Courtyard House: The Road to an Industrial Power

As evening fell, wisps of smoke rose from the chimneys of the courtyard house, where Qin Huairu was cooking.

He Yuzhu had just finished get off work at the steel mill canteen, carrying two steamed buns he hadn't finished eating at noon. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he bumped into his father, He Daqing, who was squatting against the wall smoking.

"Dad, what are you thinking about here?" He Yuzhu stuffed a steamed bun into Qin Huairu's mouth after she came out because she heard the noise, and then turned around and squatted down next to He Daqing.

He Daqing flicked his cigarette ash, his eyes sweeping over the doors of several houses in the courtyard, and said in a low voice, "Haven't you noticed? This courtyard has recently started to smell like it used to."

"Liu Haizhong would show off his fifth-level blacksmith skills in the yard every day, while Yan Bugui would calculate how to distribute the benefits among the errand runners."

"Not to mention Yi Zhonghai, he would go straight to the deaf old lady's house after sweeping the streets. The three of them would get together, and they would do almost everything in the courtyard."

"That's right!" He Yuzhu felt a headache coming on just thinking about the scene of Jia Zhangshi throwing a tantrum yesterday.

"The other day, Aunt Zhang was hanging clothes in the backyard and took up Jia Zhangshi's space. Jia Zhangshi jumped out and cursed for half an hour."

"Spittle flew everywhere, but in the end, it was Yi Zhonghai who stepped in and got Aunt Zhang to give up the place."

"Now, Jia Zhangshi is their trump card. Anyone who disagrees is made to come out and cause trouble, and everyone in the courtyard dares not speak out against it."

"It seems that Aunt Zhang's family in the backyard has refused their attempts to win them over, and every few days, Jia Zhangshi would block their door and yell at them."

He Daqing sneered: "Jia Zhangshi was never a good person to begin with, and now that she has three powerful men backing her up, she is even more lawless."

"That old bastard Yi Zhonghai has somehow gotten a lot of money, and I heard he's been trying to get Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong to take back control of the compound."

The father and son's conversation did not escape the notice of Yan Jiekuang, who was passing by. The boy quickly ran back into the house to report the news.

At the same time, Lin Weidong had just returned to the courtyard house when he sensed that something was wrong.

Lin Jianjun sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), clutching a transfer order in his hand, his face so gloomy it could drip water.

Zhao Xiulan sat to the side, her brows furrowed, holding a stack of letters in her hand.

"Dad, Mom, what's wrong?" Lin Weidong put down his bag and walked over quickly.

The two men immediately stood up when they saw their son return.

"Mom and Dad, don't bother with us. We're not strangers. What's wrong? You both look so worried."

Lin Jianjun sighed and handed the transfer order to his son: "I just received a notice from the factory that I've been removed from my position as the director of the machine tool workshop and transferred to be a regular technician."

"Li Huaide was also dismissed from his position as factory director and is now the director of the logistics department. Anyone with eyes can see that this is Liu Jie's revenge."

Zhao Xiulan picked up the letter on the table, her tone helpless: "I'm also having a lot of trouble here. Recently, the neighborhood office has received a lot of anonymous complaints."

"They say I'm unfair in my work and abuse my power for personal gain, but these are all trivial matters. However, the number of complaints is overwhelming, and my superiors have already spoken to me twice. This has had a very negative impact."

Lin Weidong flipped through several complaint letters. The handwriting was varied, but the content was similar, all of them being baseless accusations.

He immediately thought of Yi Zhonghai and said, "This must be Yi Zhonghai's doing. He's been holding a grudge ever since he was sent to a labor camp."

"Now that they see our family is doing well, they've bribed people in other courtyards to write anonymous letters, trying to make things difficult for Mom."

Zhao Xiulan nodded: "I also suspect him, but I have no proof. Never mind, an innocent person has nothing to fear; we can explain slowly. As for your father..."

"Mom, don't worry."

"I expected Liu Jie's revenge. He won't be able to keep this up for long. Dad, he's just a technician. He'll have a few days off. I'll figure something out after I finish what I'm doing."

After comforting his parents, Lin Weidong returned to his room in the west courtyard. As soon as he sat down, a system notification sounded in his mind.

[Ding! The host has led the research and development of an anti-materiel sniper rifle, promoting the advancement of national military technology. The reward includes a complete set of technologies for the manufacturing of new special steel, core technology drawings for continuous rolling mills, and process parameters.]

"Damn it!" Lin Weidong couldn't help but curse.

"System, are you kidding me? I'm already in a weapons research institute, researching weapons, and you're giving me special steel and continuous rolling mill technology? Isn't that for steel mills?"

He looked at the densely packed technical drawings and process data that appeared in his mind. The strength and toughness of the new special steel far exceeded those of existing steel.

Continuous rolling mill technology can significantly improve steel production efficiency and reduce costs, which are all truly valuable technologies, but they are not useful to him now.

"Forget it, if all else fails, I'll just find an opportunity to hand it over to the state."

Lin Weidong quickly calmed down. These technologies were undoubtedly a revolutionary breakthrough for the country's steel industry, and could play a huge role whether used for military or civilian purposes.

He took out his notebook and began to organize the key technical points, preparing to hand them over to Su Zhenbang another day.

There hadn't been any major incidents at home for the past two days. After spending two days with his parents, Lin Weidong returned to the research institute.

Lin Weidong was stopped by Su Wanqing as soon as he entered the research institute.

Su Wanqing, dressed in light blue overalls, smiled faintly and said, "Lin Weidong, it's almost lunchtime. Shall we go to the cafeteria together?"

"Okay." I followed Su Wanqing toward the cafeteria.

The two walked side by side down the corridor, attracting the attention of many people.

Everyone in the research institute knows that Su Wanqing is Su Zhenbang's daughter, a graduate student from a prestigious university, who is not only outstanding in appearance but also extremely capable in her field.

Lin Weidong is a recognized scientific genius who has produced groundbreaking achievements such as bulletproof vests and anti-material sniper rifles at a young age. The two of them standing together are indeed a perfect match, a handsome man and a beautiful woman.

"Team Leader Lin, Researcher Su, you two are a match made in heaven!" an elderly researcher passing by joked with a smile.

"Yes, yes, they're a perfect match!" The technician next to him chimed in.

Su Wanqing's cheeks flushed instantly, and she lowered her head slightly, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up.

Lin Weidong was a little embarrassed and could only nod and smile in response.

In the cafeteria, as soon as the two found a seat, many people came over to greet them, and the conversation always revolved around how well they were a good match.

While dealing with everyone's teasing, Lin Weidong placed a piece of braised pork on Su Wanqing's plate: "Researcher Su, shouldn't we start planning our wedding?"

Su Wanqing stuffed a piece of braised pork into her mouth. "You'd have to go and tell my parents, you can't talk to me about it."

Looking at Su Wanqing, whose cheeks were bulging from eating, Lin Weidong couldn't help but pinch her cheek.

"Pfft!" Su Wanqing sprayed her mouthful of food all over Lin Weidong's face.

"It's all your fault, why did you pinch me?" Su Wanqing complained as she wiped Lin Weidong's face.

"I just think you're cute."

On the other hand, the stagnation of the truck and engine projects has angered the higher-ups. Liu Zhiqiang was removed from his post, and Liu Jie was demoted to vice minister of the Ministry of Industry. The minister was directly appointed from outside the ministry.

At the same time, a transfer order arrived at the weapons research institute, in order to vigorously promote national development, advance the industrialization process, and integrate military and civilian industries.

The National Defense Science and Technology Commission and the State Economic Commission jointly appointed Lin Weidong as the director of the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill.

At the same time, the steel rolling mill was completely transformed into the Hongxing Machinery Factory, which is half military and half civilian.