Courtyard House: The Road to an Industrial Power

As Lin Weidong led Su Wanqing into the courtyard, smoke was just rising from the chimneys, and the aroma of food wafted over on the evening breeze.

Lin Weidong stopped and turned to Su Wanqing beside him. "Technician Su, if you don't mind, why don't you come to my house for a simple meal? You just moved in, and I guess you haven't finished cleaning the kitchen yet. You can't work on an empty stomach."

Su Wanqing paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded: "Then... I'll have to trouble Chief Engineer Lin."

As soon as the two arrived at the entrance of the Lin family compound, Zhao Xiulan came out to greet them upon hearing their voices.

She was busy at the stove wearing an apron when she heard footsteps and thought her son had come home. When she looked up, she saw a girl in work clothes with Lin Weidong, and Lin's mother's eyes lit up instantly.

"Wei Dong is back! And who is this?" Zhao Xiulan wiped the water off her hands and warmly ushered the two into the house, her gaze lingering on Su Wanqing, growing more and more satisfied with her.

Lin Weidong noticed the thought in his mother's eyes and quickly explained, "Mom, this is Comrade Su Wanqing, a graduate student sent by the weapons research institute to learn technology in our workshop. She just moved into the courtyard today. I saw that she had just arrived and had nowhere to eat, so I invited her to our house for a meal."

Zhao Xiulan said warmly as always, "Oh, it's Comrade Su! Please come in, please come in! I just finished stewing some braised pork and steaming some buns. It's just a matter of having more people and more chopsticks!"

Su Wanqing felt a little embarrassed by Zhao Xiulan's enthusiasm and thanked her repeatedly, saying, "Auntie, you're too kind. I'm sorry to have troubled you."

"No trouble at all! You tech girls have it tough, spending all your time in the workshop, you can endure more hardship than the guys! Please sit down, I'll go get the food!"

Lin Jianjun also came out of the house, greeted Su Wanqing with a smile, and made her a cup of hot tea.

At the dinner table, Zhao Xiulan kept piling food onto Su Wanqing's plate—braised pork, scrambled eggs, stewed tofu—filling the bowl to the brim. "Comrade Su, eat more! Look at you, so thin, you need to eat more!"

Su Wanqing was a little overwhelmed by Zhao Xiulan's enthusiasm and could only smile and agree.

After dinner, Zhao Xiulan insisted on helping Su Wanqing tidy up her place.

"Your room has been empty for quite a while, it must be covered in dust. I'll go wipe the table, make the bed, and bring over one of my clean blankets that I dried in the sun, so it'll be warm to sleep in tonight!"

Su Wanqing couldn't refuse, so she could only follow Zhao Xiulan to her residence.

Lin Weidong also carried a broom and followed behind to help. When the three of them arrived at the room that Su Wanqing rented, it was indeed covered in dust, and the tables and chairs were covered with a layer of dust.

Zhao Xiulan quickly picked up a rag and wiped the table and windows, while Lin Weidong swept the floor and Su Wanqing wiped the stools.

In no time at all, the house was cleaned up and made spotless.

Zhao Xiulan went home and brought back a warm, sun-dried quilt, carefully spreading it on the bed and patting the sheets: "Comrade Su, do you think this is alright? It'll definitely be comfortable to sleep in tonight!"

"That's great! Thank you, Auntie! Thank you, Chief Engineer Lin!"

All the commotion over here was clearly seen by Jia Zhangshi, who was hiding in the corner.

Just as Jia Zhangshi finished sweeping the yard and was squatting in the corner to rest, her back aching from exhaustion, she saw Lin Weidong leading Su Wanqing into the house, and then she saw Zhao Xiulan busily helping Su Wanqing tidy up the house.

Her eyes darted around, and her little mind started calculating again.

Su Wanqing is obviously someone important. She's a graduate student at a weapons research institute and gets so close to Lin Weidong. She must be rich!

If we could get something out of her, like a few free meals or some money, wouldn't that be a wonderful thing?

Jia Zhangshi rubbed her hands together, a greedy smile creeping onto her lips, and quietly slipped back into her dilapidated house, pondering how to go to their door tomorrow.

On the other side, the deaf old woman was sitting on a small stool in front of her house, squinting as she looked in the direction of Su Wanqing's residence.

An older woman carrying a basin of washed clothes passed by and was stopped by her.

"Is that new girl one of Lin Weidong's cronies?"

An older woman nodded: "I heard from Uncle San that he is a graduate student sent by the weapons research institute to study in the military workshop of the steel rolling mill. He is staying in our compound."

The deaf old woman snorted coldly, a hint of disdain flashing in her cloudy eyes: "I don't think this girl is any good! Look at her appearance, her demeanor is just like Lin Weidong's!"

The older woman disagreed, but didn't argue.

She was now hoping the deaf old woman would mind her own business so she could have a few days of peace and quiet. She gave a perfunctory reply, picked up her clothes, and hurried away.

As night deepened, the lights in the courtyard house began to illuminate one by one.

Inside Sha Zhu's house, Qin Huairu was coaxing her youngest son to sleep when she saw Sha Zhu return from outside with water. She quickly asked:

"Zhu Zi, what's the deal with that Technician Su who came to the institute today? I heard from Yan Bugui that she came back with Wei Dong, and she's really pretty."

Sha Zhu took off his coat, sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), picked up the enamel mug on the table, took a sip of water, and said, "Hey, he's a graduate student from the weapons research institute. He came to the steel rolling mill to learn technology from Wei Dong, and the factory arranged for him to stay in our compound."

"So... are Weidong dating her?"

Qin Huairu lowered her voice, her eyes full of curiosity, "Yan Bugui's expression made it sound so real."

"Why would he want to date? He's here to do technical work! Wei Dong's mind is entirely on the workshop, he doesn't have time for that! Besides, Technician Su is a graduate student, he's an educated person, he's just a colleague of Wei Dong!"

Qin Huairu nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

He Yushui, who was sitting to the side sewing clothes, paused for a moment.

She recalled the way Su Wanqing and Lin Weidong walked together on the road that afternoon; they were a handsome couple, a perfect match that made people envious.

Su Wanqing is not only beautiful, but also a graduate student, technically skilled, and able to discuss work matters with Lin Weidong. Isn't this the kind of girl who truly deserves Lin Weidong?

A faint sense of loneliness welled up in He Yushui's heart, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't sew the needle and thread into the cloth.

She recalled how she had mustered the courage to confess her feelings to Lin Weidong, only to be politely rejected by him because he was "focused on military industry." Now, it seemed that perhaps it wasn't that Lin Weidong didn't want to be in a relationship, but rather that she simply wasn't his type.

Sha Zhu didn't notice his sister's emotions and continued talking to himself.

"This Technician Su is a good girl, unlike those people in the institute who are always up to no good. We must treat her well in the future, and not let that old bastard Yan Bugui scheme against her!"