The Fitter Master in the Courtyard: Surrounded by Dead Men

He crouched down, picked up Jia Dongxu, and started walking out of the courtyard.

Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu hurriedly followed.

……

On the other side, an older woman was carrying a wooden tray with two simple dishes on it, heading towards the deaf old lady's house in the backyard.

"Grandma, dinner's ready."

She called softly.

"Hey, Zhonghai, why are you so late today? There's a commotion outside, what happened?"

The deaf old lady slowly moved out of the inner room and casually asked.

"Some money was lost by Zhu Zi, but it has been found, so don't worry about it."

The older woman gave a brief answer.

As for Yang Ping's actions, she didn't want to mention a word about them.

"That's good."

The deaf old lady nodded, a look of relief on her face.

As long as her precious grandson isn't wronged, nothing else matters.

Her gaze fell on the table—a plate of hard cornbread and a bowl of clear cabbage soup.

The old lady pursed her lips and suddenly raised her chin:

"At Zhonghai's house, I smelled the aroma of chicken soup wafting from Yang Ping's room at noon."

Go and get me a bowl of this.

"Just say it's because our ancestors want to try a bite."

"this……"

The woman's face immediately turned pale.

Her husband, Yi Zhonghai, has suffered repeated losses under Yang Ping's control and hasn't gotten any credit for it yet.

Asking her to ask for chicken soup now? Wouldn't that be asking for embarrassment?

"Yang Ping is so clueless. He knows all I want is some meat, but he doesn't even offer me some. It's such a waste of my love for him."

The old lady muttered to herself.

Seeing the older woman still standing there motionless, she frowned and said with displeasure, "What, is it so difficult for you to go to Yang Ping's place to get some meat?"

"Grandma, you've misunderstood. It's not that I don't want to go."

The woman quickly waved her hand, a wry smile on her face, "Several major incidents have happened in the yard these past two days, and I need to tell you about them first."

She hadn't originally planned to tell the old lady these things, but now that she was going to provoke Yang Ping, she had no choice but to lay it all out on the table.

"You mean... Yi Zhonghai got taken down by that hothead?"

A hint of surprise flashed in the old woman's cloudy eyes.

"you do not say!"

The older woman nodded repeatedly, "Ever since Yang Ping was promoted to a second-level fitter, he's been completely transformed."

Now that he's a level six fitter, he doesn't even give Zhonghai, this old man, much face anymore.

"Never mind, never mind."

The old lady waved her hand, picked up a coarse cornbread, and slowly ate it with the clear cabbage soup at the bottom of the bowl. "At my age, I won't starve if I eat less meat."

Having lived to this age, she knows perfectly well who she can and cannot mess with.

Yang Ping is currently in the prime of his youth, full of vigor and success. He became a level six fitter in his early twenties, and his future prospects are probably limitless.

Why should she go and make a fool of herself?

Seeing this, the older woman secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"The Zhonghai family's,"

The old lady swallowed the last bite of cornbread, smacked her lips, and muttered to herself, "Next time... try to get me some meat to satisfy my craving."

I'm tired of this cornbread. If I could have a couple of bites of white flour steamed bun, that would be even better.

"Okay, I got it."

The older woman agreed verbally, but she knew in her heart that this was not an easy task.

The old lady didn't say anything more, she just slowly drank the soup in her bowl.

She knew all too well that eating white flour and meat was a luxury, and Yi Zhonghai would most likely not agree.

But as long as we're alive, we need something to look forward to, right? Even just a simple, empty thought can add a bit of flavor to life.

As dawn broke, Yang Ping finished breakfast and went to work as usual.

As he walked through the courtyard, the scene inside the Jia family's house came into his view: two figures with swollen faces were eating breakfast with their heads down, and Sha Zhu was standing guard by the door.

Judging from the situation, Jia Dongxu's injuries are probably not too serious; at least he's not so badly injured that he can't get out of bed.

Sha Zhu, most likely, came before dawn to curry favor with Qin Huairu, eagerly acting as a doorman for Jia Dongxu—his eagerness to serve her was impossible to hide.

The two swollen faces, along with the silly pillar by the door, all stared intently at Yang Ping as he passed by, their eyes filled with an intense, unyielding resentment. They resembled three stone lions crouching under the porch, glaring at him menacingly.

Yang Ping smiled slightly, which was a response to the silent hostility. Without stopping, he walked straight out of the courtyard and headed towards the steel rolling mill.

Occasionally, unfamiliar coworkers would nod and greet him on the way, and although he didn't recognize them all, he would politely respond.

Before long, they arrived at Workshop One.

Yang Ping walked to his machine tool and saw that Xie Quancai was already there.

"master."

He called out.

"They're here."

Xie Quancai hadn't gone to collect his work for the day yet, so he waited for him, asking, "Are you collecting the parts for the Level 6 worker today?"

"yes,"

Yang Ping nodded, her tone steady, "I want to reach the threshold of level seven as soon as possible."

With that increasingly clear understanding, the bottleneck was no longer an obstacle for him. He just needed to hone his skills to the point that everything would fall into place naturally.

He really wanted to get it done quickly, to secure the title of Level 7 Fitter as soon as possible.

When he himself reaches the level of an eighth-grade worker, Yi Zhonghai's limited experience will no longer be able to suppress him; at that time, the situation will be reversed.

He knew perfectly well that he was only a level six worker at the moment, and if anything happened in the factory, the leaders would most likely still give face to Yi Zhonghai, who was a level eight worker, and would not easily side with him.

"become."

Hearing this, Xie Quancai readily agreed and turned to go to Director Lü to collect the materials for the Level 6 parts.

"Master, I'll go with you."

Yang Ping lifted her foot and followed.

When Lü Shuitian saw the two men come to collect the materials needed for the Level 6 parts, his eyes lit up with joy.

The higher the grade of the parts in the factory, the more precious and hard-to-find the raw materials are. Few people dare to take them easily on ordinary days—everyone is afraid that the success rate will be too low, the losses will be too great, and it will cause a considerable deficit to the factory.

In that case, one would inevitably be severely reprimanded by the workshop director, and might even face the risk of having their salary deducted.

Therefore, unless they are very confident or the supervisor has given specific instructions, workers generally avoid working on level six, seven, and eight parts whenever possible.

"Yang Ping, keep up the good work and get to the seventh-level fitter level as soon as possible."

Lu Shuitian's tone was encouraging, "I still have a lot of level 7 parts tasks piled up here, and I'm short-handed."

"Understood, Director Lü!"

Yang Ping responded.

He took the blueprints and materials for the Level 6 parts and turned to leave.

Xie Quancai also silently took his share—he secretly decided that this time he would challenge the level seven with his apprentice and first work together to master the level six parts.

Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, Lü Shuitian couldn't help but smile.

The workshop desperately needs this kind of change.

Only when everyone stops being timid and hesitant can the factory produce more truly skilled technicians.

Back at their respective workstations, Yang Ping and Xie Quancai immediately got to work.

Time passed quietly, and more than an hour later, the two stopped to rest for a while.

Just then, the factory's public address system came on.

"Fellow workers, this is announcer Gao Yue."

Today, we would like to give special praise to Comrade Yang Ping, an outstanding worker in our factory—at only twenty years old, he has already passed the sixth-level fitter assessment and become a technical backbone of the factory.

"I hope everyone will take him as an example, strive for excellence, and become outstanding individuals..."

A clear female voice echoed throughout the workshop through the loudspeaker.

Yang Ping listened without any surprise on his face.

Yesterday, Xu Yueling had hinted to him that the factory was planning to do some publicity.

The radio program portrayed him as a model of hard work and dedication, which made him want to laugh helplessly.

There was no such thing as working day and night or enduring hardship—it was just a matter of relying on that little bit of talent, plus the quiet help from the system.

The announcement in the workshop had just stopped when Xie Quancai patted Yang Ping on the shoulder, his eyes filled with unspoken emotion. "Good lad, you've really made your master proud!"

Yang Ping twitched the corner of her mouth but didn't reply.

He knew perfectly well what he was capable of; surely this master who was watching him every day understood? It was just empty talk.

The clear, melodious voice of the broadcaster, Gao Yue, seemed to still linger in the air.

The factory has made its decision: Yang Ping will receive a reward of fifty yuan, plus twenty jin of grain coupons, to be paid out together with his wages.

The announcer's final words, "I hope everyone will continue to work hard," were...

The concluding remarks, like a pebble thrown into a pond, quickly spread ripples throughout the entire factory.

"Alright, Yang Ping!"

Xie Quancai added another congratulatory message.

Yang Ping himself was somewhat surprised.

He initially thought it was just a routine announcement, but he never expected it to be followed by a real reward.

This sum of money and food coupons is no small amount in these days.

Sure enough, the news spread like wildfire throughout the workshops and departments.

Before lunch break, you could hear people talking everywhere.

"That Yang Ping from Workshop One, he's only twenty, right? A level six fitter! I'm old enough to be his father, and I'm still stuck at level four."

"I heard he's not married yet... My daughter is exactly eighteen, and she's quite pretty."

"Hey, isn't that the handsome young man who's always with Master Xie?"

"Xie Quancai is his master! You didn't know that?"

"When I get food at the cafeteria tomorrow, I absolutely have to take a good look at this guy..."

Envy, inquiries, and matchmaking attempts all buzzed together.

A 20-year-old level 6 fitter has become the center of attention in this factory.

Of course, not everyone is happy to see this happen.

Yi Zhonghai stood next to the machine tools in the same workshop, his face ashen.

Every word on the radio felt like a needle pricking his ears.

This reward from the factory effectively brought Yang Ping into the public eye, and the leaders all took notice of him.

If this kid really messes up in the future, he'll probably be dealt with leniently after being given a hard time.

It will be difficult for him to do anything more.

He glanced at his apprentice beside him—Jia Dongxu, whose bloated, round face was looking over blankly, seemingly not quite understanding what the commotion on the radio meant.

Yi Zhonghai's anger flared up even more.

He stood on the periphery of the crowd, his ears filled with "Yang Ping".

Two words.

This good-for-nothing who used to be at his mercy has now become a hot commodity, with everyone vying to give their daughters to him.

A surge of evil fire rose to his heart, burning his internal organs until they twisted.

Once upon a time, Jia Dongxu was the one in the spotlight.

At twenty-three, he was a top performer on the fitter's bench; everyone praised him as "a prodigy, a true talent."

But that threshold of being a fourth-level worker was like an iron gate, blocking him for all these years.

The halo dimmed inch by inch, shattering on the greasy work clothes.

That's not all. As soon as the bell rings to signal the end of the workday, he still has to grab a broom and deal with the filth—the stench permeating the public toilets slaps him harder than a slap in the face.

If it weren't for the many eyes around him, he really wanted to squat down and vomit up all the bitterness in his chest.

At the other end of Workshop Two, Liu Haizhong stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the bustling center from afar.

The scene of being surrounded by admirers was exactly the picture he had imagined countless times in his dreams—every move he made was scrutinized, and every word he uttered drew agreement.

His resentment resurfaced: if those above hadn't been so blind to the truth, Liu Haizhong would be the one sitting in the workshop director's position now.

The cafeteria was steaming hot.

Sha Zhu, feeling pent-up with nowhere to vent, took it all out on Yang Ping.

Every word of praise on the radio felt like a needle pricking his eardrums.

Just as he was getting annoyed, he caught a glimpse of his apprentice Ma Hua swaying past, and he immediately found the exit.

MCA!

His throat was flaring with anger. "I told you to go and teach Yang Ping a lesson, and what did you do? You punched Jia Dongxu? Are your ears just for show?"