Courtyard House: I, the eldest son of the Jia family, have returned from the battlefield.

"My room's just sitting empty anyway, so you can tidy one up for him later."

Bang Geng, who had been listless after hearing his mother's words, perked up again and ran around in the yard shouting, "I can have my own room now!"

Seeing the child's joyful appearance, Jia Dongming's expression turned serious, and he said earnestly, "Bang Geng, you can stay here, but your uncle has to set a few rules for you—you have to study hard."

In the past, Bang Geng would probably have pouted and been unhappy.

But now, all he longed for was his own house, and he immediately nodded and promised, "Uncle, don't worry, I will definitely study hard!"

Jia Dongming's expression softened, and he added, "It's not enough to just talk the talk."

Here's what we'll do: if you can get into the top ten in your class, I'll give you 50 cents as a reward.

If you rank ninth, you get one yuan; eighth place gets two yuan—the reward doubles as you go up the ranking.

Bang Geng's eyes widened in surprise: "Uncle, are you serious?"

Jia Dongming patted him on the shoulder: "We Jia family members speak with absolute certainty."

You did it, Uncle will never renege on his promise.

"Brother, have some candy."

Clutching a White Rabbit milk candy, Xiao Dang wobbled over to Bang Geng, raising her little hand high.

Upon seeing the milk candy, Bang Geng instinctively reached out to grab it.

But when he caught a glimpse of Jia Dongming standing to the side, his hand froze in mid-air.

He swallowed hard and shook his head at Xiaodang, "If your brother doesn't want to eat, Xiaodang can eat it herself."

Xiao Dang stubbornly stuffed the candy into his palm and said softly, "Brother, have some. Xiao Dang has more."

Bang Geng held the candy in his hand, but his eyes glanced at Jia Dongming, looking like he wanted to eat it but didn't dare to open it.

Jia Dongming found it interesting, and his impression of the child subtly shifted.

He smiled and said gently to Bang Geng, "It's from my sister, so just take it."

"From now on, if you have anything delicious, remember to share it with your younger sister."

Bang Geng then loosened his grip, carefully unwrapped the candy, turned to Xiao Dang and grinned, "Thank you, Xiao Dang! When I have snacks, I'll definitely save some for you."

The afternoon sun slanted into the room, and dust particles swirled slowly in the beams of light.

Madam Jia leaned against the door, her gaze falling on the two children sharing candy, a smile unconsciously curving her lips upward. "Look at my adorable grandson," she murmured.

Her voice was filled with barely suppressed laughter, "She knows how to give way to her younger sister, how sensible."

Jia Dongming listened quietly from the side, and the word his mother had almost blurted out just now made his heart sink slightly.

He Mingbai said that some deep-rooted winter grievances, like moss in the corner of a wall, cannot be completely removed by simply drying them in the sun.

Bang Geng carefully smoothed out the peeled candy wrapper and placed the milky white candy into Xiao Dang's palm.

The child's cheerful laughter rang out.

After they had all quietly put the candy in their mouths, Jia Dongming turned to his mother and asked in a soft voice, "Mom, how did you get through those years after I got lost?"

The moment the words left his mouth, the air seemed to freeze for a moment.

The smile on Jia Zhangshi's face receded like the tide, and those memories she had buried deep, almost turning to stone, suddenly cracked open.

Her gaze drifted into the distance, then returned as if burned by something, her lips pressed into a bitter line.

"I've been looking for you for over half a month."

She spoke, her voice a little hoarse, "We searched everywhere, inside and outside the city... even that mass grave outside the city, your father searched it all."

She paused, her Adam's apple bobbing, "Later, your father went to Lou's Steel Rolling Mill, and that's when we moved here from the dilapidated house we were renting."

But the thorn in his heart remained unremoved.

In 1952, an accident happened at the factory, and he just... passed away.

The room was quiet except for the faint sound of Xiaodang chewing on the candy.

"After your father passed away, Dongxu took over his position and became an apprentice at the factory."

Jia Zhangshi continued speaking, her tone gradually becoming flat, yet like an undercurrent hidden beneath the ice, "I have become a disciple of Yi Zhonghai in the academy."

Old Dongxi was very shrewd. On the one hand, he kept Dongxu from getting promoted, and on the other hand, he would send some rice and noodles over every few days, putting on a good show of "taking care of an orphan and widow".

When Dongxu left, he was still just an ordinary fitter.

"Since he's unwilling to teach sincerely, hasn't Dongxu considered changing teachers?"

Jia Dongming asked.

He had known Yi Zhonghai's character for a long time, but he never expected that his mother would feel the same way.

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhangshi's calm expression shattered instantly, replaced by a look of resentment and despair. "Change masters? Dongming, you make it sound so easy."

After your father passed away, only my mother and I were left in this courtyard, with no one to rely on.

Without a powerful backer, they'd probably be devoured long ago, leaving not even bones! Yi Zhonghai was the "old man" of the compound and a top-tier eighth-grade worker in the factory. Who would dare to reach out and take what he wanted?

She took a breath, her eyes suddenly turning deep and cold, and lowered her voice, "So I thought, since he's scheming to have Dongxu take care of him in his old age, it's not like I can't turn the tables and scheme against him."

An old, childless man, clutching a meager monthly allowance of ninety-nine yuan, and owning two houses… When he grows old and unable to move, those winter clothes will eventually need somewhere to go.

At this point, the gloom on her face softened slightly. She turned to Jia Dongming, her eyes reddening, and her tone became agitated: "Dongming, after Dongxu left, our family became 'two widows in one family,' with three young children to support."

I'm terrified. I live in constant fear, afraid that someone will bully us again and devour our family.

So I had no choice but to become the villain, giving Qin Huairu the cold shoulder and being unyielding to the neighbors, even if I was wrong, I would still try to make it seem reasonable.

I need to let them know that the Jia family has a formidable old woman holding things together.

She reached out and grabbed Jia Dongming's sleeve, her fingers trembling slightly. "It's so good that you're back now... Mom doesn't have to be afraid anymore."

"Mom promises you, I will never cause trouble in the yard again, and I will never bring shame to your reputation."

Jia Dongming listened silently, and suddenly felt enlightened.

When I read those stories before, I never understood why some people could be so indifferent to years of kindness.

At that moment, he suddenly understood that some seeds, planted by the closest people in unseen corners, grow into twisted vines day after day.

The mother and son's conversation was interrupted by the sound of a bicycle bell outside the door.

Uncle Yan Bugui finally made it back to the courtyard on his creaky old bicycle.

The three older women guarding the door rushed forward, grabbed his bicycle handlebars, and whispered in his ear with barely suppressed mystery and urgency, "Honey, it's terrible! Something big has happened in our compound today!"

Yan Bugui parked the bike, adjusted his glasses, and asked suspiciously, "What's wrong? You seem flustered."

The older woman looked around before lowering her voice and saying, "So the detached house where Engineer Xue used to live has been divided up! The new head of security from the steel rolling mill has moved in!"

"What?"

Yan Bugui's eyes widened suddenly behind his glasses. "That courtyard... how long has the Jia family been eagerly waiting for it! How could Jia Zhangshi not have made a move?"

He smacked his lips, a complex expression of worry and anticipation rising on his face as he gazed at the gradually darkening courtyard. "It seems... this courtyard won't be peaceful tonight."

Yan Bugui's grip on the handlebars tightened suddenly, making the bicycle bell tremble. "What?"

He blurted it out, almost forgetting to lean the bicycle against the wall.

The three women looked around and then grabbed his sleeve, pulling him into the house.

As the curtain fell, she lowered her voice, but her eyes gleamed: "Master, you've misunderstood this time."

Instead of getting angry, Lady Jia was overjoyed, as if she had found a gold ingot.

"this……"

Yan Bugui's eyebrows furrowed into a knot. "Did the sun rise in the west? With her temper, she can blow the roof off over the smallest thing. Will she really tolerate this?"

"Endure? She'd be more than happy to!"

The third aunt smirked. "Guess who that new Section Chief Jia is? He's Jia Zhangshi's eldest son, whom she lost years ago! Now that the entire villa belongs to the Jia family, she should be overjoyed. What's all the fuss about?"

Yan Bugui stood frozen at the table, speechless for a long while. "Eldest son?"

His voice changed, "We've lived in this courtyard for so many years, and we've only ever heard of Jia Dongxu. Where did this new boss come from?"

"He looked familiar to me at noon."

The three women dragged over a stool and sat down, gesturing as they spoke, "When Section Chief Jia came to see the house, I felt his face looked very familiar."

Upon hearing the name, I could guess seven or eight parts of it in my mind.

You didn't see the commotion that afternoon—when Madam Jia woke up and heard that the villa had been separated, she almost howled through the roof, pointing her finger at an old man and cursing him, even dragging in an old woman, saying that people were… sigh, those words were so awful that I can't even imitate them.

The middle-aged woman was so angry her face turned deathly pale, and she looked like she was about to faint.

She paused, then lowered her voice: "I thought it wasn't a big deal, so I went over and mentioned that the new section chief's surname was Jia."

Guess what? Madam Jia immediately fell silent, tears streaming down her face. She slapped her thigh and said that was her son, lost for many years, and went on and on for half a day recounting old stories—the chaotic years, the times they fled famine and were separated… It was heartbreaking to hear.

Yan Bugui listened intently, leaning forward: "Really? You're not mistaken?"

"It can't be wrong."

The three women nodded firmly, "It's just that Section Chief Jia seems to have been seriously injured in his early years, and he doesn't remember many things clearly. Only now does it match up."

"Incredible..."

Yan Bugui slowly leaned back in his chair, his eyes somewhat glazed over. "The head of security at the steel rolling mill... the Jia family is about to turn things around."

He suddenly remembered something, and a meaningful smile appeared on his lips: "Over the years, Lao Yi has put a lot of effort into the Jia family, just hoping that Dongxu's wife will take care of him in his old age and see him off in his final days."

Now that his older brother is back, and a powerful section chief at that, he'll probably have to start rethinking his plans.

The third aunt pursed her lips and said, "Don't forget, Qin Huairu was his apprentice."

With this position so firmly in place, can the Jia family easily extricate themselves?

"apprentice?"

Yan Bugui chuckled and tapped his fingers lightly on the table. "If the eldest son of the Jia family were just an ordinary citizen, then it would naturally be difficult."

But he's the head of the security department.

Old Yi, a level eight fitter, sounds impressive, but what is he compared to the security department? Besides, with the department head's abilities, getting his younger siblings transferred to easier positions is just a matter of a word, isn't it?

The old woman's eyes lit up, then she revealed a look of anticipation: "If that's the case, then there's going to be quite a show in our courtyard from now on."

"Looking is one thing, but..."

Yan Bugui stood up, dusted off his clothes, and said, "That's a lawsuit between their two families. We should just watch from a distance and not get involved."

As they were talking, the third aunt suddenly exclaimed, "Hey!"

He murmured, leaning closer, "Jia Dongming went out this afternoon and came back on a brand new, gleaming bicycle. There was a fat hen hanging on the handlebars, and the piece of pork belly in the net bag was this thick with fat—"

She held up three fingers to show her.

A glint of light flashed in Yan Bugui's eyes.

He cleared his throat and straightened his cuffs: "When Lao Yi and Lao Liu come back later, the three of us old men should go and visit our new neighbors."

In social interactions, proper etiquette must be observed.

* * *

"...We workers have power! Hey! We workers have power!"

The powerful singing voice burst forth from the loudspeakers, overflowing the corrugated iron roof of the factory.

Yi Zhonghai, however, found the tune extremely jarring.

Ever since Qin Huairu hurriedly took leave and left in the afternoon, he felt as if a cold, damp stone had fallen on his heart, and his eyelids kept twitching.

Before the broadcast had even faded, he had already quickly packed up his tools and hurriedly plunged into the flow of people leaving get off work.

As the setting sun slanted into the alleyway entrance, Yi Zhonghai finally dragged his feet and turned into the gatehouse of the courtyard house.

The shadow stretched long on the ground. Just as he stepped onto the bluestone slab in front of the threshold, Yan Bugui hurriedly came up from under the eaves of the winter wing, his sleeves still covered in chalk dust.

"Old Yi, you're finally back!"

Yan Bugui lowered his voice and glanced towards the central courtyard, "Our courtyard is quite lively today, the Jia family's side—"

"What happened to the Jia family?"

Yi Zhonghai's heart tightened, and the image of Qin Huairu hurriedly asking for leave at noon suddenly flashed into his mind, and he blurted out the words.