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

The next afternoon, before the sun had even set, the tranquility of the courtyard at No. 95 Nanluoguxiang was broken by a series of hurried footsteps.

Yan Bugui entered the courtyard and hurriedly pushed open his own house door, sitting on the threshold without even taking off his coat.

Yan Bugui's wife was tidying up inside when she saw his unusual behavior. She put down what she was doing and came out, asking in confusion, "Old Yan, what's wrong? What happened?"

Yan Bugui waved his hand, but his eyes remained fixed on the direction of the courtyard gate: "It's nothing, it's nothing, don't worry about me, go do your thing."

His wife wanted to ask more questions, but seeing that he seemed distracted, she didn't press him further and turned to go back into the house.

Yan Bugui sat on the threshold, his eyes fixed on the courtyard gate. This morning, when he went to school, he saw the newspaper that the principal had read yesterday in the reading room. He picked it up and flipped through it, immediately spotting the front page news about the conferment of ranks.

He was just browsing casually, but when the name "Liu Yuheng" jumped into his eyes, his heart skipped a beat.

His first thought was of Liu Yuheng, Liu Erhe's older brother, who lived in the same courtyard. But then he hesitated. What if it was just a coincidence of names? The country was so big; there were many people named Liu Yuheng. Besides, Liu Yuheng was only thirty years old. Could he really be promoted to lieutenant general at thirty?

Although Yan Bugui was a schoolteacher, he knew what a lieutenant general was—it wasn't a rank that just anyone could attain. He looked at the newspaper article more closely. It did mention some of the generals who had been awarded ranks, but there were no individual photos, only a group photo with so many heads that it was impossible to tell who was who.

The uncertainty in his heart was like a thorn, pricking him, making him feel extremely uncomfortable. He sat restlessly in the reading room for the entire morning, not even paying attention in class. As soon as class ended in the afternoon, he hurriedly rode his bicycle back. He originally wanted to go directly to Wang Xiuhe to ask for clarification, but then he thought, what if this Liu Yuheng wasn't the same Liu Yuheng from the Liu family? Wouldn't it seem like he was making a fuss over nothing if he went to ask rashly?

Where would he put his face as a scholar? Besides, he knew Wang Xiuhe's loose tongue. If she spread the word that "Yan Bugui is inquiring about other people's affairs," he would be utterly humiliated.

After much thought, he decided it would be safer to wait until Liu Shuanzhu or Liu Erhe returned before asking. Between men, even if he asked the wrong question, it wouldn't be too embarrassing. So he sat on his doorstep, staring at the gate like a guardian deity, neglecting to water the plants, tend to the flowers, and even ignoring the tea his wife brought him.

Just after five o'clock, people began to return to the courtyard gate one after another. The steel rolling mill workers walked into the courtyard in twos and threes. Yi Zhonghai walked in front, followed by Liu Haizhong, Jia Dongxu, Xu Fugui and others. The group chatted about what happened at the factory that day as they walked, carrying lunch boxes in their hands, their faces showing the relaxation of being off work.

As soon as Yan Bugui saw them, he immediately sprang up from the threshold and rushed over to greet them. His eyes swept over the group of people, but he did not see Liu Erhe.

"Brother Yi," Yan Bugui grabbed Yi Zhonghai's arm, "Where's Erhe? Why didn't he come back with you?"

Yi Zhonghai was taken aback by his question, stopped and glanced at him: "Erhe? He hasn't been coming straight home after get off work lately. He always goes to the Dongzhimen Supply and Marketing Cooperative to pick up his wife first. You know that, don't you?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui slapped his forehead and muttered in annoyance, "I forgot about that."

He was so busy squatting at the door waiting for Liu Shuanzhu and Liu Erhe that he completely forgot that Liang Fangfang was now working at the supply and marketing cooperative and that Liu Erhe picked her up every day.

Seeing his flustered appearance, Yi Zhonghai couldn't help but become more curious: "What do you want with Erhe? Has something happened at home?"

Yan Bugui hesitated for a moment, then took out the neatly folded newspaper from his pocket, unfolded it, pointed to the three words "Liu Yuheng" in the award section, and lowered his voice: "I saw the newspaper at school today about the awarding of ranks the day before yesterday. There is a person named Liu Yuheng on the list. I want to ask Erhe if he is his older brother."

Yi Zhonghai's tone was somewhat dismissive: "The eldest son of the Liu family was already in the military, so isn't it normal for him to be awarded a rank? What's there to ask?"

Seeing that he didn't understand, Yan Bugui hurriedly took another half step forward, pointed to the line of text, and said, "Old Yi, look carefully, this is a lieutenant general!"

Yi Zhonghai was stunned. He looked down at the newspaper, his gaze lingering on the name "Liu Yuheng" for a long while, before slowly raising his head, his expression changing from casual to solemn. Xu Fugui, who was about to go back to his room, stopped abruptly upon hearing the word "Lieutenant General" and came over as well.

"Really?" Xu Fugui's voice was filled with disbelief. "How old is Liu Yuheng? In his early thirties, right? He's so young to be promoted to lieutenant general?"

Yan Bugui scratched his head: "I was only asking Erhe because I wasn't sure. What if it's just a coincidence of names? There are so many people in the country with the same name."

Yi Zhonghai was silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head: "That's unlikely. Liu Yuheng is only thirty years old. Lieutenant general is a very high-ranking officer. Our factory director is only at administrative level fourteen, while a lieutenant general is at least level seven. Reaching level seven at thirty? That's too fast."

Several people nodded, agreeing with Yi Zhonghai's assessment. Jia Dongxu, standing nearby, chimed in, "I think it's probably just a coincidence of names. Although Brother Liu is in the military, I haven't heard of him holding any high-ranking position. If he really were a lieutenant general, wouldn't the whole capital know about it?"

A silence fell over the courtyard. Several people stood around the entrance to Yan Bugui's house, looking at each other, but no one spoke first.

Just then, He Yuzhu, who had been standing silently at the back of the crowd, suddenly spoke up. His voice was soft, but it carried a certainty: "I think... it's Liu Yuheng from our department."

Several gazes simultaneously turned to him. Yi Zhonghai was the first to ask, "What makes you so sure?"

He Yuzhu took two steps forward and scratched the back of his head: "You guys forgot? A little over a week ago, I went to Brother Liu's house to cook for him. At the time, he and his old comrades were chatting in the living room. When I brought the dishes in, I overheard them talking about 'two stars, two stars.' I didn't think much of it at the time, but now that I think about it, they were talking about the conferment of ranks."