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

Jia Dongming stepped out of the room and saw Master Lei, who was repairing the old Jia family house. He immediately took out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from his pocket, quickly went up to offer cigarettes to each of the repairmen present, and then asked Master Lei, "Master Lei! I'd like to open a separate door in the wall of the courtyard facing the alley. Do you think that's feasible?"

Master Lei took the cigarette Jia Dongming offered, casually tucked it behind his ear, and asked, "Boss! Would you like the main gate or the side gate opened?"

Jia Dongming replied, "Master Lei! We only need to open a small door for easy passage."

Because of the nature of my work, I often return home late at night. It's not a big deal to bother the old man in the courtyard to open the door once or twice, but I would feel bad if I disturbed him frequently in the middle of the night.

Therefore, I want to install a separate door.

Master Lei nodded in agreement: "Boss! You have cement and other materials readily available. You only need to purchase a door, and I can make a doorway for you in the wall according to the door's dimensions."

After listening to Master Lei's response, Jia Dongming immediately asked him, "Master Lei! Is it possible to buy this kind of door directly?"

Upon hearing Jia Dongming's question, Master Lei nodded unconsciously and replied, "Master! You might as well ask at the Trust Store. If you can't find it there, you can only try asking at Tongxinghe Wood Shop, but you'll need timber coupons to buy wooden doors there."

After understanding what Master Lei had said, Jia Dongming immediately replied, "Okay, Master Lei! I'll go to the trust store during my lunch break."

Around 7:30 in the morning, Yi Zhonghai was about to leave for work as usual. As soon as he stepped out of his house, he saw Jia Dongming pushing a bicycle, with Qin Huairu and her son Banggeng, walking out of the other courtyard like a family.

Although the deaf old lady had clearly told Yi Zhonghai that the possibility of relying on Jia Dongming for old age was very small, Yi Zhonghai still felt very resentful when he thought about all the sacrifices he had made for the Jia family over the years.

In addition, Jia Dongming has a substantial income, so if he is willing to take care of the elderly couple, they won't have to worry about their future.

Therefore, ever since Jia Dongming moved into the courtyard, Yi Zhonghai has been secretly observing Jia Dongming's character.

Upon seeing Jia Dongming pushing his bicycle, Yi Zhonghai, recalling the commotion in the courtyard last night, greeted him warmly, "Section Chief Jia! Good morning!"

When Jia Dongming saw Yi Zhonghai greet him, although he disliked this hypocrite who appeared respectable on the surface, he still politely replied, "Good morning, sir!"

Standing to the side, Qin Huairu greeted Yi Zhonghai politely, "Good morning, sir!"

As Jia Dongming finished speaking, he remembered Jia Zhangshi's instructions and reminded Banggeng beside him, "Banggeng! What did I teach you? Why don't you greet this old man?"

Upon hearing the reminder, Banggeng, who was following Jia Dongming, immediately and obediently greeted Yi Zhonghai, "Good morning, Uncle!"

Yi Zhonghai was quite surprised to see Jia Dongming take the initiative to have Banggeng greet him, and quickly and happily said to Banggeng, "Banggeng! Good morning to you too!"

After greeting Banggeng, Yi Zhonghai remembered the commotion in the yard last night and curiously asked Jia Dongming, "Section Chief Jia! Old Yan came to your house so late last night, did something happen at the factory?"

When Jia Dongming heard Yi Zhonghai ask about what happened last night, he didn't try to hide anything and explained with a smile: "Uncle! Last night, someone tried to sneak into the scrap warehouse to steal scrap steel under the cover of darkness, but our patrol team found out."

The patrol team, fearing it was enemy agents causing sabotage, sent someone to the courtyard that very night to report to me.

After hearing Jia Dongming's explanation, Yi Zhonghai immediately pressed, "Section Chief Jia! Has the thief been caught?"

When asked by Yi Zhonghai, Jia Dongming nodded subconsciously and replied, "Of course we caught him. It's Qian the Cripple from the boiler room of our steel rolling mill."

Moreover, based on the clues provided by Qian the Cripple, we raided an underground operation and arrested many people, including more than a dozen workers from our steel rolling mill. They are still being held in solitary confinement.

"What! Section Chief Jia! You raided an underground gambling den last night, and more than a dozen of the people you arrested were workers from our factory? Is that true?"

When Uncle Liu Haizhong heard what Jia Dongming told Yi Zhonghai, he looked incredulous and blurted out to Jia Dongming to confirm the matter.

Upon hearing Liu Haizhong's question, Jia Dongming looked at Liu Haizhong, who was heavily pregnant, as he walked out of the backyard and replied with a smile, "Second Uncle! Good morning! This is absolutely true, and three of these dozen or so workers are from your forging workshop."

Upon hearing that some of those arrested were from his workshop, Liu Haizhong asked Jia Dongming with great curiosity, "Section Chief Jia! Who are the people from our forging workshop who were arrested?"

Upon hearing Liu Haizhong's question, Jia Dongming recalled the list of arrested workers and replied, "Second Uncle! There's one named Zhang Bin! Another is Cui Ergou, and the third is Chen Hua."

"What! Chen Hua! I was wondering why he kept yawning at work these past two days. Turns out he went out at night."

Upon hearing Jia Dongming mention Chen Hua's name, Liu Haizhong's face immediately filled with anger, and he blurted out a curse.

Seeing Liu Haizhong's reaction, Jia Dongming immediately guessed that Chen Hua was likely Liu Haizhong's apprentice, but he pretended not to know and asked, "Second Uncle! Could this Chen Hua be your apprentice?"

Upon hearing Jia Dongming's question, Liu Haizhong's face immediately showed a look of disappointment, and he replied, "Section Chief Jia! You're right, Chen Hua is my apprentice."

When I get to the factory today, I'm going to give him a good talking to.

Upon hearing Liu Haizhong's words and seeing his disappointed expression, Jia Dongming quickly reminded Liu Haizhong, "Second Uncle! Although an apprentice is considered half a son, this is not the old society anymore. You can't beat your apprentice so easily; that would be a mistake."

Reminded by Jia Dongming, Liu Haizhong remembered what Jia Dongming had told him a couple of days ago. His angry face immediately turned embarrassed, and he hurriedly bowed and scraped to Jia Dongming, saying, "Section Chief Jia! Don't worry, I've changed a lot now, and I definitely won't hit anyone normally."

"This Chen Hua doesn't sleep at night, yet he still has the energy to go. Once he starts work, I'll assign him some heavy and tiring work to see if he still has the energy to go."

Jia Dongming agreed with Liu Haizhong's idea. Seeing that it was almost time for work, Jia Dongming politely said goodbye to Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong: "Uncle! Uncle! It's getting late, Huairu and I will be leaving now."

Jia Dongming pushed his bicycle and headed straight towards the hanging flower gate.

Liu Haizhong was about to speak again when he saw Jia Dongming pushing the cart towards the front yard. He smiled and said to Yi Zhonghai, "Old Yi, let's get going!"

As Yi Zhonghai watched Jia Dongming and Qin Huairu disappear behind the hanging flower gate, a strange feeling arose in his heart, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong.

At 9:00 a.m., in front of the security office building of the steel rolling mill, Jia Dongming saw a middle-aged man get out of a jeep and immediately led two captains to walk up to him.

He reached out and firmly grasped the other person's wrists, shook them vigorously, and greeted them with a smile, "Welcome to the leaders of the Publicity Department of the General Administration of Customs for their visit and guidance to our factory's security department!"

The middle-aged man's name is Zheng Weimin, and he is the deputy director of the Publicity Department of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

Faced with Jia Dongming's enthusiasm, Zheng Weimin shook hands with him warmly and solemnly, and responded in a gentle tone: "Section Chief Jia, I am Zheng Weimin."

We are here on behalf of the General Administration to present you and the security department of the steel rolling mill with honorary medals, not to conduct inspections or provide guidance.

Upon learning the other party's identity, Jia Dongming immediately greeted him warmly: "Director Zheng, hello! Please allow me to introduce you. This is Guo Jianguo, the captain of the first brigade of our factory's security department, and this is Li Aijun, the captain of the third brigade."

Upon hearing this, Guo Jianguo quickly extended both hands to shake hands with Zheng Weimin and said warmly, "Director Zheng, hello! I am Guo Jianguo, it is an honor to meet you."

"Director Zheng, welcome to the security department of our steel rolling mill."

Li Aijun followed closely behind, shook hands with Zheng Weimin, and said respectfully.

"Section Chief Jia, the leaders from the General Administration came to the factory to present an honor to your Security Section. Why didn't you inform me beforehand?"

Just as Guo Jianguo and Li Aijun were exchanging pleasantries with Zheng Weimin, Li Huaide, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, saw Zheng Weimin in uniform and immediately spoke to Jia Dongming.

Upon hearing Li Huaide's words, Jia Dongming realized that he had been too busy with work to inform the factory in time. He quickly explained, "Director Li, I was busy handling a case until the early hours of the morning yesterday, and I neglected to report it to you after I got home."

Then, he turned to Zheng Weimin and introduced him: "Director Zheng, this is Comrade Li Huaide, the deputy director of our factory in charge of security and logistics."

Then, he introduced to Li Huaide: "Director Li, this is Comrade Zheng Weimin, the deputy director of the Publicity Department of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau."

After hearing this, Li Huaide warmly shook hands with Zheng Weimin and said with a smile, "Director Zheng, on behalf of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, I welcome you."

Zheng Weimin politely shook hands with Li Huaide and responded warmly, "Director Li, hello! It's a pleasure to meet you."

He paused briefly before continuing to explain to Li Huaide: "Director Li, based on the enemy spy case cracked by your factory and the clues subsequently provided by Comrade Jia Dongming, the General Administration successfully dismantled a small-time enemy spy gang of dozens of people, seized a large number of weapons and supplies, and dealt a powerful blow to the arrogance of the enemy spies."

"After deliberation by the leadership of the General Administration, Comrade Jia Dongming is awarded a second-class merit, promoted from section chief to deputy division chief, and concurrently appointed as deputy head of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Dongcheng Public Security Bureau. He is also awarded a bonus of 300 yuan."

After speaking, Zheng Weimin took a wooden box from his entourage, gently opened it, took out a second-class merit medal, and solemnly pinned it on Jia Dongming's chest.

The security team members present all looked on with envy when they saw the medal on Jia Dongming's chest, and they all applauded enthusiastically.

After the applause subsided, Zheng Weimin took another collective third-class merit award from his subordinates and announced loudly: "Comrades of the Security Department of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, as decided by the leaders of the General Administration, the Security Department of the Steel Rolling Mill is hereby awarded a collective third-class merit, and each person will be awarded an enamel mug and twenty yuan in cash."

Upon hearing the news, Guo Jianguo and Li Aijun stepped forward to salute Zheng Weimin, then together accepted the third-class merit medal belonging to the Security Section, before turning to face all the team members.

In this era that values ​​honor, the team members, upon hearing the announcement and gazing at the medals before them, were all visibly excited and once again burst into enthusiastic applause.

Upon learning that Jia Dongming had not only received a second-class merit award but had also been promoted directly from section chief to deputy director, Li Huaide was quite surprised. He then smiled and congratulated Jia Dongming, saying, "Section Chief Jia—no, now you should be called Director Jia!"

He paused briefly, then continued his congratulations: "Director Jia, congratulations on receiving a second-class merit and on your successful promotion to the division-level cadre position!"

Jia Dongming said gratefully, "Director Li, thank you for your congratulations."

I'm hosting a banquet tonight; let's have a good get-together.

Li Huaide smiled and reminded him, "Director Jia, please entertain Director Zheng first. We brothers will have many more opportunities to get together in the future."

Reminded by this, Jia Dongming remembered Zheng Weimin and quickly greeted him, "Director Zheng, please come in and have a seat."

Upon hearing Jia Dongming's words, Zheng Weimin responded with a smile, "Director Jia! My colleagues from the General Administration's personnel department will come to guide you to the Dongcheng Branch later, so I won't be going into this office."

After listening to Zheng Weimin's words, Jia Dongming shook hands with him again and said politely, "Director Zheng! Since you have already made arrangements, I will not try to keep you any longer."

In a couple of days, I'll host another gathering for you.

Yesterday, Zheng Weimin witnessed General Chen's attitude towards Jia Dongming outside the General Administration's conference room, which shows that the relationship between Jia Dongming and General Chen is extraordinary.

Now that Jia Dongming has taken the initiative to make overtures, Zheng Weimin naturally accepts them gladly.