Courtyard House: Starting as a mediocre engineer

Unexpectedly, Grandpa Zhou had even more influence than he had imagined. After a meal, Zhuang Zhongchen received the military's approval certificate and was promised 5 yuan in research funding.

Of course, there's also the issue of the leading group's filing of documents. After all, this represents the entire capital city, not just Zhuang Zhongchen's private action. Since even the capital government has filed it, what reason does the military have not to approve it?

And the amount of money isn't much, just a mere 5 yuan. For the military, it's just a small amount slipping through their fingers. For example, if you want to develop an armored vehicle, you'd need at least several million or even tens of millions of yuan.

Having obtained two very important "passes" in succession, Zhuang Zhongchen was greatly encouraged and went to his street to continue his gathering.

"Aunt Wang, the city government and the military have both approved it; here are the supporting documents. They are very optimistic about this project and have even invested some funds."

"Alright! Our neighborhood committee will invest 3 yuan." Director Wang made the decision without hesitation.

"No need, no need. I just need to transfer some people from the production team and some technicians from other units. Our neighborhood needs to be more economical."

"Chenzi, what are you worried about? Our neighborhood isn't short of money. You don't understand, this is about supporting the work of our superiors. The amount of money doesn't matter; the important thing is to show our attitude."

Okay! I understand that the people in the neighborhood are all wealthy landowners, and they have plenty of money.

This reveals that in that era, the overall direction was undoubtedly a unified national strategy, but local areas were essentially independent kingdoms. Within their jurisdiction, officials were expected to manage everything, including the birth, aging, illness, death, and basic needs of their employees. Their power was also considerable.

This is why higher-level organizations such as leading groups and committees are established to facilitate unified leadership.

Otherwise, what about those idiots from independent kingdoms? They're prone to factionalism. Who'd even give a damn about whom?

Therefore, personal relationships are relatively important in both life and work; they are the most crucial resource. These individuals often exchange resources with each other, and this is the most important network of connections.

For example, some purchasing agents are adept at procuring scarce goods that are not part of the planned procurement. This is also one of the most important positions in the organization.

In fact, Zhuang Zhongchen's approach to organizing this event is similar; he is also integrating resources from all sides. He needs to acquire the necessary resources (money being one of them) while also taking care of the interests of all parties involved.

"Aunt Wang, let's be frank from the start. If this project succeeds, our neighborhood committee definitely won't be able to stay. It's very likely it will become a municipal enterprise?"

"That's great! I'd love to!" Director Wang said nonchalantly. "Just 3 yuan should give our neighborhood at least 1 or 200 job openings, right? Even just buying those openings would be a good deal. Besides, the neighborhood really can't find any cadres to manage the factories! Old Niu is worried sick about those few neighborhood factories; he's practically losing all his hair from worry!"

"..."

Indeed, the neighborhood has a huge number of unemployed youths, and there's never a shortage of odd jobs. But the highly skilled personnel with management and technical expertise are mostly in large state-owned factories. The neighborhood is completely clueless.

Regardless, the current setup is going smoothly, and they've already secured 9 yuan in funding. With that money, they can build a few prototypes and secretly develop reactive armor—that should be more than enough.

The only missing piece is the technician. But that's easy; there are two senior technicians in the courtyard house, aren't there?

"...Uncle, Uncle, we still need you two to step in. We'll have to trouble you with this."

"Alright, Chenzi. Let me know when the time comes."

"No, you two have misunderstood. This is an official project of the city government and the military. We'll follow the proper procedures, and we'll give your steel mill a formal secondment letter later."

"Ha! That's even less of a problem. Chenzi, we'll let the factory know."

"Thanks!"

In this day and age, helping out privately is generally fine, but it's usually not acceptable to work part-time for other organizations for payment. If you need to borrow personnel, you need to go through the proper official procedures.

Of course, they would definitely be paid; there's no reason for someone to work for free. That's why people like Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong were quite willing to do it.

However, the original employer wasn't too happy about it. They wanted their own staff to be seconded, yet they couldn't afford to lose a single penny in salary and bonuses. Therefore, they had to make arrangements beforehand to save face for the steel mill.

This later became a social phenomenon at a certain stage.

By the 80s, many township enterprises had been established in various regions, but they couldn't find any technical personnel. So they turned to large state-owned factories and hired some engineers at high salaries to help out for a few days during holidays.

This was the Sunday engineer back then.

……

After finishing all that, the house was finally renovated, and Zhuang Zhongchen saw off the old craftsmen.

That day, Zhuang Zhongchen carried a full basket of vegetables, while Wen Yumei happily carried a radio behind him, following closely like a young married woman. As soon as they entered the courtyard, the little girl smiled sweetly: "Hello, Auntie, hello, Sister Yuli."

"Okay, Meizi, you've come to see the new house?"

"Uh-huh."

"When are you planning to move in?"

"Not yet! I'll do whatever Brother Chen decides!"

"That's not right. Let me tell you a secret: Chenzi is full of bad ideas, he's wanted to keep you here for a long time."

"Hey, please, please! Auntie, sister-in-law, please spare our lives!"

Amidst the laughter, Wen Yumei's pretty face flushed red, and she fled into the house as if in a panic. However, as soon as she closed the door, she felt as if she had returned to her own territory, and immediately became smug and lively again.

"Wow! Show me this place, this will be our home from now on! Hehehe."

"hehe."

"Wow! We have a backyard now! We can grow vegetables now!"

"Uh? What... what kind of vegetables?"

"That's the downside of our apartment building; there's no place to grow vegetables. My mom is so envious of those who live in single-story houses!"

"Uh... whatever makes you happy."

"Wow! This kang (heated brick bed) is so big! I'm so happy! I can roll around on it. Mmm."

Zhuang Zhongchen smiled slightly. Why did it feel like playing house? Wen Yumei's overflowing girlish charm, although it made a certain scumbag dog very excited, seemed to give off a sense of guilt.

"By the way, Brother Chen, this house is so big, weren't you scared living here before?"

"what?"

"I'm most afraid of thunder on rainy days. Don't leave me alone, okay?"

"Ahem. Got it."

"You're always like this. I'm going to pinch you! Hehe."

Amidst laughter and commotion, Wen Yumei once again brandished the thug's excited fist...