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

Liu Tingting was so anxious she was jumping up and down, but she was too short. The people standing in front of her blocked her view completely. Even when she stood on tiptoe, she couldn't see the city gate. She could only see the dark backs of the adults' heads and shoulders.

She tugged at Liu Erhe's sleeve, her voice trembling with tears, "Second Brother, I can't see! The people in front of me are too tall, I can't see anything!"

Liu Erhe sighed helplessly, picked up Liu Tingting, and let her sit on his shoulders. Liu Tingting suddenly grew almost a meter taller, her view opening up dramatically. She became excited, wrapping her arms around Liu Erhe's head, swinging her legs back and forth, shouting, "I see it! I see it! There are so many people on the city wall!"

"Stop shaking me!" Liu Erhe was dizzy from his sister shaking him, so he quickly grabbed her legs. "Behave yourself, don't shake me over."

Liu Tingting didn't care about any of that; she stared intently as she carefully searched the city wall.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up.

"Big Brother!" Liu Tingting suddenly shouted, "I saw Big Brother! That one! The one in the southeast corner! The one in military uniform!"

Everyone was startled by Liu Tingting's shout.

Liu Shuanzhu suddenly looked up, following the direction Liu Tingting was pointing. Wang Xiuhe squinted, looking closely. Liu Erhe put his sister down from his shoulder, hugged her, and also looked in that direction. Liang Cheng and his wife also stood up, craning their necks.

Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, Yan Bugui, He Daqing, and those few teenagers all looked up at the southeast corner of the city gate tower.

There were indeed several people in military uniforms standing at the southeast corner of the city gate. But the distance was too great, at least several hundred meters. From this vantage point, those people were barely bigger than a finger, and their facial features were completely indistinguishable. You could only vaguely make out that a few people were standing there, some talking, and some looking at the square.

"Where? Where is it?" He Daqing squinted and looked for a long time, but couldn't see anything clearly. He turned to Liu Tingting and asked.

Liu Tingting pointed anxiously, "It's over there! The one in the southeast corner! The one in military uniform! There are two other people next to him, talking to him! Can't you see him?"

He Yuzhu craned his neck to look for a long time, then shook his head: "Tingting, how can you see faces from this far away? Everyone looks the same to me, I can't tell who's who."

Xu Damao chimed in, "Exactly! What can you see from that far away? Forget faces, even the colors of clothes are blurry. You must be mistaken. How could your older brother be there?"

Jia Dongxu chuckled and said, "Tingting probably misses Yuheng too much; she sees everyone as a reflection of him."

Upon hearing this, Liu Tingting panicked: "I'm not mistaken! It's my older brother! It's him! If you don't believe me, fine!"

Wang Xiuhe looked for a long time but still couldn't see anything clearly. However, seeing how anxious Liu Tingting was, she quickly tried to smooth things over: "Alright, alright, it's your older brother, it's your older brother. You have sharp eyes, we old folks can't see clearly."

Liu Shuanzhu smiled and shook his head, patting Liu Tingting's head: "Alright, alright, just pretend you saw your older brother. But don't shout, there are so many people on the city wall, he won't hear you if you shout, don't make your voice hoarse."

Liu Erhe quickly tried to comfort her, "Yes, yes, Tingting has the sharpest eyes, none of us can compare. Just watch quietly, and after the ceremony, your older brother will definitely come back. Then you can ask him where he stood today and see what he says, okay?"

Liu Tingting wiped her eyes and stopped arguing, but she was absolutely certain that it was her older brother, there was no mistake.

She guessed correctly; the person in military uniform standing at the southeast corner of the city gate was indeed Liu Yuheng.

At this moment, Liu Yuheng was standing behind the railing at the southeast corner of the city gate, talking to two old leaders. These two were old leaders he had known since the Jin-Sui Military Region period; one was a senior staff officer at headquarters, and the other was a former leader of the Jin-Sui Military Region.

"Yu Heng," the old commander from headquarters said with a smile, looking him over, "you've risen through the ranks quite quickly. Among the regimental commanders of the Jin-Sui region back then, you were the last to become one. I remember when you became a regimental commander, Li Yunlong, Kong Jie, and a few others had already been regimental commanders for several years. But now? You're the first to be promoted to column commander, aren't you?"

Liu Yuheng smiled and bowed slightly: "Old Chief, are you praising me or insulting me? I'm just lucky. I caught a good time. The organization trusts me and gives me responsibilities, so I just have to bite the bullet and do it."

Another senior officer smiled and shook his head, patting him on the shoulder: "Good luck? There's no such thing as good luck on the battlefield. You survived the battlefield and rose from a company-level staff officer to a corps commander. It wasn't luck, it was real ability."

Liu Yuheng was a little embarrassed by the praise. He scratched his head and said with a smile, "Old commander, please don't praise me. I can't take praise."

The two old leaders exchanged a glance and both laughed.

The old commander of the Jin-Sui Military Region suddenly changed the subject, looked Liu Yuheng up and down, and said with a smile, "Yuheng, the war is almost over now, shouldn't you start thinking about your personal life? You're twenty-four, almost twenty-five, not young anymore."

Liu Yuheng was taken aback by the sudden topic. He opened his mouth, but before he could think of a reply, another senior officer chimed in, "Right, right, I almost forgot. Yuheng, you're still not married, are you? Want your sister-in-law to introduce you to someone?"

Liu Yuheng quickly waved his hand and said with a smile, "Old Chief, please spare me. It's not that I don't want to look, I've just been really busy lately."

The old leader persisted: "Being busy is no excuse. No matter how busy you are, do you think you don't have time to find a partner? Let me tell you, you need to hurry up with this; good girls don't wait for anyone."

Forced into a corner, Liu Yuheng could only smile and say, "Alright, alright, old commander, please don't rush me. I'll look, I definitely will. Once this busy period is over, I'll seriously look for a partner and I definitely won't let you worry about me."

He paused, then added with a hint of teasing, "Besides, I can't fall behind. That old bastard Li Yunlong is getting married soon. If I don't hurry up, his kids will be long gone by then, and I'll still be single. It'll be so embarrassing if we meet again."

The two old leaders looked at each other and were both stunned.

"Li Yunlong? You mean that idiot Li Yunlong?"

"It's him." Liu Yuheng nodded with a smile. "When he was recuperating in Jinan, he got together with a nurse at the hospital. When I visited him a while ago, that nurse was supporting him. I thought to myself, hey, this is promising. Sure enough, he called me a while ago and said that once his leg is healed, he'll get married and invite me to the wedding."

The two old leaders exchanged a glance and burst into laughter at the same time.

"That hothead Li Yunlong, does he even have any girls willing to marry him? He's a loud, boisterous man who's always swearing, and he fights like a madman. What girl could stand him?"

Liu Yuheng smiled and said something nice for Li Yunlong: "Old Commander, you're right. Although Old Li is a bit rough around the edges, he's good to his wife. He was recovering from an injury in the hospital, and he had to use crutches to walk. The nurses took care of him every day, and over time, they developed feelings for each other."

The old commander smiled and shook his head, his tone tinged with emotion: "Well, Li Yunlong's injury was worth it! A leg for a wife, it was worth it!"

Another veteran commander nodded with a smile: "This Li Yunlong is good at fighting, and he's good at finding a wife too. You'd better hurry up and not let him be the only one who's smug."

Liu Yuheng smiled but didn't reply. He stood behind the railing, his gaze passing over the dense crowd in the square and looking into the distance.

The two old commanders chatted with him for a few more minutes before walking to the other side of the city gate to talk to their other old comrades. Liu Yuheng stood alone behind the railing, his hands gripping it, leaning slightly forward, looking at the sea of ​​people in the square.

To be honest, given his current rank, he wouldn't normally be able to get up to the city wall. Although the corps commander is not a low-ranking officer, on this occasion, those who can go up to the city wall are basically senior officers or veteran revolutionaries who are several ranks higher than him.

His ability to stand here is partly due to luck; the battles in the Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest are still ongoing, and many people are still commanding operations on the front lines and cannot return in time. His old brigade commander is still commanding troops in the Southwest.

His title of "Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guards" also helped him to some extent. The garrison was responsible for the defense and security of the capital, and today's military parade and procession, from security to troop deployment, were all closely related to his work. So, by chance, he got a spot on the city wall.

Around 2 PM, the atmosphere at Tiananmen Square reached an unprecedented climax. A line of black sedans drove up from a distance and slowly came to a stop at the foot of the gate tower. The car doors opened, and several executives stepped out, then, guided by staff, ascended the Tiananmen Gate Tower.

When those familiar figures appeared on the city wall, the entire square instantly erupted in cheers.

That familiar voice came from the city gate tower and spread to every corner through the loudspeakers in the square.

Then, rows of neat lines walked across the square.

Liu Tingting sat on Liu Erhe's shoulders, her eyes wide open and her mouth agape in a big "O" shape.

"Second Brother, Second Brother! Look! That tank is huge!" She excitedly swayed back and forth on Liu Erhe's shoulders.

"I saw it, I saw it, behave yourself." Liu Erhe was shaken so badly he was swaying from side to side.

After the military parade, there was a grand mass procession.

The entire march lasted for nearly three hours.

As the last procession marched across Tiananmen Square, as the last slogan faded into the night sky, and as the lights on the rostrum came on one by one, Liu Yuheng finally stepped back from behind the railing and stretched his legs, which had gone numb from standing.

He glanced back at the gradually dispersing crowd on the city wall, then at the slowly dispersing sea of ​​people in the square, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.