Courtyard House: Starting as an eighth-grade worker, with too many wives.

Bribery is always done secretly. This guy, on the other hand, shoved money into his hand in front of the entire hospital. He's just taken office; so many people are watching him. Isn't this pushing him into a fire pit?

"I think you'll get what's coming to you if I don't arrest you and teach you a lesson."

The old man's expression changed, and he realized what a stupid thing he had done.

"Director Li, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" He quickly stuffed the money back into his pocket. "I was out of my mind just now, please don't be angry! Please don't be angry!"

Li Bin glanced at him, then at the onlookers, and raised his voice: "That's settled then. Whoever owns the house, owns it."

He paused, staring at the Third Uncle's family: "You all better behave yourselves. Don't cause any trouble. If I find out who's causing trouble behind the scenes, don't blame me for being ruthless. Our neighborhood has always been peaceful, but if two bad apples pop up, I won't hold back."

The third uncle nodded repeatedly, while the third aunt stood behind him, her face grim, but she didn't dare utter a single word.

She had just been thinking that once Director Li left, she would definitely teach that newcomer a lesson. A young, inexperienced guy—could he possibly cause any trouble?

Now you absolutely can't say those words anymore.

Li Bin walked up to Li Jianguo, his expression softening: "Director Li, I hope you will continue to support my work in the future. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions."

Li Jianguo nodded: "Thank you for your hard work, Director Li."

Chi Cheng brought his wife and children over and bowed to the two of them: "Thank you both, Director Li. We are so grateful for your help in resolving this matter today."

He felt a huge sense of relief. He knew all too well how difficult it was to find a house in the city. He had thought it would take a month or two, but it was resolved in just one night. And with the two directors' words as a safeguard, he shouldn't be bullied in the compound anymore.

Li Jianguo waved his hand: "Thank Director Li Bin, he enforced the law impartially."

Chi Cheng understood that Li Jianguo didn't want to get too involved, so he bowed again and then turned to try and get closer to Li Bin. His wife, carrying the child, went inside to tidy up.

The old man and his family, covered in dust and dirt, carried out the furniture they had just moved in the day before, piece by piece.

The bed frame, cabinets, pots and pans clanged and banged. The eldest son and daughter-in-law looked displeased, smashing things with their hands and muttering curses under their breath, but they only dared to mutter quietly.

With nothing to do in the courtyard, people simply moved a small stool to the doorway, munched on sunflower seeds, and watched the commotion. Back then, there were no televisions, and radios were rare commodities, so why not take advantage of the excitement?

Li Jianguo didn't join in the fun and went back to his room to sleep.

Early the next morning.

After washing up, Li Jianguo went out and ran into Uncle San.

Normally, when they meet, they would at least nod to each other. But today, when Uncle San saw him, his face darkened, he snorted, got on his bicycle, and left without saying a word.

Xu Damao suddenly appeared out of nowhere and came over with a smile: "This old bastard is really petty, he's really taken a grudge against you. Director Li, you'd better be careful."

Li Jianguo chuckled: "Why should I be careful of him? What can he do to me?"

Xu Damao thought about it and agreed. Everyone in the compound knew what methods Director Li used.

"Is Director Li coming to work with us today?" he asked.

Li Jianguo shook his head: "I'm going to the new factory. I probably won't be coming back to stay often lately, so please keep an eye on things here at home."

"Okay, don't worry."

Xu Damao watched Li Jianguo walk away, wondering what was going on at the new factory. He'd heard they'd brought in a large group of engineers; it was a bit far, but maybe it was an opportunity…

Director Li, what exactly does the new factory do?

When Xu Damao asked this question, he craned his neck forward, looking like a goose waiting to be fed. He had been asking around for days, but everyone he asked shook their heads, only saying that they were building a new car—but a new car, a new car, what kind of car was it? These people had spent almost twenty years in the workshop, and in the end, they didn't even know what they were building. Who would believe that?

"That's a locomotive over there."

Li Jianguo spoke casually, without even lifting his eyelids.

He held an enamel mug in his hand, the tea inside long since cold, but he didn't drink it, just held it there. He knew Xu Damao too well. There weren't many good things about him, but he had one thing in common—he knew who to fear. That was enough.

When it comes to raising a dog, the key isn't how good the dog is, but that you have to hold the leash tight.

Are you interested in that area?

Li Jianguo then raised his eyes to look at him.

Xu Damao's eyes lit up instantly. The light was like a match suddenly struck in a dark room, the flame leaping high in a flash.

"How are the benefits there?"

"Will I be able to become an official if I go there?"

"Do we have to live at the factory every day?"

A barrage of questions came crashing down on him, each one more practical than the last, almost endearingly so. Li Jianguo's lips twitched, it was hard to tell whether he wanted to laugh or not.

"The factory is newly built, and some things need to be kept secret. If you go there, you'll have to stay there and can only go home once every ten days or two weeks. If you don't handle classified information, you can come out regularly."

"There's a small subsidy, but not much."

"Become an official? Probably not."

Li Jianguo placed the herbal tea on the table, the bottom of the cup making a dull thud.

"Right now, it's mainly for experiments. If you go there, you'll mostly be in logistics. With your skills, you're fine assisting the senior engineers, but as for managing people? You'll have to wait until the factory expands."

As Xu Damao listened, the flames on his face didn't go out; instead, they burned even brighter.

"Well... Director Li, do you think I can go?"

He was one of Director Li's men. If he went to the new place, who would dare to give him a hard time? Back at the steel rolling mill, after years of hard work, everything was settled. If he wanted to move up, he was constantly being pressured by experienced senior workers. Newcomers? Newcomers had to wait.

It'll be over in a million years.

"You can go if you want, I'll put in a good word for you later. But let's make it clear, logistics will be handled from scratch."

"Okay, okay, we'll do whatever Director Li says!"

Xu Damao nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice.

"I'll talk to Xiao'e about this; it's not a big problem."

The two walked out talking. Li Jianguo got into the car, bought a few steamed buns to eat along the way, and drove towards the new factory.

When we got to the door, before the railing was even raised, Old Li, the gatekeeper, rushed out.

"Oh my, Director Li, you're finally back!"

Old Li grinned, his face clinging to the car window.

"Everyone's been talking about you all the time, what have you been up to these past few days?"

Li Jianguo stuffed the steamed bun into his mouth in a few bites and mumbled a reply. Old Li was transferred from the security department and had gone out on errands with them before, so he spoke to them more warmly than others.

"Is everything alright at the factory?"

"It's nothing serious, it's just that there have been some suspicious people loitering around outside these past few days. We've been keeping an eye on them day and night."

Li Jianguo frowned.

"Two groups have already been arrested in the city, are there more?"

Old Li chuckled.

"It wasn't all spies. The few we caught last night were just some local thugs who saw we had a lot of people in our factory and thought we had something good, so they tried to steal something. These kinds of things happen all the time, it's easy to handle."

Li Jianguo nodded and said nothing more.

He also realized he was being a bit paranoid. Everyone seemed like a spy. But then again, his factory made locomotives, not some kind of machine, so why were those people watching him?

The few people arrested last time were just hired by foreign car companies; they were nobody important.

The car drove into the factory and hadn't even come to a complete stop when a group of people rushed out of the workshop.

Li Jianguo was startled and slammed on the brakes.

"Director Li!"

"Director Li is back!"

"Director Li!"