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

Forget about meat, Xiao Dang and Huaihua won't even get a touch of those two lunchboxes. They'll be lucky to get a little broth at the end.

"My good grandson, my good grandson. Make sure Sha Zhu brings back a wild rabbit tomorrow."

Jia Zhangshi, holding onto the stalk of a stick, said, "Don't we still have braised pork?"

Bang Geng knew that making a fuss was useless, so he could only wait for Sha Zhu to go and catch the wild rabbit tomorrow.

Qin Huairu smiled bitterly; in the end, this arduous task would still fall on her shoulders.

Madam Jia muttered curses under her breath, complaining that God was blind: "That brat has good things at home, but he doesn't even bother to share them with this old woman. He earns four hundred a month, so what's wrong with giving us two hundred? He can't even spend the remaining two hundred himself!"

In her view, anyone who has something good should offer it to her. Anyone with money should subsidize her family.

She sat down to eat with Banggeng, picked up the plate of braised pork, gave a third to her grandson, and then brought the rest, plate and all, to herself, shoveling the pork into her mouth. As for Qin Huairu and those two maids, they were outsiders; she was already being kind by not letting them starve.

Qin Huairu secretly glanced at Jia Zhangshi, her eyes filled with hatred. If it weren't for the fact that her house and workplace belonged to the Jia family, and that her three children weren't a burden, she would have already found a way to kill Jia Zhangshi.

The next morning, Li Weidong had no choice but to walk to the steel rolling mill.

I ran into Yan Jiefang and Liu Guangtian as soon as I left the hospital. They were wearing work clothes, which the factory had given them to me yesterday afternoon.

"Brother Dong, are you walking too?"

The two asked respectfully.

"Okay, let's go together."

Li Weidong nodded.

When he arrived at the Intermediate People's Court, he realized that he hadn't signed in for the day.

"System, check-in."

The mechanical female voice immediately rang out:

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

"One thousand catties of white sugar, one thousand catties of brown sugar."

"One thousand catties of various kinds of candy!"

This short sentence exudes an unreasonable arrogance.

This era was quite different from later times; getting sugar wasn't so easy. Sugar was a strategic resource here, capable of quickly replenishing physical strength and saving lives in critical moments on the battlefield. Even in times of abundant resources, countries still needed to stockpile a certain amount of sugar.

"Wait for me! Wait for me!"

Xu Damao caught up on his bicycle, "Weidong, I'll give you a ride to the factory."

He originally wanted to linger a little longer before leaving, since cycling is faster, but when he saw Li Weidong walking, he quickly pushed his bike and chased after him.

"No need, I exercise by walking."

Li Weidong raised an eyebrow.

The "training" was a lie; he was actually plotting how to deal with Xu Damao. He couldn't let him die, but he had to ruin his family.

"Wei Dong, why are you being so polite with me?"

Xu Damao became anxious.

He was also ambitious and had his eye on the position of deputy head of the propaganda department. In his view, as long as Li Weidong put in a good word for him with Director Yang, he could get the position.

"You go first, I have something to say to those two."

Li Weidong spoke in a nonchalant tone.

Xu Damao was taken aback. This man wasn't stupid; a quick glance revealed the coldness in Li Weidong's eyes. He felt a chill run down his spine, a mixture of frustration and bewilderment.

"Okay, okay, let's do it this way."

Xu Damao nodded quickly, hopped on the tricycle, and pedaled toward the factory.

As he pedaled, he cursed under his breath, "Damn it, what's wrong with that bastard Li Weidong? Why does his attitude change so suddenly? Damn it, once I get up there, I'll teach him a lesson. What kind of piece of trash dares to give me attitude!"

He cursed angrily, twisted the accelerator, and the tricycle sped away, billowing black smoke.

Li Weidong turned to Liu Guangtian and Yan Jiefang: "Which workshop did you two get assigned to?"

"I don't know yet, it was only decided today."

Yan Jiefang interrupted, his tone urgent, "I heard that the factory director and the party secretary were both absent yesterday, and it won't be possible to arrange it until today."

"Um."

Li Weidong nodded. "Then you two go to the engine workshop."

"Thank you, Brother Dong!"

The two spoke in unison, their faces filled with gratitude.

Li Weidong mentally reviewed the original drama. He remembered that during the Cultural Revolution, Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu were quite the troublemakers, committing many despicable acts. But to be fair, those two brothers were indeed quite capable. Liu Guangfu was still young; there was no rush.

As for Yan Jiefang, when the movement comes, he'll probably be jumping around trying to show off.

Li Weidong is keeping them in his grasp now to pave the way for the future.

The group walked to the entrance of the steel rolling mill and ran into Yu Li.

Yu Li's eyes lit up immediately when she saw Li Weidong: "Hello, Chief Engineer Li!"

"Hmm, is this your first day at work?"

Li Weidong casually agreed, then asked, "Want to come to the engine workshop?"

Yu Li is quick-witted and has a knack for business, so Li Weidong wants to recruit her and train her. He plans to ride the wave of the movement to new heights. Having a group of capable people under his command is essential.

Although he had the system backing him up, and the resources he had were indeed impressive in those days, they would be nothing in a few decades. Li Weidong knew in his heart that he couldn't afford to be complacent.

"Having come into this world, one should at least leave a name behind."

He pondered this in his heart.

Upon hearing this, Yu Li's face lit up with a smile: "Sure! I want to go to the engine workshop!"

The group walked together towards the main conference room. This batch of one hundred new apprentices all needed to find out their assignments today.

Yan Jiefang glanced at Yu Li, thinking to himself: This girl is really attractive. He's only met Yan Jiecheng twice; if he could get his hands on her, he'd hit the jackpot.

The more he thought about it, the more hopeful he felt. Back when Yu Li and Yan Jiecheng went on blind dates, Yan Jiefang could only watch helplessly. But now it was different; he, Yan Jiefang, had leverage. Besides, Yu Li and Yan Jiecheng's relationship had both fallen through—wasn't this an opportunity?

Yan Jiefang was quite confident in his appearance. He inherited genes from his uncle's side, with a large frame and a square face, which made him look upright.

Yan Jiecheng was different. He took after his father, Yan Bugui, and was as thin as a bamboo pole with a bitter face. The only distinctive feature was his pair of bright, squinty eyes.

When Li Weidong entered the large conference room, Director Wang and Li Huaide were already seated. Factory Director Yang and Secretary Zhang walked in right after Li Weidong.

After exchanging a few words, the leaders began to arrange manpower.

"Weidong, is there anything special that needs to be arranged?"

Factory Director Li lowered his voice and said, "It's not just the workshop, other departments are fine too. It's no big deal to squeeze in a few people."

"I see... Is the supply and marketing department short-staffed? Send a woman there."

Li Weidong also lowered his voice, "If there are any problems..."

"No problem, what problem could there be?"

Li Huaide chuckled and asked, "Who is it?"

"Yu Li is going to the supply and marketing department."

Li Weidong continued, "Yan Jiecheng and Liu Guangtian went to the engine workshop, along with Meng Weimin. I don't care about the others."

Meng Weimin is Dr. Meng's son.

"Okay, let's do it this way."

Factory Director Li nodded, readjusted the list, and then had his secretary announce it.

The engine workshop needed thirty apprentices, making it the workshop that needed the most workers this time.

Li Weidong also asked the factory for a level 7 worker, that is, Engineer Chen. In addition, he asked for three level 6 workers and more than a dozen level 5 workers, including Da Li and Xiao Zhang.

The remaining workers were about twenty third- or fourth-grade workers and about twenty second-grade workers.

Li Weidong didn't take any of the first-level workers. He had his own plans—in a month or two, he could promote all thirty apprentices to first-level workers.

As for Chen, the seventh-grade worker, he will soon be promoted to eighth grade. Of the three sixth-grade workers, two will also be promoted to seventh grade soon. Among the fifth-grade workers, six or seven people can be promoted to sixth grade in the engine workshop; Da Li and Xiao Zhang are on the list.

Li Weidong was training this group of people as his own core team. He planned to rely on them to support his heavy industry after the reform and opening up.

"Director Liu, let's go to the engine workshop then."

Li Weidong said to Liu Feng, "I'll have to trouble you with your help in the future."

"It's nothing, I'm just lucky that Chief Engineer Li is willing to mentor me."

Liu Feng replied with a smile.

Liu Feng is not yet forty, which is the prime of his life.

After leaving the main conference room, everyone heading to the engine workshop followed Li Weidong and Liu Feng. In the crowd, Yu Li looked around anxiously, searching for Li Weidong.

"Yu Li, come here."

Li Weidong called out to her.

Yu Li was so anxious that she kept stamping her feet.

They clearly agreed that she would go to the engine workshop, so how come she was assigned to the supply and marketing department in the blink of an eye?

Upon hearing Li Weidong call her, she quickly ran over, her eyes full of resentment and confusion.

"Work in the factory is too strenuous and not suitable for a young lady. I think you're more suited to sales and marketing. Go there and train yourself first, and you'll have your place in the future."

Li Weidong began to explain.

Yu Li was taken aback for a moment, then nodded obediently: "Okay, I'll listen to you."

She turned and left, a resolute look on her face.

Li Weidong was about to walk towards the workshop when Meng Jianguo suddenly rushed over.

"Cousin, why wasn't I assigned to your workshop?"

Meng Jianguo looked displeased, his tone full of resentment, "Isn't it just a matter of what you say?"

"Meng Jianguo, don't call me cousin. This isn't home. Even if it were, we wouldn't have any real relationship."

Li Weidong said calmly, "If you're not happy, go home now!"

After saying that, he turned and left.

Meng Jianguo stared at his retreating figure, his teeth grinding together.

Meng Jianguo was assigned to Workshop 1, which was actually a decent job.

In the engine workshop, the workers transferred from elsewhere were all waiting. Da Li and Xiao Zhang had already tidied up Li Weidong's workstation in Workshop 1.

Li Weidong gave a brief explanation and then instructed Engineer Chen to lead everyone to start work. Liu Feng and Engineer Chen were in charge of overseeing the specifics of the work.

Engineer Chen is an expert in engine manufacturing and has just been promoted to deputy workshop director, so he's full of energy.

Da Li and Xiao Zhang both became group leaders.

Liu Guangtian learned a trade from Xiao Zhang, while Yan Jiefang followed Da Li.

Li Weidong returned to the infirmary and immediately noticed a pretty girl inside. Without a doubt, it was Ding Qiunan.

Ding Qiunan was alluring, with a beautiful face and an impeccable figure, but she always had a cold expression on her face.

"Are you Ding Qiunan?"

Li Weidong pointed to a table, "You'll sit here from now on."

The clinic is a large room of over 50 square meters, with four tables set up for the doctors.

"Thank you, Section Chief Li."

Ding Qiunan's eyes, as clear as autumn water, were filled with gratitude.

She had heard Liu Feng say that it was Li Weidong, the section chief and chief engineer, who specifically requested her to come.

"Work hard, and feel free to ask me if you don't understand anything."