Courtyard House: I'm an engineer, and a fairy godmother transferred me to a different position.

Liu Guangqi simply smiled faintly and didn't reply. This generous reward was unique to him in the entire department—his outstanding contribution to foreign trade earnings was personally acknowledged by his superiors, something no one else could match.

The father and son passed the items to each other, and soon put them away neatly. The kerosene lamp in the inner room was already lit, casting a warm, dim glow on the walls. When Liu Guangqi came out of the kitchen, he saw his younger brother, Liu Guangtian, hunched over a corner of the dining table, his head almost buried in his workbook. The handwriting on the paper was deliberate and forceful.

"Studying so hard?" Liu Guangqi approached in a soft voice. "How have you been keeping up with your studies lately?"

Liu Guangtian's shoulders trembled, and he suddenly looked up. When he saw that it was his older brother, his eyes lit up, but then dimmed a little: "B-Big brother is back? You've improved a bit in your exams recently, but..." He swallowed the last word, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the pencil.

Liu Guangqi knew perfectly well what was going on. There had been progress, but he was still a ways off from getting into a vocational school. He remembered that in his original destiny, this child was destined not to make it across that narrow bridge. It was only through his father's winding connections that he managed to secure a position in the factory.

To be honest, the ambiguous distance between the Liu father and son was partly the responsibility of the elder brother in the past. But now that he has taken over as the eldest son, there are some things he can no longer just watch as things continue down the same old path.

He looked into his younger brother's uneasy eyes, reached out and gently pressed his hand on his thin shoulder: "Don't panic. Just show what you're capable of in the exam, and if you've done your best, you'll have a clear conscience."

Upon pressing the button, Liu Guangtian seemed to have triggered something, suddenly looking up with a slight tremor in his voice: "Brother... if I really don't pass the exam, what... what will I do then?"

The question was asked timidly, but it carried a real sense of panic—in this day and age, if you don't get into university, you have to go out and make a living. Where can you find a job? The eldest son of the Yan family in the front yard, who graduated two or three years ago, is still doing odd jobs on the street, barely making ends meet.

A slight smile appeared on Liu Guangqi's lips. It was time to reassure this child.

"The department is going to set up a new factory after spring, and we'll be hiring a batch of workers then." He spoke calmly and clearly, "If you really don't pass the exam, your older brother will save you a spot."

Liu Guangtian relaxed his shoulders and let out a long sigh of relief. But before he could fully exhale, Liu Guangqi's voice steadily followed:

"but--"

"Guangtian, work is just a fallback option, not your future path."

Liu Guangqi's fingertips slipped into his pocket and touched the smooth fountain pen. The cap gleamed a cold, silvery light under the lamplight, like a star in the dark night.

"I still hope you can get into a vocational school." His voice wasn't loud, but it was heavy. "If you study hard, your future will be different."

He gently placed the pen that had been with him for many years into Liu Guangtian's outstretched palm.

"Take it."

"Use it to build a future for yourself."

The pen still held a trace of warmth, its weight pressing heavily on Liu Guangtian's hand. He gripped it tightly, as if grasping something tangible, a surge of heat rising in his chest. He abruptly stood up: "Brother, I'll remember!"

Liu Guangqi simply nodded.

No need for further words. Besides, He Yuzhu's signature gruff voice had already erupted in the courtyard:

"Guangqi!"

"What are you dawdling for! The meat's practically solidified into oil, hurry up and join the fun!"

……

Liu Guangqi shook his head and smiled, then turned and lifted the curtain to walk into the central courtyard.

Just stepped out the door—

A wave of heat, a mixture of the rich aroma of braised meat and the scent of grain liquor, immediately hits you.

At the stone table, He Yuzhu was already set up, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, looking ready to drink until dawn. An oiled paper sheet was spread out, revealing a dark reddish-brown pork knuckle inside, its skin and flesh trembling and glistening with oil. Next to him, Xu Damao was fiddling with a sleek bottle of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor), while Jia Dongxu pulled a handful of roasted peanuts from his pocket and poured them into a rough porcelain plate. Both men wore smiles.

"You must have found us by the smell!" He Yuzhu grinned as he spotted Liu Guangqi, gesturing with his chopsticks towards the braised pork knuckle. "It was just pulled out of the cafeteria, still piping hot! A perfect match with Sha Mao's liquor!"

"Get lost! Do you think I'd be like you, all meat and no wine?" Xu Damao retorted casually, deftly unscrewing the bottle cap, and a spicy and mellow aroma of wine immediately filled the air.

"Brother Guangqi," he shook the bottle, "this wine may not be as good as yours, but it's better than some of the watered-down stuff... It's genuine grain liquor from the supply and marketing cooperative; we must enjoy it tonight!"

Jia Dongxu pushed the peanut plate towards the center and laughed, "You didn't hear? Da Mao was just yelling that if you didn't come, we would just go inside and carry someone out."

"I wouldn't dare accept that," Liu Guangqi said with a smile as he arranged the wine glasses.

Before she finished speaking, Qin Huairu came over with a plate of mixed shredded radish. Her belly was already showing, and she had a gentle smile on her face.

"I could hear you guys making a racket from afar," she said, placing a blue-and-white porcelain plate on the table. The shredded radish was finely sliced ​​and looked very appetizing. "Here's something to cleanse your palate and cut through the richness."

Braised pork hock, Erguotou liquor, fried peanuts, and this plate of fresh green radish shreds. The square stone table is surprisingly set with the abundance of a home-cooked feast.

Liu Guangqi picked up the wine glass in front of him.

A strange feeling suddenly crossed my mind. I thought of the courtyard houses where the time travelers in those stories lived, and it seemed that everyone lived on edge, wary of hands reaching out from all directions.

Look at what's in front of you—

Even Liu Guangqi himself had to admit that the courtyard he entered seemed different from others from the very beginning.

Everywhere I looked, there was warmth.

……

The atmosphere in the courtyard gradually heated up with the effects of the alcohol.

Xu Damao suddenly stood up unsteadily, holding up the enamel mug, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Come on! Fill it all up! Fill it up!"

"Today's a welcome dinner for Brother Guangqi, bottoms up!"

"Let's do it!"

The jars collided, producing a crisp sound.

He Yuzhu tilted his head back and took a big gulp, his Adam's apple bobbing violently, the strong liquor burning like a line of fire from his throat to his stomach.

"Ha—that's potent!" He slammed the jar down on the stone table, a ring of white foam around his lips. "I must say, Sha Mao's wine is really good!"

"It's eighteen times better than that watered-down sweet potato drink from Yan Laoxi's place!"

"Hey, you're talking nonsense again?" Xu Damao laughed and kicked him, getting drunk himself, a trail of alcohol running from his lips to his neck, feeling cool. "Is your brother Damao the kind of person who would lie?"

A burst of laughter erupted in the courtyard.

The laughter gradually subsided, and Xu Damao leaned closer to Liu Guangqi. He had always been a quick-witted person.

Thanks to his job as a projectionist, Liu Guangqi always had access to information that ordinary people couldn't hear. Now, seeing him return to the courtyard, his curiosity mixed with a touch of envy couldn't be contained.

"Brother Guangqi!" Xu Damao's voice rang out first, his eyes gleaming. "I've heard all about it! Your First Ministry of Machine Building has really made a big splash this time—everyone says you've helped the Ministry of Foreign Trade overflow its foreign exchange orders with that 'polar bear,' are you even going to partner up to build a new factory?"

His voice rose and fell, like a storyteller on stage: "The other day, our propaganda department leaders specifically brought this up in a meeting!"

Xu Damao was born with the ability to speak to people's hearts. As soon as he said this, the relaxed atmosphere at the dinner table immediately became tense.

Foreign exchange! The Russian bear is scrambling for it!

He Yuzhu, who was engrossed in eating a pork knuckle, suddenly looked up, his cheeks bulging, and asked indistinctly, "Is that so? When did the bears become so lenient?" He wasn't on the production line and was indeed unaware of these rumors.

"It's not that they're quick to agree," Jia Dongxu continued, his expression serious, "it's that they lack—the heating devices we make. The workshop director also mentioned that the things the First Ministry of Machine Building produced this time are right on the Russian side's most crucial point, and the Foreign Trade Department is speaking with more confidence than usual." As he spoke, his gaze towards Liu Guangqi held genuine admiration. "Guangqi, your R&D department really made a name for itself this time."

Liu Guangqi just smiled, picked up a crisp radish strip with his chopsticks, the crunching sound mingling with the aroma of alcohol in the air. "It's not that miraculous, it was all thanks to everyone's hard work." He said calmly, "Those experienced workers in the heating workshop were top-notch technicians transferred from various directly affiliated factories, and they endured more than four months of hard work for this order; and those who supervised production, spending all day by the machine tools, their eyes gleaming like rabbits'. Outsiders just don't see all the hardship."

He spoke lightly, yet every word carried weight. Having lived two lives, he understood all too well the proper boundaries at the dinner table—some things are better swallowed than spat out. If he were to truly lay out the hardships of drawing blueprints, adjusting machines, and monitoring progress day and night, the threshold of this courtyard would probably be worn down by the end of the night. Trouble often arrives faster than the effects of alcohol.

"Oh, Brother Guangqi, you're too modest!" Xu Damao, his face flushed, leaned closer to refill Liu Guangqi's wine glass, lowering his voice to sound exceptionally friendly. "Who doesn't know that right now, within the entire Ministry of Machine Building, your research department is the most prestigious? Those heat-generating components, and those new heating gadgets...aren't they all your research department's creations?"

Liu Guangqi's lips curled slightly, a barely perceptible smile flickering in his eyes. Xu Damao's information was mostly pieced together from fragmented sources, giving him only a superficial understanding. He was completely unaware that the blueprints for both the heating element and the entire product were entirely Liu Guangqi's work, with little involvement from anyone else in the research department. Otherwise, this situation wouldn't be a casual drinking conversation, but rather a calculated probe.

Seeing Liu Guangqi smile without saying a word, Xu Damao didn't feel embarrassed. He took a sip of wine, smacked his lips, and looked like he knew exactly what was going on.

Jia Dongxu, who had been silent all along, put down his chopsticks and looked over intently. "Guangqi, I heard... after the New Year, your First Ministry of Machine Building is going to jointly build a new factory with the Ministry of Foreign Trade, called 'Red Star Foreign Exchange Machinery Factory'?" He was, after all, a shrewd fitter; the steel rolling mill was under the Ministry of Metallurgy, so he was naturally sensitive to these developments. "Such a large-scale factory, once it's built... it'll need to recruit workers, right?"

This was his real intention in sitting here tonight. If the new factory was hiring, his wife could give it a try after giving birth. If she got the job, both of them would be working, and their lives would immediately become much easier.

Liu Guangqi had not yet spoken.

Sha Zhu, standing nearby, chimed in first: "Brother Dongxu, why are you asking about this? Do you want to be transferred from the steel rolling mill to that new factory?"

"Don't do anything foolish!"

"The steel rolling mill is a department-level unit, a joint plant directly managed by the Ministry of Machine Building and the Ministry of Foreign Trade. At best, it's only a division-level unit..."

"You're so stupid, you still won't admit it!"

Xu Damao nearly choked on his drink and pointed at Sha Zhu, waving his hands repeatedly.

"With your blockhead like you, you actually think you can figure things out? Brother Dongxu is asking on behalf of Sister-in-law Jia!"

He glanced at Sha Zhu with disdain.

"You were born to wield a wok; you'll only ever be good at cooking, no matter how long you work!"

"Hey! Xu Damao!"

Upon hearing this, Sha Zhu's face instantly turned bright red. He slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly.

"You son of a bitch, what kind of tone is that when you talk to your Grandpa Zhu?"

The bowls and plates on the table rattled loudly.

Liu Guangqi smiled.

He knew Sha Zhu too well—as soon as Qin Huairu got involved, this man's mind would go blank, unable to process anything.

to be honest.

Given Sha Zhu's usual cleverness, it's not like he wouldn't have thought of this.

However, when he is around Jia Dongxu, he will instinctively avoid any topic related to Qin Huairu.

We have to keep his intentions a secret!

When Qin Huairu first married into this household, she was eighteen years old, a vibrant age, as fresh as dew on her skin.

Sha Zhu was only sixteen at that time.

A teenager is curious about everything. The sudden appearance of a pretty girl next door in the neighborhood inevitably sparks some budding feelings.

This matter—

To put it nicely, it's youthful infatuation; to put it bluntly, it's lusting after someone else's wife.

So I can only keep it buried deep in my heart, unable to see the light of day.

Over the years, it has become the most untouchable secret of Sha Zhu.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" Xu Damao retorted, emboldened by the alcohol. "Oh, I forgot, you silly Zhu can't even find your wife yet!"

"You idiot Mao, you deserve a beating!"