Courtyard House: The Long-Lost Eldest Son Returns with Military Merit

After listening to the introduction, Director Lin politely and respectfully said to the doorman, "Uncle Guo! You can leave Section Chief Jia to me. Please go back and get back to your work!"

The gatekeeper smiled and nodded, "Okay, then I'll go back to the duty room first."

After the doorman left, Director Lin politely introduced himself to Jia Dongming: "Section Chief Jia! Hello! I am Lin Zhonghua, it's a pleasure to meet you."

The phone is right there, please feel free to use it.

Jia Dongming thanked him, took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed one to Lin Zhonghua before walking to the phone.

He gripped the phone handle and shook it a few times, then picked up the receiver and said, "Is this the switchboard? Please transfer me to the logistics section office of the steel rolling mill's security department."

The call was quickly answered, and a steady male voice came from the other end: "Hello! This is the logistics department office of the steel rolling mill. May I ask who this is?"

Upon hearing the voice, Jia Dongming knew it wasn't Zhang Guoping, and immediately said, "This is Jia Dongming. Please let Comrade Guoping answer the phone."

"Section Chief Jia! Hello! Section Chief Zhang has been feeling unwell in his stomach since lunch this afternoon. He just went to the restroom. Please wait a moment while I go and tell him to answer the phone."

Upon hearing Jia Dongming's self-introduction, the middle-aged man who answered the phone immediately and respectfully reported Zhang Guoping's whereabouts.

Upon hearing the middle-aged man's explanation, Jia Dongming immediately realized that Zhang Guoping's diarrhea might be due to his stomach not being able to adapt to eating meat after a long period of abstinence.

"Section Chief! I heard from Lao Liu that you wanted to see me. Did you get something out of me?"

After a short while, Jia Dongming heard Zhang Guoping's slightly weak voice asking questions over the phone.

Upon hearing Zhang Guoping's question, Jia Dongming noticed that Zhang Guoping's breathing was weak and immediately inquired with concern, "Guoping! How many comrades in the department have experienced diarrhea today after eating meat? Should we ask the factory doctor to come and prescribe medication for them?"

When Zhang Guoping heard Jia Dongming inquire about the situation in the department, he immediately recalled what had happened in the security department after lunch.

In response to Jia Dongming's inquiry, Zhang Guoping immediately reported to Jia Dongming: "Section Chief! Some colleagues in the section have experienced gastrointestinal discomfort this afternoon because they haven't been in contact with meat for a long time. The factory doctor has already treated us and provided us with antidiarrheal medication. The doctor said we should be back to normal by tomorrow."

At this point, Zhang Guoping hesitated, recalling some rumors circulating in the steel rolling mill that afternoon. After a moment's consideration, he said to Jia Dongming, "Section Chief! Here's the situation: many colleagues in the section have experienced gastrointestinal discomfort due to the meat dishes served at lunch."

"As a result, some people with ill intentions spread rumors in the factory, saying that a new broom sweeps clean, and your first act after taking office was to cause all the comrades in the department to have diarrhea by using pork."

Upon hearing Zhang Guoping's description, Jia Dongming on the other end of the phone couldn't help but laugh and asked Zhang Guoping, "Comrade Guoping! If this is my first major initiative after taking office, ask your colleagues in the department if they would like me to frequently ignite such initiatives?"

Upon hearing Jia Dongming's question, Zhang Guoping answered without hesitation, "Section Chief! If it were me, I would very much like you to frequently ignite such a fire!"

Upon hearing Zhang Guoping's reply, Jia Dongming immediately changed the subject and instructed Zhang Guoping: "Comrade Guoping! Contact the convoy immediately and ask them to send a vehicle to the foot of Xishan Mountain in Mentougou Commune. I will wait for you there. Also, inform the canteen staff to stay; we need to work overtime tonight."

Upon hearing Jia Dongming's instructions, Zhang Guoping remembered the purpose of Jia Dongming's trip to the countryside that day. His face immediately lit up with excitement, and he quickly asked Jia Dongming, "Section Chief! Did you gain anything from your trip to the countryside today?"

Upon hearing Zhang Guoping's question, Jia Dongming, recalling his harvest in the mountains that day, replied with a hint of pride, "Comrade Guoping! If we hadn't had a harvest, would I have asked you to contact the convoy to borrow a vehicle? I'll be waiting for you at the foot of West Mountain; please come as soon as possible."

Upon hearing Jia Dongming's instructions, Zhang Guoping immediately nodded and replied, "Section Chief! I'll contact the convoy right away and ask them to come pick you up at the foot of Xishan Mountain."

The logistics staff overheard the conversation between Zhang Guoping and Jia Dongming, and one of them immediately asked Zhang Guoping, "Section Chief! Did our section chief catch some game in the mountains?"

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Guoping immediately reached for the receiver, cranking the dial while saying, "If our section chief doesn't get any prey, will he ask me to contact the convoy to borrow a car?"

"Is this the switchboard? This is the Logistics Section of the Security Department. Could you please transfer me to the motorcade? Please ask Captain Jiang to answer the phone."

After the call connected, Zhang Guoping happily spoke to the switchboard operator.

After ending the call, Jia Dongming put the receiver back on the landline and politely thanked Director Lin: "Director Lin! Thank you!"

Upon hearing Jia Dongming's gratitude, Director Lin politely replied, "Section Chief Jia! We're all serving the people, you don't need to be so polite."

After saying goodbye to Director Lin, Jia Dongming rode his bicycle away from Mentougou Commune and headed towards the meeting place he had arranged with Zhang Guoping.

After arriving at the agreed location, Jia Dongming found a place to sit down and began to take stock of his gains in the mountains that day.

Today in the mountains, Jia Dongming successfully attracted three roe deer, a total of seventeen wild boars of various sizes, thirteen wolves, and one bear using special bait.

As for the roe deer, Jia Dongming plans to keep two; for the wild boar, he will keep one weighing over 200 jin. After returning to the courtyard, he will ask Sha Zhu to process it and distribute some to the residents of the courtyard. The rest will be made into cured meat for later consumption; as for the wild wolves, he will take out three for now; and the brown bear will be temporarily stored in the space and dealt with when the opportunity arises later.

After making the decision, Jia Dongming found a secluded spot, retrieved all the prey he planned to transport back to the factory, and then took out some food from his system space. He ate while waiting for the factory's vehicle.

After waiting for more than an hour, a large truck came into Jia Dongming's view.

Upon seeing the large truck, Jia Dongming immediately walked from the shade of the tree to the roadside and waved to the oncoming truck.

Sitting in the passenger seat of the truck, Zhang Guoping saw Jia Dongming waving from the roadside and immediately instructed the driver, "Master Zhao! Look, our section chief is over there."

The truck quickly stopped beside Jia Dongming. Zhang Guoping immediately opened the car door, strode over to Jia Dongming, and respectfully greeted him, "Section Chief! I'm sorry to have kept you waiting!"

Jia Dongming saw Zhang Guoping and two support staff getting off the truck, pointed to the shade of a tree not far away, and instructed Zhang Guoping: "Guoping! All the prey I caught today is over there. There's a total of one roe deer, three wolves, and seventeen wild boars."

"After this batch of goods is delivered to the department, you keep one 200-pound wild boar for me, and the rest will all belong to the department, and the price will be calculated based on the lowest purchase price."

Each colleague in the department can purchase five jin (2.5 kg) of meat at the purchase price.

Upon hearing Jia Dongming's instructions, Zhang Guoping glanced at the mountain of wild boars not far away, his eyes flashing with excitement. He hurriedly shouted to the accompanying logistics personnel, "Old Wang! Old Liu! Stop standing there, quickly load all these things onto the truck!"

The two had already noticed their prey when they got out of the car.

Thinking of the braised pork in the cafeteria at noon, and the satisfied look on their family's faces when they ate the meat, they immediately stepped forward to carry it as soon as they heard Zhang Guoping's instruction.

Old Wang walked to the pile of prey under the shade of a tree and was astonished to find that apart from the bullet holes in their eyes, the wild boars had no other wounds on their bodies. He quickly said to Old Liu, "Old Liu, look at these wild boars' wounds, how come they're all on their eyes? I never expected our section chief to be such a genius!"

Old Liu was only thinking about buying five catties of wild boar meat to take home, and didn't pay attention to the marks on the prey. It was only after Old Wang pointed it out that he noticed that almost all of the wild boar's wounds were around its eyes.

Looking at the bullet hole in the wild boar's head, Old Liu turned his gaze to the three skinned wolves.

Seeing their heads completely shattered, Old Liu couldn't help but exclaim, "Old Wang, our section chief isn't just a god, he's a crack shot! He can hit anything he points at!"

Old Wang was about to lift the wild boar when he realized it weighed at least 500 pounds and exclaimed, "How can this wild boar be so big? It must be the king of wild boars!"

The exclamation attracted Zhang Guoping.

He strode to the prey, staring at the enormous creature before him. Suddenly realizing the total weight of all the wild boars combined, he looked at Jia Dongming with disbelief, as if he were looking at a monster. "Section Chief," he asked, "all of this prey...did you bring all of this down from the mountains by yourself?"

Upon hearing Zhang Guoping's question and seeing everyone's astonished expressions, Jia Dongming laughed and replied, "Guoping, putting aside the roe deer and wolves, these seventeen wild boars alone weigh over three thousand jin (approximately 1,500 kg). Do you think I can move them by myself?"

He paused briefly before continuing to explain, "I encountered hunters from a nearby village while hunting in the mountains."

I paid the villagers to help carry these wild boars down the mountain, offering them a baby boar as payment.

At this point, Jia Dongming turned and instructed, "Guoping, it's getting late, and the comrades in the department are definitely waiting for us."

"Load the prey into the vehicle quickly and get back to the city as soon as possible!"

The braised pork served at the security department's canteen today caused stomach upset and diarrhea among many security personnel, but for them, it was a bittersweet experience.

The experience.

Because of the diarrhea incident, the security personnel jokingly referred to it as Jia Dongming's "first fire" upon taking office, and some even hoped that the fire would burn even brighter.

At 5:30 p.m., the announcement for the end of the workday rang out in the steel rolling mill.

After a long day of work, the workers stopped what they were doing, packed up their belongings, and walked toward the factory gate in groups upon hearing the broadcast.

At the gate of the steel rolling mill, security personnel on duty, armed with steel guns, watched as the workers left the factory in groups, occasionally conducting routine checks on anyone acting suspiciously.

At that moment, the sound of a car horn came from afar.

Upon hearing the commotion, a security guard looked over and saw Jia Dongming sitting in the passenger seat. He immediately remembered the purpose of Jia's trip to the countryside and hurriedly shouted to his colleague, "Jianjun! The section chief is back. Quickly direct the crowd and let the truck into the factory."

Wang Jianjun also heard the horn and saw the approaching truck.

Hearing his colleague shout, he immediately called out to the workers who were leaving get off work, "Comrades, please make way for the truck."

The workers who were leaving get off work heard the shout and instinctively moved aside.

As the truck passed in front of them, everyone's faces showed expressions of shock.

"It's wild boar! A whole truckload of wild boar! Looks like the cafeteria will have meat dishes for lunch tomorrow."

A sharp-eyed worker spotted the mountain of wild boars on the truck and excitedly shouted to his coworker.

The workers at the steel mill were excited as they looked at the piles of wild boars on the truck, and they began to discuss whether there would really be meat in the canteen the next day.

The security guards at the gate overheard the workers' conversation and immediately realized that they had mistakenly thought the wild boars were supplies purchased by the factory.

One of them immediately clarified: "Comrades, these wild boars don't belong to the steel mill. Our new head of the security department specially went into the mountains to hunt them to ensure the success of our training."

"What? Your security department just had braised pork for lunch today, why are you having meat again?"

When one of the workers learned that the wild boar meat had nothing to do with him, he immediately questioned him in dissatisfaction.

"Wait a minute! The security department cafeteria is serving braised pork for lunch today? Old Guo, where did you hear that?"

Upon hearing this, another worker looked on in surprise and asked his coworker for confirmation.

When asked by his colleague, Lao Guo said with a straight face, "Master Zhang from the transportation team lives in the same courtyard as me."

When I returned home at noon, the aroma of braised pork wafted through the yard, and my child ran outside following the scent.

"My child came back and told me that the Zhang family was eating meat, specifically braised pork."