Courtyard House: The Road to an Industrial Power

As the steel rolling mill's closing bell rang, a steady stream of workers poured out of the gates.

As soon as Lin Weidong stepped out of the factory gate, he saw Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu standing under the old locust tree by the roadside.

The two of them lowered their heads, their toes shuffling on the ground, their expressions showing a mixture of unease and guilt.

Upon seeing Lin Weidong emerge, the two brothers hurriedly went to greet him.

Liu Guangtian spoke first, his tone full of apology: "I'm sorry, Chief Engineer Lin, today's incident is all our fault. If it weren't for us, you wouldn't have suffered such a great injustice."

Liu Guangfu added, "Yes, Chief Engineer Lin, it's all our family's business, but we feel really bad that you've had to go through all this trouble."

Lin Weidong looked at the two of them and waved his hand.

"This has nothing to do with you, you don't need to worry about it."

Sha Zhu, carrying a lunchbox, spotted Lin Weidong and the three Liu brothers from afar.

"Weidong, Guangtian, Guangfu, wait for me!"

"What are you three talking about here? Are you discussing Liu Haizhong?"

Seeing the others nod, he knew he had guessed correctly. He had only learned about the incident at the steel mill today from the radio.

The four of them walked together toward the courtyard house. As soon as they arrived at the gate, they saw Yan Bugui wearing a pair of reading glasses, standing on tiptoe and looking around at the courtyard.

He caught sight of Lin Weidong and the others approaching, and glanced at their hands. He noticed that apart from Sha Zhu, who was holding two empty lunchboxes, the four of them had nothing else with them.

The expectation on her face vanished instantly. She gave a soft "humph," turned her head away, pretended not to see anything, and slowly strolled into the yard with her hands behind her back.

Sha Zhu couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "This old man is still the same as ever, he pretends not to see people when there's no benefit to him."

Lin Weidong smiled, didn't reply, and walked straight inside.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, Liu Guangtian suddenly seemed to have gathered all his courage, turned around abruptly, and rushed towards Liu Haizhong's house door.

With a loud bang, Liu Guangtian kicked open the wooden door of Liu Haizhong's house, and the door panel hit the wall, making a dull echo.

Liu Haizhong, who was sitting in a chair smoking inside, was startled by the sudden commotion. He looked up and saw Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu barging in, and his face instantly darkened.

"You two little brats, how dare you trespass on my property!"

Liu Guangtian stepped forward, pointed at his nose, and cursed.

"Liu Haizhong! Our family split up because of you! Because you're biased, giving all the benefits to our eldest brother, while the two of us have only ever been beaten and mistreated since childhood!"

"Because you're selfish and self-centered, you've never treated us like sons, you've only used us as punching bags!"

He took a deep breath and continued, "You agreed to the family division, and you made the decision to sever ties with relatives. Now you're spreading rumors in the factory and slandering Chief Engineer Lin!"

Search your conscience, are you even human?

Liu Haizhong's face turned pale and then red from the scolding. He was furious and instinctively pulled off his belt, raising it to lash Liu Guangtian.

"I'll beat you to death, you ungrateful wretch! How dare you talk to me like that!"

This time, however, Liu Guangtian did not dodge as he had done before.

He and Liu Guangfu stepped forward together, grabbed Liu Haizhong's arm tightly, and forced him to the ground.

Liu Haizhong struggled, but couldn't break free no matter what he did, and could only curse angrily.

"You've rebelled! You've rebelled! You two wretches, how dare you hit me!"

Hearing the commotion, Aunt Erda ran out from the inner room. Seeing the scene before her, she rushed over, patting Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu's backs while crying and saying:

"Stop it! He's your father! How can you treat him like this!"

Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu stopped what they were doing, looked at the second aunt, and felt a chill run down their spines.

From childhood to adulthood, whenever they were beaten and scolded by Liu Haizhong, their mother never said a word in their defense or ever intervened.

But now, they only resisted slightly, and their mother immediately stood up and reprimanded them.

At that moment, the last trace of attachment they had for this home vanished completely.

"Why didn't you say this when he was beating us?"

"Why didn't you stop him when he locked us in the woodshed and let us starve?"

"Now that we've rebelled, you suddenly remember he's your father?"

The second aunt was speechless when asked the question.

Lin Weidong and Sha Zhu quickly stepped forward and separated Liu Guangtian and his brother.

Sha Zhu advised, "Guangtian, Guangfu, let it go. No matter what, he is still your father. If word gets out that you hit your father, you're finished."

In this day and age, hitting your parents, no matter the reason, will be condemned and criticized.

Lin Weidong nodded in agreement: "Yes, it's good to clarify things. Don't be impulsive. If something really happens, it will be a loss for us."

Hearing the commotion, the neighbors in the courtyard all gathered around and stood at the door to watch the excitement.

Everyone heard about the steel rolling mill incident this morning and knows that Liu Haizhong fabricated rumors and slandered Lin Weidong.

They all secretly felt relieved, and no one stepped forward to help Liu Haizhong; they just stood aside and watched the show.

Liu Haizhong scrambled to his feet, pointed at Liu Guangtian and his brother, and cursed, "You two wicked bastards! Ungrateful wretches!"

"How could I have given birth to two such wretches! One ran away and the other separated from the family, neither of them gives me any peace of mind!"

As he continued his tirade, he turned his anger towards his second aunt, "And you! Look at the good sons you've raised! They're all disobedient and unfilial! How did I end up marrying such a jinx!"

The second aunt was sobbing uncontrollably, covering her face and squatting on the ground, unable to utter a single word.

With Lin Weidong and Shazhu's persuasion, the Liu brothers gradually calmed down.

Looking at Liu Haizhong's ferocious face and at Aunt Er's weeping, they felt no anger, only numbness.

The two stopped talking and followed Lin Weidong as they turned and left Liu Haizhong's house, returning to the west courtyard.

In the west courtyard, Lin Weidong poured a glass of water for the two of them without saying anything more.

Some things can only be solved by themselves.

Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu took the water cups and drank the water in silence.

Everything that happened in the Liu family was witnessed by the deaf old woman inside the house.

She stood by the window, leaning on her cane, and saw the whole farce unfolding in the yard.

The deaf old woman cursed inwardly, "What a good-for-nothing! He has no brains at all."

"You can't even handle such a small thing, and you've made yourself look so pathetic. You're a complete idiot!"

She had originally planned to use Liu Haizhong to deal with Lin Weidong, but now it seems that relying on this good-for-nothing is a complete waste of effort.

Not long after, Zhao Xiulan returned home from get off work and heard about what had just happened as soon as she entered the courtyard.

He pulled Lin Jianjun to the west courtyard and found Lin Weidong.

"Weidong, we've heard about what happened at the factory and at home today. What exactly happened?" Zhao

Xiulan sat in the chair and asked in a serious tone.

Lin Weidong recounted the whole story in detail, from Liu Haizhong spreading rumors to being questioned by the factory office, and then to the Liu brothers coming to his door to demand justice.

Zhao Xiulan felt a little strange after hearing this.

"I know Liu Haizhong. He's not very bright and just talks big."

"He couldn't have come up with such a sneaky trick to slander you; someone must have been giving him the idea behind the scenes."

Lin Weidong smiled and said in a relaxed tone, "I understand, I'll be more careful in the future."

He thought to himself that these people's constant trouble-making only brought him system rewards.

I received a reward for helping the Liu brothers last time.

This time, because of Liu Haizhong's rumors, the system actually rewarded him with eight-cylinder engine technology!

With these people helping you farm system rewards, it's much easier.

Seeing that her son didn't seem to care, Zhao Xiulan became anxious.

"No matter what, you still need to be extra careful. You can't be too careful, and you shouldn't let them take advantage of you."

"Mom, I understand, don't worry."

Lin Weidong nodded.

"It's getting late, you should all go back and get some rest."

Zhao Xiulan and Lin Jianjun gave a few more instructions before leaving the west courtyard.

As night deepened, the courtyard gradually returned to tranquility.

The Liu brothers lay in the small house in the west courtyard, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

They knew that from this day forward, they had no further connection with Liu Haizhong or that so-called family, and even their mother's last remaining hope was gone.

Lin Weidong, sitting under the lamp, had already begun to sort out the eight-cylinder engine technology that the system had rewarded him with.

The emergence of this technology will undoubtedly bring tremendous impetus to the country's automotive industry and military industry.

He was pondering how to make the best use of this skill to seek a greater reward.