Siheyuan (traditional courtyard house): Starting with the Korean War, returning home to take charge

Even in the chill of Beiping at night, the cold still seeped to the bone. When He Yuzhu dragged his leaden legs out of the back gate of Fengzeyuan, the streets were already deserted. His face, which had been warmed by the stove fire all day, was suddenly buffeted by the cold wind, making him shiver.

The master scolded him particularly harshly today, saying he couldn't even cut a cucumber properly and had wasted two years of his life. He knew perfectly well that the master's nephew wanted to work in the kitchen and thought he, as an apprentice, was taking up too much space. The sixteen-year-old boy had already learned to swallow his grievances along with his spittle.

Nanluoguxiang was pitch black. He crept into the courtyard, where the dilapidated wooden door of the west wing creaked and groaned. The room wasn't much warmer than outside, and a small figure was curled up on the kang (a heated brick bed)—his five-year-old sister, Yushui. He quietly took off his shoes, pulled over the stiff, thin quilt, and as soon as his eyelids touched the pillow, they became too heavy to lift.

……

As if he were sinking to the bottom of deep water, a force suddenly pulled him upwards!

He Yuzhu sat bolt upright with a start, his thin shirt instantly soaked with cold sweat. His heart pounded wildly in his chest, pounding against his eardrums. He opened his eyes wide, staring at his rough but young hands in the pale moonlight filtering through the window cracks. He turned his head sharply—Yushui's thin body was curled up in a ball, his tender little face contorted with hunger in his sleep.

Not a dream.

This is not the bleak end of dying in bed at sixty, with no one by your side to even fetch you water.

"Brother... I'm hungry..."

The indistinct murmurs in his dream were like a kitten's meow, yet they pierced his heart like needles.

Just then, a brutal, excruciating pain exploded in his mind! The sharp, icy pain almost split his skull open. He groaned and gritted his teeth, afraid of waking his sister, veins bulging on his forehead.

Amidst the excruciating pain, a emotionless voice echoed from the depths of my mind:

[A compatible soul detected... Spacetime coordinates calibration... Binding successful.]

[Host: He Yuzhu. The Omnipotent Points System is at your service.]

Before my eyes—no, deep within my consciousness—a pale blue light screen unfolded out of thin air. The screen had a strange texture, like water and ice, with clear text floating on it.

[New player tutorial now available.]

[Main Quest Released: The Spark of an Era. Phase One: The Iron-Blooded Foundation.]

[Content: Join the impending Korean War and accumulate 100 million points on the battlefield.]

[Duration: From the outbreak of war until the actual end of the war.]

[Punishment for failure: Soul annihilation.]

[Ultimate Quest Hint: Unlocked after completing the first stage. Quest Objective: Create a new page in the family tree. Completion Reward: Immortality.]

Annihilation? Immortality?

He Yuzhu lay frozen on the kang (a heated brick bed). The cold moonlight illuminated half his face, the other half shrouded in shadow. He gasped for breath, his gaze sweeping across the square characters on the screen before settling back on his sister's sunken cheek. Memories of his past life flooded back like a burst dam, mingling with the bitterness of this life—his father had run off with the widow, abandoning him and his sister; the seemingly kind neighbors in the courtyard, their scheming behind his back; Yushui's malnutrition-induced illness; and her unfortunate life…

"call……"

He exhaled a long breath of white air, which condensed into a mist in the cold night and slowly dissipated. The initial confusion and shock in his eyes after his rebirth receded like the tide, replaced by a settled, almost terrifying coldness.

Annihilation? Someone who's already died once, what's there to be afraid of?

Immortality? Too far away. But in this life, my sister must not repeat the same mistakes!

With a slight thought, attention focused on the light screen.

[Personal Status]

Name: He Yuzhu (16 years old)

Physical condition: Long-term malnutrition, low physical strength, mild strain.

Mental state: Stable (affected by the memories of rebirth, soul fusion rate 92%)

[Points Balance: 10000] (Starting capital for beginners)

[Redeemable List] (Partially Expanded)

Survival supplies:

Premium white flour: 1 point/jin

Silver dollar (Yuan Shikai silver dollar): 3 points/piece

Coarse cotton cloth: 5 points/foot

Skills and knowledge category:

Beginner Combat Proficiency (including basic grappling, short-blade use, and vital point identification): 50 points

Basic firearms maintenance and operation knowledge: 30 points

Simple Wilderness Survival Knowledge Kit: 20 points

Special class:

Body Repair Potion (Mild): 100 points/bottle

……

The list is quite long, with many grayed-out, unlocked items at the end, which obviously require specific conditions to unlock.

"Brother...it's cold..." Yu Shui mumbled again, unconsciously squeezing closer to him.

He Yuzhu snapped out of his daze, his gaze falling on the "high-quality white flour" option, and without hesitation, his mind took a turn.

[Redeem "Premium Flour", Quantity: 2 jin. Points consumed: 10. Remaining points: 9990.]

No physical item appeared in his hand, but a notification popped up on the screen: [The exchanged resources have been stored in the "System Temporary Space" and can be retrieved at any time by thought.]

Is there still room? He Yuzhu tried to think, and a heavy, coarse cloth bag appeared out of thin air beside him. His fingertips reached inside and touched the snow-white, fine flour—in these years when even cornmeal was scarce, this was a precious commodity that could be used as money.

He quietly got off the kang (a heated brick bed) and moved in the dark to the simple earthen stove in the outer room. He skillfully started a fire, scooped out a small bowl of flour, added water, and stirred it into dough balls with chopsticks. The water in the pot boiled, and the white dough balls rolled into the water, soon rising with steam carrying the aroma of wheat.

There was no oil, just a sprinkle of salt. But even such a simple bowl of watery dumpling soup was a rare delicacy on a cold night in 1950.

He gently shook his younger sister awake. The little girl opened her eyes groggily, and upon smelling the fragrance, her eyes widened suddenly. "Brother?"

"Shh, eat quickly." He Yuzhu handed the bowl to her and smoothed her dry, yellow hair.

Yu Shui took the bowl, not caring that it was hot, and blew on it while taking small sips of soup. Then, he clumsily picked up some dough balls with his fingers and stuffed them into his mouth, chewing them quickly, his eyes squinting with satisfaction.

He Yuzhu squatted by the kang (a heated brick bed), quietly watching her eat. The flickering firelight from the stove illuminated half of his face. He remembered the look Yushui gave him when she got married in his previous life, dressed in her half-new clothes—a look of dependence mixed with an inexplicable resentment. He thought of the hardships she faced later, and how he, as her brother, hadn't been able to help her much.

His eyes stung slightly, and he blinked hard.

After Yushui finished the last drop of soup, her face regained some color, and she was about to drift off to sleep again, He Yuzhu took the bowl and whispered, "Sleep well, Yushui. Sleep well."

After setting down the bowl and tucking the blanket around his sister, he got up and walked to the dilapidated wooden window.

Outside the window lay a dark, gloomy courtyard. The faint sound of Yi Zhonghai snoring drifted from the east wing, while Liu Haizhong's wife seemed to be nagging in a low voice from the front yard. The courtyard appeared peaceful on the surface, but beneath lay countless petty schemes and calculations. In his past life, he and his sister had struggled and floundered in this seemingly warm quagmire, never experiencing a truly comfortable day.

But now, things are different.

He Yuzhu stared at his blurry reflection in the glass window, his eyes as calm as a deep well frozen in ice.

"In this life..."

His voice was extremely low, almost as if his lips and teeth were barely moving, yet every word seemed to be rolled out from the depths of his chest.

"House, car, money... I want it all."

"Those who have schemed against us, those who have wronged us... we will settle accounts with them one by one, slowly and surely."

His gaze seemed to pierce through the roof, landing on the northern land that was about to be ignited by war.

"As for you..." A faint, almost cold smile appeared on his lips, "One hundred million points, is that right?"

"Wait."