Courtyard House: From Deputy Division Commander to Civilian, Progressing All the Way

He Daqing slapped his thigh suddenly, tears streaming down his face.

"Zhu Zi! The best thing I ever did in my life was sending you to fight alongside Chief Lin! You chose the right person! You've chosen a true dragon!"

He Daqing turned around, grabbed a kitchen knife from the cutting board, and his eyes gleamed.

"Today I'm going to unleash all my skills! I'll prepare a Manchu Han Imperial Feast! We two won't leave until we're completely drunk!"

The He family was filled with joy, and the aroma of meat and wine quickly wafted out through the cracks in the door.

At this time.

The news of Lin Yang's promotion to Vice Minister of Heavy Industry also spread like wildfire through the internal channels of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, instantly sweeping through the entire No. 95 Nanluoguxiang courtyard!

The front yard, the Yan family's house.

Yan Bugui was holding a bowl of cornmeal porridge so thin you could see your reflection in it, listening to the news brought back by his eldest son, Yan Jiecheng, who had just come home from the factory.

Clang!

Yan Bugui smashed the porcelain bowl in his hand to the ground, and the scalding porridge splashed onto the back of his feet, but he didn't even flinch.

His tattered glasses, with their legs wrapped in duct tape, slid down the bridge of his nose to the tip, and his shrewd, beady eyes were now wide open, bigger than a bull's eyes.

"Jie Cheng...you...say it again? What official position did Lin Yang hold?" Yan Bugui's voice was shrill, like a rooster being choked.

Yan Jiecheng was also visibly shocked, swallowing hard as he said, "Dad, it's all over the factory! An official document was sent directly to the factory's Party Committee! It's about the Vice Minister of Heavy Industry, concurrently the Director of the Iron and Steel Bureau! I heard he's a former military officer, a firefighter sent down from the Central Committee!"

"Ministry of Heavy Industry..."

Yan Bugui slumped into a chair, muttering those words nervously.

He was a primary school teacher and knew a little about the classification of national administrative levels.

"That's a national ministry! A vice minister, that's a proper vice-ministerial level official! In the old society, that's equivalent to a vice minister in the imperial court, a real regional governor!"

Yan Bugui felt his heart pounding wildly, as if he wasn't getting enough blood.

He turned his head and looked out the window towards the central courtyard, where Lin Fan now lived in the main house.

"Our compound has produced a high-ranking official at the vice-ministerial level..."

The three women, their faces pale with fright, cautiously asked, "Old man, Lin Fan is now the director of the steel rolling mill, and Lin Yang has become the vice minister of the Ministry of Heavy Industry. Doesn't that mean Lin Fan is...?"

"Is there even a question?!" Yan Bugui slammed his fist on the table, his voice low and menacing. "The Ministry of Heavy Industry controls all the steel mills in the country! Lin Yang is now Lin Fan's superior's superior! These two brothers have the lifeline of our nation's steel industry in their hands!"

Yan Bugui took a deep breath, his eyes filled with a deep sense of fear and awe.

"From now on, in this yard, don't even think about provoking Lin Fan. Even a dog in Lin Fan's yard has to politely give him a wide berth! Understand?"

Intermediate People's Court.

The house in Yi Zhonghai's home was deathly still.

The room was so dark that it was hard to breathe, with no lights on.

Yi Zhonghai sat on the heated kang like a piece of dead wood, holding an unlit tobacco pipe in his hand.

Aunt Yi sat beside her, silently wiping away her tears.

When the news reached Yi Zhonghai's ears, he was in the workshop training his apprentices. The moment he heard the news, he collapsed next to the lathe, almost getting pulled into the machine.

Deputy Minister.

These three words were like a towering mountain, pressing heavily on Yi Zhonghai's spine, completely crushing the last shred of hope and resentment deep within his heart.

He had once thought that once Lin Yang became a division commander and went to the military compound, he was a military officer. Although military officers were prestigious, they couldn't really manage local affairs. He figured that if he just behaved himself as a level eight worker at the steel mill, Lin Yang probably wouldn't bother him.

But now.

Lin Yang was transferred to civilian work! Moreover, he was directly parachuted into the Ministry of Heavy Industry, becoming one of the top leaders in charge of the national steel industry!

Even more critically, Lin Yang also served as the director of the Iron and Steel Industry Administration Bureau!

What does this mean?

This means that the superior authority of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill is Lin Yang! Lin Yang only needs to sit in his office at headquarters, sign a document at will, or call out a name at a meeting at will.

He, Yi Zhonghai, this so-called level eight fitter, will be reduced to ashes in an instant! He won't even know how he died!

"Old Yi... what should we do..." Aunt Yi asked, crying. "Lin Yang is such a high-ranking official now. If he wants to retaliate against us for taking his house back then, we won't even have anywhere to run away from."

Yi Zhonghai's hands trembled violently, and his tobacco pipe fell onto the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Run? Where to run?"

Yi Zhonghai's voice was terribly hoarse, conveying a deep sense of despair.

"He now controls all the steel mills in the world. Where can we run to?"

Yi Zhonghai closed his eyes in anguish.

"I lost. I lost completely in my life."

"Old woman, tomorrow... tomorrow take all our savings and go to the department store. Buy the best nutritional supplements and the best baby clothes."

Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth, as if he had made a decision that was more difficult than death.

"I heard Tian Yu is pregnant. When Lin Fan gets off work, my wife and I will personally go to the main house of the Lin family... kneel down and present gifts! If they accept them, our lives will be saved."

The backyard, Liu Haizhong's home.

Unlike Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong was not desperate. On the contrary, he was in a state of near-morbid madness!

He was lying on the table, with a blank sheet of paper in front of him and a pen in his hand, writing furiously.

"Dad, what are you writing?" Liu Guangtian asked timidly, standing to the side.

"What should you write? A letter of allegiance! A self-criticism!"

His eyes were bloodshot, and his chubby face trembled violently with excitement.

"Lin Yang has become the vice minister! Lin Fan is now the factory director! This is our family's last chance to soar to new heights!"

Liu Haizhong's thinking had been completely distorted by his ambition for officialdom. He believed that the higher Lin Yang's official rank, the greater the Lin family's power. If he could completely abandon his dignity at this moment and lick Lin Fan's boots like a dog, perhaps Lin Fan would be pleased and arrange a minor official position for him at the steel mill.

"Guangtian, Guangfu! You two listen up!"

Liu Haizhong suddenly raised his head, his eyes revealing a madness.

"Starting tomorrow, you two get up at five o'clock every morning! Go to the Intermediate People's Court and sweep the area in front of Director Lin's house spotless! Not a single fallen leaf is allowed!"

"If Director Lin goes out, you two bow down to me! If anyone dares to say a bad word about the Lin family in the yard, you two go up there and slap him!"

"Anyone who dares to hinder my important matter of becoming an official, I'll chop them to pieces!"