Era: A college student came to the courtyard house

Seeing Fang Yuan's serious expression, and knowing he was from the main factory's inspection department, no one in the office was interested in continuing his boasting.

Although their guard team usually acted arrogantly, managing everything from the heavens and the earth to the workers, the Supervision Section was specifically in charge of these people. Therefore, upon hearing that Fang Yuan was the head of the Supervision Section, they all involuntarily stood up and looked at him.

The person who had just yelled at him was now all smiles, saying, "Fang Yuan, right? I'm Ruan Xiaoming, the deputy captain of the guard team."

Fang Yuan said in a serious tone, "Captain Ruan, please address me by my title or comrade during work hours."

"Section Chief Fang, what's going on today?" Despite Fang Yuan's reminder, Ruan Xiaoming's expression remained unchanged, and he asked with a smile.

Seeing that he wasn't the main person for today, Fang Yuan casually made up an excuse about inspecting the office environment and told Ruan Xiaoming.

Seeing that it wasn't a big deal, Ruan Xiaoming breathed a sigh of relief and then took out a cigarette from his pocket and offered one to Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan took the cigarettes but didn't point out any specific areas that needed improvement. Instead, he started chatting idly with Ruan Xiaoming.

After all, the security department was not under the supervision of his three sections, and saying too much would only make him look bad.

As the workday ended, the bell rang.

Fang Yuan greeted Ruan Xiaoming and then headed towards the third workshop of the steel rolling mill.

He hadn't walked far when he saw Luo Qingfeng walking towards him. The two met and Luo Qingfeng hurriedly said, "Section Chief, Niu Dazhuang is out."

Fang Yuan calmly asked, "Did you steal anything?"

He was already certain that Niu Dazhuang would not make a move today.

Sure enough, Luo Qingfeng shook his head and said, "No, but he sneaked into the workshop break room again before leaving get off work."

Since there were no unexpected circumstances, Fang Yuan decided not to waste any more of their time and said, "Alright, let's go home then. You'll be in charge of keeping an eye on him for the next couple of days."

Fang Yuan showed no sign of urgency; he already had a preliminary plan in mind.

When it comes to fishing, you always need patience.

There's no such thing as one biting the hook right away.

If it really was Song Qinkuai who was protecting Niu Dazhuang, then the next time Niu Dazhuang steals materials should be on the 29th, which is tomorrow, Saturday.

The days when Song Qinkuai led the factory's security team on duty.

He parted ways with Luo Qingfeng.

Fang Yuan went to the garage, got on his newly bought bicycle, and left the Hongxing Steel Plant.

When I passed by the Jiaodaokou grocery store, I used the remaining three jin of fruit coupons to buy two jin of apples and one jin of oranges, planning to visit my two older sisters when I have time off the day after tomorrow.

Back in the courtyard.

As soon as I entered the gate, I ran into Uncle San, who was carefully wiping his bicycle with a rag in front of his house.

The third uncle had just gotten off work and hadn't even gone inside his house yet when he saw Fang Yuan pushing the bike in. His eyes widened, and he exclaimed, "Little Fang, did you buy a bicycle?"

Fang Yuan had no time for teasing him, so he chuckled and brushed it off, saying, "Third Uncle, how could that be? I'm not as good as you; I'm not brand new."

As they were talking, Fang Yuan had already pushed his bicycle into the central courtyard.

The third uncle didn't believe Fang Yuan's words. He pushed up his glasses and carefully examined Fang Yuan's bicycle.

When the third uncle returned to the house.

At this moment, the third aunt was kneading the dough. The cornmeal nowadays contains corn cobs, and if you don't knead it vigorously, the resulting cornbread will be incredibly tough and chewy.

The third aunt had naturally heard what the third uncle had said, but her hands were covered in flour, so she couldn't go out to see. Now that she saw the third uncle come into the house, she asked curiously, "Old man, did Xiao Fang really buy a bicycle?"

The old man nodded and said, "They say it's secondhand, but it doesn't seem that way to me. But this kid is pretty clever; he bought it as soon as he got to work."

Seeing that the third uncle seemed to have something else to say, the third aunt chimed in, "What's so clever about it? Is there some other reason behind it?"

The old man adopted a teacher's demeanor and said in a low voice, "Of course there's a reason for this! The fact that he bought a bicycle only a few days after starting work shows that he bought it himself."

"If I wait a while before buying it, people might gossip behind my back and talk behind my back, saying that I can only afford a bicycle because I was a manager at the steel factory and took bribes from others."

The three women said suspiciously, "It's not as mysterious as you make it out to be. Who would dare to be greedy these days? Besides, what's there to be suspicious about?"

The old man, having been a small business owner before, had seen a bit of the world. He glanced around a few times and said, "What do you know, you woman? In our courtyard, it's nothing, at most you'll just gossip and make sarcastic remarks; but she's a manager at the steel mill now, how can she be compared to people in our courtyard!"

indeed.

Sometimes, the power of rumors, while not necessarily killing, can be extremely disgusting, especially when someone is on the rise in their career; they might just trip them up.

Back in his room, Fang Yuan had just finished a quick wash by the sink.

Mu Wenbin, who had just returned from military service, turned into their backyard from the covered walkway.

The two didn't have a chance to catch up during the hospital-wide meeting yesterday. The reason Fang Yuan didn't go to see him afterwards was because he thought that since it was the first day back, the man was already busy talking to his family, so he didn't want to join in the fun.

I had planned to visit his house after dinner tonight, but Mu Wenbin came to see me first.

The two exchanged a glance.

"Old Fang." Mu Wenbin greeted him warmly, showing no signs of the estrangement that comes with not seeing Fang Yuan for five years.

"How does it feel to be back?" Fang Yuan asked with a smile.

"I'm not used to it. I woke up before dawn today and couldn't fall back asleep, so I went for a run."

"Hey, these are all good habits you developed in the army." Fang Yuan laughed and put his arm around his shoulder as they walked into the house. "But I bet you can't keep it up for half a month. You'll get used to it in a week at most."

Mu Wenbin looked at Fang Yuan, but he was a little puzzled. Fang Yuan's behavior was completely different from how he was when he was a child.

"How was it? You've had a tough time out there, haven't you?" Fang Yuan asked as he opened the door, offering cigarettes as he entered.

"I didn't suffer much hardship, but I did eat a lot of dirt," Mu Wenbin replied with a grin, his eyes filled with reminiscence.

After catching up for a while, Fang Yuan learned that Mu Wenbin had served in the army in the Northwest, which explained why he could say he had eaten a lot of dirt.

After finishing a cigarette, Mu Wenbin revealed his purpose.

"Want to come to your house for dinner?"

Fang Yuan asked with a puzzled look in response to Mu Wenbin's invitation.

"All three old men in the courtyard are here. My dad specifically asked me to come and invite you to join us, so don't be ungrateful."

Before Fang Yuan could respond, Mu Wenbin continued, "By the way, my job has already been assigned. I'll be the team leader of the security team at your Hongxing Steel Plant's security department."