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

On October 1st, before dawn, the courtyard house was already bustling with activity.

Liu Tingting was the first to wake up. It was still dark when she got up from the kang (heated brick bed), rubbing her eyes, and went to the door of Wang Xiuhe and Liu Shuanzhu's room. She knocked on the door and called out, "Dad, Mom, get up!"

Wang Xiuhe was woken up by her voice. She responded from inside the house, put on her clothes, and came out to open the door. She saw Liu Tingting wearing that red jacket, her hair was a mess like a bird's nest, and she was still sleepy.

Wang Xiuhe was both amused and annoyed: "Why are you up so early? It's not even dawn yet!"

"Let's go watch the military parade!" Liu Tingting said confidently. "There's a parade today, lots of People's Liberation Army soldiers are marching, and there are tanks and artillery too!"

Wang Xiuhe, disturbed by her commotion, lost her sleepiness and turned to wake Liu Shuanzhu. Liu Shuanzhu turned over and muttered, "It's still early," before Wang Xiuhe yanked the covers off him, forcing him to reluctantly get up.

Liu Erhe and Liang Fangfang were also woken up by Liu Tingting's shouts. The newlyweds had only been married for a little over three months and were at the most affectionate stage of their marriage. They weren't annoyed by being woken up and got up to wash up with smiles.

The family ate a simple breakfast. By the time they finished, it was already dawn, and the eastern sky was turning a pale white. The sounds of doors opening could be heard from each household in the courtyard.

When Liu Shuanzhu's family stepped out of the courtyard, many people were already walking out of the alley. Some were wearing new clothes, some were carrying water jugs, and some were holding stools, all surging in the same direction.

They hadn't walked far when they ran into Liang Cheng and his wife. Liang Cheng was wearing a navy blue Zhongshan suit, and his wife was wearing a dark red jacket. They waved and greeted Liu Shuanzhu's family as soon as they saw them.

"Father-in-law! Mother-in-law!" Liang Cheng strode over. "You're only going now? I thought you'd gone much earlier!"

Liu Shuanzhu replied with a smile, "We have a little one here, always dawdling and unable to leave the house." He then glanced at Liu Tingting.

Liu Tingting was displeased upon hearing this, pouting and saying, "I didn't dawdle! I was the first one up!"

Everyone laughed, and the two families joined together, following the flow of people forward. The street became increasingly crowded, with elderly people leaning on canes and adults carrying children; the entire street was packed with people, a dense, dark mass.

Liu Tingting ran in the lead, her short legs carrying her as she would run far away and then come running back.

She ran up to Liu Shuanzhu, tugging at his sleeve, and said, "Dad, hurry up! All the good spots will be taken!"

Wang Xiuhe, panting, said from behind, "Slow down, slow down, why are you running so fast? The ceremony hasn't started yet, we're just waiting here."

"Fine, I'll wait then!" Liu Tingting persisted. "You can see much better from the front!"

The family followed the crowd for about forty minutes before finally arriving at the viewing area for the general public.

When they arrived, there were already quite a few people there, gathered in twos and threes in the open space. Some were standing, some were sitting, some had spread out a mat on the ground to sit on, and some simply sat on their shoes.

The front row seats were already taken, packed tightly together in several tiers. Liu Tingting stood on tiptoe to look ahead, but couldn't see the front. Frustrated, she jumped up and down, muttering, "I told you all to hurry up and leave! Now look what happened, we can't squeeze in."

Liu Erhe chuckled and patted her head: "What's the rush? You can see from the back too. Look over there, on the steps, you can see far from there, it's better than being stuck in the front and not being able to see anything."

Liu Tingting looked in the direction Liu Erhe was pointing and sure enough, she saw a row of steps not far away. The height was just right; standing on them, one could easily reach over the heads of the people in front. The family quickly went over and found a spot on the steps.

Liu Shuanzhu spread the old newspapers he had brought on the steps, and the family sat down. Liu Erhe raised his wrist and looked at the watch; the hands pointed to a little after seven in the morning.

"We'll have to wait." Liu Erhe lowered his wrist and told his family, "The ceremony doesn't start until ten, and it's only a little past seven now. We still have to wait almost three hours." (Parallel world, don't take this too seriously!!!)

"Three hours?" Liu Tingting's eyes widened in disbelief. "That long?"

"What do you think?" Liu Erhe said with a smile, "Such a big ceremony, it's not like a dinner party where you can just show up and start eating. They have to prepare so many things, tens of thousands of people, they have to line up before they can leave, it's not like you can just come and go as you please."

Liu Tingting pouted, but quickly perked up again, grabbing Liang Fangfang's hand and asking, "Sister-in-law, do you think we'll see Big Brother today?"

Liang Fangfang was stumped by the question and glanced at Liu Erhe.

Liu Erhe thought for a moment and said, "Not necessarily, but you might be able to see where he's standing. Just keep your eyes peeled and look for him."

Liu Tingting nodded vigorously, sat up straight, placed her hands on her knees, and stared intently ahead.

The family had been sitting and waiting for a short while when a commotion arose behind them, with people speaking loudly. Liu Erhe turned around and saw Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, Yan Bugui, and He Daqing, followed by Jia Dongxu, He Yuzhu, Xu Damao, Liu Guangqi, and Yan Jiecheng, a group of young men.

He Daqing walked in front and shouted as soon as he saw Liu Shuanzhu, "Master Liu! You're here really early! When we left, no one was home. I figured you must have arrived a long time ago."

Liu Shuanzhu replied with a smile, "That's right, we were also woken up by Erhe and Tingting, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to get up. My wife and I originally thought we could just stay at home and listen to the noise, but the kids wouldn't have it and insisted on dragging us out."

He Daqing laughed a few times, turned around and looked around, clicking his tongue in admiration: "Good heavens, there are so many people! We've been walking all this way, and there are people everywhere, like a bustling market. I've never seen anything like this in my life."

Liu Erhe stood up, dusted himself off, and beckoned a few people over. They could squeeze a few people onto the steps. Yi Zhonghai didn't stand on ceremony and came over with a few men, sitting down next to Liu Shuanzhu and letting out a long sigh of relief.

"Master Liu, is your eldest son here today?" Yi Zhonghai asked as he sat down.

Liu Shuanzhu shook his head: "I don't know, he didn't tell us. We never ask about his work."

Yi Zhonghai grunted in response and didn't press the matter further. He took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, pulled one out, struck a match, lit it, and took a deep drag.

Liu Haizhong sat down next to Yi Zhonghai, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan, and muttered, "Wow, there are so many people. Has everyone in the capital come? I've never seen anything like this in all my years."

Yan Bugui found a seat next to him and adjusted his glasses: "Of course! What day is it today? It's the day of a new dynasty, a day that only happens once every few centuries. How could we not come and see?"

Liu Shuanzhu looked around and, not seeing many women, casually asked, "Master Yi, where are your wives? Why didn't they come with you?"

Yi Zhonghai smiled, a hint of helplessness in his voice: "How could they possibly squeeze in? We grown men are thick-skinned, so we just squeeze in. They're too embarrassed to try, so they'll probably go home in a bit."

Liu Haizhong nodded in agreement: "That's right, my wife did too. She said there were too many people and she was afraid of getting lost, so she stayed at home."

Liu Shuanzhu looked around and, sure enough, found that most of the people around him were men, with few women and even fewer with children. If they had arrived any later, they probably wouldn't have been able to squeeze onto the steps.

"That's true." Liu Shuanzhu looked away and said with a smile, "If we had come a little later, we would probably still be squeezing in at the back, unable to get in at all."

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye.

At first, Liu Tingting sat up straight with her eyes wide open, but after a while, she couldn't sit still anymore. She started to twist and turn on the steps, sometimes lying down, sometimes leaning on Wang Xiuhe's shoulder, and sometimes standing up and jumping a couple of times.

She tugged at Liu Erhe's sleeve again, her lips pouting so much they could hang an oil bottle on them: "Second Brother, how much longer? Why hasn't it started yet?"

Liu Erhe glanced at her, reached out and patted her on the head, his tone a mix of helplessness and amusement: "Tingting, you've asked eight times already."

Liu Tingting counted on her fingers for a moment, and it seemed she had indeed asked many times, but she wasn't going to admit it. Pouting, she said, "Eight times? I only asked three times!"

"Three times?" Liu Erhe shook his head with a smile. "Three times multiplied by three is more than that. Look at you, your mouth hasn't stopped since you sat down here."

The people sitting around were amused by the conversation between the brother and sister.

Liu Erhe raised his wrist and looked at his watch: "One more hour. Tingting, be patient, just one more hour and you'll see the tanks and cannons you've been longing for."

Liu Tingting pouted and reluctantly said "Oh," resting her head on Liu Erhe's arm while her eyes remained fixed on the city gate tower ahead.

Just then, He Yuzhu suddenly shouted, "Hey! People are coming from the city wall!"

Although the boy was only fourteen years old, he had sharp eyes and was the first to notice the commotion on the city wall. Everyone around him was attracted by his shout and looked up in unison.

Sure enough, people began to come up to the city wall. First, several cadres in Zhongshan suits walked steadily up the wall in twos and threes and stood behind the railing. Next came generals in military uniforms, some walking alone, some in twos and threes, talking as they went.

Then came representatives dressed in various colors: an old gentleman in a long robe and mandarin jacket, a woman in a cheongsam, and representatives in ethnic minority costumes. The colorful array of clothing created a unique scene on the city gate tower.

The crowd suddenly became excited. Shouts of "They're here! They're here!" were heard everywhere. Some people stood up and stood on tiptoe to look, while others lifted their children onto their shoulders.

Liu Erhe also craned his neck to look up at the city tower, but the distance was too far. His eyesight was not as good as He Yuzhu's, and he could only vaguely see that there were indeed many people standing on the city tower. Both corners were full of people, a dark mass, but a large area in the middle was still empty, as if they were waiting for someone.

"I see, I see, people are really coming up." Liu Erhe looked away and said to Liu Tingting, "But don't worry, the important people haven't come up yet, we still have to wait."