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

Liu Yuheng got off the car and followed the procession into Haizi's courtyard.

The conferment ceremony was held in the grand hall. A red carpet stretched from the entrance to the stage, with seats arranged neatly on both sides. Lights shone down from the high dome, illuminating the entire hall in a bright and solemn manner. A group of high-ranking leaders were seated on the stage, while the generals below stood in order of rank. The entire hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

The ceremony was conducted with great solemnity. When the order for conferring ranks was read out, Liu Yuheng stood in the ranks and heard his name called. The excitement he felt was much stronger than he had expected.

He walked straight onto the stage, stood up, and approached the director. The director personally pinned the gleaming medal to his chest, shook his hand, and said, "Comrade Liu Yuheng, congratulations."

Liu Yuheng stood at attention and saluted, his voice booming, "Thank you, Director!"

He returned to his seat and stood still, his gaze sweeping over the familiar faces on and off the stage. A surge of indescribable emotions welled up within him—pride,感慨, and a sense of relief.

After the conferment ceremony, a grand banquet was held on the lawn in the lake.

On a clear autumn afternoon, a white tablecloth was set out on the lawn, with various snacks and drinks on it. Generals in brand-new uniforms gathered in small groups, raising their glasses and talking. Laughter and conversation floated across the wide lawn.

Liu Yuheng stood on the edge of the lawn, holding a wine glass, watching his familiar old comrades-in-arms chatting amongst themselves.

Li Yunlong, holding a glass of some kind of wine from somewhere, was gesturing and talking to Ding Wei. Kong Jie stood quietly to the side, occasionally interjecting. The three of them stood together, the stars on their epaulets shimmering in the afternoon sunlight.

He was mesmerized, and suddenly felt that the peace and liveliness of this moment were stolen from the gunfire of those years, and were especially precious.

Even though it wasn't completely dark after the party, the activities in the lake didn't end there.

Following the conferment ceremony, a grand gala was held in a magnificent hall. As the stage curtain rose, a musical began, with actors in brightly colored costumes singing and dancing under the lights. The songs and music echoed throughout the hall, gradually dispelling the solemn and heavy atmosphere of midday and replacing it with a relaxed and joyful mood.

After the song and dance drama ended, a Peking Opera performance, "Mu Guiying Takes Command," was staged. As soon as the gongs and cymbals sounded, laughter and applause rose and fell from the audience.

Liu Yuheng sat in the back row, leaning back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the performance on stage, but his mind wandered. Every now and then, he would glance down at the medals on his chest. The three medals gleamed with a dark gold luster under the lights, heavily pinned to the left breast of his ceremonial uniform, like a condensed piece of history solemnly nailed to the fabric.

The party lasted until after 9 p.m. As the curtain fell, the lights in the hall came on one by one, and the officers stood up one after another. Some yawned, some were still chatting with the people next to them about the play they had just watched, and most of them silently straightened their formal attire and walked steadily toward the exit.

The night was already deep in the lake. The streetlights illuminated the wide stone path, and the cool autumn breeze blew from the lake, carrying a hint of chill from the water vapor, causing people who had just come out of the warm hall to involuntarily shrink their necks.

Liu Yuheng followed the crowd out and bumped into Li Yunlong and his two companions at the entrance. He turned to them and said, "Old Li, Old Kong, Old Ding, you still have to continue training before the National Day parade, so I won't bother you any longer. After the parade, before you go back to Nanjing, let's have a good get-together."

Li Yunlong patted him on the shoulder: "Alright, let's have a good drink then."

Liu Yuheng smiled, nodded to Kong Jie and Ding Wei, and then got into the car.

The car stopped at the entrance of the Central Military Commission compound, and everyone got out one after another.

Liu Yuheng smiled and said goodbye to some old friends beside him, then turned and walked to his car, bending down to get in. The car started and drove off into the night towards the north of the city.

The car stopped at the entrance of the North City compound. Liu Yuheng got out and walked into the small building. The living room light was still on. Yao Qingwan, wearing a light gray thin sweater, was sitting on the sofa flipping through a magazine. When she heard the door open, she looked up, and her eyes lit up when her gaze fell on Liu Yuheng.

She put down the magazine, stood up, and walked quickly to him. Her gaze moved from the stars on his epaulets to the medals on his chest, and then from the medals to his face, which showed some fatigue but couldn't hide his smile. She reached out and straightened his collar, and said softly, "I told you you looked good today."

Liu Yuheng glanced down at the three medals on his chest and couldn't help but laugh out loud. His laughter sounded particularly hearty in the quiet living room.

After laughing, he carefully took off his tuxedo, hung it on a hanger, looked down at it for a few seconds, sighed, and said with an indescribable sense of melancholy, "I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to wear this tuxedo again in my life." He handed the tuxedo to Yao Qingwan, "Please put it away for me, hang it up properly, and don't wrinkle it."

Yao Qingwan took it, carefully smoothed out the wrinkles on the shoulders, hung it in the bedroom wardrobe, covered it with a clean cloth cover, and then turned back to the living room.

She sat down next to him, took his arm, and asked with undisguised curiosity, "What was it like during the awarding of ranks today? Were you nervous when you went up? Did any of the other officers talk to you?"

Liu Yuheng leaned back on the sofa and laughed at the barrage of questions.

He picked up the water Yao Qingwan had poured for him, took a sip, and then slowly recounted the events of the day to her, one by one: what he thought when he saw the room full of generals in the conference room, how many beats his heart skipped when he heard his name called on stage, and the words "Congratulations" that the director said when he personally pinned the medal on him.

Yao Qingwan listened quietly, occasionally interjecting with a question or two, but most of the time she simply leaned against him, listening to him slowly recount the events of the day. The night outside the window was quiet and deep, and the warm light from the living room cast soft, long shadows of the two of them on the wall.

By the time Liu Yuheng finished speaking, it was almost eleven o'clock. Liu Yuheng yawned, and Yao Qingwan stood up, pulling him towards the bedroom: "Alright, go and get some rest. You have to go to work tomorrow."

Liu Yuheng stood up and followed her into the bedroom. Before lying down on the bed and closing his eyes, the last thing he saw was the neatly hung dress in the closet. He looked at it for a few seconds before turning away and closing his eyes.