Courtyard Houses: Starting with Li Yunlong's Comrades-in-Arms

Wang Sanyong read the letter twice, his fingers gripping the edge of the paper tightly, a feeling he couldn't quite describe welling up inside him. Eleven years ago, in northwestern Shanxi, he followed Liu Yuheng to fight the Japanese. Life was incredibly hard back then; sometimes they couldn't even get a hot meal. But Liu Yuheng never mistreated his soldiers.

Later, he was injured and his legs became less agile, but Liu Yuheng didn't abandon him. He found a way to get him into the mess hall so that he could continue to stay in the army. When he was discharged and returned home, Liu Yuheng patted him on the shoulder and said, "When you get married, remember to send me a message."

Before he got married, he tried sending a letter, and to his surprise, Liu Yuheng actually remembered it and sent a letter and money back.

He felt a surge of heat in his heart, as if he had been burned by something.

Seeing that his expression was off, Li Caixia asked softly, "Honey, what's wrong? Whose letter is it?"

Wang Sanyong snapped out of his daze and realized he had been standing at the door of the main room for quite a while. He turned around, walked to the dining table, sat down again, spread the letter on the table, and said to the three pairs of eyes waiting for an answer, "It's a reply to the letter I sent out a while ago. It's from the old commander."

Old Wang's pipe stopped in mid-air, his eyes widening suddenly: "What? What did you say? You mean... that old commander you mentioned before who was awarded the rank of lieutenant general?"

Wang Sanyong nodded, turned the letter to the signature section with Liu Yuheng's name and address, and pointed to it: "That's him."

Old Wang jumped up, his hands trembling, forgetting even to put his pipe in his mouth. His voice was muffled, and it took him a while to finish the sentence: "...The old commander replied? Quick, tell me, what did he say?"

Wang Sanyong then briefly recounted the contents of the letter. Li Caixia sat quietly to the side, listening intently. When she heard that the hundred yuan was a wedding gift from Liu Yuheng, her breath caught in her throat for a moment.

From the time she met Wang Sanyong to their marriage, including the dowry and the wedding banquet, she only spent a total of ten yuan. This hundred yuan was ten times that amount.

The mother was stunned. She was holding a bowl, about to continue drinking soup, but the rim of the bowl hung in mid-air, and she didn't bring it to her lips for a long time. She was an illiterate rural woman and didn't really understand the weight of the words "lieutenant general," but she knew better than anyone the significance of one hundred yuan.

In those days, a strong laborer in the village would only receive a few dozen yuan at the end of the year after a year of hard work. She and Old Man Wang toiled in the fields for a living, and after a year of hard work, they were lucky to save a few yuan after expenses. But Old Commander Wang Sanyong gave them a hundred yuan right off the bat—that was their family's savings of several years.

She put down the bowl, her voice trembling with disbelief: "One hundred yuan... How... How can I possibly accept so much money from someone? They're such a high-ranking official, yet they still remember you and send so much money..."

Wang Sanyong saw through his mother's thoughts and quickly comforted her, "Mother, don't think too much about it. The old commander has always been a man of great loyalty and affection. Since he sent it, it's his way of showing his appreciation. We should just accept it. I'll thank him properly later if I have the chance."

Old Wang relit his pipe, took a couple of puffs, and smoke billowed from his nose and mouth, blurring his wrinkled face. He stared at the remittance slip on the table for a long time, then suddenly reached out his rough hand, picked it up along with the letter, and examined it closely, as if trying to memorize every word.

Then he carefully folded the letter and remittance slip, put them back in the envelope, looked up at Wang Sanyong, and said with an unprecedented seriousness in his tone: "Sanyong, keep this letter safe. Go to town tomorrow and find a frame to frame it and hang it on the wall."

Wang Sanyong was taken aback, his expression a mix of amusement and exasperation: "Dad, is it really necessary? It's just a letter, why would you frame it?"

"What do you mean, 'it's not that serious'!" Old Wang's eyes widened, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepening into deep furrows. "This is a letter from a lieutenant general! In ancient times, that's a Grand General! A second-rank official!"

Do you know what a second-rank official means?

"Our Wang family has never had such a distinguished person in eight generations."

"When someone writes you a letter, it's a sign of respect. If you don't keep it safe and it disappoints them, I'll be the first to kill you!"

Wang Sanyong was left speechless and exasperated by his father's harsh reprimand, but he couldn't argue back.

He knew perfectly well that in the eyes of the older generation, officials were like gods, and generals were like deities. If he said "no" again, his father might really hit him on the head with his pipe. He could only nod: "Okay, okay, I'll go find the best frame first thing tomorrow morning, frame it, and hang it in the center of the main room, alright?"

Old Wang nodded in satisfaction, put his pipe back in his mouth, and carefully checked the envelope again to make sure it wasn't folded or dirty. He then gently handed it back to Wang Sanyong, muttering, "In ancient times, that would be several ranks higher than a county magistrate... The old commander still remembers you; this is a blessing for our family..."

The mother nodded repeatedly, her eyes still a little red, but a smile already playing on her lips. She turned to Li Caixia and said gently, "Caixia, you made the right choice marrying into our family. Sanyong is successful and knows such a capable old leader; your future is bright."

Li Caixia responded softly with an "Yes," her gaze falling on the envelope on the table, before stealing a glance at Wang Sanyong.

She didn't actually know much about this man. Before she married him, the matchmaker only said that he had served in the army, had a proper job, was honest and reliable. As for what he had specifically done in the army or who he knew, she knew nothing.

Now she knows that this man once fought alongside a lieutenant general, who still remembers his kindness and sent him a hundred dollars as a congratulatory gift.

She suddenly realized that the person she had married might be much more substantial than she had imagined. The string that had been hanging in her heart seemed to loosen a little, and a sense of security gradually spread from the bottom of her heart, warm and comforting.

Wang Sanyong carefully put the envelope into the top drawer of the cabinet in the main room, then placed a book on top of it before turning around and sitting back down at the dining table.

He picked up his bowl, took his chopsticks again, glanced at his parents and wife, and smiled with a relaxed expression that only came after being warmed by their love: "Alright, let's eat, the food's getting cold."