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

"Weidong, wait for me! Let's go together!"

Xu Damao caught up, pushing his bicycle, his face full of excitement. His old bike was about to have an engine installed.

Sha Zhu came out of the house, staring at Li Weidong's back with a sinister look in his eyes.

Qin Huairu also hurriedly came out of the house and walked to Jia Zhangshi's side, looking helpless: "Mom, we have to hurry. There's still a lot to do at the steel mill today."

"Yi Zhonghai, you're actually protecting that brat?"

Jia Zhangshi gritted her teeth, "You want to slap me again? Old Jia, come up here and take a look..."

Yi Zhonghai really wanted to slap her, but he could only suppress his anger: "Sister-in-law, you know that we're going to collect the pension today, and there's also Huai Ru's job to fill in."

"That little bastard is a section chief, and he's on good terms with the factory director and the Party secretary. If you piss him off, he'll make things difficult for you, and you won't even have time to cry!"

Madam Jia scrambled to her feet, her eyes wide with fury: "He wouldn't dare! My son's pension, and Huai Ru's replacement—no one can stop us..."

Sha Zhu walked up to Qin Huairu and took a deep breath of her scent. He felt incredibly comfortable.

"Exactly, Li Weidong can't pull any tricks on this. But he can stall for time. If he can delay your Sister Qin's start date for several months, that's going to be tough."

"Silly Pillar said."

"He wouldn't dare! If he really did that, I'd kill myself by smashing my head against his front door."

Jia Zhangshi felt uneasy.

"Even if he doesn't do anything now, don't forget that he's a level seven engineer and will soon be promoted to chief engineer."

Sha Zhu continued, "Then we'll make things difficult for Sister Qin at work, and you won't even have a chance to say anything."

Madam Jia's face was ashen, and she gritted her teeth, saying, "Fine, I won't bother with that little brat today. Heaven is truly blind, sending such a despicable thing..."

"Mom, stop talking and hurry up and pack your things to leave."

Qin Huairu interrupted her with an annoyed expression.

When Li Weidong and Xu Damao walked to the front yard, they saw Yan Bugui squatting by the flower bed, fiddling with the flowers and plants.

To put it bluntly, this old guy is just squatting here waiting to see which early bird goes out to buy groceries and comes back so he can get some benefits from them.

"Da Mao, you haven't gone to the countryside to show movies for days. Shouldn't you go today?"

Yan Bugui squinted his small eyes and looked Xu Damao up and down.

Xu Damao would frequently go to the countryside, and after showing movies, he would always bring back some local specialties. Yan Bugui would usually get a little something from him. These past few days, Xu Damao hadn't gone out, and Yan Bugui hadn't gotten anything, so he felt like he'd lost money.

"Let's go tomorrow."

Xu Damao replied irritably. He knew perfectly well that Yan Bugui's concern about this was simply an attempt to squeeze something out of him.

Li Weidong walked to the courtyard gate and silently muttered to himself, "System, sign in."

"Check-in complete. Host has received the following resources—"

"One hundred catties of swimming crabs and one hundred catties of bamboo shrimp."

"One hundred catties of razor clams and one hundred catties of scallops."

"One hundred catties of abalone and one hundred catties of sea cucumber."

"One hundred catties of clams and one hundred catties of mussels."

"One hundred catties of grouper and one hundred catties of large yellow croaker."

"One hundred catties of ribbonfish and one hundred catties of octopus."

Li Weidong was stunned on the spot. All the people signing in today were seafood; how was he supposed to handle that?

These things have a strong fishy smell. As soon as you start cooking, the smell can be smelled not only in his yard but also in the neighboring yard.

"System, you're deliberately causing trouble. If I actually make and eat it, it's bound to cause chaos..."

Before he could finish speaking, the system's cold electronic voice rang out: "Host, please rest assured, as long as you don't extract a large amount at once, the system will automatically arrange all the sources."

"That's fine, that's fine."

Li Weidong breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll stew some ribbonfish when I get home tonight. It's not an eyesore."

These days you can buy ribbonfish in Beijing, but they're all pickled and salted. The cooking methods are similar, but the taste is completely different.

While Li Weidong was still in a daze, Xu Damao ran out of the yard.

"Weidong, were you waiting for me?"

Xu Damao shouted, "Let's go, let's go, hurry up!"

The two got on their bikes and rode off. As Xu Damao pedaled, he muttered to himself, "That Yan Bugui is incredibly stingy. He hasn't gotten anything out of me these past two days, and he thinks he's lost out big time."

"Just ignore him."

Li Weidong said calmly, "What can he do to you?"

"He wouldn't dare do anything to you, but I can't."

Xu Damao said with a bitter face, "That old bastard is full of bad ideas. If you offend him, who knows what he might do."

"And Liu Haizhong and Yi Zhonghai, those two aren't any better!"

Li Weidong shook his head: "If you want to install an engine, hurry up and get the spark plugs and the battery."

"Got it, got it. I'll get the engine out first. I'll ask the factory for leave and go find my father-in-law to smuggle some gasoline and spark plugs back. As for the battery, I can get it done at the shop."

Xu Damao chuckled, unable to hide his excitement. "It's my turn to show the movie tonight, so I can take care of some errands while I'm at it."

Li Weidong glanced at him, knowing perfectly well that the kid was probably eyeing some young widow again.

The two men came out of the courtyard together. Sha Zhu stood behind, gritting his teeth and cursing under his breath, "Damn, that bastard's kung fu is pretty tough, huh? Tonight I'll find a chance to give him a good whack on the head. I want to see if his head is harder than an iron rod!"

Yi Zhonghai casually remarked, "Zhu Zi, stop messing around."

As he said this, he glanced around, and seeing that no one was paying attention, he stopped caring.

These words clearly indicated an attempt to absolve himself of any responsibility. If Sha Zhu were to actually go and beat someone with an iron bar, the matter would escalate significantly. The police would not rest until they had a clear investigation, and Sha Zhu would most likely end up in jail.

Yi Zhonghai secretly hoped that Sha Zhu could really knock Li Weidong down with one blow, so that the situation in the courtyard would be back in his hands. If that happened, Yi Zhonghai and his gang would take the lion's share.

As for whether Sha Zhu gets shot or not, what does that have to do with him? Lin Yurou, that pretty girl, just happens to be a good match for Yan Jiecheng.

They won't have to worry about retirement in the future, as Bang Geng will take care of things. Without Sha Zhu, Qin Huairu has only lost one helper; Yi Zhonghai will occasionally send her some food at night, and they can still get by.

Li Weidong pushed open the door to the clinic, and before he even sat down, he saw Director Yang and Secretary Zhang waiting inside, their faces flushed.

"Hey, Director Yang, Secretary Zhang, what important matter brings you here?"

Li Weidong greeted him with a smile, "Come in and have a seat."

"That's big news, absolutely fantastic news!"

Secretary Zhang said with a smile.

Li Weidong's office had been cleaned spotlessly, and the thermos was filled with hot water. Without asking, it must have been done by those three nurses.

He reached out and turned off the ceiling fan, one that the factory provided for each office. He then took out three cups and brewed three cups of tea, using the finest jasmine tea he had earned by signing in.

"Tsk, just by smelling it, you can tell it's good stuff."

Secretary Zhang's eyes lit up, and he leaned over to take a sniff.

Secretary Zhang grew up in old Beijing and has those habits ingrained in him—he loves jasmine tea. But these days, life is tough, so he can only afford some cheap tea, which smells alright but is full of crumbs after a sip.

Li Weidong placed two cups of tea in front of Secretary Zhang and Factory Director Yang, and said with a smile, "I got this tea by chance from the pigeon market. I'll bring half a jin for each of you later."

"No, no, no, it's no trouble at all."

Secretary Zhang quickly waved his hand, "We'll just come here for a meal whenever we want a drink."

Factory Director Yang cleared his throat, his tone becoming serious: "I've come here today to discuss something with you. The higher-ups have decided that you'll be our factory's chief engineer. You can't refuse this time."

Li Weidong frowned deeply: "But I'm a licensed doctor. My engineering design skills are completely new; doesn't that mean I'm neglecting my profession?"

Secretary Zhang and Factory Director Yang exchanged a glance, and the same word popped into their minds simultaneously—monster. In their eyes, this kid was simply a walking prodigy, capable of everything.

"Who said you can't be a doctor anymore? You're still the head of the medical affairs department."

Factory Director Yang waved his hand, "But you'd better hold onto this position as chief engineer."

"You don't need to keep an eye on it every day. Just get the electric fan and engine working properly first."

"Okay then."

Li Weidong nodded. The matter was already at his throat; there was no way to back down.

"Let's clean up one workshop first and get right to work."

Factory Director Yang continued, "We were working on the factory while simultaneously training people and thinking about building a new factory."

"Otherwise, the new factory won't be able to be set up when the weather gets cold."

There were plenty of empty workshops in the steel rolling mill, so they quickly cleared out a workshop and brought in more than twenty level four or five fitters.

The workshop needs to hire another batch of fitter apprentices, bringing the total to about a hundred people. This means the steel rolling mill will need to recruit another hundred new workers.

"Now let's talk about your compensation, Chief Engineer Li. We'll give you a 100 yuan raise every month."

Secretary Zhang held up his fingers and said, "I'll give you five more openings at the factory. As long as the requirements are met, you can recruit them."

"Of course, we need to let HR know so that they'll count as the people they hired."

Li Weidong understood immediately. These were obvious benefits; no wonder everyone wanted to climb the ladder. However, people as obsessed with officialdom as Liu Haizhong were truly rare.

"As for the engines, we can just distribute them directly to the various workshops for production."

Factory Director Yang said, "Several police stations are eagerly waiting to receive the goods."

Many parts of the small engine designed by Li Weidong could be made of aluminum alloy. However, most of the parts he marked on the process drawings were cast.

This makes production much easier.

Li Weidong didn't need to worry about the engine at all.

After the two left, Li Weidong gave a wry smile. His salary had jumped again. The reason would probably shock anyone who heard it.

He strolled over to the workshop and called over Xiao Zhang and Da Li, asking them to prepare the materials for making a small engine.

It was just past eight o'clock, and the workers had all entered the workshop, including Yi Zhonghai.

"I'll give you a half-hour lecture; those who want to learn can come over."

Li Weidong said, "However, production tasks cannot be delayed."

"No problem, we'll finish it in a bit if we work harder!"

"Yeah, yeah, working overtime tonight is fine too."

"Please, Mr. Li, speak freely!"

The workers were very enthusiastic. Li Weidong had given a lecture before, and everyone had benefited from it, knowing that what he taught was all solid, practical knowledge.