Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

Liu Guangqi couldn't take it anymore. He slammed his chopsticks on the table and stood up abruptly: "Dad, this is my marriage, and Hongjuan is a cadre. We can't sacrifice her future just because we're getting married, can we?"

"Then tell me what to do? Your mother and I are waiting to hold our grandson!"

Liu Pangpang also became irritable. He had wanted to go to the woman's house to break off the engagement for a long time, but Liu Guangqi had been putting it off.

"Let me think about it some more..."

With that, Liu Guangqi left in a huff.

When Guang Tian Guangfu saw that his elder brother had left, he hadn't finished eating the eggs in his bowl, so he instinctively picked up a piece with his chopsticks.

"Huh?! You stole your brother's eggs again?!"

Liu Pangpang was in a bad mood, so he simply pulled off his belt and the soldiers started fighting.

Hearing the wailing and howling coming from inside the house, Liu Guangqi was completely bewildered.

Before he knew it, he had arrived at the Intermediate People's Court.

At that moment, the lights were still on in Zhang Dabiao's house, so Liu Guangqi thought for a moment and then went over.

Zhang Dabiao and Qin Jingru sat around the stove, one reading and drinking tea, the other pasting matchboxes.

"Da Biao".

"Um?"

Liu Guangqi casually picked up a cigarette from the table and lit it for himself.

He was clearly in a bad mood, so Zhang Dabiao took out the Blue Tower cigarettes: "How about we try this?"

Liu Guangqi waved his hand.

Seeing his gloomy look, Qin Jingru made him some tea and then went to He Yushui's side, leaving some space for the men to talk.

Liu Guangqi glanced back and said, "This girl is sensible."

Zhang Dabiao was speechless. Why did every single one of you have to praise her when you came over?

"What's wrong? Why is your dad attacking Guangtian Guangfu again?"

"Stop talking, my dad wants me to break off the engagement this weekend, but I refuse."

"Why is it so important to call off the engagement?"

"Hey, it's all because of the house..."

As he spoke, Liu Guangqi explained his current predicament to Zhang Dabiao.

It took Zhang Dabiao a while to understand.

First, they had a good relationship, but the factory they were assigned to was not good and had little future prospects.

Second, the company does not provide housing now, and the factories are dozens of kilometers apart, making it inconvenient for the two of us to commute to get off work.

Third, there is no house, and even if the woman quits her job, Liu Guangqi doesn't dare to live at home with his wife. This would not be good for the children's future growth environment. Moreover, what would happen if he and his wife lived at home in public? Would they have to live in a shack in the backyard?

Fourth, Liu Guangqi did not want to make the woman quit her job just for his own convenience; doing so would be very selfish…

Zhang Dabiao thought for a long time but couldn't figure it out, so he took out a large sketchbook and started drawing a mind map.

When in doubt, draw a diagram first, and analyze each problem carefully, one by one.

"Let's go over this. Anyway, you're not going to break off the engagement with your sister-in-law, right?"

Liu Guangqi was very curious about what Zhang Dabiao was doing, especially since the sketchbook looked quite high-end, and the oil-based marker Zhang Dabiao was holding. (In 1960, there were oil-based markers, as well as water-based markers and highlighters. Markers were in their infancy, and double-ended water-based markers did not yet exist. Zhang Dabiao spent several days trying to produce a few "art supplies" that he could carry around.)

"Yes, absolutely not, and—"

Liu Guangqi glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then whispered to Zhang Dabiao, "She's pregnant, over a month along."

Zhang Dabiao's eyes lit up: "Holy crap, premarital pregnancy?!"

Liu Guangqi blushed and quickly covered his mouth, saying, "Shh—keep it down!"

"If my dad finds out, he'll beat me to death!"

Zhang Dabiao grinned slyly and gave Liu Guangqi a thumbs-up: "Guangqi, you're awesome!"

Liu Guangqi still enjoyed Zhang Dabiao's praise: "So-so, third in the world."

Then, seeing Zhang Dabiao drawing charts in his notebook, he asked, "Dabiao, what is this?"

"Mind mapping is used when you can't figure something out. You make a diagram, find the relationships between the points, then find solutions for each point, see what's related, or where you need to prioritize..."

"It's just a little technique for organizing your thoughts."

Liu Guangtian stared at it for a long time, feeling both confused and impressed.

"Look, now that we've sorted things out, since you absolutely have to marry your wife, you naturally won't call off the engagement, and you won't ask her to give up her job either. So, in the end, there are only two core issues."

"First, your workplaces should be relatively close to each other."

"Second, you must have your own separate housing."

Liu Guangqi thought about it and realized that after sorting through all the questions, there were only two left.

Wow, Zhang Dabiao's got a good brain, huh?

Simplify things!

"Let's look at the first question: work. Is it difficult to transfer jobs these days?"

Liu Guangqi scratched his head: "These days, every job is a one-size-fits-all situation. We laid off so many people last year, and we're still laying off more this year. What organization is going to take us in?"

"My wife and I both work in small factories with limited opportunities for advancement, and the factory benefits are very poor; they don't even provide housing."

"To be honest, if they transfer my wife to a factory in Dongcheng District, there's no one willing to accept her. They're not stupid; why would they want to transfer her? My wife is in a management position; you can't just transfer a worker there and make her a manager. The factory there wouldn't be happy about that, would they?"

"Besides, this requires connections and is quite troublesome, so it's much easier to just resign."

Zhang Dabiao misunderstood this; there was simply no room for maneuver.

"What if your wife sells her workstation and buys another one in Dongcheng District?"

Liu Guangqi spread his hands: "It's unavailable; there's no market for it even if it's priced."

"If it were possible a couple of years ago, now the city is downsizing, and one workstation can support a whole family, allowing them to stay in the city instead of being relocated to the countryside. So right now, buying a workstation is practically impossible..."

Suddenly his eyes lit up, and Zhang Dabiao was also grinning.

"I have a workspace at home, but it's just a warehouse clerk position with no career prospects."

But Liu Guangqi got excited: "Get into the factory first. As long as I can get into the factory first, my dad can't help me, but my friend's dad is a small leader in the steel rolling mill, so he has some connections."

"My wife's family also has some connections."

"As long as you can get into the factory first, we can find a way to transfer you to a different position internally!"

"Da Biao..."

"See, the problem is solved now," Zhang Dabiao said with a grin.

"But... but what will you do without your workstation?" Liu Guangqi was stunned. Da Biao was willing to sell his workstation to him?

This is certainly a great thing, but what about him?

Zhang Dabiao, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, said nonchalantly, "I actually still want to study. I want to go to university and have some fun. I'm open to painting or making music. I don't want to find a job so early."

Work? Be a social animal?

Why bother?

"Besides, why are Yi Juehu and his gang trying so hard to get me to drop out of school and start working in the factory early?"

"They just want to mess with me, don't they?"

"What good would it do me to go into the steel rolling mill? So selling it would be best, but it doesn't matter who I sell it to, right?"

Zhang Dabiao was actually worried that since Yi Zhonghai was already active in the factory, he might force him to enter the factory early, for example, if he didn't report for duty within a certain period of time, his work position would be taken back.

Believe it or not, it's quite possible. He's a master craftsman; although he's currently at level 4, he has the skills of a level 7 master.

Putting everything else aside, as long as someone agrees to take on an apprentice, people will rush to their door to offer favors.

And what about himself? He was the mentally challenged son of an old warehouse keeper, who, outside of working hours, engaged in feudal superstitions in the yard and died as a result.

You didn't die from a work-related injury, so the factory has no obligation to you.

Therefore, the relative importance of each is obvious. No one will judge Yi Zhonghai's morality. From the factory's perspective, they will only look at who has greater value and contribution to the factory.

So I simply sold my workstation and got it over with.

Liu Guangqi pondered for a long time before finally taking a deep drag on his cigarette.

"Alright, Brother Da Biao, from now on you're my brother!"

"Brother, I won't take your work position for nothing. If you're willing, I'll handle it. Changing a management position is a bit troublesome, but I should be able to find someone who can help."

"You can sell me your warehouse clerk position at the steel rolling mill, but I'll think of a way to get your temporary purchasing job permanent."

"It's like replacing your warehouse manager's workstation with a formal purchasing position at our integrated utilization plant."

"What do you think?"