Courtyard House: The Road to an Industrial Power

The alley was still shrouded in a thin mist in the early morning. Widow Li huddled in the deaf old woman's house, closing the door tightly.

After the farce at last night's hospital-wide meeting, the neighbors in the courtyard kept pointing and whispering about Widow Li.

They whispered among themselves that "the attempt to frame her backfired and she lost face," which made her run across the yard even when she went out to buy groceries.

Just as everyone in the courtyard had gone to work, the deaf old woman, leaning on her cane, slowly made her way to the entrance of the dilapidated courtyard.

She raised her hand and knocked on the wooden door, and footsteps soon came from inside.

The same person opened the door as before. After sitting down in the hall for a short while, the middle-aged man came out and sat on a chair in front of the hall. He was wearing a Zhongshan suit and was holding two steel balls in his hands, which he was fiddling with in his palms, making a crisp clinking sound.

His eyes were sinister as he looked at the deaf old woman and cut to the chase: "Old lady, what brings you here again?"

"I need you to kill someone."

"Who?" The middle-aged man's steel ball slowed down.

Lin Weidong, who works at the steel rolling mill, lives in a courtyard house.

The deaf old woman said, enunciating each word clearly, "This kid is too much of a nuisance. I won't feel at ease until I get rid of him."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man stopped what he was doing, pondered for a moment, and slowly extended five fingers.

"Don't be so greedy! Five small yellow croakers are way too many!"

The middle-aged man sneered, a mocking smile playing on his lips: "Old lady, are you trying to fob me off with five small yellow croakers? You're not offering five small yellow croakers, you're offering five large yellow croakers."

He paused, then took a sip of the tea his subordinate brought him.

"Don't you know who Lin Weidong is? He's the chief engineer of the steel rolling mill."

"Military Project Manager"

"And the mother of the deputy director of the subdistrict office—how risky is it to take action against someone like that? Are you kidding me, offering me this price?"

"I know better than you what kind of people are in your courtyard. Besides, Your Highness, you don't lack these little gold and silver things, do you?"

"Hahaha"

The deaf old woman's face instantly darkened, and her fingers instinctively tightened their grip on her cane.

Five large yellow croakers—that's no small sum of money, but the thought of Lin Weidong repeatedly ruining her plans made her hesitate.

He gritted his teeth, his cheeks trembling slightly, and finally nodded: "Okay, five big yellow croakers it is."

The deaf old woman took out two kinds of small yellow croakers and said, "Pay the deposit first, two small yellow croakers."

"I'll pay the rest after it's done."

But the middle-aged man took the gold bars and then said, "No, it has to be paid in full. I don't do this kind of business on credit."

"You!" The deaf old woman trembled with anger, about to lash out, but met the middle-aged man's unyielding gaze.

In the end, she gave in and took a deep breath: "Okay, I'll have someone deliver it to the alley entrance later, and you can send someone to pick it up."

The middle-aged man nodded and said nothing more.

The deaf old woman turned to leave, but just as she reached the door, she heard the man behind her sigh, "You're getting old, so try to avoid causing trouble. In this world, isn't it better to live a peaceful life?"

The deaf old woman paused, but didn't turn around. She simply quickened her pace and left the dilapidated courtyard.

She had only one thought in her mind: Lin Weidong must die.

Back in the courtyard house, the deaf old woman closed the door tightly and pulled a wooden box out of a hidden compartment under the bed. Inside were some large yellow croakers that she usually kept in case of emergencies.

She carefully counted them, and after confirming that there were enough, she wrapped them in layers of dark coarse cloth, held them tightly in her hand, and finally stuffed them under her pillow.

Just then, the door was gently pushed open, and Widow Li walked in.

She originally wanted to discuss what to do next with the deaf old woman, but she happened to witness the deaf old woman wrapping up gold bars.

The deaf old woman didn't try to avoid it. While tucking the pillow down, she coldly said, "This is Lin Weidong's money to buy his life."

Li Guayi was taken aback: "Old lady, are you really going to kill him?"

"If he doesn't die, none of us will have a good life."

"We didn't want to, but he kept ruining our plans."

Widow Li nodded repeatedly and turned to cook.

At that moment, she had a completely new understanding of the deaf old woman's wealth, and she took the five large yellow croakers without hesitation.

Meanwhile, the steel rolling mill was bustling with activity.

The machine tool workshop was finally set up, and a red banner was hung at the entrance of the workshop with the words "Machine Tool Workshop Opening Ceremony" written on it.

The workers, dressed in neat work clothes and beaming with joy, waited at the workshop entrance.

Factory Director Li Huaide stood on a makeshift platform, microphone in hand, his voice booming: "Comrades, today is the official start-up day for our steel rolling mill's machine tool workshop!"

"The completion of this workshop would not have been possible without the hard work of Chief Engineer Lin Weidong and Director Lin Jianjun, as well as the efforts of all the workers!"

"Its commissioning will greatly improve our factory's production efficiency and contribute to the country's industrial development! I hope everyone will continue to work hard and create a brilliant future together!"

A round of enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience.

After Li Huaide finished speaking, he handed the microphone to Lin Jianjun.

Lin Jianjun took the microphone, a smile of excitement on his face: "Now, I declare the steel rolling mill's machine tool workshop officially operational!"

As he finished speaking, the machines in the workshop roared, deafeningly loud, and the workers once again erupted in enthusiastic applause and cheers.

After the opening ceremony, Lin Weidong and Su Wanqing were about to leave when a young man called out to them, "Chief Engineer Lin! Wait a minute!"

Lin Weidong turned around and looked at the man in front of him. He felt that the man looked familiar, but he couldn't remember who he was for a moment.

The young man strode forward, a bright smile on his face: "Brother, it's me, Wang Jianjun! Don't you remember me?"

"Wang Jianjun?" Lin Weidong was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized.

"Oh! It's you! You've grown so much, I almost didn't recognize you!"

"Brother, is that your sister-in-law?"

Lin Weidong chuckled awkwardly twice and said, "Almost there, almost there."

"I understand."

Su Wanqing wasn't embarrassed at all watching the two joking around, and just stood by and watched.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Wang Jianjun said warmly, "Brother, it's rare to run into you here. Let me treat you to lunch in the cafeteria so we can have a good chat."

Lin Weidong nodded in agreement and, together with Su Wanqing, followed Wang Jianjun to the canteen.

The three of them carried a full box of food and sat down at a corner table in the cafeteria.

During the meal, Wang Jianjun started talking: "Brother, if it weren't for you tutoring me back then, my grades definitely wouldn't have improved."

"Back then, I looked up to you as a role model and studied hard. Later, I was admitted to a mechanical engineering program, and after graduating this year, I was assigned to a steel rolling mill. Today, I officially started working in the machine tool workshop as a technician!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Weidong laughed and joked, "Not bad, not bad, you didn't embarrass your older brother."

After lunch, the three returned to their respective work stations.

After getting off work in the evening, Lin Weidong walked along the alley towards the courtyard house.

As soon as I reached the alley entrance, I caught a glimpse of Widow Li talking to a middle-aged man wearing a dog-skin hat in the corner of the wall not far away.

The man was tall, wearing a black cotton-padded jacket, and had his head down, so his face was not visible.

Immediately afterwards, Widow Li took out a cloth bag from her bosom and handed it to the man.

The man took the cloth bag, stuffed it into his arms, nodded, and turned to walk out of the alley.

Lin Weidong vaguely felt that there was something on the back of the man's head, like a braid, but he was too far away to be sure.

Widow Li turned around to go back to the courtyard house, and as soon as she turned around, she met Lin Weidong's gaze.

She was startled and her eyes darted around nervously, but she quickly forced herself to calm down and pretended to be nonchalant as she walked towards the courtyard house.

Lin Weidong watched her retreating figure, a hint of doubt rising in his heart.

Widow Li's behavior just now was very unusual. Who was that man in the dog-skin hat? What was in the cloth bag she handed over?