The Courtyard House: The story begins with He Yuzhu beating up the White Widow.

"Knock! Knock! Knock!" He Yuzhu walked to the door of the Labor and Personnel Department. Seeing that the door was open, he still knocked on it respectfully. Everyone in the office looked up at He Yuzhu when they heard the knocking.

He Yuzhu walked into the office and said, "Comrade, my name is He Yuzhu. I'm here to complete my onboarding procedures. This is a letter of introduction from the Military Control Commission." He then handed over the letter of introduction.

Song Lian, who was in charge of processing the onboarding procedures, took the letter of introduction, looked at it, and after confirming that there were no problems, handed a form to He Yuzhu and said, "Comrade, please fill out this form."

"Yes!" He Yuzhu responded, took the form and pen, and began filling it out quickly.

After filling out the form, He Yuzhu carefully checked it and handed it to Song Lian, saying, "Comrade, could you please take a look? Is there anything else I need to add?"

Song Lian took the form, carefully read through its contents, and asked curiously, "Since you learned to cook at Taifeng Restaurant, why didn't you become a cook in the cafeteria? Why did you choose to be a purchasing agent?!"

He Yuzhu replied, "My mother died a few years ago. Two months ago, my father abandoned me and my seven-year-old sister to pursue love and ran away with someone else. If I become a cook, I won't have time to take care of my sister."

"You're a really nice guy! Wait here for a bit." With that, Song Lian took the forms and letter of introduction and went to the back office. About fifteen minutes later, Song Lian came out of the office with the newly made work ID and said, "Take this work ID, don't lose it."

"Hey!" He Yuzhu took the work ID, looked at it, and then put it in his pocket.

Song Lian said, "Come with me! I'll take you to the purchasing department."

The purchasing department head's office building wasn't far from the factory office. Song Lian quickly led He Yuzhu to the purchasing department head's office door. Song Lian knocked on the door. A deep voice came from inside: "Come in!"

Song Lian pushed open the office door and said as she led He Yuzhu into the office, "Xiao Wu, I've brought someone over for you."

Upon seeing Song Lian, Song Kaifeng, the head of the purchasing department, immediately broke into a bright smile. He glanced at He Yuzhu behind Song Lian and said, "Sister, you could have just given me a call, and I would have come directly to pick her up. Why did you have to come all the way here yourself?!"

Song Lian said impatiently, "Don't use the same tricks you use on outsiders on me. His name is He Yuzhu. He used to be a chef at Taifenglou. Now he's a purchasing agent at our factory. I'm handing him over to you. You can decide how to arrange things." With that, Song Lian didn't say anything more and turned to leave.

After Song Lian left, Song Kaifeng carefully examined He Yuzhu and said, "Wait a moment!" Then, Song Kaifeng picked up the internal phone on his desk and dialed a number. The call connected shortly after. Song Kaifeng said directly to the other end of the line, "Han Junwei, come to my office!" He then hung up and looked at He Yuzhu, saying, "Sister Wang already called me about your matter. Our purchasing department is divided into three groups. Group one is responsible for purchasing materials; group two is responsible for purchasing labor protection supplies and other common items; and group three is responsible for purchasing grain and other agricultural products for the canteen. The third group has the most freedom. I've considered it and plan to assign you to the third group. The rest of you go back; your group leader will talk to you when he arrives."

"Knock! Knock! Knock!" As soon as Song Kaifeng finished speaking, the knocking on the door rang out.

Song Kaifeng called out, "Come in!"

Han Junwei, the head of the third purchasing group, pushed open the door and walked in. He glanced at He Yuzhu and asked, "Section Chief, what brings you here?"

Song Kaifeng said, "His name is He Yuzhu. He's new. He's assigned to your group. Take him with you!"

"Okay! Section Chief, you're busy! I've taken him away!" With that, Han Junwei led He Yuzhu away from Song Kaifeng's office. As they walked towards the main office of Group Three, Han Junwei said, "Let me see your work ID."

He Yuzhu took out his work ID and handed it to Han Junwei.

Han Junwei took the work permit, opened it, and said, "I really didn't expect you to be a full-time employee!" After saying that, Han Junwei returned the work permit to He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu put away his work badge and asked, "Team leader, is there something to this?!"

Han Junwei said, "I'll tell you when we get to our Group 3 office."

The purchasing department's offices are located in two places. Groups One and Two have their offices in this building, while Group Three's office is next to the warehouse behind the factory's canteen. The canteen is about a ten-minute walk from the building where the department head's office is located, and about the same distance from the factory office. From their conversation, He Yuzhu learned that the canteen is mainly responsible for providing three meals a day for the factory office and logistics staff. Currently, it operates on a supply system, and meals are free. The factory issues meal tickets each month when salaries are paid.

Not long after, Han Junwei led He Yuzhu to the third group's office. It was more like a warehouse than an office, except that it was divided into two smaller offices. Han Junwei led He Yuzhu into his small office, gestured for him to sit down, and said, "The purchasing department has three large groups. Groups one and two are the 'parent's children. They are mainly responsible for coordinating the materials allocated by higher authorities. Our group three is the 'child's children.' We are responsible for purchasing all the factory's non-staple foods. Our group has the most people in the three purchasing departments. There are only ten days left until the New Year. The New Year's benefits are still a bit lacking, so everyone is out purchasing. I just looked at your work ID. Although you are a formal employee, our purchasing department has its own rules, especially for our group. Although we don't have attendance requirements, each person has a purchasing quota of 300 yuan per month. Only after completing the purchasing quota for three consecutive months will you be officially considered a member of the purchasing department. If you fail to complete the quota for three consecutive months, you will be transferred to another position. As for what position you will be transferred to, that depends on your luck. For these three months, your monthly salary is 23 yuan. Once you officially become a purchasing agent, your monthly salary will be 30 yuan."

He Yuzhu asked, "Team leader, who should we give the purchased items to?!"

Han Junwei said, "There's a warehouse next to our office. The purchased goods are sent there. After weighing, they'll give you a slip. You take that slip to the office next to mine for reimbursement." As he spoke, Han Junwei opened his desk drawer, took out a price list, and handed it to He Yuzhu, saying, "This is our internal price list for the purchased goods. Memorize these prices. There are only eight or nine days left until the holiday, so I won't be giving you any quotas this month. We'll talk about the rest after the New Year."