He Yuyang: The tough eldest brother of the courtyard house

The autumn wind carried a chill, swirling a few withered yellow leaves past the school window. He Yushui, clutching her schoolbag, walked briskly out of the school gate with her head down, her two braids swaying gently with each step, her eyes red as if soaked in water.

A burst of laughter came from behind, mixed with a boy's shout: "Hey, little brat, why are you running? We haven't returned your math book yet!"

He Yushui quickened her pace, her hands gripping the strap of her schoolbag so tightly they turned white. During the break between classes, Zhao Xiaogang, a boy from the next class, snatched her arithmetic notebook and broke her pencil in two, saying, "Why do girls need to learn arithmetic? They'll just end up getting married and cooking anyway." She was furious and went to grab the notebook back, but Zhao Xiaogang shoved her, causing her to fall to the ground and scrape her knee.

I jogged back to Nanluoguxiang and bumped into He Yuzhu as he came out of the martial arts school. He was wearing shorts and his arm muscles were bulging. He was wiping the sweat from his forehead. When he saw Yushui crying, his face darkened instantly.

"Rain? What happened? Who bullied you?" He Yuzhu rushed over, grabbed his sister's arm, and when he saw the bruise on her knee, his eyes widened instantly. "How did this happen? Who did this? Tell your second brother, and I'll go and crack open his skull!"

"Second...Second Brother..." Yu Shui was startled by his shout, and her tears fell even harder. She sobbed, "It was...it was Zhao Xiaogang from the school...He snatched my notebook and pushed me..."

"He's gone too far!" He Yuzhu exploded upon hearing this, rolling up his sleeves and charging towards the school. "How dare a little brat bully my sister? I'll break his arm!"

"Stop!" A clear shout came from the courtyard gate. He Yuyang had just returned from the army and witnessed this scene. His brows furrowed tightly. "What are you doing?"

"Brother! You're finally back!" He Yuzhu was overjoyed to see him, as if he had found his pillar of support, but he was still seething with anger. "Yushui got bullied! That brat pushed her to the ground, I'm going to teach him a lesson!"

"Teach him a lesson? How? Beat him up? What if you hurt him badly?" He Yuyang walked to Yushui's side, squatted down, and gently lifted her trouser leg. Looking at the bruise, his eyes darkened, but he didn't get angry. He just said to Yushui, "Does it hurt? Let's go home and put some medicine on it."

"Brother! Why are you still protecting him?" He Yuzhu exclaimed anxiously, "That kid deserves a beating! If we don't teach him a lesson, he'll dare to bully Yushui again next time!"

"You think a beating will stop the bullying?" He Yuyang stood up, looking at his younger brother. "When you were a kid, you got into fights in the alley. If you won once, would no one bother you next time? The more you fight, the more enemies you make. Who ends up suffering in the end?"

He Yuzhu was speechless after being questioned, but he was still unconvinced: "That doesn't mean we can just let it go! Yushui has been wronged, can we, as his older brother, just stand by and watch?"

"I didn't say forget it." He Yuyang patted Yushui's back and wiped away her tears. "But there's more to solving problems than just taking action. Take Yushui home first and have your mother apply some safflower oil to her. I'm going to the school."

"Brother, where are you going?" He Yuzhu asked worriedly. "Should I go with you?"

"No need, I can go by myself." He Yuyang glanced at the sky. "I'll be there just in time for them to get out of school, so it won't cause any problems."

He turned and walked towards the school. He Yuzhu wanted to follow, but Liu Yan came out from the courtyard and stopped him: "Your brother knows what he's doing, don't make things worse! Quickly bring Yushui in to apply the medicine!"

As He Yuyang hurried to the school gate, the school bell rang. The children, like a flock of chattering sparrows, surged out of the school gate. He immediately spotted Zhao Xiaogang—the boy was half a head taller than other children his age, leading a few boys in playing marbles against the wall by the school gate, his face carrying an air of unruly arrogance.

"Zhao Xiaogang, wait a moment." He Yuyang walked over, his voice calm.

Zhao Xiaogang looked up and saw him in military uniform. He paused for a moment, but didn't get up. He stiffened his neck and asked, "Who are you? What do you want?" The boys around him also joined in the commotion, laughing and joking without any seriousness.

He Yuyang ignored the commotion of the children, looked at Zhao Xiaogang, squatted down, and looked him in the eye: "I'm He Yushui's brother. I heard you snatched her math book today and pushed her?"

Zhao Xiaogang's eyes flickered, but he stubbornly insisted, "She started it! I was just joking with her!"

"Would you push someone to the ground while playing around? Would you steal someone else's things while playing around?" He Yuyang's voice was still not loud, but it carried an authority that made people dare not lie. "I just saw it. Yushui's knees are bruised, a page was torn from her arithmetic notebook, and her pencil is broken. If this was just playing around, wasn't that a bit too rough?"

The surrounding children gradually quieted down and all looked at them. Zhao Xiaogang's face was a little red, but he still forced himself to say, "She's a girl, she shouldn't be coming to school in the first place, she should stay home and take care of her younger siblings!" These were words his father taught him. His father always said, "It's useless for girls to study, they'd be better off getting married early."

He Yuyang wasn't angry. Instead, she smiled and pointed to Xu Xiuli, who was explaining math problems to the children not far away, and asked, "Look at that Teacher Xu, she's also a woman. She teaches you to recognize characters and do arithmetic. Do you think she's useless?"

Zhao Xiaogang looked in the direction he was pointing and saw Xu Xiuli patiently explaining a problem to a girl. The sunlight fell on her, making her look gentle and earnest. He remembered that he had failed his math test last time, and it was Ms. Xu who stayed after school to tutor him. His face turned even redder, and he remained silent.

"The old rules don't apply in the new society." He Yuyang picked up a glass marble from the ground and held it in his palm. "Boys and girls are the same. They can all go to school and contribute to the country. Look at the slogan on Tiananmen Square, 'Women hold up half the sky,' that's exactly what it means."

He paused, then changed the subject: "When I was your age, I was fleeing in the countryside. There was no school to go to back then, and I was always worried about being captured by the Japanese. Let alone playing marbles, it was a blessing to even have food to eat."

The children's attention was immediately drawn, and they gathered around. Zhao Xiaogang, forgetting his earlier argument, asked curiously, "Japanese devils? You mean those bad guys in the books?"

"Yes." He Yuyang nodded, his voice lowering. "Once, our village was surrounded by the Japanese. A girl even younger than you, in order to cover everyone's retreat, grabbed a grenade and rushed into the Japanese army... She could have been like Yushui, sitting in the school and studying, but she didn't have the chance."

The children were stunned, not daring to breathe. Zhao Xiaogang opened his mouth, as if to say something, but then swallowed back his words.

"We can sit peacefully in school now, play marbles, and even argue and bicker, all thanks to the sacrifices of those martyrs." He Yuyang looked at Zhao Xiaogang earnestly. "Bullying the weak isn't a sign of skill; stealing from others is even more shameful. If you're truly capable, grow up to be a soldier and protect your country—that's what a real man should do. Don't you agree?"

Zhao Xiaogang's face flushed crimson, as if it were on fire. He recalled how He Yushui had fallen to the ground when he pushed her, and how she had cried and tried to grab the notebook. A sudden pang shot through his heart. He abruptly stood up, clenching his fists: "I...I was wrong!"

"It's good that you know you were wrong." He Yuyang smiled. "If you're wrong, you should correct it and apologize to the person who made the mistake."

"I'll go right now!" Zhao Xiaogang said, and took off running towards the He family's house. After a couple of steps, he stopped, turned back, and asked, "Can I...can I give her my most treasured glass ball in return?"

"No need to pay for anything, just a sincere apology is enough." He Yuyang waved his hand. "Go on."

Zhao Xiaogang ran off, but the children around He Yuyang were still chattering, asking, "Uncle, did you really fight the Japanese?" "What happened to that little girl?" "Is being a soldier really that impressive?"

He Yuyang patiently told them several short stories from the battlefield, without mentioning anything bloody, only how the soldiers helped each other and protected the civilians. The children's eyes lit up as they listened, and they even forgot about going home after school.

When He Yuyang returned home, a strange scene was unfolding in the yard—Zhao Xiaogang stood in front of Yushui, hands behind his back, face flushed, stammering, "He Yushui, I...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken your notebook, I shouldn't have pushed you..." After saying that, he took out a glass marble tied with a red string from behind his back and stuffed it into Yushui's hand, "This is for you, it's my best one."

Rain paused, looked at the glass marble in her hand, then at Zhao Xiaogang's flushed face, and whispered, "It's okay... I shouldn't have tried to take it from you..."

"That's more like it!" He Yuzhu watched from the side, amused. His anger from before had long since dissipated. He patted Zhao Xiaogang on the shoulder, "Kid, you admit your mistake and correct it. That's a real man! If anyone dares to bully Yushui in the future, just tell your second brother, and I'll teach you a few tricks!"

Zhao Xiaogang stumbled from the slap, but instead of flinching, he puffed out his chest and declared, "I won't let anyone bully her again! We're classmates!"

This made everyone in the courtyard laugh. Liu Yan brought out a bowl of freshly cooked porridge and served Zhao Xiaogang a bowl: "Child, are you hungry? Have a bowl of porridge before you go."

Zhao Xiaogang didn't stand on ceremony. He picked up the bowl and slurped it down. After finishing, he wiped his mouth, said "See you tomorrow" to Yushui, and then skipped away.

After dinner, Yu Shui sat under the lamp doing her homework, while He Yu Yang sat beside her reading. She suddenly put down her pen and whispered, "Brother, Zhao Xiaogang listened to everything you said to him today."

"Yeah, he's a good kid, just a bit stubborn." He Yuyang said without looking up.

"When I was bullied before, my second brother would only fight back for me, but after a few days, they would still come looking for trouble." Yu Shui's voice was even lower, with a hint of admiration. "Brother, you're better than my second brother. He only knows how to fight, but you can make people respect you."

He Yuyang put down his book, looked at his sister, and smiled: "It's not that I'm great, it's that my reasoning is great. Everyone has self-respect. If you respect someone, they'll respect you even more. Of course, if you encounter someone unreasonable, you can't back down. You have to be tough when you need to be."

"I know!" Rainwater nodded vigorously, "Just like how you dealt with that scarred man last time!"

"Mmm!" He Yuyang responded softly, gently stroking her sister's soft hair with her right hand, and said tenderly, "But if you can solve things without resorting to violence, then try not to. Because there are many ways to solve various problems in this world, and using your fists to solve problems is one of the most foolish and clumsy ways."

Hearing this, Yu Shui blinked her big, watery eyes, seemingly understanding but still a little confused. Soon, however, she nodded, indicating she had remembered what her brother had said. Then, the little girl picked up her pen again, preparing to continue her unfinished homework. But just then, the observant He Yu Yang noticed that the corners of his sister's mouth were involuntarily turned up slightly—clearly, the little one was in a very good mood. It turned out that after her conversation with her brother, Yu Shui deeply felt that her brother knew so much! He was not only proficient in military strategy and skilled in warfare, but also particularly adept at teaching others how to conduct themselves in society and how to reason and reason… Wow, such an outstanding brother was several times more amazing than those heroes who only exist in fairy tales!

In the courtyard, He Yuzhu was talking to He Daqing: "Dad, how come my brother is so capable? He managed to persuade that kid to behave in just a few words. If it were me, I would have beaten him until he cried for his parents."

He Daqing glared at him: "With a brain like yours, what can you do besides fight? Your brother is wise and understands people. You should learn from him!"

He Yuzhu scratched the back of his round head, revealing a set of big white teeth, and said with a silly grin, "Okay, then I'll listen to you, brother, and learn how to use your tongue! I'll definitely be as good as you in the future, make a living with my mouth, and never use my hands again!" As he spoke, he nodded vigorously, indicating that he had made up his mind.

Standing nearby, Liu Yan overheard their entire conversation and couldn't help but smile, teasing, "Hey, Zhu Zi, you should take care of what's in front of you first! Wait until you can keep those mischievous brats in the martial arts school in check, until they're all obedient and subservient to you, then you can come back and boast! Don't just spend your days fooling around and getting into trouble!"

As night deepened, Nanluoguxiang quieted down, with only the He family's window still lit. After Yushui finished her homework, He Yuyang helped her check it and then explained a math problem to her. Under the lamplight, the shadows of the brother and sister were cast on the wall, close together, a scene of warmth and reassurance.

Looking at his sister's serious profile, He Yuyang felt calm. He knew that protecting his family was not just about shielding them from open and hidden attacks, but also about teaching them how to face the world—to have the confidence to not be bullied, and the tolerance to forgive others; to know how to uphold principles, and also how to be flexible and adaptable.

Just like he taught Zhao Xiaogang, true strength is never about how many people you can defeat, but about how many people you can influence, and how much better the world can be because of your existence.

The moonlight crept in through the window, falling gently on the rain-soaked homework and on He Yuyang's pages, as soft as a thin veil. He knew that this kind of night, this kind of tranquility, was what he had always been protecting. And this protection required not only his gun and his fists, but also his patience, his wisdom, and the deep, unwavering sibling bond that flowed in his blood.