become like cardboard, and the collar and cuffs were worn shiny, revealing the dark cotton wadding inside. Liu Yan's padded jacket had several patches, and the fabric was so thin that light could pass through it. He Yuzhu's clothes were even shorter than expected, with pieces of mismatched fabric attached to the cuffs and trouser legs, making him look both comical and pitiful.

He Yuyang's own clothes weren't much better; they were altered from his father's worn-out ones, with wide sleeves tied with rope just enough to barely cover his hands.

After breakfast, Liu Yan indeed pulled out the family's "treasure chest"—a wooden chest with peeling paint, containing the family's winter clothes. She spread the clothes out on the kang (a heated brick bed), and the sunlight streaming in through the window clearly showed the patches and wear marks.

"This cotton-padded coat needs to be padded with more cotton, otherwise it won't be able to withstand the winter." Liu Yan picked up He Daqing's cotton-padded coat, squeezed the matted cotton inside, and frowned. "The problem is that we've already run out of cotton at home, so we need to find a way to save up some money to buy more."

She picked up He Yuzhu's padded jacket again, gesturing to indicate, "This jacket is too short; we need to add some fabric. Where's the leftover piece of blue cloth from last time? Let me look for it..."

She rummaged through the corner of the box for a long time before finally finding a small piece of blue cloth, about the size of her palm. It was a scrap from her last job, faded in color and with a hole in it. She sighed and stuffed the cloth back in: "That's not enough. Looks like I'll have to take apart an old garment and get some cloth from it."

He Yuzhu leaned closer to look and saw her patched jacket. She pouted and said, "Mom, I don't want to wear patched clothes. Jia Dongxu always makes fun of me."

"Silly child, you should be grateful to have clothes to wear." Liu Yan patted his head, her tone tinged with helplessness. "Once your father gets his wages this month, I'll see if I can get you a cheap piece of coarse cloth to mend your sleeves."

That being said, everyone knew that the meager wages would have to be used to buy food first, and the chances of saving money to buy cloth were extremely slim. He Yuyang watched his mother looking worried over a pile of old clothes and secretly made a plan in his mind.

These past few days, he'd been waiting for the system's "weekly sign-in" reward. Since activating the system, in addition to daily sign-ins, he could sign in once a week, with rewards usually more generous than daily sign-ins. Counting the days, today was exactly the seventh day.

While Liu Yan went to the kitchen to wash the dishes and He Yuzhu played in the mud in the yard, He Yuyang quietly returned to his hut, closed the door, and silently recited in his mind: "System, weekly sign-in."

[Ding! Weekly sign-in successful. Congratulations, host, you have received "Five bolts of pure cotton coarse cloth (Republic of China style)" and "Basic Sewing Skills Manual". The items have been stored in the system space and can be retrieved at any time.]

Pale blue text flashed by, followed by the clear images of five bolts of coarse cloth and a thread-bound booklet appearing in my mind. The coarse cloth was the most common bluish-gray, thick and rough in texture, the most ordinary farm cloth of that era, unremarkable in appearance, yet sturdy and durable enough.

He Yuyang was overjoyed. Five bolts of cloth were enough to make new clothes for the whole family! There was also a sewing skills manual, which would be perfect for his mother to learn, and she could use it to mend clothes and make new ones.

But he didn't take the cloth out immediately.

There are too many eyes in the courtyard. Jia Zhangshi is always watching what others are doing, and Yan Bugui is even more calculating, nagging for ages about who bought an extra match. If someone suddenly took out a few bolts of cloth, even the most ordinary coarse cloth, it would definitely arouse suspicion and prying eyes. Then they would inevitably be asked, "Where did you get the cloth?" If they said they bought it, they didn't have that much money; if they said they found it, what a coincidence! The more they explained, the more trouble they would get.

He said he picked up the radishes he grew last time using the spring water at the entrance of the alley, which made his mother a little suspicious. This time, the cloth is much more conspicuous than the radishes, so we have to be even more careful.

"I need to think of a way to make these fabrics appear 'naturally'." He Yuyang sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), his fingers unconsciously tapping his knees as he quickly calculated in his mind.

Taking it out directly won't work. Taking it out in batches? That might attract attention. The best way is to take out a small piece first, see the reaction, and then gradually integrate the rest of the fabric into your home.

He looked at the coarse cloth in the system space. All five pieces of cloth were bluish-gray and exactly the same. He used his mind to take out a small piece, about the size of his palm, and deliberately made the edges a little rough, as if it had been torn from somewhere.

This piece of cloth was enough to attach a cuff to He Yuzhu's jacket, and it was also "inconspicuous" enough not to attract much attention.

How do we make this piece of cloth "appear"?

He Yuyang walked to the window and looked out into the courtyard. A pile of odds and ends lay in the corner of the courtyard—broken bricks, rotten wood, and coal ash dumped by various households—rarely noticed by anyone. What if… he had “picked it up” from there?

That's a good idea. The corner is usually messy, and it's normal to find scraps of cloth thrown away by someone. It's perfectly normal for a little kid like him to find a piece of cloth while playing there.

Having made up his mind, he stuffed the coarse cloth into his pocket, patted it off, and then walked out of the house.

He Yuzhu was having a great time playing in the mud in the yard, his little hands and face covered in mud, looking like a little mud monkey. Seeing He Yuyang come out, he held up his muddy hands and shouted, "Brother, look at the little dog I made!"

"It's filthy." He Yuyang smiled and walked over. "Stop playing around, or Mom will scold you later."

"Let's play a little longer," He Yuzhu said coquettishly.

He Yuyang's eyes darted around, and he pointed to the pile of junk in the corner, saying, "If you want to play, go play over there, the soil there is soft."

"Okay!" He Yuzhu obediently ran to the corner and squatted there to continue playing with the mud.

He Yuyang followed slowly, pretending to watch his younger brother play with mud, but his eyes were fixed on the pile of junk. While He Yuzhu was focused on kneading the mud, he quietly stuffed the coarse cloth in his arms under a pile of rotten wood, leaving only a small corner sticking out.

"Brother, look!" He Yuzhu held up a crooked lump of mud. "Doesn't it look like the braised duck Dad made?"

"It's just like it, so much like it." He Yuyang gave a perfunctory compliment, then "casually" kicked at the broken bricks beside her feet, her gaze falling on the pile of rotten wood. "Huh, what's that?"

He pretended to be curious and walked over, pried open the rotten wood, picked up the piece of coarse cloth, and patted off the dust (there was actually no dust, he was just pretending): "It's a piece of cloth."

He Yuzhu also came over, looking curiously: "Cloth? Can it be used to make clothes?"

"I don't know." He Yuyang held the cloth, pretending to be casual. "It looks like someone threw it there; it's quite sturdy."

He took the cloth, turned around, and walked into the house: "Let Mother see if she can mend the clothes."

He Yuzhu followed, muttering, "I want to make new clothes..."

Liu Yan was sewing shoe soles inside when she saw He Yuyang come in with a piece of cloth. She paused for a moment, then asked, "Where did this cloth come from?"

"I found it in the corner." He Yuyang handed over the cloth, her tone casual. "I was playing with Zhuzi over there when I saw a bit of the cloth sticking out from under the wood, so I dug it out. Mom, do you think this cloth is usable?"

Liu Yan took the cloth and examined it carefully. The cloth was a coarse, bluish-gray fabric, thick and sturdy. Although somewhat rough, it had no holes and was indeed quite durable. This kind of cloth was common in the market and inexpensive, but it wasn't something that could be easily thrown away.

"Who would throw away perfectly good cloth?" Liu Yan asked, puzzled, turning the cloth over and over to examine it. "It looks pretty new."

"It probably fell off by accident," He Yuyang said, lowering her head and pretending not to care. "The corner is so messy, no one would have noticed if it fell. Mother, can we use this cloth to make a cuff for Zhuzi's clothes?"

Liu Yan pinched the thickness of the fabric, then glanced at He Yuzhu's jacket, which was a bit too short, and made a mental calculation. Although the color of this fabric wasn't exactly the same as the jacket, both were dark, and the seam at the cuff wouldn't be noticeable. Most importantly, she wouldn't have to take apart old clothes or spend money on new fabric.

"It should work." She folded the cloth and put it in her sewing basket. "Although I don't know whose it is, nobody wants it if it's lying in the corner, so picking it up and using it isn't stealing. I'll ask around later, and if it's someone's property, I'll thank them."

Although she still had some doubts, the cloth was so ordinary, it didn't look expensive at all, and she thought it might have just been dropped by someone and she was overthinking it.

"Mom, you're so kind." He Yuyang breathed a sigh of relief, a childlike smile appearing on her face. "This way, Zhuzi won't have to wear short clothes anymore."

"You," Liu Yan tapped his forehead, "all you do is spoil your brother. Alright, go wash your face clean, don't get covered in mud like Zhu Zi."

"Um!"

He Yuyang turned and left, a weight lifted from her heart. The first step was a success. Although her mother had some doubts, she didn't delve into it and accepted the "origin" of the cloth.

Over the next few days, Liu Yan used the piece of coarse cloth she had found to attach cuffs to He Yuzhu's padded jacket. She was very skillful; her stitches were fine and neat, and unless you looked closely, you could hardly tell that a piece of cloth had been attached.

He Yuzhu put on the altered padded jacket and ran around the yard several times with joy, no longer worried about being laughed at by Jia Dongxu.

During this time, Liu Yan ran into three elderly women in the yard and casually asked, "Has your family recently lost a piece of coarse, bluish-gray cloth? Yangyang found one in the corner, and it looks usable."

The three women paused for a moment, then shook their heads. "It's not gone. We count every piece of cloth we use; we wouldn't just throw it away. Is it from Aunt Jia's family? I think they bought a piece of coarse cloth to make shoe soles a while ago."

Liu Yan then went to ask Jia Zhangshi, who was already annoyed because she had no coal to burn. She said irritably, "My cloth is precious, I would never throw it away! Who knows which poor wretch picked up this junk and treated it like a treasure!"

Liu Yan, having been rebuffed, didn't ask any more questions. It seemed the cloth truly was unwanted, and her last remaining doubt dissipated.

He Yuyang observed all of this and nodded secretly. His mother had accepted the premise of "the cloth she found," and now he could slowly produce more cloth.

A few days later, one evening, He Yuyang "found" another slightly larger piece of coarse cloth, this time next to a garbage dump at the entrance of the alley. He still pretended to have found it by accident and took it home to Liu Yan.

"Mom, look, I found another piece of cloth, bigger than the last one!"

Looking at the coarse cloth that was exactly the same as last time, Liu Yan felt it was a bit of a coincidence, but remembering that no one had claimed it after asking around last time, she didn't think much of it and just assumed that it was an old piece of cloth thrown away by some wealthy family and blown to a different place by the wind.

"What good luck!" she said with a smile as she put the cloth away. "This piece of cloth is enough to mend the collar of your father's cotton-padded coat."

He Yuyang watched his mother fold the cloth and put it into the wooden box, secretly planning his next move. Once he had used up most of the two pieces of cloth, he would "find" an even larger one, enough to make a small garment. After a few times, his mother would get used to this "occasionally finding scraps of cloth," and then when she took out a whole bolt of cloth, she could say that she had "collected several scraps of cloth, which were just enough to make a garment," or simply that it was "cheap fabric bought through someone," which wouldn't seem too abrupt.

Besides the cloth, the "Basic Sewing Skills Manual" that the system reward came in handy as well. He Yuyang hid the manual under her pillow and "accidentally" found it while her mother was sewing clothes at night.

"Mother, what's this?" he asked, holding the manual and feigning curiosity.

Liu Yan took it and looked at it. It was a small, thread-bound booklet with the title "Basic Sewing Techniques" on the cover. Inside, there were illustrations of various stitches and simple steps for cutting clothes, all in an easy-to-understand way.

"I don't know whose old book it is, maybe it was left over from a move." Liu Yan flipped through a few pages, her eyes lighting up. "The stitches in this book look sturdier than the ones I usually use, and it even shows how to cut clothes more efficiently—perfect for me!"

"Then show it to Mom." He Yuyang handed her the manual. "Once you learn how to do it, you can make me new clothes."

"You," Liu Yan said with a smile as she took the manual, "once we have enough fabric, I'll make a new padded jacket for you and Zhu Zi."

With this manual, Liu Yan's mending skills improved considerably. He Daqing's cotton-padded jacket collar was sewn up using the newly learned stitches, making it both sturdy and beautiful; after adding cuffs to He Yuzhu's padded jacket, she used the methods in the manual to gather the waist, making it fit him better.

He Yuyang felt at ease watching the changes gradually taking place in his home. He knew these changes were small, even insignificant to others, but for this family, they brought real warmth.

The weather is getting colder and colder; the autumn wind has turned into a biting wind, cutting like a knife against the face. The old locust tree in the yard has lost all its leaves, and its bare branches sway in the cold wind, making a whistling sound.

Every household began preparing for winter. More people were collecting coal ash, and the sound of mending shoe soles became more frequent. Jia Zhangshi stood at the door every day, cursing and complaining about the cold weather, the high price of coal, and her husband's incompetence. Yan Bugui counted the coal briquettes in his house again and again, wishing he could break each briquette into eight pieces. Yi Zhonghai's family was slightly better off and had already started pasting paper on the windows in preparation for winter.

The He family remained poor, but thanks to the few pieces of coarse cloth they had "picked up" and Liu Yan's increasingly skilled sewing, they finally had something to wear for the winter. He Daqing's cotton-padded jacket was padded with some cotton taken from an old quilt, so although it wasn't very warm, it was much better than before; Liu Yan added a thin layer of cotton to the inside of her padded jacket, which could barely keep out the cold; He Yuyang and He Yuzhu's clothes were still old, but they were neatly patched and were warm enough to wear.

At dinner, He Daqing took a sip of hot porridge, looked at the neatly folded clothes on the kang (heated brick bed), and said to Liu Yan, "This year's clothes look much better than last year's. You've put in a lot of effort."

"It's all thanks to Yangyang's good luck; she found a few pieces of cloth, which saved her a lot of trouble," Liu Yan said with a smile, looking at He Yuyang with a hint of satisfaction. "This child is like a little lucky star."

He Yuyang lowered his head, drank his porridge, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

A lucky star? Perhaps. But he hopes more to be the "protective umbrella" for his family, sheltering them from the storms of life in the safest and most discreet way.

He looked out the window; the cold wind was still howling, but the oil lamp inside the house emitted a warm glow. He knew this winter wouldn't be easy, but as long as his family was together, had enough food, and warm clothes, there was no obstacle they couldn't overcome.

In the system space, the remaining few pieces of coarse cloth lay quietly, waiting for the right opportunity to bring more warmth to the home. He Yuyang, on the other hand, continued to play the role of a sensible child, living a low-key life in the courtyard, guarding his secret and the peace of the family.

As night deepened and the cold wind persisted, the He family's little house, thanks to the few pieces of coarse cloth they had "picked up" and the carefully crafted warmth, gained a bit more confidence to withstand the winter chill.