Courtyard House: Starting as a mediocre engineer

Now you should understand the differences between hotels in Beijing during that era.

In the hearts of the children of high-ranking officials, Lao Mo was their sacred place. Only people of status could dine there. If one could go even once, they could boast about it for years. Therefore, Lao Mo frequently appeared in literary and artistic works.

In the hearts of the hutong kids, the newly arrived immigrants were their sacred place. One had to be of high status there. Petty thugs would be kicked out immediately. Only the most daring and established were qualified to dine inside. No wonder it became—a place of fascination for the petty thugs.

In the hearts of foreigners and people from other parts of China, Quanjude is a sacred place. This should be common knowledge. Therefore, Quanjude's reputation is extremely high.

In the hearts of old Beijing residents, Fengzeyuan Restaurant is their sacred place. Besides its own signature dishes, Fengzeyuan offers almost all the famous dishes found in other restaurants. While the culinary skills may not match those of the renowned chefs at other restaurants, they are at least acceptable. Therefore, it boasts the most comprehensive selection, making it the place to entertain guests—a place for the most discerning local gourmets.

So as soon as she entered the New Qiao Hotel, Wen Yumei immediately became flustered.

Facing the waiter, Zhuang Zhongchen smiled apologetically: "Thank you for your help. This is my first time visiting."

"I understand. Your partner will get used to it after a few more times."

"No wonder everyone says the ladies at Xinqiao are so welcoming. I won't embarrass myself by offering anything, but would you please just order the dishes according to the 20-dollar standard?"

"Young man, you're quite generous! Your partner is very lucky."

The waitress covered her mouth and burst into laughter. Bad attitude? That depends on looks. Who doesn't enjoy chatting with a handsome guy?

Under Zhuang Zhongchen's guidance, Wen Yumei happily learned how to use a knife and fork.

"It's so inconvenient, why do foreigners use knives and forks?"

"Actually, you can ask the waiter for chopsticks; they also provide them here. Just like high-end Chinese restaurants, they also provide knives and forks to cater to the eating habits of all customers."

"Really? Western restaurants have chopsticks too?"

"Uh...yes. But if you're not of a certain status, it's best not to bother the waiters. I mean, the kind of status where even if you're wearing shorts and flip-flops, the waiters will still fawn over you."

"..."

Amidst laughter and conversation, Wen Yumei was no longer nervous. After finishing the sumptuous Western meal and leaving the Xinqiao Hotel, she regained her usual liveliness.

"Tch, I think Western food is just like that, nothing special."

"Mmm, you're right! Even the fried pork cutlet tastes delicious!"

Wen Yumei chuckled, baring her teeth and brandishing her claws in a threatening gesture: "Dare to laugh at me? Zhuang Zhongchen, you're dead meat. Anyway, it doesn't taste good at all, not as good as my cooking. Humph."

"Then... come to my house? It seems you've never been to my house before, right? Perfect timing to try your cooking tonight."

"No, no, people will laugh at me."

"What's so funny? They'll come knocking sooner or later. Aren't I here for them?"

Wen Yumei laughed and shook her head, saying, "I wouldn't dare. You're very mean."

"Don't worry! Everyone in our compound is nice. You'll get to know them eventually, right?"

"Hmm..." Wen Yumei's eyes darted around. "Brother Chen, you have to agree to three conditions."

"Okay! I agree to everything."

"Alright. First, you can't have any ulterior motives."

"I understand, I understand!"

"Hmph, second place...it's second place..."

"Can't I have any romantic thoughts?"

Wen Yumei laughed loudly: "Right, right! Thirdly, you absolutely cannot have any frivolous thoughts. Otherwise, snip!"

"Wow! What a terrifying threat!"

"Exactly!" Wen Yumei shook her head proudly. "Did you hear that? Let's pinky swear!"

"Okay! Hehe."

More than an hour later, the doors and windows of Zhuang Zhongchen's house were tightly shut. The cute girl sat on Zhuang Zhongchen's lap, sulking angrily.

"Zhuang Zhongchen, you bad guy, you don't keep your word. You just bully me."

"Where?" Zhuang Zhongchen couldn't help himself. He suppressed a laugh and kissed her several times in succession. "How can you blame me? It's just that I like you so much!"

"Pah! Disgusting! Didn't you promise you'd never have any ulterior motives? Remember we pinky swear?"

"Woman, I lied. Hahaha!"

"You dare laugh? I'm going to pinch you! You're making me so angry!"

"Hahaha!"

To be honest, Zhuang Zhongchen just liked girls who were a bit silly and adorable. How could she believe such a man's promise? A man and a woman alone in a room, how could he possibly be a beast? I'm such a jerk!

Fortunately, they ultimately showed mercy, allowing Wen Yumei to preserve her last line of defense.

Even so, thanks to the sweet talk of that scumbag, their relationship quickly heated up...

……

After the onset of winter, the capital city experienced its first snowfall. While the scenery was picturesque, Zhuang Zhongchen and his team were also busy. They needed to check the snow accumulation on the rooftops of various units to ensure there were no safety incidents.

It's important to know that accumulated snow is quite heavy. If it's not cleared in time, it can easily cause a roof to collapse. Furthermore, snow removal, especially work at heights, requires thorough safety checks.

Fortunately, two more engineers joined the team, which helped alleviate a lot of the workload. Zhuang Zhongchen and his colleagues worked tirelessly for several days, finally bringing the major inspection to a close. Overjoyed, a group of colleagues got together for drinks.

"Have you heard? A senior engineer will be transferred here soon to serve as the head of the boiler monitoring station."

"Is this news reliable? If it's true, we can finally let go of the boiler business completely."

"That's great. If we get a few more college graduates assigned next year, we'll be much more relaxed in a few years, right?"

"You wish! There's no end to the work. We're destined to be busy our whole lives!"

Amidst the laughter, someone asked, "Xiao Zhuang, you should be getting promoted soon, right?"

"Almost. The departments should rearrange things at the year-end meeting."

"Huh? A rescheduling?"

"It's a major reshuffle of cadres. Responding to the call from higher authorities—to cultivate multi-skilled individuals! Also, cadres will soon be drawn from various government agencies to form working groups to provide targeted support to the mainland."

"Really? How long will it take?"

"Six months, a year, I guess! It's not my turn anyway. After going there, they'll just get promoted. At my age, what kind of talk would that be? Don't they respect organizational principles? Besides, sending me to the countryside to give guidance wouldn't be convincing, would it?"

"That's true, your disadvantage is your age. But being able to get rid of the agency is already pretty good. By the way, will you be reassigned to a different department?"

"I wouldn't know then. It would be best to go to the internal affairs and archives department. There's even a possibility of being transferred to the municipal party committee."

Everyone burst into laughter, realizing it was a joke. Both the personnel bureau's and labor bureau's archives departments are directly managed by the higher-level organization department. But to achieve such meteoric success would require incredibly lucky connections!