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

Zhang Qiang said, "Yongnian, it's me! Zhang Qiang!"

Mao Yongnian chuckled and joked, "Director Zhang?! What brings you here today to call me?!"

Zhang Qiang said, "Yongnian, you, the section chief, are still as fond of joking as ever. I'm calling you today for official business."

Upon hearing that it was business, Mao Yongnian's smile vanished instantly, and he became serious. Zhang Qiang continued, "Yongnian, it's not convenient to talk on the phone. Wait for me in your office. I'll be right there."

Mao Yongnian replied, "Okay! I'll wait for you in my office!"

Zhang Qiang hung up the phone, grabbed his hat from the table, and hurriedly left. It wasn't that Zhang Qiang didn't want to talk about it on the phone; rather, he was afraid that doing so would reveal secrets, and that would alert the enemy, which would be troublesome.

Zhang Qiang rode the company bicycle at breakneck speed. Fifteen minutes later, he arrived at the steel rolling mill. After getting off the bicycle, Zhang Qiang greeted the guard at the gate and pushed the bicycle through the mill's entrance.

"Knock! Knock! Knock!" Zhang Qiang arrived at Mao Yongnian's office door and knocked.

Hearing the knock, Mao Yongnian called out, "Come in!"

Zhang Qiang pushed open the door to Mao Yongnian's office and said, "Yongnian, your office is quite large!"

Mao Yongnian gestured for Zhang Qiang to sit down and said, "That's all there is to it!" Then he asked, "What exactly happened?!"

Zhang Qiang said, "Our investigation has revealed that Jiang Chuan, the boiler operator at your factory, is an enemy agent."

"What?!" Mao Yongnian was taken aback.

Seeing Mao Yongnian's reaction, Zhang Qiang asked, "What's wrong?!"

"Nothing much?!" Mao Yongnian replied, then continued, "A while ago, three important parts went missing from our factory. We've been investigating secretly, but we haven't found any leads yet. You just said Jiang Chuan is an enemy agent. Then all these things connect."

Zhang Qiang said, "Jiang Chuan is a crucial link in this chain. We don't yet know exactly how many people are involved. We hope your security department can keep an eye on Jiang Chuan at the factory. Also, we need to prevent him from resorting to desperate measures and disrupting the steel rolling mill's production."

Mao Yongnian said, "Old Zhang, don't worry! I will definitely arrange this matter properly."

"Alright! We're old comrades-in-arms. I trust you to handle things! You go ahead and get busy! I'll go back to the station and keep an eye on things." After finishing their business, Zhang Qiang didn't linger. He said goodbye to Mao Yongnian and left Mao Yongnian's office.

After Zhang Qiang left, Mao Yongnian immediately summoned Zhao Chuang, the captain of the First Brigade and one of his most capable subordinates, to his office. Mao Yongnian assigned Zhao Chuang the task of monitoring Jiang Chuan.

The security department of the steel rolling mill has three battalions. Battalion 1 and Battalion 3 are composed of demobilized soldiers. Battalion 2 is made up of half demobilized soldiers and the other half of the original security personnel retained from the steel rolling mill. Battalion 1 is responsible for the security of the entire mill, Battalion 2 is responsible for gatekeeping, and Battalion 3 is responsible for escorting supplies and providing mobile reinforcements.

After leaving the steel rolling mill, Zhang Qiang originally intended to return to his institute. However, he later decided to go to the branch office to report the matter.

A little after 1 p.m., the inspectors left. He Yuzhu chatted with Xu Dali in the canteen for a while longer before riding his bicycle away from the Military Control Commission. Just as He Yuzhu arrived at the gate of Hongxing Elementary School, the school bell rang. Soon after, a group of students emerged from the school in large groups.

As soon as He Yushui stepped out of the school gate, she spotted He Yuzhu standing under a tree not far away. He Yushui immediately grabbed Xu Xiaoling and ran to He Yuzhu, asking with a smile, "Brother, when did you get here?!"

He Yuzhu replied, "I just arrived." Then he asked, "How was your first day of school?!"

He Yushui replied with a smile, "That's great!"

Seeing the smile on his younger sister's face, He Yuzhu suddenly felt that everything he had done over the past few months had been worthwhile. He Yuzhu took a handful of candy from his pocket and handed it to He Yushui, saying, "You two share this!"

"Hey!" He Yushui responded, dividing the candy in half. She gave one to Xu Xiaoling, then unwrapped a candy and popped it into her own mouth, putting the rest in her pocket, and asked, "Brother, are you coming to pick me up tomorrow?!"

He Yuzhu replied, "Come on! I'll come every day whenever I'm free!" With that, He Yuzhu hopped on his bicycle and asked, "Which of you two will sit in front?!"

He Yushui and Xu Xiaoling exchanged a glance. Xu Xiaoling asked, "Can I sit in the front?!"

He Yushui generously replied, "Of course!"

"Thank you, Yushui!" Xu Xiaoling quickly sat on the bicycle crossbar. He Yushui climbed onto the back seat. After they were both settled, He Yuzhu rode the bicycle home with them.

As soon as He Yuzhu parked his bicycle at the entrance of the courtyard house, He Yushui and Xu Xiaoling quickly got off and rushed into the courtyard. He Yuzhu lifted his bicycle and stepped over the threshold, preparing to push it back to the main courtyard, when Aunt Pang called out to him, "Zhuzi, Jia Zhangshi is back."

"What?!" He Yuzhu exclaimed in surprise, "Auntie Pang, wasn't she sentenced to four years? How long has it been?! She's back already?!"

"She was carried back." After saying that, Aunt Pang looked around and continued, "I heard that the people who brought Jia Zhangshi back said that she was injured in the leg by a stone while working. They said she was on probation. I don't know the specifics. I'll try to go to the military control commission to ask tomorrow."

"Oh?! Zhu Zi!" Just then, Wu Aiyi, the officer in charge of the No. 95 courtyard, arrived. He Yuzhu exclaimed, "Sister Aiyi, what brings you here?!"

Wu Aiyi said, "Isn't it all because of Jia Zhangshi from your courtyard?! She was slacking off at work. She didn't expect to be hit by loose gravel. She can't stay inside in her condition. We have to bring her back first. We'll send her back to her original location once she's healed."

He Yuzhu said, "Sister Aiyi, Jia Zhangshi is no pushover. Keeping her in the courtyard will only cause trouble sooner or later. Anyway, her household registration isn't here. I think we should send her back to her hometown!"

Wu Aiyi said, "They originally intended to send her back to her hometown. But she had offended too many people there. Her husband's village wouldn't take her in, and even her own family's village wouldn't accept her."

He Yuzhu said, "Sister Aiyi, this doesn't seem right! Jia Zhangshi owns land back in her hometown. If her hometown doesn't take her back, shouldn't the land be taken back?"

Wu Aiyi said with a smile, "The Jia family's land was originally farmed by Jia Dongxu's second uncle, Jia Futian. After Jia Dongxu's father died, Jia Zhangshi felt that Jia Futian was not giving enough grain. So Jia Zhangshi took the land back and rented it out to Jia Futian's nemesis. Although the other party gave more grain, Jia Zhangshi offended everyone in the Jia family because of this."