I feel right at home in the world of the courtyard house.

Deep in the eastern part of the city, there was a dilapidated tenement.

This place is a completely different world from the courtyard where Li Jing'an lives and the small Western-style house of the Wei family. The courtyard wall is crooked and the roof tiles are incomplete. Broken wooden planks, old bricks and broken glass are piled up everywhere. When the wind blows, dust, rotten paper and coal ash are all rolled up together, creating a hazy gray scene.

At the very back of the courtyard, in a small, dark, and damp back room, was the home of Xu Wangshu, Jiang Yuebai, and their family of four.

The room had almost no decent furniture.

The only bed was made of several old wooden planks pieced together, covered with a thin, faded mattress. In the center of the room stood a broken wooden table with a missing leg, propped up by bricks. Under the roof, a thick rope was tied diagonally, covered with clothes belonging to adults and children. All the clothes had one thing in common—patches upon patches, layer upon layer, the stitches fine and dense, washed clean, yet unable to conceal the poverty and hardship that was immediately apparent.

Light streamed in through the small, old-paper-covered window, making it dim and the air felt damp and musty, mixed with a faint smell of paste from pasting matchboxes.

"Mom," a little girl in tattered clothes, but with a clean face, looked up at her mother with bright eyes and asked softly, "What are we eating today?"

The woman's name was Jiang Yuebai. She was twenty-seven years old. She had gentle features and a clean and tidy demeanor. She looked like an educated and well-mannered person. However, long-term hard work and poverty had etched a weariness on her face that was not commensurate with her age.

She gently stroked her daughter's head, her voice so tender it could melt your heart: "Today, let's eat sweet potatoes again, okay?"

The little girl pouted, her eyes slightly reddened, and she protested weakly, "I eat sweet potatoes every day... I don't want to eat sweet potatoes anymore."

Jiang Yuebai felt a pang of sadness, her nose suddenly stinging, but she forced herself to hold back the pain, squatted down, and gently hugged her daughter: "Sweetie, sweet potatoes are delicious too, they're sweet and warming. When Mommy finds a job, and when Daddy feels better, whatever you want to eat, Mommy will buy it for you, okay?"

"Mom," a little boy of about six years old spoke up sensibly, his voice small but particularly heartbreaking, "I like sweet potatoes, I'll eat them."

Jiang Yuebai could no longer hold back. She pulled both children into her arms and hugged them tightly. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

Just then, a series of light footsteps came from outside the door, along with a series of suppressed coughs.

It was Xu Wangshu, the man, who returned.

He was twenty-eight years old, thin, pale, and with a sickly bluish-gray tinge to his lips. Every few steps, he would bend over and cough, his whole body trembling as if he were coughing up his internal organs.

"Moonlight White!" He burst through the door, ignoring his cough and shortness of breath, his eyes brimming with barely suppressed joy, his voice trembling, "Good news! Fantastic news!"

Jiang Yuebai quickly released the child, stood up to greet him, and supported her swaying husband, asking anxiously, "What happened? What's wrong? Tell me slowly, don't rush."

Xu Wangshu grasped his wife's hand; her palm was icy cold, yet trembled with excitement. "Officer Feng from the neighborhood office just came over to tell me that the grocery store not far from us has a vacancy for a job! Officer Feng said that as soon as the labor bureau approves the openings, the neighborhood office will recommend you first!"

Jiang Yuebai froze, her eyes widening in disbelief. "Really? That's a grocery store... a permanent position! Really? You can really give it to us?"

Her voice was full of surprise, but beneath that surprise lay a deep sense of inferiority and doubt.

Families like theirs, with no background, no connections, and dirt poor, why should they get such good jobs?

"Really!" Xu Wangshu nodded vigorously, her tone utterly certain. "Officer Feng said that the neighborhood committee held a meeting to specifically discuss this, and after looking around, no one in this area is more impoverished or more eligible than our family. It was decided by the organization, there's no mistake!"

"..."

Jiang Yuebai opened her mouth, but couldn't say a word. Tears rolled down her cheeks without warning, splashing onto her clothes and leaving a small wet patch.

Those weren't tears of sadness.

It was tears of hope that welled up after suffering, exhaustion, and despair for so long, when suddenly a glimmer of light appeared.

Seeing his wife cry, Xu Wangshu's own eyes instantly reddened. He suppressed a cough and gently wiped away her tears.

The little girl in the mother's arms didn't understand the adult world. She only saw her mother crying, and she was so frightened that she cried out "Wah!" and tears started falling from her eyes as well.

The little boy quickly raised his sleeve and clumsily wiped away his mother's tears, comforting her like a little adult: "Mommy, don't cry, Mommy, don't cry."

"Okay, stop crying, stop crying." Jiang Yuebai took a deep breath, forcefully wiped away her tears, forced back them, and managed a smile. "Mommy, don't cry, Mommy is happy. You guys go out and play for a while, keep an eye on your little sister, Mommy will go cook now."

"I'm not going out to play," the little boy said seriously, shaking his head. "I'm going to help my dad paste matchboxes."

"Then I'll help Dad too!" The little girl immediately followed her brother's example.

"Good children." Jiang Yuebai patted the two children's heads, feeling both sad and warm inside. She turned and walked out of the dark little house to start a fire and cook a simple meal.

Inside the house, Xu Wangshu, despite her frail health, sat at a broken table with her two young children, painstakingly pasting matchboxes together.

The paste was cold, the paper was rough, and the child's little hands were red from the cold, but he still carefully applied and stuck it on, stroke by stroke.

This family has suffered so much.

Xu Wangshu, a man, was also a high school graduate, cultured and idealistic. Upon graduation, he responded to the nation's call, resolutely boarded a train heading south to the southern border, contributing to the country's development.

In that remote and arduous land, he met Jiang Yuebai, who also came from out of town, was a high school graduate, and shared the same ideals. The two were about the same age, had similar interests, and took care of each other in life. Although life was hard, they were rich in spirit.

A few years later, the two naturally got married, had children, and lived a simple but peaceful and happy life.

But fate is cruel.

His parents, who lived far away in Beijing, passed away one after another. Due to the long distance and inconvenient transportation, he was unable to see them one last time. Even attending their funerals became a luxury, a lifelong regret in his heart.

Even greater disasters are yet to come.

Two years ago, Xu Wangshu was diagnosed with pneumoconiosis while working.

He suffers from lung sclerosis and difficulty breathing, making it impossible for him to do heavy work, earn wages, or afford medical treatment. Because he hasn't worked long enough or is under the legal age to retire, he can only apply for resignation, receiving a meager monthly allowance of just over ten yuan, barely enough to cover his medication and not enough to support his family.

With nowhere else to turn, the couple had no choice but to return to Beijing.

Jiang Yuebai quit her hard-won stable job in southern Xinjiang and returned to this unfamiliar and cold city with her husband.

Xu Wangshu's idea was to find her a job, and he would also find her a temporary job, as long as it would allow the family to survive.

But reality is cold and harsh.

No house, no household registration, no background, no support, the man is sick, the woman is raising a child, they have no relatives or friends, and are penniless.

After they returned, the neighborhood committee saw how difficult their situation was and helped them apply for relief funds and find them odd jobs pasting matchboxes. They earned a few cents or dimes a day, barely enough to make ends meet and survive.

Life was so hard that there seemed to be no end in sight.

Today, the news brought by the neighborhood committee was like a ray of light, shining into this dark, damp, and dilapidated house that was about to be overwhelmed by despair.

Grocery store.

Formal position.

They had wages, food coupons, and a stable income.

As long as Jiang Yuebai can return to work, the family can survive, the man can focus on recovering, the children can have enough to eat and wear, and there will still be hope for this family.

As Xu Wangshu coughed and pasted matchboxes together, looking at his two sensible children beside him and his busy wife outside, a faint but incredibly firm light rekindled in his cloudy eyes.

He prayed silently in his heart.

I pray that the spot will be filled smoothly.

Pray that the job will go smoothly.

I pray that this time, God will open His eyes and give this family a helping hand.