I feel right at home in the world of the courtyard house.

As evening fell, the aroma of food wafted from the courtyard houses deep within Nanluoguxiang.

Inside Li Jing'an's small courtyard living room, smoke swirled under the warm yellow light. Seven or eight dishes were laid out on the wooden square table—golden-brown scrambled eggs, glistening braised fish, and golden-brown fried meatballs. Two seats in the middle were empty, clearly indicating that the main dishes had not yet been served.

"Come on, let's have a drink!" Li Jing'an picked up his glass, a relieved smile on his face. "I've been hiding away for a couple of days, and I can finally catch my breath."

Chief Gou of the factory's security department took a sip of his drink and said meaningfully, "What has Director Li been up to these past two days? I haven't seen you anywhere in the factory."

"Hey!" Li Jing'an put down his wine glass, shook his head with a wry smile, "Isn't it because I'm avoiding those people who come to deliver gifts? They've ruined my reputation." He cursed those two men twice more in his mind.

The head of the propaganda department, Qian, had a big smile on his chubby round face. He joked, "Director Li even avoids those who bring gifts. Look at his awareness!" As he spoke, he tapped his fingers lightly on the edge of the table, but his eyes were glancing at the dishes on the table.

"That's right," said Captain Shen of the convoy, a burly man with a booming voice, "Director Li is truly a principled and good cadre!"

"Are you talking nonsense?" Li Jing'an feigned anger, tapping the table with his finger. "How would you feel if a bunch of people brought you cabbages and radishes? They're treating this place like a vegetable market!"

Everyone burst into laughter. Section Chief Qian laughed even harder: "Haha, that's not how it works. We didn't even get any food delivered, did we, everyone?"

The people at the table chimed in, and the atmosphere became lively.

These past two days, he hasn't dared to show his face at the factory during the day, and he goes back to his parents' house to sleep at night, just to avoid those who want to use connections.

Now that the meeting was over and the out-of-town leaders had left one after another, he dared to invite these acquaintances from the factory—Section Chief Gou of the Security Department, Captain Shen of the Motorcade, Section Chief Qian of the Publicity Department, and Director Zhang of the Traffic Police Station, who had been specially summoned by Section Chief Gou. This was Director Zhang's jurisdiction, and they would inevitably have to deal with each other in the future.

"The Mu Shu Pork is here!" a clear female voice called out.

The curtain was lifted, and Qin Huairu walked in carrying a plate. Her cheeks were slightly flushed from the heat of the kitchen. When she put down the dish, she deliberately turned the side of the shredded pork with the most eggs and wood ear mushrooms towards the guests.

"Huairu, how many dishes are left?" Li Jing'an asked.

"There are two more, one is chicken stew with mushrooms, and the other is seaweed and egg drop soup," Qin Huairu replied softly, her eyes quickly scanning everyone's wine glasses on the table—all of them were still full, indicating they had just been drinking.

Section Chief Qian waved his hand: "Oh, Director Li, there's so much already, we can't finish it! We're just chatting, so why don't we skip making the rest of the dishes?"

"That won't do!" Li Jing'an said seriously. "This is your first time visiting my home, so you should at least make a proper impression." He turned to look at Director Zhang, who was sitting in the corner, smiling silently. "Besides, isn't Director Zhang, whom we just met today, here with us? I'm staying on Director Zhang's turf, so I can't neglect him."

Director Zhang, in his thirties and wearing a faded Zhongshan suit, pointed at Li Jing'an and laughed, "Don't flatter me! If you say that, how will I dare to come again?" His eyes curved into crescents as he spoke.

The crowd burst into laughter again. Qin Huairu took the opportunity to slip away, glancing back at the dishes on the table before leaving—the braised fish was barely touched, and most of the fried meatballs were left uneaten. She wondered how many she could take home when she cleaned up later.

In the kitchen of the east room, Sha Zhu was wielding a spatula. The firelight on the stove illuminated his honest face, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. Today, Li Jing'an had asked him to help cook, promising to give him a lunchbox and two yuan. Sha Zhu refused the money, saying that they were neighbors and helping each other was the right thing to do.

The curtain moved, and Qin Huairu slipped in.

"Is mine installed yet?" she asked in a low voice.

"It's been ready for a while!" Sha Zhu took two aluminum lunchboxes from beside the stove and opened them to show her—one was full of meat and vegetables, and the other had four large steamed buns stuffed inside. "Sister Qin, do you still want this chicken and meatball soup?"

"No, thank you," Qin Huairu shook her head. "A chicken without a piece doesn't look good, this is enough." She took the lunchbox, which was heavy; it was what Li Jing'an had promised to give her.

"I'll take it to the children first; they're all waiting. I'll be back in a bit," she said, turning to leave.

"Hey, there are still steamed buns!" Sha Zhu called out to her again, picking up his lunchbox. "I put the steamed buns in my lunchbox, give them back to me later."

"Okay, thank you, Zhu Zi." Qin Huairu gave him a grateful look and hurried out of the kitchen.

Inside the Jia family's house, three children sat around the table, craning their necks. The youngest, Huaihua, was already drooling. Banggeng stared intently at the doorway.

Qin Huairu came in from outside with a lunchbox in her hand. "Mom, dinner's ready."

As Jia Zhangshi came out of the inner room and reached out to take the lunchbox, she ran her fingers along the aluminum surface: "Finished with work?"

"No, you guys eat, I have to go back." Qin Huairu spoke quickly. "You don't need to wait for me, I'll come back after they finish eating and cleaning up. They've been drinking and chatting, they haven't really touched their food, there looks like there's still a lot left."

When Jia Zhangshi opened the lunchboxes, her eyes lit up immediately—both lunchboxes were packed full of good food; Sha Zhu had deliberately grouped the meatiest portions together. In the other lunchbox, four large steamed buns were crammed in, making them difficult to pull out.

"Oh dear, it's all meat and vegetables!" Jia Zhangshi exclaimed.

The three children cheered. Qin Huairu looked at the children's excited faces, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up, but then she pursed her lips tightly—she had to hurry back.

Back in Li Jing'an's courtyard, Qin Huairu didn't go into the main house but went to the kitchen first.

Sha Zhu was putting chicken stew with mushrooms into the pot when he saw her return. He grinned and said, "You sent them back? The children must be overjoyed!"

"I'm so happy," Qin Huairu said, washing her hands. "Thank you, Zhuzi, you're always so thoughtful."

"Don't mention it," Sha Zhu waved his hand. "By the way, Sister Qin, who did Li Jing'an invite today? I think the guy in the Zhongshan suit looks like he's from the police."

"It was Chief Zhang from the police station," Qin Huairu whispered. "Section Chief Gou called him. The others are all factory leaders."

As the two were talking, the courtyard gate suddenly rang.

When Qin Huairu went out to take a look, she was surprised to see Xu Damao, who was carrying two bottles of wine.