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

"Old Yi, sit down and have a couple of drinks."

Liu Zhonghai yelled towards the kitchen, "Wife, fry some eggs, and stir-fry the dried shrimp and green peppers together!"

What is Liu Guangfu still standing there for? Pick up your bowl and go eat over there.

Yi Zhonghai's eyes darted around, and he smiled, "Alright, I'll just have a couple of drinks here. I have some Fenjiu at home, I'll go get it."

He turned and went back into the house, taking a bottle of Fenjiu liquor from the cupboard. As he was leaving, he glanced at the deaf old woman who was eating a cornbread bun and whispered, "Grandma, I'll take you out for a bit later."

The deaf old woman grinned, her face crinkling with smiles: "You've figured it out?"

"Yes, I've figured it out."

Yi Zhonghai nodded.

He carried the wine bottle into the backyard, sat down opposite Liu Haizhong, and unscrewed the cap. Just then, the two of them saw He Yushui and Lin Yurou carrying plates of food into the living room.

Liu Haizhong's eyes practically popped into the plate of food: "There's so much food! Pig ears, pig tongue, pig head meat, and even a pig's heart!"

Lin Yurou and He Yushui each carried two plates, both of which were freshly cooked braised dishes.

They put down the plate and turned around to bring over four more dishes: braised pig's tail, salted duck eggs, spicy and sour cucumber, and cold eggplant salad.

Liu Haizhong gritted his teeth: "Eight cold dishes, six of them are meat! We don't even dare to eat like this during Chinese New Year!"

Yi Zhonghai sighed: "What can you do? Li Weidong killed four wild boars by himself yesterday, how could he go hungry?"

He paused, then added, "His tank is full of fish."

Liu Haizhong's face turned pale with anger: "He only makes four hundred yuan a month, plus all this extra money! God must be blind!"

Yi Zhonghai glanced towards the door: "I reckon we'll have some important guests coming tonight."

He was preoccupied with that high-ranking leader. If that leader actually came, things would be in serious trouble for him.

"Oh right, about what he said about needing a re-evaluation... sigh!"

His face was full of worry.

He's a level seven blacksmith, but he's always trying to show off in the workshop and slacking off whenever he can, so his skills have long since become rusty. If there's a real assessment, it's questionable whether he can keep his level seven title.

Yi Zhonghai lowered his voice and gritted his teeth: "Since that little beast came back, we haven't had a single day of peace."

Liu Haizhong chimed in with a curse: "Now that you've become an official, it's one thing to not help your neighbors, but you're constantly causing trouble."

He grabbed a peanut, popped it into his mouth, and chewed it with a crunching sound, as if he were chewing Li Weidong's flesh.

-

Xiao Xi, Xiao Dang, and Huai Hua sat on the porch in front of the door, each holding a pig's tail. The three little girls chattered away in their own words, occasionally giggling as they gnawed on the tail.

Liu Haizhong's face was as black as the bottom of a pot: "Damn it, these three brats eat better than us."

He looked at the pig tails in the hands of the three little girls and wished he could rush over and snatch them to eat with his drinks.

Just as her eyes were red, four more people walked in from the backyard.

The courtyard suddenly fell silent.

A young man in his early twenties, wearing a white shirt and blue trousers, walked ahead. He had a short, close-cropped haircut. He scanned his surroundings warily, noticing a bulge at his waistband—Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong both knew that it was a gun.

The guy with a gun tucked in his waistband is a bodyguard.

Behind him was an old man in his sixties, whose face Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong both recognized. It was this man who had accompanied the high-ranking minister from the ministry on their last inspection of the steel rolling mill.

The old man was accompanied by a man in his thirties, dressed in the same clothes, with a yellow canvas bag slung over his shoulder.

Finally, a guard in his early twenties was attached to the end.

Liu Haizhong, his eyes gleaming with envy, suddenly tried to stand up. Yi Zhonghai, quick as a flash, grabbed his shoulder and growled in a low voice, "Old Liu, are you out of your mind?!"

Liu Haizhong was taken aback, his mind finally catching up. He had been so focused on currying favor with his superior that he had forgotten his own position. If he were to stand up so rashly, the guards would likely draw their guns immediately. And if they were particularly impatient, bullets would be raining down on him.

Thanks...

A layer of cold sweat broke out on Liu Haizhong's back.

Liu Guangqi, holding his wine glass, said lightly, "Tsk, quite the grand display. Anyone who didn't know better would think—"

"Shut the hell up!"

Liu Haizhong berated him, "Shut your mouth if you don't want to die!"

Liu Guangqi was startled by the shout. He had never seen Liu Haizhong so angry before.

Old Li saw them from afar, smiled apologetically, and waved.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong quickly stood up, their faces beaming with smiles, and nodded vigorously to Old Man Li.

At this moment, Director Yang and the others came out of the house to greet him. Li Weidong called out from afar, "Uncle Li, you came empty-handed to freeload a drink?"

"You little brat, my salary isn't even as high as yours. I'm just here to freeload."

Old Li chuckled and said, "If the food isn't good today, I won't stand for it."

"Don't worry, they're all good dishes, almost as good as what I make myself."

Li Weidong smiled and said, "Everyone's here, let's begin the meal."

The group led Old Man Li into the house. Three guards stood watch at the gate.

Li Weidong called out, "Xiao Rou, bring over a small table and get them some food. Bring up a whole pot of braised pig's head, and prepare rice porridge and flatbread as well. No need for wine."

The three guards quickly expressed their gratitude.

The two young guards waited until Old Man Li nodded before they started moving the table and chairs and placing them in the hallway outside the living room.

He Yushui and Lin Yurou came out carrying two copper basins. One basin contained braised pig's head meat and pig intestines, glistening with oil. The other basin contained freshly steamed white flour buns, steaming hot.

The two men put down the copper basin and brought over an earthenware basin filled with rice porridge. Then they turned around and went back to preparing the other dishes.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with surprise. Neither of them had expected that Li Weidong had such a connection with that high-ranking leader.

Xu Damao was trembling with excitement. It was simply unbelievable that such a high-ranking leader would come to Li Weidong's place as a guest and be so familiar with him.

He quickly grabbed four bottles of Moutai and ran over. Just as he reached the steps of the corridor, a guard stood up and stopped him.

"Comrade, I also work at the steel rolling mill, and I have a very close relationship with Chief Engineer Li."

Xu Damao hurriedly explained.

The man in his thirties glanced into the room. Li Weidong and the others were still standing there chatting, their chopsticks untouched.

Li Weidong's gaze swept over, and Xu Damao quickly called out, "Weidong, Weidong, I've brought you some wine!"

"No need, I have some here. You can take those drinks home and drink them yourself. It's not a good occasion for you to be here today."

Li Weidong spoke in a nonchalant tone.

If Old Man Li hadn't been there, Li Weidong wouldn't have even bothered saying those words, nor would he have accepted the wine. If he had accepted those four bottles, he would have simply gotten rid of Xu Damao. Otherwise, Xu Damao would have been heartbroken.

Xu Damao was stunned for a moment. Looking at the guard blocking his way, he could only turn around and leave dejectedly.

As soon as he turned around, he saw Yan Bugui already standing at Liu Haizhong's door.

"Da Mao, come over and have a couple of drinks. You've got some really good wine."

Yan Bugui's eyes lit up.

Xu Damao rolled his eyes, ignored him, and went straight back to his room.

"Tsk, if this were before, Xu Damao would never have dared to treat the three of us like this."

Yan Bugui said with a somewhat unpleasant feeling.

"Old Yan, you've already eaten, haven't you?"

Liu Haizhong's meaning was clear—you've finished eating, so hurry up and leave.

"I've had dinner, but I can still have a couple more drinks."

Yan Bugui was not polite at all and said swaggeringly, "Liu Guangqi, you really have no sense of propriety. Quickly make room for me."

"Hehe, do you guys know how Li Weidong got involved with the big boss?"

Liu Haizhong originally wanted to make things difficult for Yan Bugui, but upon hearing this topic, he immediately said to Liu Guangqi, "Hurry up and get a set of bowls and chopsticks for your third uncle."

Yan Bugui had just sat down and hadn't even had a chance to speak when he heard a pig-like scream coming from the middle courtyard. Bang Geng's hysterical shouts followed faintly.

"Tsk tsk, it's really not easy for the Korean guy to hold back until now."

Yan Bugui shook his head and said, "That little brat is no good."

Yi Zhonghai's eyes were full of heartache. Hearing Yan Bugui say this, he felt even more displeased and frowned: "Old Yan, you're the third uncle, this kind of thinking is not right."

Liu Haizhong grabbed Yan Bugui's arm and urged him to speak quickly.

"How exactly did Li Weidong get to know this important person? Explain yourself!"

As he spoke, he poured Yan Bugui a glass of wine.

If I don't pour this glass of wine, this old guy is sure to put on airs.

Yan Bugui picked up his cup and downed it in one gulp, then picked up a large piece of scrambled egg with his chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong both looked disgusted at the way he ate, but Yan Bugui didn't notice at all.

"They met while fishing."

Yan Bugui swallowed what was in his mouth and sighed.

"Unfortunately, I didn't realize at the time that he was a high-ranking leader. It was the first time they had met and spoken, and I was just standing there."

"I've run into big bosses many times, but I've never managed to seize the opportunity."

Yi Zhonghai chimed in from the side, "That depends on whether they're capable. What's the point of running into them a lot more times?"

"That makes sense."

Yan Bugui nodded. "The big leader goes fishing at Shichahai every Sunday."

Liu Haizhong's eyes lit up when he heard this.

His mind immediately went to work—he needed to get a fishing rod right away!

This is a golden opportunity that has fallen from the sky!

---

Li Weidong reached for the wine bottle, but Director Wang snatched it away.

"Chief Engineer Li, let me pour this wine today! Don't try to argue with me."

Director Wang's face was flushed; he already felt a little dizzy even before drinking any.

He never expected that he would run into such a big scene when he just wanted to crash a dinner party.

The top leader of the department is sitting here.

Director Wang poured wine for everyone, using those small, black kiln-fired bowls.

The liquor is Moutai; the aroma of soy sauce is immediately noticeable when it's poured out.

Li Weidong sniffed it and wrinkled his nose.

To be honest, he really couldn't get used to this Maotai-flavor liquor.

Old Li cleared his throat and said seriously, "Before we drink, I have a few things to tell you."

"Li Weidong, the pomegranate you developed has received a very positive response. The higher-ups have already decided to put it into production."

"The ministry is preparing to award you the title of National Model Worker. Of course, they won't explicitly state why. There will also be some material rewards—"

Li Weidong waved his hand: "I won't accept the material reward; donate it to the orphanage instead."

He smiled and said, "I can't even spend all of my monthly salary now."

Old Li readily agreed: "Alright, I'll take care of it."