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

On the kang (a heated brick bed) in the east room of the courtyard, Li Jing'an leaned against the wall, his breathing evened out, and struck a match to light a cigarette. Smoke curled up in the room.

Wei Jialing rested her head on his arm, her palm against his chest, and asked softly with a frown, "Jing'an, what's wrong with you today? You seem out of sorts."

Li Jing'an slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, looked at the rafters on the roof, and sighed: "Sigh, I have something on my mind."

Wei Jialing propped herself up, the blanket slipping from her shoulder to reveal half of her smooth arm. She looked at him: "Jing'an, what's wrong? Tell me what happened."

Li Jing'an didn't answer, but simply reached out and pulled her closer to his chest, letting her cheek rest against his chest, his fingers gently stroking her hair.

After a long silence, he finally spoke: "I didn't want to say this. Yesterday, I accompanied my father to visit my grandfather's grave—he's been talking about it for days. We happened to run into the village secretary at the foot of the mountain. I wanted to ask him to help me buy some saplings to plant around the grave to provide some shade. But he made outrageous demands, not only asking for wages but also for road repairs, and even a batch of steel bars."

"Huh?" Wei Jialing suddenly looked up, her expression changing slightly. "Isn't he a bandit? This is clearly bullying! Jing'an, we absolutely can't give it to him! Or... should I go home and talk to my dad?"

Li Jing'an smiled wryly and shook his head: "How could I trouble your father with such a small matter? It's not a big deal. If it really comes down to it, I'll just get him a batch; it's better to spend the money than cause trouble. If I trouble your father, what will outsiders say about me? What will your father think of me?"

Wei Jialing gazed at him for a moment, then reached out and touched his face, saying softly, "You're just too kind-hearted, that's why people bully you. Fine, I won't tell my dad, I'll go directly to Secretary Han and have him give the lower-ups a heads-up. Anyone who dares to bully us has to be taught a lesson."

Li Jing'an lowered his head, kissed her forehead, and looked deeply into her eyes: "Jialing, you're so good to me."

His voice was slightly hoarse as he leaned down and gently pressed her back onto the bed. "I'm ready again, let's continue."

A north wind swept past the window, swirling up a few withered leaves from the yard, which then flew away in a twilight.

In Hongyun Commune, Huairou County, a series of urgent phone calls rang out.

The commune secretary put down his enamel mug, strode over, grabbed the receiver, and asked, "Hello, who is this?"

"Oh, Secretary Wang! Hello, hello! What instructions do you have?" He straightened his back unconsciously.

"Yes, yes, Shimo Village is under the jurisdiction of our commune, yes, yes... Ah?" His face suddenly changed. "No way? Is there a mistake? Secretary Wang, I am quite familiar with the brigade secretary of Shimo Village, his name is Jin Fusheng. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, their village was a well-known fortified village. The old secretary has always been upright. This... could it be that someone is falsely accusing him? You know, in grassroots work, it is inevitable to offend people."

After hearing what was said on the other end of the phone, the commune secretary's face grew increasingly grim, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Yes, yes, yes... Has he lost his mind? Daring to extort money from the family of a municipal leader!" He pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat. "It's my fault for not doing my job properly, it was my oversight... I wasn't that close to him, my impression of him is from years ago. Oh dear, I haven't done my job properly at all, I didn't notice he'd changed like this for so long! I apologize, I'm ashamed! I never imagined that right under my nose, this once-fortress village would be ruined by someone like him!"

"Yes, yes, I understand, I'll take care of it immediately! We will resolutely crack down on bad elements hiding in our ranks! Please rest assured, leaders of the municipal party committee, I will definitely give you a satisfactory answer!"

"Yes, yes, his third son teaches at our commune's primary school... Okay, okay, I'll arrange it right away! Don't worry, don't worry at all!"

After hanging up the phone, the commune secretary slammed his hand on the table, making the enamel mug jump and spill tea all over the table. He shouted sternly towards the door, "Little Liu!"

A young man rushed in: "Secretary, what can I do for you?"

"Xiao Liu, go to the commune primary school right now and call back Jin Fusheng's third son, the brigade secretary of Shimo Village, and tell him to get home immediately!"

"Secretary, this..." Xiao Liu was a little confused, "What reason? How should I tell him?"

"No reason needed!" The secretary's face was full of anger, his hand slamming loudly on the table. "Just tell him to go back and ask his 'good father'!"

Xiao Liu didn't dare to ask any more questions, nodded meekly, and ran out in a flash.

Shimo Village, the old Jin family residence.

Jin Fusheng pushed open the door with a gloomy face. The eldest, second, and third sons, whose families had been waiting inside, all stood up and gathered around him.

"Dad, what's wrong? What happened?"

"Yes, Dad, I was in class at school when they suddenly sent me home without saying a word."

"Dad, I was busy at the match factory in the county, but someone forcibly called me back!"

The one speaking was the second son, wearing a work uniform stained with matchstick dust, looking completely bewildered.

Jin Fusheng remained silent, walked past the crowd, went straight to the chair in the main room, and sat down heavily.

"Sigh—I'm doomed." He let out a long sigh, the sound seeming to come from deep within his chest.

The eldest son rushed forward: "Father, what exactly happened? Tell me!"

"It's on the hillside behind the mountain, that steel mill cadre I told you about the other day—" Jin Fusheng raised his head, his cloudy eyes sweeping over his children's faces, "We're in big trouble. He's a family member of a municipal party committee leader."

The room fell silent instantly, so quiet that you could hear the crackling of the firewood in the stove. One by one, the children's faces turned pale.

"Dad, back then you... you were asking people for money and steel bars..." The eldest son's voice trembled. "What did the commune say?"

"The commune didn't say how to handle it, only that they would send someone over in the next couple of days, and that I must make sure to entertain them well and satisfy them. If I don't handle it well—" Jin Fusheng paused, "the county and the commune will increase the amount of grain allocated to our village next year."

"What?!"

A single sentence struck the room like a thunderclap.

"Father, the harvest has only just started to recover, and now you're issuing extra grain rations? This is going to drive the villagers to their deaths!"

"Yes, Dad, things have just gotten a little better this year, we absolutely can't afford to get sick! There are hundreds of people in our village, young and old! If the villagers find out that we offended someone and caused this mess, they'll tear our whole family apart!"

"Enough!" Jin Fusheng slammed his hand on the armrest of his chair. "How could I not know what you're saying? How could I not know?! It's come to this, let's leave it to fate! If they're not satisfied, the second and third sons can forget about going to work, and the eldest son can forget about taking over my job—you'd all go back to the fields and toil for a living!"

The family was completely silent. The north wind howled outside the window, sweeping across the eaves, and the house was deathly quiet.