In the late winter of 1962, snowflakes were pouring down my neck when I got off the green train. Three years after the original owner joined the army, his father died of illness and his mother was critically ill. The two sisters dared to say in the letter that they were okay, but their handwriting was crooked and full of fear. When he came back from the army and walked into the courtyard, the people in the courtyard were gathering around the door of his house, discussing something in low voices. He pushed through the crowd and saw that the door lock had been replaced with a new one. He stood at the door without moving and turned around to scan around the people in the courtyard. Jia Zhang took a step back and Yi Zhonghai's hand holding the teapot stopped in mid-air. He turned around and went to the street office to confirm the ownership of the property with a certificate. When he came back, the key was changed and the door opened. Two sisters were squatting on the threshold waiting for him. He closed the door to block outside eyes. Later, someone in the yard heard that he was here to rob the house, but he didn't explain it. As time went by, he just added an extra bolt to the door. The two sisters gradually gained weight and smiled more on their faces. When he came back from get off work every day, he would stand in the yard for a while and look at the closed windows before going back inside and closing the door. Later, no one in the courtyard mentioned the house anymore, even Jia Zhang walked around the door of his house. He just stayed there like a tree planted in the yard and wouldn't move.
