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

After midnight, the steam and aroma of food in the steel rolling mill's canteen dissipated completely. The afternoon sun was pale and weak, casting its light on the bare branches of the trees in the factory area, making even the shadows seem desolate.

Li Jing'an had just returned to his office at the guesthouse, and before he could even sit down properly, the black crank telephone on the table rang shrilly.

He picked up the receiver and said in a calm tone, "Hello, this is Li Jing'an."

The voice on the other end of the phone was that of the factory office clerk, sounding somewhat hurried: "Director Li, this is a last-minute notice! Two technicians from a subordinate factory are coming to the main factory this afternoon for technical training. They'll arrive this evening, and your guesthouse will arrange their accommodation. Make sure it's all taken care of!"

"Understood." Li Jing'an responded indifferently, put down the receiver, and frowned almost imperceptibly.

The guesthouse is always fully booked, usually by noon. Now that we need to add more people, there are no rooms available.

He got up, went outside, and called out to the people downstairs, "Wang Caixia!"

A few seconds later, a knock came at the door, and Wang Caixia, the morning shift manager of the guesthouse, pushed the door open and stood by the table with a smile: "Brother Li, you wanted to see me?"

Li Jing'an pointed to the sofa, gesturing for her to sit down, and then relayed the factory office's notice: "Two technicians will be arriving this evening; please arrange their accommodation."

Upon hearing this, Wang Caixia's face immediately fell, and she rubbed her hands with a troubled expression: "Brother Li, this...this is really difficult to handle. As you know, our guesthouse is extremely short of beds. Every day after noon, all the rooms are full. Right now, there isn't a single empty room, and we can't even add an extra bed."

She was telling the truth, and Li Jing'an knew it too.

He paused for a moment, tapped his fingers lightly on the table, and quickly came up with an idea: "Here's what we'll do. Have two people move the single bed from the duty room to my office, and also set up my folding bed. The two beds can be squeezed together, and the two technicians can make do in my office for the night. We'll make adjustments tomorrow morning."

Wang Caixia immediately breathed a sigh of relief and nodded repeatedly: "Great! Brother Li really knows how to handle things. I'll go arrange it right away! I promise it won't delay the factory's tasks!"

"Go ahead," Li Jing'an waved his hand.

After Wang Caixia left, Li Jing'an glanced at the clock on the wall.

He had something even more important to do this afternoon—to invite Director Yang and Director Zhang to dinner in Xicheng to pave the way for Old Wu's grandson's matter.

…………

It was a little after 3 p.m.

He tidied up the documents on the table, locked the drawer, put on his coat, and prepared to leave early.

Just as I reached the stairwell of the guesthouse, I bumped into Qin Huairu, who had just started her afternoon shift.

As soon as she saw Li Jing'an about to leave, she quickly stepped forward and gently blocked his way at the top of the stairs.

"Brother Li..." she said softly, with a hint of flattery and a touch of caution.

Li Jing'an stopped and calmly looked at her: "Is there something you need?"

Qin Huairu lowered her head slightly and shared her idea: "Brother Li, I... I have an idea I'd like to share with you."

"you say."

"Our guesthouse is full every day at noon, but sometimes the factory has unexpected visitors like today, and it's troublesome when there are no rooms available." Qin Huairu's voice was soft, but her reasoning was clear. "I was thinking that from now on, we should deliberately keep two or three rooms locked up each day and release them for emergencies during the afternoon shift. That way, even if the factory has an unexpected task, we can still have rooms available and won't be as scrambling as we were today."

Li Jing'an's eyes lit up slightly after hearing this.

This woman is intelligent.

He nodded slightly, his tone carrying a hint of approval: "You're right, we'll do it your way. I'll tell Wang Caixia on the early shift tomorrow, and the guesthouse will operate this way from now on."

Qin Huairu was very happy to see that Li Jing'an agreed to her idea.

Li Jing'an didn't say anything more, nodded slightly, walked straight out of the guesthouse, pushed over the old bicycle parked against the wall, mounted it, and headed towards the west of the city.

When Li Jing'an arrived at the place, a nervous-looking figure was already standing in front of the inconspicuous hot pot restaurant.

It was Old Wu.

He had specially changed into a clean old cotton-padded jacket today, and his hair was neatly combed, but his eyes couldn't hide his nervousness. He paced back and forth with his hands in his sleeves. As soon as he saw Li Jing'an riding over, he immediately seemed to have found his pillar of support, and quickly went to meet him, his waist habitually bending down, his face full of smiles.

"Director Li! You've finally arrived! I've been waiting for quite a while!"

Li Jing'an propped up his bicycle, dusted off his trouser legs, glanced at the small restaurant, and said in a calm tone, "I chose this place because it's low-key and doesn't attract attention. We're all government employees; big restaurants are too conspicuous. This kind of small restaurant is clean and affordable, and I'll save you a little money if I can."

Old Wu felt a warmth in his heart, thinking how considerate Li Jing'an was. He quickly bowed and smiled apologetically, "Director Li is so thoughtful! He always considers my needs. I really don't know how to thank you enough!"

Li Jing'an waved his hand, as if it were a matter of course: "It's not a matter of gratitude. I was asked to do it, so it's what I should do."

Halfway through his sentence, he seemed to suddenly remember something, looked up at the shop, and waved over the young man who had delivered the pots to his parents' house last time.

"Young man, come here for a second."

The young man rushed over and said respectfully, "Boss, you're here! What can I do for you?" He had only paid seven cents for the errand last time, so he was very enthusiastic now.

Li Jing'an said, "As usual, prepare a pot, pack up the meat, vegetables, bread, and seasonings for the two of us, and send them to my parents' house."

The young man immediately agreed, "Yes, sir! I'll get it done right away!"

After giving his instructions, Li Jing'an turned back to Old Wu, who was watching expectantly, and smiled casually, saying, "My parents live next door. They're old and too lazy to cook, so I'll have them send some food over. You... don't mind, do you?"

What can Lao Wu say?

People have to bow their heads under the roof.

He could only manage a stiff smile, shaking his head repeatedly: "Not at all, not at all! Director Li is being filial, it's only right! It's only right!"

He was secretly groaning inwardly—he had already paid for this meal, and now he was sending out an extra hot pot of meat and vegetables, which meant he was spending even more money.

Li Jing'an, seemingly oblivious to his embarrassment, casually added, "By the way, it's not easy for that young man to run errands, so give him five cents for the service."

Fifty cents isn't a small amount.

Old Wu's lips twitched, but he dared not refute it. He could only reluctantly take out fifty cents from his pocket and hand it over.

The young waiter took the money and happily ran back to the kitchen to get to work.

Li Jing'an glanced at the sky and said to Lao Wu, "It's almost time. Director Yang and the others will be here soon. Let me tell you, today we've not only invited Director Yang and Director Zhang, but I've also invited Director Yang's colleague—Instructor Han. With him here, it'll be easier to talk."

Old Wu nodded repeatedly, feeling both nervous and expectant.

Li Jing'an looked at him, his tone becoming more serious: "It's not convenient for you to sit at the table given your status. When they arrive, find a place to hide first, and then come back to pay the bill after we've finished eating."

Old Wu froze, his smile frozen on his face, his eyes filled with embarrassment.

He had originally hoped to join the table, offer a few toasts, and say a few kind words, but he didn't even have the right to sit at the table and could only wait outside.

Seeing his expression, Li Jing'an knew he was upset, so he immediately softened his tone and explained in a low voice, "Old Wu, it's not that I don't want you to come in. We can't bring up your grandson's matter directly at today's meal. We can only try to get closer to them and sound them out first. If it works out, we can proceed with the formalities later. It would be inconvenient if you were at the table."

He stared into Old Wu's eyes, his tone calm yet authoritative: "What, you have a problem with that?"

Old Wu trembled, no longer daring to voice any dissatisfaction, and quickly shook his head: "No, no! I'll do whatever Director Li says! I'll trouble Director Li to go to so much trouble!"

Li Jing'an nodded in satisfaction: "Go ahead, find a corner of an alley across the street and squat down. Don't wander off, just keep an eye on this side."

"Hey!" Old Wu replied, hunching his shoulders like a wronged old man, and slunk across the street to the alley entrance. He tucked his hands into his sleeves, hunched his neck, and squatted against the wall, staring longingly at the entrance of the hot pot restaurant. A gust of cold wind made him shiver all over.

Li Jing'an stood on the side of the street, looking at his disheveled and pitiful appearance, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

That's right. Who told you to try and raise prices on the spot?

You little brat, I'll get you.