Courtyard Houses: Longevity Since the War of Resistance

On a July night, you are a Mosquito.

Mosquito TV Station, Mosquito TV Station, this is the Mosquito Spring Festival Gala.

The two Liu brothers stood in the middle of the courtyard, serving as both an audience and food for the mosquitoes.

They had too many things to worry about, and their health wasn't good either; their chests and backs were burning and itchy. Inside the room, Liu Haizhong's snoring was like thunder, sometimes high, sometimes low, and even had a curve.

Liu Guangfu couldn't hold on any longer and cried out, "Brother, it hurts!"

Liu Guangtian gritted his teeth, slapped the mosquito on his arm to death, and looked at the pool of blood in his palm. Overwhelmed with grief, he muttered, "Damn it, even mosquitoes are bullying us!"

Li Shan's words from earlier that day kept replaying in my mind.

"So you just stay home every day, listening to your father yelling at you, and enduring unwarranted beatings and scoldings?"

"Are we waiting for him to be in a good mood and treat us to something nice?"

"Don't you have any ideas of your own?"

Thinking about myself, a twenty-year-old, I'm not even as carefree as that stray dog ​​in the yard. The dog can rummage through the trash can when it's hungry, but I have to ask permission first when I'm hungry.

"Guangfu," Liu Guangtian's voice was hoarse, "would you like to change your way of life?"

Liu Guangfu sobbed as he looked up, tears still streaming down his face. "Brother, what do you mean? What kind of life can we change? Change our father?"

"..." Liu Guangtian was taken aback. "Run. We're not staying here."

"Where are you going?" Liu Guangfu panicked. "We have no food stamps and no money. Are you going to go out and beg for food?"

"Let's go find Section Chief Li." Liu Guangtian's eyes gradually hardened. "Didn't he say during the day that we could talk to him once we'd thought it through? Let's go find him now!"

"But...but it's the middle of the night, people are sleeping."

"By dawn, when Mom and Dad are up, do you think we can still run away?" Liu Guangtian lowered his voice. "Let's go back inside and grab our things while we can, and hurry up and leave. At worst, we'll have to wait at the alley entrance until dawn."

The two brothers tiptoed back into the house, their movements and expressions like those of thieves.

No, they're thieves now, stealing their own things.

There wasn't much to take, just two worn-out changes of clothes, faded from washing. Liu Guangtian had secretly saved two yuan and thirty cents, wrapped in several layers of a tattered handkerchief.

The courtyard was eerily quiet at four in the morning. The two brothers crouched low as they passed through the middle courtyard. As they passed the front courtyard, they glanced at Li Feng's room, which was dark.

"Let's go outside first." Liu Guangtian pulled his younger brother and pushed open the courtyard gate. The door hinges creaked open, sounding particularly jarring in the silence.

The two of them shuddered in fright and darted out like startled rabbits, disappearing into the dim light outside.

They squatted at the entrance of the alley until dawn, looking like two homeless people. Liu Guangfu was so sleepy that he kept yawning, while Liu Guangtian looked around warily, afraid that his father would jump out from some corner.

"Brother, do we look like underground workers?" Liu Guangfu suddenly asked.

Liu Guangtian rolled his eyes at him: "Are underground workers ever this disheveled? They're doing intelligence work, we're just running away from home."

Just as he figured Li Feng should be up by now, he went back. There he saw Li Feng brushing his teeth in the yard, his mouth full of foam, his eyes still sleepy.

Although he said he was still sleepy, Li Feng had actually been observing the Liu family all night. He wouldn't feel tired even if he didn't sleep for a day, let alone a lifetime. The reason he didn't brush his teeth in the yard this morning was to keep the Liu brothers out of the yard, so that if they ran into Liu Haizhong, the two of them would have to kneel down again.

Seeing their disheveled appearance, carrying bundles and with injuries on their faces, Li Feng spat out the foam in his mouth, rinsed his mouth, and showed no surprise.

"Have you thought it through?" Li Feng asked. Liu Guangtian nodded emphatically, the bundle swaying slightly. "I've thought it through! Section Chief Li, we want to live a life worthy of being called human!"

Li Feng glanced at them, then gestured with his chin toward the other end of the alley: "Come with me."

The two brothers were taken aback, then quickly followed.

As Liu Guangfu walked, he glanced back at the gate of the courtyard house, his heart pounding. His father was probably still snoring right now.

Li Feng led them through two alleys. There was a storefront facing the street with the door closed. He took out his key from his pocket, unlocked it, and pushed the door open.

The room was empty, only about 20 square meters, with cement floor, whitewashed walls, and some junk left by the previous tenant piled up in the corner.

But there's a large window facing the street, letting in the morning sunlight.

Bright.

"Come in."

The two brothers followed them in, looking around curiously.

Liu Guangfu muttered under his breath, "Brother, this house is even more dilapidated than our old house." Liu Guangtian glared at him.

Li Feng picked up two broken stools from the corner of the wall, wiped them off, and said, "Sit down."

The two brothers sat down, but Li Feng didn't. He leaned against the window, looking at them: "Tell me, what happened?"

Liu Guangtian swallowed hard and recounted in detail the events of the previous night: being beaten, forced to stand as punishment, and trying to escape. His voice trembled slightly when he spoke of the belt striking his back.

After listening, Li Feng nodded.

"Okay, you had the guts to run away, that's the first step you took correctly. But what will you do after you run away? Have you thought about that?"

The two brothers looked at each other in bewilderment.

Liu Guangtian hesitated for a moment, then cautiously asked, "Section Chief Li, do you need any odd jobs?" He quickly added, "We're strong! We can do any kind of work!"

Liu Guangfu nodded vigorously beside him, looking as if he were about to carry a heavy bag.

Li Feng almost burst out laughing, but he held it in.

He took the bunch of keys out of his pocket and threw them on the bench in front of Liu Guangtian. "I'm renting this room for three years."

"This is...this is for us to stay in?" Liu Guangtian looked at the keys, then at Li Feng.

"A place to stay?" Li Feng raised an eyebrow. "This is for you two to use for your business."

"Do business?!" the two brothers exclaimed in unison.

Li Feng leaned back, the windowsill resting against his waist: "The four basic necessities of life—clothing, food, housing, and transportation—Sha Zhu deals in food, while you two are going to deal in clothing! The country is becoming more and more stable, and life will get better and better. Women hold up half the sky; that's no exaggeration. More and more women will be working in the future, and with money in their hands, they'll want to dress decently and nicely. This is an inevitable trend."

He looked at the two brothers and added, "Of course, I'm not asking you to wear women's clothes."

Li Feng continued, "In Shanghai and Hong Kong, women's clothing has long been an industry. We started late here, but we'll catch up sooner or later. What you two need to learn is this business."

Liu Guangfu finally couldn't hold back any longer: "Section Chief Li, we don't know how to make clothes. We can't even sew on buttons properly."

"Who told you to do this?" Li Feng said. "Go learn, observe, and make contact first. I've already asked someone to buy train tickets to Shanghai; I'm leaving this afternoon."

"Go to Shanghai?!" the two brothers exclaimed in unison, this time loud enough to send a clump of dust falling from the roof and landing right on Liu Guangfu's head.

Liu Guangfu didn't even bother taking pictures; he stared intently at Li Feng, as if listening to gibberish.

"Yes." Li Feng straightened up.

"When we get to Shanghai, I'll take you two to visit some state-owned garment and textile factories, as well as tailor shops and department stores. I don't expect you to become experts in one trip, but you'll broaden your horizons, learn what good materials and styles are, and understand how they operate."

His gaze fell on the two brothers: "I'll take care of your food, lodging, and transportation this time. But you must remember, this is an opportunity, not a chance to enjoy yourself. Keep your eyes wide open and your minds sharp. If you succeed, this storefront will be your starting point when you come back. If you fail..."

He didn't finish speaking, but both brothers understood.

Liu Guangtian could already picture himself slinking back to the courtyard house and being whipped by his father with an even thicker belt, and he couldn't help but shudder.

Liu Guangtian jumped to his feet. "Section Chief Li, we will definitely study hard! We will never let you down!"

"Don't rush to make promises." Li Feng waved his hand. "Go wash your face and get ready. See you at the train station at three o'clock this afternoon. Also," he pointed to the bundle, "repack this thing. People who don't know better will think you're going to blow up a bunker."

The two brothers thanked him profusely as they walked out. At the door, Liu Guangfu suddenly turned back and asked earnestly, "Section Chief Li, does Shanghai have braised pork?"

Li Feng was silent for two seconds: "...Yes."

"Is it as good as what our silly brother Zhu makes?"

"...Go and try it yourself."

"Oh." Liu Guangfu nodded, then asked, "Do people in Shanghai also eat cornbread?"

Li Feng took a deep breath: "3 PM, at the train station. Ask any more questions, and the ticket will be invalid."

Liu Guangfu shrank back in fright and quickly ran after his brother.