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

As the car drove out of the camp gate, Liu Yuheng leaned back in his seat, watching the familiar street scenes flow by outside the window. He had seen these scenes countless times, but seeing them again today suddenly felt very familiar.

"Let's go to the military academy first," Liu Yuheng said to the driver.

The driver responded and turned at the next intersection. The car traveled through most of Nanjing, heading east along the avenue lined with plane trees, and finally stopped in front of the Military Academy.

Liu Yuheng got out of the car and walked to the gate, about to show his identification to the sentry, when a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him: "Liu Yuheng?"

Liu Yuheng turned around and saw a black sedan parked behind the jeep he had just been sitting in. The door was open, and an old man in military uniform was getting out of the back seat.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Liu Yuheng immediately stood at attention, raised his right hand to the brim of his hat, gave a standard military salute, and said in a loud voice, "Greetings, Commander!"

The head teacher walked up to Liu Yuheng, looked him up and down, and said with a slight smile, "You look just like me from afar. What are you doing here? Want to come and study too?"

Liu Yuheng smiled and shook his head, withdrawing his salute: "Commander, I'm about to be transferred, so I came to see you before I leave."

The head teacher glanced at him, his gaze lingering on his empty hands for a moment. His smile deepened, carrying a teasing tone that said, "You think you can fool me, kid? You came to see me empty-handed like this? You're not kidding me, are you?"

Liu Yuheng was speechless, scratched the back of his head, and chuckled twice: "Teacher, I just happened to be in a hurry..."

The head teacher burst into laughter, the sound carrying far on the morning breeze. He waved his hand, not pursuing the matter, and turned to walk into the academy. After taking a couple of steps, he turned back: "You've come to see Li Yunlong and the others, haven't you?"

Liu Yuheng quickly followed: "Yes! We just happened to be passing by, so we thought we'd drop by and see them."

"Let's go then, walk with me for a bit," the teacher said, taking a leisurely stroll along the main road of the academy. Liu Yuheng followed beside him, half a step behind.

After walking for a while, the instructor suddenly spoke up: "You kid, after this transfer, you'll be leaving the army, right?"

Liu Yuheng paused for a moment, then nodded: "Probably. I'll go help out at the Central Military Commission first, and once the work on the disarmament group is finished, I'll officially transfer to local government. Where I'll go specifically hasn't been decided yet."

The head instructor hummed in response but didn't immediately reply. They walked a little further, passing a training field where several students were running laps, their chants carrying in the distance. The head instructor glanced in that direction, then looked away, his tone carrying a subtle certainty: "I do know a little about it."

Liu Yuheng suddenly turned to look at him: "Teacher, you know?"

The teacher smiled and continued, "When I went back to Beijing for a meeting last time, I heard from Old Chen that the higher-ups intend to split the Ministry of Heavy Industry into another ministry, and you might go there then."

Liu Yuheng's mind raced. If the Ministry of Heavy Industry were to split off another ministry, it would likely be the Second Ministry of Machine Building, which was slated for release next year. Responsible for military industry and aerospace, that was the true core department. He had originally thought he would be working in the old political commissar's area, but unexpectedly, he had ended up dealing with the military industry again. However, he didn't ask further questions, simply nodding: "Thank you, sir, I understand."

The head teacher glanced at him but said nothing more. They walked a little further until a gray office building came into view. The head teacher stopped at the building entrance, turned back to look at Liu Yuheng, and said, "Alright, we've arrived at my office building. Go find the others yourself."

Liu Yuheng stood at attention and saluted again: "Thank you, teacher!"

The teacher waved his hand, didn't turn around, and strode into the office building. Liu Yuheng stood at the building entrance, watching his figure disappear into the depths of the corridor, before turning around and walking along the college path towards Li Yunlong's dormitory.

Li Yunlong's dormitory was still the same as before, the door ajar, and the scratching sound of pens slicing across paper could be heard from inside. Liu Yuheng knocked twice, and without waiting for a response, pushed the door open and went in.

Li Yunlong was sitting at his desk, a stack of manuscript papers spread out in front of him, a fountain pen in his hand, engrossed in writing something. Hearing the door open, he didn't look up, but mumbled, "Come in."

Liu Yuheng walked in, sat down on the sofa, crossed his legs, and couldn't help but laugh at Li Yunlong's bitter and resentful look: "When did our Commander Li become a cultured man? What are you busy writing so early in the morning?"

Upon hearing this voice, Li Yunlong abruptly looked up and saw Liu Yuheng sitting on the sofa, his pen almost falling onto the paper.

He was stunned for a moment, then his expression changed from surprise to delight. He threw his pen on the table, stood up, and walked towards Liu Yuheng: "Old Liu! What brings you here?"

Liu Yuheng leaned back on the sofa and said with a smile, "I'm being transferred back to the capital, so I just stopped by Nanjing to visit you old brothers."

"Transfer back?" Li Yunlong sat down next to him, his expression a mixture of surprise and delight. "So soon? You said on the phone a few days ago that you were waiting for the transfer order."

"The transfer order arrived yesterday," Liu Yuheng said. "I'm leaving today, by this afternoon's train."

Li Yunlong nodded, his expression shifting from surprise to a touch of melancholy: "Very well, you've stayed in Jinling for so long, it's time for you to go back."

After saying that, he seemed to remember something, turned around and went back to his desk, picked up the stack of manuscript papers, frowned as he looked at them, and then put them down: "You've come at the right time, help me take a look at this."

Liu Yuheng stood up, walked to the desk, and glanced down at the stack of manuscript papers. The papers were covered with dense writing, the handwriting rough and messy, and the title was "On the Fighting Will and Spirit of Soldiers".

Liu Yuheng raised an eyebrow, picked up the manuscript, flipped through it, and read a few lines: "Did you write this?"

"Nonsense!" Li Yunlong glared. "If I didn't write it, who else could it be?"

"I was just checking." Liu Yuheng put down the manuscript, a smile on his face. "It's well-written, quite presentable. But, what made you think of writing this?"

Li Yunlong sighed, sat back down in his chair, rubbed his temples, and looked like he had a headache: "It was all Old Ding's idea. He said I had to find a topic I was familiar with and could talk about for my graduation thesis. I thought about it, and I'm not good at anything else, but I'm pretty familiar with warfare. The fighting spirit of soldiers is something I'm quite good at, so I'll write about that."

Liu Yuheng nodded, then picked up the manuscript paper and read a few lines: "This topic is suitable; it will be easy for you to write about."