Love in the Courtyard: Starting with Engineers

As soon as everyone heard Yi Zhonghai say that, they scattered. Yi Zhonghai felt his face burning when he saw that some of the people who had left were still glancing at him from time to time.

He had just turned around and gone back into the house when he smashed the large teacup he was carrying on the ground.

With a "pop," hot water and tea leaves spilled everywhere.

Seeing Yi Zhonghai like this, an older woman quickly advised him:

"Don't be angry, husband. From now on, we'll just stay home and live our own lives. We'll get less involved in what happens in the yard."

Yi Zhonghai replied after hearing what the older woman said:

"No matter what, how can I not care? If no one in the compound listens to me, what will we do in our old age? Who will take care of us when we're old? Will we end up like Old Zhang from the next compound, only being discovered when we've become smelly?"

"Sigh~ It's all because of taking care of you in your old age. It's all my fault for not being able to give you a son or daughter," an older woman said, wiping away her tears.

Yi Zhonghai quickly comforted her, "It's alright, we've gotten through all these years. If you hadn't saved me back then, I would have drowned in the river. And if you hadn't saved me, you wouldn't have been left with this illness."

In fact, Yi Zhonghai knew very well that it wasn't because the older woman couldn't have children that he had tried with three or four other women outside. He was certain that the problem lay with his own actions, which was why he treated the older woman the way he did today.

Seeing that the older woman had recovered, Yi Zhonghai began to speak angrily:

"It's all that Li family brat's fault. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have been so humiliated today. I don't know what people in the courtyard will say about me after today. It has greatly damaged my prestige. And the old lady's identity issue was almost exposed by this brat today as well."

"No, I have to talk to the old lady today and discuss a plan. We can't let this kid keep getting so arrogant."

The old woman watched as Yi Zhonghai slammed the door and left. She knew that Yi Zhonghai and the old lady would definitely make a move against Li Yu.

She was wondering whether she should remind Li Yu. As Yi Zhonghai's wife, she knew all too well how ruthless he was; he would do anything for her old age.

As soon as Li Yu got home, he couldn't wait to open the system panel. He knew he would gain a lot of emotion points before going to the academy-wide meeting, so he turned off the notifications.

Host: Li Yu

Abilities: Bajiquan (Grandmaster level), proficient in basic mechanical repair within a 1000 cubic meter space.

Physical fitness: Three times the human limit

Mood score: 2133

System Shop [Lifestyle] [Technology] [Special Categories]

Seeing the emotion value of 2133 on the system panel, Li Yu decided to check if there were any blueprints related to rolling mill technology.

The system will open the technology category store and search for the rolling mill technology that I can redeem.

Li Yu silently recited it in his heart.

At this point, two rolling mill technologies appeared on the system panel.

One is a 1700-point six-roll HC mill from the 90s, and the other is a 2000-point hot strip wide steel mill that appeared after 2000.

After careful consideration, Li Yu chose the hot continuous wide strip steel mill.

With this rolling mill technology, we can accelerate the development of rolling mills towards larger scale, higher speed, and greater automation.

First, we need to get the rolling mill working, and then we can figure out some steelmaking technology. Right now, the country's steel production capacity is less than one-tenth of that of Great America, and it's even less than that of China, which was later known as the Industrial Cthulhu.

Let's take it one step at a time, and I believe things will definitely get better and better.

Just as Li Yu was envisioning the future of China's industry, little did he know that a conspiracy against him was slowly unfolding.

As soon as Yi Zhonghai arrived at the deaf old woman's door and knocked, the old woman's hoarse voice came from inside:

"Is that Zhonghai?" Yi Zhonghai replied from outside, "It's me, Grandma, I've come to see you."

"Come in, the door's unlocked."

Yi Zhonghai pushed open the door and went in.

Upon entering, Yi Zhonghai saw the deaf old woman's gloomy face under the dim light and quickly asked:

"Grandma, are you alright?" "Grandma, I'm not going to die yet," the deaf old woman replied.

Yi Zhonghai sat down by the sea.

"Grandma, that boy from the Li family is really unruly. I never thought he could pretend so well before. Today, he not only stole the show at the steel mill but also made Sha Zhu have to clean the toilets. And look at the way he acted in the yard today, completely disregarding us and almost..."

"Alright, Zhonghai, stop with the useless talk. Now we need to figure out how to eliminate the impact of tonight's hospital-wide meeting and then find a way to drive that kid from the Li family out of the compound," the deaf old woman said.

"How about this, old lady, I'll go get some cornmeal and give a few pounds to each of the poor families in the yard. As for how to get rid of the Li family boy, do you have any suggestions, old lady?" Yi Zhonghai asked.

The deaf old woman knew from Yi Zhonghai's words that he wanted to win over the people in the compound. As for the cornmeal, it was just a drop in the ocean for Yi Zhonghai, whose monthly income was 99 yuan plus subsidies, which was over 100 yuan.

The deaf old woman said, "It's fine to deliver cornmeal, but you have to do it in several batches, not all at once. That way, everyone will think you're genuinely helping the poor people in the orphanage. As for the Li family boy, that's easy. Have you forgotten how He Daqing left Beijing back then?"

Yi Zhonghai quickly replied, "Does the old lady mean to find someone to ruin his reputation? But who would be a reliable choice?"

The reason why Widow Bai was obedient before was because she was one of Yi Zhonghai's mistresses.

Yi Zhonghai gave her a sum of money, and since Widow Bai originally wanted to find someone to help her, that's why she went to He Daqing.

But finding a reliable person right now is not an option.

Seeing Yi Zhonghai's troubled expression, the deaf old woman said:

"Find Qin Huairu and have her seduce the Li family's boy so that Jia Zhangshi can catch them in the act. This will not only get the boy kicked out, but also make Jia Zhangshi use his parents' pension to compensate the Jia family. This way, you can solve this problem without spending a penny."

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai thought it was feasible and said to the deaf old woman:

"I'll go find Qin Huairu tomorrow night and ask her to seduce the Li family's son. Grandma, you should get some rest. I'll have Ruihua bring you breakfast tomorrow."

As he spoke, Yi Zhonghai went back and asked an older woman to deliver a pound of cornmeal to several impoverished households in the courtyard.

Li Yu had just lain down to sleep when [Ding! Received 500 points of strong malicious emotion from Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old woman]

"Wow, 500 emotion points. Looks like those two old dogs are up to no good. I guess I need to take precautions. Let's see if there are any props we can use."

Li Yu suddenly remembered the miniature listening device he had seen in the special system store before. That listening device could be automatically installed on the target.

Li Yu immediately spent 100 points to exchange for one and placed it on Yi Zhonghai. Although one could only last for three days, he could just keep it on for him.

As for why they didn't install one for the deaf old lady, it was because Li Yu felt that at most, it was just a suggestion from his brother, and the follow-up arrangements would definitely be handled by Yi Zhonghai.

Li Yu not only exchanged for a listening device but also gave Yi Zhonghai a free "bad luck charm".

Although it cost an extra 100 points, Li Yu felt that Yi Zhonghai deserved the extra 100 points, since the cost was ultimately borne by the customer.

After the older woman finished delivering the cornmeal, she went to bed and fell asleep. Yi Zhonghai felt increasingly uncomfortable in his stomach, so he got out of bed and went to the public restroom.

It's still the same kind of dry toilet from the old rural areas, with only two wooden planks for footing. Just as Yi Zhonghai squatted down, someone came in from outside.

Because it was dark and no one was visible, he unzipped his pants and urinated all over Yi Zhonghai. Yi Zhonghai suddenly felt something warm liquid being poured on his face, followed by a fishy and foul smell.

Yi Zhonghai immediately stood up and shouted, "Didn't someone see this?!" The person relieving himself realized he had caused trouble and ran away as fast as he could, pulling up his pants as he ran. In the dim moonlight, the person could barely catch a glimpse of Yi Zhonghai when he turned around.

Yi Zhonghai saw that the person had run away and there was no way to chase after them. In the dark, he couldn't see who it was, but he guessed that it was most likely someone from the courtyard house.

"Hmph, I'd better not find out who it is." Thinking this, Yi Zhonghai quickly pulled up his pants and went home. He was so disgusted by the fishy smell that he almost threw up.

Just as he got home and was about to step inside, he tripped on the threshold and fell face-first to the ground. The older woman on the bed, hearing the noise, immediately asked, "What happened, husband?"

As she spoke, she hurriedly went to help Yi Zhonghai, but the old lady accidentally stepped on the foot bath water that hadn't been poured out that night.

"Thump!" She fell on her bottom and landed on Yi Zhonghai's lower back. "Ouch!" Yi Zhonghai yelled again.

An older woman quickly stood up and helped Yi Zhonghai up. With her help, Yi Zhonghai struggled to his feet and tried to turn on the light in the dark, but instead touched a sewing basket next to him, and his hands were covered in needles.

When the light was turned on, the old lady saw that he was soaking wet and had a pungent, fishy smell, so she assumed he had fallen into the toilet.

Quickly pour water for Yi Zhonghai to wash his hair and face. Yi Zhonghai, who had just changed his clothes and was about to go to bed, was startled by a mouse that jumped out from nowhere.

A large black rat flew towards him, getting closer and closer to his face. Yi Zhonghai fell backward and plopped down into the water that had just been used to wash his hair.

After struggling until late at night, Yi Zhonghai was exhausted, in pain, and angry. He was covered in urine, had needles in his hands, felt a faint stinging pain in his waist, and his knees were bruised and swollen.

Lying on the creaking bed, I tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. The insects outside the window were chirping noisily, and as soon as I closed my eyes, I felt aches and pains all over the place. The more I thought about it, the more frustrated I became, and I wanted to pound the bed and curse until dawn.

Afraid of losing face after so many years, and afraid of being laughed at by all the neighbors in the yard, he could only grit his teeth and endure the whole night of distress.