Courtyard Houses: Starting with Li Yunlong's Comrades-in-Arms

Two days later, the results of the political background check were delivered to Liu Yuheng's desk.

Liu Yuheng first picked up the summary report and looked at it. The summary table listed thirty-two names, each with a column for the political review conclusion. His eyes scanned the list line by line. Most of the names had the word "qualified" written after them, but six of them had "unqualified" written in red pen in the conclusion column, with a brief summary of the reasons attached next to them.

He memorized the six names, then put down the summary sheet, bent down to open the stack of detailed materials below, found the files of the six people, and carefully looked at each one.

The first candidate rejected was a 54-year-old, level-eight fitter from a heavy machinery factory, who had worked there for over 30 years. The application stated that one of his cousins ​​had gone to Taiwan with the Kuomintang before the liberation. The Ministry of the Interior noted in its comments that although the comrade had consistently performed well, due to the presence of immediate family members in Taiwan, he was temporarily unsuitable for transfer to a core project according to the political vetting regulations for classified units.

The second candidate rejected was an eighth-grade lathe operator from a machine tool factory. The problem lay with his brother-in-law. Before the liberation, his brother-in-law had worked as a clerk in a logistics department of the Kuomintang. Although he voluntarily confessed his problems and reached a conclusion after the liberation, this review found that his brother-in-law had been briefly detained during the suppression of counter-revolutionaries in 1951. Although the nature of his detention was not ultimately determined, this history still needed further verification, and therefore the application could not be approved for the time being.

The third and fourth candidates were rejected for similar reasons. One was an eighth-level welder at a military factory; his neighbor had been identified as a covert spy two months prior, and the case was still under investigation. Although neither he nor his family showed any signs of involvement, for safety reasons, a transfer was not advisable at this time. The other was an eighth-level fitter at a machinery factory; his son had committed a crime two years prior. Although the matter had been dealt with, the Ministry of Internal Affairs believed that the historical issues had not been fully investigated and that further observation was necessary.

The fifth candidate rejected was an eighth-grade welder from a tool factory. The problem lay with him. The documents stated that he had been involved in a local gang dispute in 1947. Although he was not punished afterward, the Ministry of the Interior believed that he had complicated social connections and a dishonest history, making him unsuitable for transfer to a classified unit.

The sixth candidate to be rejected was Yi Zhonghai.

When Liu Yuheng turned to Yi Zhonghai's document, his finger paused on the edge of the page. He pulled the document out and read it from beginning to end. The first few pages contained Yi Zhonghai's basic information and work experience, while the later pages detailed some findings made by the Internal Affairs Department during its investigation.

Liu Yuheng's gaze slowly moved across the pages, and then the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

The document states that before liberation, Yi Zhonghai was a frequent visitor to the Eight Great Hutongs of Beijing, and he often went to those places. Moreover, he did not go alone; he was accompanied by a man named He Daqing, who was He Yuzhu's father who had run away to Baoding with a widow.

The document included a summary of records of people who frequented those places at the time. Although it was only indirect evidence, the Ministry of the Interior wrote in the margin, "After verification by multiple parties, the situation is basically true."

Liu Yuheng's lips twitched again as he read this. He hadn't expected that Yi Zhonghai, who usually acted like a big shot in the courtyard and constantly talked about rules and principles, had such a past before Liberation. He had seen He Daqing's story in TV dramas before and knew that the man was unreliable, but he didn't expect that Yi Zhonghai and He Daqing were "like-minded." He shook his head and continued scrolling down.

Scrolling down, you'll find the Ministry of Internal Affairs' investigation into Yi Zhonghai's behavior over the past two years. The document states that between the end of 1958 and the first half of 1959, Yi Zhonghai abused his mentor-apprentice relationship to improperly interfere with the normal career development of his apprentice, Jia Dongxu.

Specifically, during Jia Dongxu's multiple participations in the worker-level assessment, Yi Zhonghai, as his mentor and technical advisor, deliberately failed to impart all the technical essentials and assessment focus to Jia Dongxu. Furthermore, by leveraging his influence as a senior worker during the assessment scoring process, Yi indirectly caused Jia Dongxu to fail the Level 3 worker assessment multiple times.

In addition, the Ministry of the Interior's investigation also found that during Jia Dongxu's search for a workstation, Yi Zhonghai instructed unemployed individuals to threaten and obstruct workers who were interested in selling their workstations, causing Jia Dongxu to miss several opportunities.

The materials also included summaries of several witness testimonies. One was the testimony of a steel rolling mill worker who said that he had heard someone mention in late 1960 that "someone had spoken to him and told him not to sell his workstation to the Jia family." Another was the testimony of a retired worker who said that he originally planned to sell his workstation to Jia Dongxu, but then someone came to his door and said, "You can sell it to anyone, just not to Jia Dongxu, otherwise someone will report you."

The testimony did not directly name Yi Zhonghai, but the Ministry of the Interior wrote in a side note that "after comprehensive assessment, this behavior is highly related to Yi Zhonghai."

At the end of the report, the Internal Affairs Department gave its review conclusion: "This comrade meets the technical standards for Grade 8 workers in terms of work ability, but has serious problems in personal conduct. He has a record of soliciting prostitutes before liberation, and in recent years has abused his mentor-apprentice relationship to suppress his apprentices and undermine fair competition. These actions constitute morally reprehensible and unethical conduct. Taking all factors into consideration, it is not appropriate to transfer him to any unit related to Project 596. It is recommended that his original unit criticize and educate him on the aforementioned issues and record them in his personal file as a reference for future promotions and performance evaluations."

Liu Yuheng closed the documents, placed them back on the coffee table, leaned back on the sofa, and remained silent for a few seconds. Then he shook his head, a smile that was hard to decipher—whether it was mockery or感慨 (a complex feeling of mixed emotions, often including regret or sarcasm). Yi Zhonghai can forget about ever passing the Level 9 engineer exam in his lifetime.

The evaluation of Level 9 engineers not only considers technical skills, but also character, contributions, and reputation. Once Yi Zhonghai's file is marked with "misconduct and moral depravity," he will basically be ineligible for any future evaluations, promotions, or professional title assessments. He spent most of his life scheming and plotting in the institute, only to ruin his own future in the end.

Liu Yuheng shook his head, put Yi Zhonghai's materials back into the stack, and then pulled out Liang Cheng's materials from the thirty-two documents. Liang Cheng's materials were much thinner than Yi Zhonghai's, but the content was just as solid. Liu Yuheng looked at them carefully; the materials clearly stated the relationship between Liang Cheng and Liu Erhe as father-in-law and son-in-law, as well as the relationship between Liu Erhe and Liu Yuheng as brothers.

Furthermore, Liang Cheng has a simple social background; he comes from a working-class family, has a clean history with no disciplinary violations or irregularities, has received numerous awards over the years, and enjoys a very good reputation within the factory. His background check concluded that he was "qualified," and among those who passed, he was one of the first to pass the review.