Siheyuan (courtyard house): My father, Li Yunlong!

He never intended to achieve anything earth-shattering in the factory's security work. What he needed most at this stage was a relaxed, low-key approach with ample time and freedom to manage his own "system" and plan for the future.

He walked up to the second floor and came to the office door at the east end, which had a sign that read "Intelligence and Security Section".

The door was ajar, but he pushed it open and went inside. The office was slightly larger than the section chief's, but equally old.

Sunlight streamed through the dusty window, illuminating the fine dust particles floating in the air.

Four or five desks were sparsely placed, and against the wall was a row of tall, peeling paint filing cabinets.

As Wang Jianjun described, there were indeed only a handful of people in the department, and they were all elderly colleagues.

Near the door, a man with gray hair and wearing arm sleeves was holding an enamel mug, engrossed in reading a newspaper, occasionally taking a sip of tea and letting out a satisfied sigh.

Inside, a man was leaning back in his chair, head tilted back, reading glasses perched on his nose, seemingly dozing off, with faint snoring audible.

Another person, with their back to the door, was slowly dusting the top of the filing cabinet with a feather duster, their movements as graceful as if they were practicing Tai Chi.

The entire office was filled with a lazy, leisurely, and even somewhat gloomy atmosphere.

Li Zhenhua's entry only made the old man reading the newspaper near the door slightly raise his eyelids, glance at him, and seem to think that he was a young worker who had come to the wrong door, before lowering his head again to continue reading his newspaper.

Li Zhenhua looked around and felt not the slightest disappointment or dissatisfaction, but rather a sense of complete peace of mind.

Very good, a forgotten corner, a group of comrades preparing for retirement.

This was exactly his ideal "work environment." He coughed lightly, attracting the attention of the elderly man reading the newspaper, and gave him a gentle yet polite smile.

"Hello, comrades. I'm Li Zhenhua, the new section chief. May I ask, which one of you is Deputy Section Chief Zhou?"

The lazy atmosphere in the office was instantly broken when Li Zhenhua introduced himself.

An elderly man reading the newspaper trembled, nearly spilling the tea in his enamel mug; another man dozing was startled awake, his reading glasses slipping down to the tip of his nose, and hurriedly reached out to adjust them.

The person who was dusting with their back to the door stopped what they were doing, turned around, and looked at them with a surprised expression.

All three of them stared at Li Zhenhua, their eyes filled with disbelief and curiosity.

The young man in front of them looked to be only in his early twenties. He had a handsome face, a tall and straight posture, and was dressed in a neat Zhongshan suit. He had a calm and composed demeanor, which was completely unlike the arrogant and conceited children of cadres who had come down to the countryside to gain experience. He also did not match the age and demeanor that they had expected a "section chief" to have.

"You...you're the new Section Chief Li?"

The elderly man reading the newspaper was the first to react. He quickly put down his teacup, stood up, and put on a warm, even slightly awkward, smile.

"Oh! Welcome, welcome! I never expected you to be so young, Section Chief Li! I'm Old Chen from the section, Chen Siming."

The person who had been dozing off quickly adjusted his glasses, stood up, rubbed his hands together, and laughed.

"Yes, yes, Section Chief Li is truly young and promising! I'm Lao Wang, Wang Jianguo."

The man dusting himself also came over, smiling as he introduced himself.

"Hello, Section Chief, I'm Liu Degui, you can just call me Lao Liu."

At this moment, behind the innermost desk, an elderly man who looked the oldest, around sixty years old, with almost completely white hair but still a sturdy build, also stood up. He seemed to have been organizing documents.

He strode up to Li Zhenhua, his attitude neither humble nor arrogant, but his eyes held a scrutinizing gaze and a hint of barely perceptible gentleness.

"Section Chief Li, hello. I'm Zhou Dahe, the deputy section chief of this department. Director Yang spoke to me yesterday, saying you'd be reporting for duty today. Welcome to the Intelligence Section."

Zhou Dahe's voice was slightly hoarse, but very clear.

"Section Chief Zhou, hello fellow veterans."

Li Zhenhua smiled and nodded to everyone, his attitude amiable.

"As I'm new here, I'll need the support and guidance of my senior colleagues in my future work."

His humble attitude immediately put Old Chen, Old Wang, and Old Liu at ease, and their smiles became much more natural.

They were initially worried that a young, impetuous leader with poor judgment would disrupt their leisurely pace, but now it seems that the new section chief is quite easy to talk to.

"Section Chief Li, you're too kind!"

"Yes, yes, feel free to ask us anything you need to know!"

"Section Chief, please have a seat. Let me pour you a glass of water!"

The group greeted him warmly, and Lao Liu quickly went to get a thermos and a new teacup.

Li Zhenhua sat down at an empty desk next to Zhou Dahe, which was obviously the section chief's desk. He accepted the hot tea that Lao Liu handed him and thanked him.

He glanced around the office, which bore the marks of time, and then looked at the elderly comrades in front of him, whose average age was over fifty. He knew exactly what was going on.

He blew on the steam rising from the teacup, took a sip, then put the teacup down and spoke in a casual, conversational tone.

"Section Chief Zhou, fellow veterans, I am young and inexperienced. Being assigned to this position is a testament to the organization's trust, and I am here to learn from you veteran revolutionaries."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, a genuine smile on his face.

"I learned a little about the situation in our department before I came here. I know that the workload in the department is not as heavy as before. All of you veteran comrades have worked for most of your lives and have a wealth of experience. It's time for you to take a more stable approach."

He leaned forward slightly and lowered his voice, as if he were saying something intimate.

"So, let me make this statement. The department will remain the same as before. Everyone should read the newspaper, have tea, take a stroll, and just follow the routine and handle your daily work. As for me, I'll mainly be learning from everyone and just getting by. As long as nothing major goes wrong, we'll all be fine. How about that?"

Li Zhenhua's words truly resonated with the hearts of several veteran comrades!

What are they most afraid of?

What I fear most is a new official taking office and making a series of rash moves, disrupting their peaceful retirement life.

Now this young section chief has made things clear, not only not causing any trouble, but also encouraging them to keep things as they are. He's like a wonderful leader who fell from the sky!

Old Chen, Old Wang, and Old Liu were immediately overjoyed and exclaimed repeatedly.

"Section Chief Li, you're truly a wise man!"

"Great! Don't worry, Section Chief, we guarantee there will be no mistakes in our daily work!"

"That's right, that's right, we feel much more at ease knowing you said that!"

Even Zhou Dahe, who had been looking rather serious, softened his expression and nodded.

"It would be best if Section Chief Li could understand us old folks. Although the section is less busy now, we will still do our job well."

The atmosphere instantly became incredibly harmonious.