Courtyard House: In this life, I have a new home!

As soon as he arrived at the Intermediate People's Court, he saw Bang Geng still lying on the ground, crying and rolling around.

Banggeng lay on the ground, rolling around, his voice hoarse from howling. He kept shouting that he wanted to eat pig's head meat, and that he wouldn't get up unless he was given some. He said he might as well starve to death.

Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu stood to the side, their faces full of helplessness.

Madam Jia squatted down and coaxed him, "Good grandson, stop crying. Tomorrow, your uncle will buy some pig's head meat, and you can eat your fill."

"No, I want it now!"

The stalk refused to budge, thrashing about on the ground.

Jia Dongxu's face turned pale; he really wanted to kick him. But Jia Zhangshi was right there, so he could only forcefully suppress his anger.

As Jia Zhangshi looked up, she saw Yan Bugui grinning, clutching two jawbones in his hands, looking like a dog meat swindler.

Without a word, she reached out and snatched the bone. She knew in her heart that there was something good inside.

What are you doing?

Yan Bugui became furious. "Isn't this blatant robbery?"

"What are you, an adult, arguing about with a child?"

Jia Zhangshi glared at him. "Bang Geng, come on! I'll give you bone marrow to eat when we get back!"

She turned and went inside, and Banggeng scrambled after her. Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu also slipped away in the blink of an eye. The door slammed shut behind them.

Yan Bugui was still blinking, not quite coming to his senses for a while. When he finally realized what was happening, he rushed over and started banging on the door.

"Jia Zhangshi, this is blatant robbery! Give me back my bones!"

He was so angry that his face turned red, his long, thin face looking just like a boiled shrimp.

"Uncle, let it go. How old are you? Why are you arguing with a little kid?"

A lazy voice came from the side, "They're just two bones with no meat on them. You're not a dog, why are you fighting over them?"

Upon hearing that sleazy tone, Yan Bugui knew who it was. Turning around, he saw that it was indeed He Yuzhu.

Sha Zhu sat on the porch in front of his house, one arm draped around his neck with a cloth strip.

"Pah, you idiot."

Yan Bugui cursed angrily and turned away. He knew in his heart that he would never get those two juicy bones back.

Sha Zhu wore a smug look on his face. He had just helped his goddess out of an awkward situation with just a few words; he would have to show off in front of Qin Huairu tomorrow.

"That's really weird, you can dislocate your wrist, elbow, and shoulder in a fight."

Sha Zhu thought to himself, "I need to rest for a few days. I won't be able to bring lunchboxes to Sister Qin these next few nights."

He Yushui was still at Li Weidong's house. She and Lin Yurou finished bathing Xiaoxi, applied prickly heat powder, dressed her, and then brought the child over.

"Brother, smell me, do I smell good?"

Xiao Xi happily moved closer to Li Weidong.

Her face and forehead were covered in talcum powder, a white blob, making her look like a dough figurine.

"It smells so good, Xiaoxi smells the best. Sit here quietly, and you'll go to sleep soon."

Li Weidong reached out and rubbed her head, feeling that the girl's hair was fine and soft.

The next morning, when Li Weidong got up, Lin Yurou and He Yushui had already prepared breakfast. It consisted of pork head meat taken out of the braising broth, leftover cornbread from yesterday, and a bowl of hot rice porridge.

After tidying himself up, Li Weidong ate a couple of bites of rice, slung his canvas bag over his shoulder, and prepared to leave.

Before leaving, he turned around and said, "Xiaorou, you and Xiaoxi stay at home. Just have something simple for lunch, and I'll bring back something nice for dinner."

Lin Yurou quickly chimed in, "Brother Dong, we have meat in our fridge, plenty of flour and rice, and even persimmons..."

"I'll make some noodles for lunch, and some tomato sauce. I've put some braised eggs in the cupboard, two for each of you. Oh, and there are three cans of beef, you can open them and eat them."

After giving his instructions, Li Weidong pushed his bicycle and walked out.

Lin Yurou was a little reluctant: "How can we possibly eat so much!"

She watched Li Weidong push the cart out the door, then called after him, "Brother Dong, be careful on the road!"

He Yushui waved from the side, saying, "Goodbye, Brother Dong!"

It's summer vacation now, and He Yushui slept with Lin Yurou last night. She guesses that Sha Zhu has no idea his sister didn't come home overnight, let alone whether she's eaten.

Xiao Xi was still snuggled in bed, not yet awake.

As Li Weidong passed by the Intermediate People's Court, he saw Sha Zhu washing his face with one hand, looking extremely disheveled. The Jia family's gate was tightly closed, indicating that the family was still asleep.

Sha Zhu stared at Li Weidong's retreating figure, muttering, "Dressed all high and mighty, does he really think he's some kind of cadre? Once he gets into the workshop, that old man will give him a piece of his mind!"

Today, Li Weidong was wearing a white shirt, blue trousers, black leather shoes, and a canvas bag slung across his shoulder. Li Weidong himself thought the outfit was a bit mismatched, but to people of this era, it looked incredibly sharp and capable!

Given his face and physique, it's understandable that Sha Zhu would be envious.

Li Weidong pushed his cart to the gate of the courtyard, encountering few people along the way. Those who had nothing to do were still asleep, while those who had something to do had already left for work.

He took out his pocket watch from his canvas bag and glanced at it; it was just past 7:30.

The canvas bag was yellow, faded from washing. It used to be used as a schoolbag; it had a lid with five red characters embroidered on it—"Serve the People."

Li Weidong suddenly remembered that he hadn't checked in today. He silently said to himself, "System, check in."

"Sign-in successful! Received: 100 ten-yuan bills and 2 small yellow croakers!"

"One hundred bolts of various kinds of cloth, and one thousand catties of various Chinese medicinal herbs!"

"One hundred barrels of gasoline, five jin per barrel. One hundred cases of various beverages!"

"A set of woodworking tools, and 100 jin (50 kg) of bait and groundbait!"

"One hundred catties each of peanuts and melon seeds!"

"Ten boxes of mosquito coils and one hundred bottles of floral water!"

"One hundred cubic meters of timber and ten thousand bamboo stalks!"

"One hundred tubs of ice cream and one thousand popsicles."

Li Weidong thought to himself: This is quite a generous gesture; money is no problem. But what's the point of giving me gasoline?

With so many mosquito coils and floral water, when will we ever use them all? But mosquito coils are indeed convenient; at least we don't have to be stuffed inside a gauze mosquito net anymore.

As for the wood and bamboo, this is clearly a way of showing off my woodworking skills.

Li Weidong left in a hurry and didn't even look at the sign-in reward carefully; he only knew that he had plenty of money in his pocket.

The streets were lined with single-story houses, with the occasional two- or three-story building peeking out, slogans painted on the walls in bright red ink. The sky was a clear, bright blue, with fluffy white clouds floating in the air like cotton balls.

He rode his bicycle for about ten minutes and arrived at the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill. Work started at eight in the morning, and there were hardly any people at the factory gate by then.

"Young man, what are you doing?"

The gatekeeper reached out to stop him, looked him up and down, and noted that he was quite polite.

"Master, I am Li Weidong, son of Li Yuankui, a fitter in Workshop 9. I'm here to report for duty today."

Li Weidong replied.

"Oh! I know, I know! Your dad was a martyr, a hero!"

The security guard's expression immediately turned serious, and his tone was filled with respect: "Xiao Li, go ahead, to that building, find Deputy Factory Director Li."

Following the direction he pointed, Li Weidong rode directly there. He parked his bike in front of the three-story building and locked it.

He knocked on the door labeled "Deputy Factory Director".

The door with the sign.

"Come in!"

A voice came from inside the room, strong but a little hoarse.

Li Weidong pushed open the door and glanced around. There were two people sitting inside. One of them was surprisingly Yi Zhonghai.

"Director Li, I'll head back to the workshop now."

Yi Zhonghai stood up, a smug look on his face, and walked out. As he passed Li Weidong, he glanced at him with an arrogant look, as if he could hold Li Weidong's life in his hands.

The door closed, and the room became quiet.

"Director Li, hello. I am Li Weidong, son of Li Yuankui from Workshop 9."

Li Weidong stood there, neither humble nor arrogant.

"Sit down, sit down. You look quite energetic, young man."

Li Huaide smiled, looking very friendly, and leaned back in his office chair, gesturing for him to sit on the stool opposite him.

"Thank you, factory manager. I'm here today—"

"I know, I know, I'm just filling in for someone."

Li Huaide waved his hand and continued, "Your father is a hero, and the factory is also saddened. But you have to pull yourself together; the organization has made arrangements. You can start by learning fitter work from Master Yi Zhonghai; he's an eighth-grade master—"

"Director Li, I'm not here to fill in for someone else."

Li Weidong interrupted him directly.

Li Huaide was stunned, his eyes were a little blank, and he didn't react.

"I'm here to look for a job."

Li Weidong said that he took two notebooks out of his pocket and put them on his desk.

"These are my graduation certificate, master's degree certificate, and professional qualification certificate."

Li Huaide looked down, then suddenly stood up: "Oh, a graduate of Guangzhou University?"

He stared at the certificate, his eyes wide: "A chief physician's qualification certificate? And you have a master's degree?"

"That's right, I did perform surgeries for a year."

Li Weidong's tone was calm, with a hint of arrogance, "I've made over two hundred units, big and small. These are all my certificates."

He took out several certificates of honor from his canvas bag and casually placed them on the table.

He knew perfectly well that in this era, these things were the most valuable credentials. Few people even went to high school now, let alone university. This wasn't the era of rampant university expansion later on. At this critical juncture, a university degree was a guarantee of academic excellence, not to mention the master's degree he held.

"Comrade Li Weidong, welcome, welcome!"

Li Huaide smiled broadly, "Our steel rolling mill is in dire need of talent like you. Director Yang isn't home, so I'll call him and finalize your position and compensation."

"Okay, then I'll wait outside."

Li Weidong stood up, smiled, turned around and went out the door.

Li Huaide watched his retreating figure, nodding repeatedly. This young man looked to be only in his early twenties, but he was steady and experienced in handling matters, like a seasoned veteran in his fifties.

"I've long heard that Li Yuankui's son is a genius. He studies like a rocket, skipping grades all the way."

As Li Huaide dialed the number, he marveled inwardly.

Li Weidong closed the door, and a wave of heat from the corridor hit him. There had been a ceiling fan in the room, creaking and groaning. These days, having one of those things was considered a real luxury.

"I'll find a chance to go to the workshop later and see if I can make a couple of electric fans myself."

He was making plans in his mind.

Just then, the office door opened. Li Huaide came out carrying the documents.

"Dr. Li, I've discussed it with Director Yang. You'll be the head of the medical department. Your salary will be 108 yuan, plus a position allowance, for a total of 140 yuan."

Li Huaide said, "You've just joined, but I'll definitely promote you to the next level in three months. How about that? If so, I'll take you to complete the onboarding process right away."

Li Weidong knew in his heart that 140 yuan was the absolute maximum price.