Courtyard House: Starting with a 28-inch motorcycle

"Fine! I'll take the lead!" Madam Jia puffed out her chest, her temper flaring up. "Back when Old Jia was alive, who in this courtyard didn't say I was a master of household management?!"

Jia Dongxu was momentarily flustered, but when he saw his mother take over the reins, he immediately straightened his back.

Qin Huairu silently took out more than twenty yuan from her pocket and gently pushed it to the corner of the table: "The rest is all here. Dongxu knows exactly how much it cost and how it was spent."

She originally had 36 yuan left, but she secretly kept 8 yuan from selling wontons—luckily, she had this trick up her sleeve.

Although Jia Dongxu knew where the bulk of the money went, some of the accounts were in shambles: for example, the suturing surgery clearly only cost one yuan, but she insisted it cost six or seven yuan. At the time, she was the only one at the payment window, so who could tell?

Sure enough, Jia Zhangshi grabbed the money, counted it roughly, and then glanced sideways at Jia Dongxu. The latter nodded vaguely, not even asking how much the hospital refunded—he only remembered that he had eaten a very oily meal during the New Year, and when he saw his mother staring at him, he went along with it and nodded.

Satisfied, Madam Jia counted the money again, not even bothering to remove the banknotes smeared with saliva, and casually stuffed them into her purse. Turning to her, she ordered, "Take the clothes to wash, and boil some water. I need to wash myself and rest for a while!"

Qin Huairu remained expressionless, picked up her dirty clothes, and walked out. Hot water? She planned to borrow an electric kettle from an older woman's house—now that they had these things, boiling water was much faster. However, industrial ration coupons were precious, and only a few families in the entire alley, such as the older woman's house, the Liu family, and the He family, could save up enough.

She had already drawn a line in her mind: if they managed the money and ended up starving by the end of the month, and didn't beg her in tears, she would never lend a hand.

On the other side, Xu Fugui, carrying two bags of snacks and a bottle of wine, turned into the courtyard of Section Chief Zhao's house in the propaganda department of the steel rolling mill, familiar with the way. He had served in the propaganda department in his early years and worked with Section Chief Zhao for many years. They had also visited each other during holidays, and the house number was engraved in his bones.

Two boxes of pastries, a carton of cigarettes, and two bottles of liquor—Xu Fugui pulled out over fifty yuan in one go. This was a truly generous gift.

As soon as there was a knock on the door, Section Chief Zhao asked from inside, "Who is it?"

The door opened, and he froze: "Xu Fugui? What brings you here?"

"It's almost Chinese New Year, so I came here specifically to pay my respects to you, Section Chief Zhao, and also to learn some lessons from you."

Xu Fugui smiled and casually pushed the things in his hands forward.

Section Chief Zhao glanced at it and his heart sank—this was no small matter! He quickly stepped aside to let him into the room.

After brewing tea and exchanging a few pleasantries, Section Chief Zhao cut to the chase and asked directly, "Old Xu, we've been dealing with each other for more than a year or two. What's on your mind?"

"Section Chief Zhao, I'm really counting on you to help me make a decision. My son lives in the same courtyard house as Director He Yuzhu at the factory. A couple of days ago, they had a little argument over something trivial, and Director He immediately suggested that my son be transferred to a remote mountainous area to work on film screenings and promote spiritual civilization..."

After Xu Fugui finished speaking in a few words, Section Chief Zhao's brows immediately furrowed; this matter was extremely sensitive.

Of course he recognized Xu Damao; he had personally handled Xu Damao's probationary period procedures. This guy was usually quite clever, so how did he end up offending the logistics director? That was a powerful figure, half a rank higher than him.

"Old Xu, to be honest, this is a difficult matter..."

After finishing his cigarette, Section Chief Zhao exhaled a puff of white smoke and said crisply, "If He Yuzhu were to approach me privately and ask me to secretly send your son to some remote mountain village to show movies, I would at most pretend to be confused and not take the bait—no matter how high his rank is, he can't control the staffing of my propaganda section."

"But what if he brings it up in a formal meeting of the factory leadership, saying that he wants to send projectionists to the countryside to serve farmers and promote grassroots cultural work? Then the reason is perfectly legitimate. Your son is already in the projection team. Once you get involved in this, there's no way to avoid it."

Upon hearing this, Xu Fugui became anxious and quickly pulled out another Zhonghua cigarette, lighting it with both hands as he offered it to Zhao: "Section Chief Zhao, please give me some advice—showing movies isn't a problem, but they'll be gone for three months. My son's health can't handle it; we're planning to have a baby right now..."

"Sigh, this is indeed a tricky matter..."

Section Chief Zhao took a drag of his cigarette and sighed deeply. Although there was no one else in the room, he still lowered his voice: "Old Xu, you don't know, He Yuzhu has been at odds with Deputy Factory Director Jiang Shouqin lately, and Deputy Factory Director Jiang happens to be in charge of our propaganda department. If he were willing to speak up, your son's matter..."

This was just a brief mention. Section Chief Zhao had no personal relationship with He Yuzhu and didn't want to make enemies over such a small gift; but if Jiang Shouqin intervened, that would be a different story—his position was authoritative and his stance was aligned, making it a perfect fit.

Xu Fugui immediately pressed, "Section Chief Zhao, where does Deputy Factory Director Jiang live? I'll bring my son to pay him a visit..."

"He's the deputy factory director, you can't just drop by like that. Besides, we're starting work tomorrow."

Section Chief Zhao waved his hand: "Have your son go directly to Deputy Factory Director Jiang's office tomorrow morning. Go back and teach him what to say and how to speak. Don't worry about the rest."

"Understood! Understood! Thank you, Section Chief Zhao. I'll definitely bring Da Mao to thank you in person another day!"

Xu Fugui readily agreed, his tense expression immediately relaxing. After Section Chief Zhao's suggestion, he had a better understanding of how to discipline his son.

Before leaving, he asked Jiang Shouqin a few more questions about his temperament and habits. After chatting for a while, he felt relieved and said goodbye to go home.

On the day the work was to begin, Qin Huairu got up before dawn. The day before, she had begged and pleaded with her second uncle, Liu Haizhong, saying many nice things before he finally agreed to take her to the steel rolling mill to report for duty.

There weren't many people in the compound who could take her to the factory. The most respectable one was He Yuzhu—the logistics director personally led her, and who in the factory wouldn't give him some face? But Qin Huairu didn't even dare to think about the old grudges between the Jia and He families.

He can only rely on his bangs. After all, he's an eighth-grade fitter, so his words carry some weight in the factory.

But Madam Jia kept staring at Qin Huairu from beginning to end, her triangular eyes fixed on her, as if she were afraid that Qin Huairu would lose face for the Jia family the moment she stepped out. Even on the way to the factory, she deliberately squeezed in the middle, shoving Qin Huairu to the side of the road, not allowing her to take a single step near Liu Haizhong.

Having worked hard in the countryside, her fat body had long since transformed into strong muscles and bones. Now she walks with a brisk pace, and her arms and legs exude a kind of brute strength.

Upon arriving at the steel rolling mill, Liu Haizhong first went into the forging workshop, greeted the workshop director, asked for half an hour's leave, and then led Qin Huairu into the personnel department.

After completing the onboarding and household registration procedures, he rushed to the finance department to collect Jia Dongxu's disability allowance—255 yuan.

The moment she stepped out of the finance department, Jia Zhangshi reached out and snatched it, clutching it tightly in her hand: "Two hundred and fifty-five! Old Jia's pension back then was only a little over four million, which is more than four hundred yuan in cash!"

She actually squatted down in front of everyone and started counting the money one bill at a time. Liu Haizhong frowned and shouted, "Jia Zhangshi! Counting money in public, aren't you ashamed?!"

"None of your business! You old geezer, you're up to no good!"

Without even looking up, Jia Zhangshi snorted coldly and continued counting. Liu Haizhong's face turned purple with anger, his fingers trembling: "You damned mouth of yours..."

"Second Uncle, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! My mother-in-law has been feeling down these past few days and didn't mean to offend you. I apologize on her behalf!"

Qin Huairu quickly stepped in front of him, apologized repeatedly, and bowed deeply twice before she managed to calm down Liu Haizhong's anger.

She turned to Jia Zhangshi and said, "Mom, you go back first. Uncle and I will continue with the formalities..."

Jia Zhangshi rolled her eyes: "Fine! But Qin Huairu, let me tell you, you're taking over Dongxu's job, so don't do anything to embarrass him!"

"Mom! What do you mean by that? How could I possibly..."

Qin Huairu was so angry that her fingers trembled. Before she could finish speaking, Jia Zhangshi sneered, stuffed the money into her inner pocket, and completely ignored the people coming and going around her.

Liu Haizhong cursed his bad luck in his heart and turned to leave.

Once Jia Zhangshi had gone some distance, Qin Huairu apologized to Liu Haizhong in a low voice, which softened his expression. Only then did he lead her to the first workshop—the place where Jia Dongxu used to work.

"Comrades, let me introduce you—this is Comrade Qin Huairu, who has officially transferred to our workshop, replacing Comrade Jia Dongxu! From now on, she will be our brother and sister working side by side. Let's give her a round of applause!"

As soon as Director Zhang finished speaking, he clapped his hands loudly.

Seeing the foreman take the lead, the workers immediately joined in with a flurry of clapping. After all, it was only natural for a new face to enter the workshop; besides, the workshop had always been full of rough men, and suddenly a pretty, delicate young woman appeared – who wouldn't feel a surge of excitement and clap their hands loudly?

"Isn't that Jia Dongxu's wife?"

"You bet she is! She's really beautiful! That kid was bragging last time, saying his wife was more outstanding than all the female workers in the factory, almost outshining Section Chief Bai..."

"Tsk, do you remember? Jia Dongxu was all dejected the day he left. He probably overdid it all night and his bones were practically trembling!"

"If it were me, I'd be bedridden by now! How could I possibly have the energy to go to work?"

Before the applause had even subsided, a number of risqué remarks had already quietly emerged from the audience.

It's no wonder they were excited—female workers were already a rarity in the workshop, and those who were were strong and capable "iron ladies." Suddenly, a newcomer with a slender waist and a face like a peach blossom barged in. Who wouldn't take a second look? It would be strange if they weren't excited!

Director Zhang glanced around, and after the noise subsided, he called out by name: "Wang Aiying, you will mentor Qin Huairu; Qin Huairu, Comrade Wang Aiying is a fourth-level fitter, one of the most skilled craftsmen in our workshop."

Qin Huairu immediately bowed and replied, "Thank you, Director! Master, I will rely on your guidance from now on!"

She has always been quick-witted, sharp-tongued, and diligent; before the director had even finished speaking, she had already changed her form of address to something perfectly appropriate.

Seeing how understanding she was, Wang Aiying smiled and replied, "Don't mention it. We're of one mind, teacher and student. Let's work together and improve our skills together!"

"Alright! Qin Huairu will learn from Master Wang Aiying as she goes. The apprenticeship lasts three years, and she has to pass an assessment before becoming a full-fledged employee; if she's quick, skilled, and has excellent technique, it's not impossible to apply in advance..."

After briefly explaining the rules, Director Zhang turned to Wang Aiying and said, "I'll give you half an hour to help her collect her work clothes, meal tickets, and other essential items. Master Liu only helped her with her onboarding procedures; he didn't have time for anything else."