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

Hearing He Yuzhu's voice, Wang Xia looked up at him and asked with a smile, "What brings you here today?!"

He Yuzhu said, "My third brother-in-law was transferred from the army and assigned to our institute as deputy director. I brought him here to handle the housing procedures." After saying that, He Yuzhu took out the note written by Yao Qi and handed it to Wang Xia.

Wang Xia took the slip of paper, saw the apartment number, and laughed, saying, "This Yao Qi really knows how to pick an apartment." She then wrote "Agree" at the bottom of the slip, stamped it, and handed it to He Yuzhu, saying, "You go with him to complete the remaining formalities. Then come to me."

"Yes!" He Yuzhu responded and accompanied Song Zhaohong to the housing management office. About fifteen minutes later, all the formalities were completed. The street office staff accompanied Song Zhaohong to inspect the house. He Yuzhu, meanwhile, went straight to Wang Xia's office. As soon as he entered, He Yuzhu asked bluntly, "Aunt Wang, I just heard from Uncle Han that you're leaving tomorrow?! Wasn't it supposed to be next month?!"

Wang Xia said, "Situations can't keep up with changes. I had to go there ahead of schedule. Of the three factories under our subdistrict office, only the hair accessory factory remains unchanged. The pencil factory and the home appliance factory are now directly managed by the district. I called you here because I wanted you to come up with some more ideas. See if you can come up with anything else!"

He Yuzhu said, "Aunt Wang, please forgive me! Besides, after today, you won't be the director of the neighborhood committee anymore. Why are you worrying about this?!"

Wang Xia said, "I'm also in charge of this area when I go to the district. How can I not worry about it?!"

He Yuzhu said, "Aunt Wang, you're my aunt. But you can't just keep taking advantage of me! Anyway, I'm out of options now."

Wang Xia sighed and said, "You're just lazy!"

He Yuzhu interjected, "Aunt Wang, I'm not lazy. I'm just being pragmatic. It's better to do my job well than to make more mistakes by doing more."

Wang Xia asked, "I heard you bought a lot of seafood yesterday?!"

He Yuzhu said, "Don't even mention it! It makes me so angry! The goods had just been delivered to the station when the branch office called. The goods hadn't even had a chance to warm up yet! About 70% of them were already taken away by the branch office. Just now, Chief Ye was talking to me about it, asking me to go and buy some more. I immediately turned the job away from him. I don't want to be labeled as a speculator."

Wang Xia said, "You little rascal, I really don't know what to say about you! If I say you're a coward, you dare to risk your life against the enemy. If I say you're brave, you clearly have the ability, but you pretend to be confused."

He Yuzhu said, "Aunt Wang, I really like the phrase 'It's rare to be confused'."

"I'm not going to argue with you anymore. I have things to take care of. You can go back now! Bring your girlfriend to my place in a few days if you have time." With that, Wang Xia picked up her pen and continued working. He Yuzhu said goodbye to Wang Xia and left her office.

"Knock! Knock! Knock!" No sooner had He Yuzhu left Wang Xia's office than Hu Xueguang, the deputy director, arrived at Wang Xia's office door and knocked.

Hearing the knock, Wang Xia called out, "Come in!"

Hu Xueguang walked into Wang Xia's office and asked, "Old Wang, I heard He Yuzhu is here?!"

"Yes! He just left!" Wang Xia replied, then asked, "Did you come looking for him?!"

Hu Xueguang sat down opposite Wang Xia and asked, "Old Wang, you said you'd transfer He Yuzhu to our subdistrict office, would he be willing to come?!"

Wang Xia said, "Old Hu, I've also thought about transferring him here. But firstly, he doesn't want to. Secondly, even if he were transferred, our subdistrict office wouldn't be able to keep him."

Hu Xueguang continued, "Old Wang, you know the situation in our subdistrict office. Things were just starting to look up, and now... we're back to square one. That's why I'm so worried!"

In truth, Wang Xia knew Hu Xueguang's real thoughts perfectly well. Originally, Wang Xia wanted to have a proper talk with Hu Xueguang before leaving. However, after much deliberation, she ultimately abandoned the idea. Wang Xia said, "Today I've stood my last post. From now on, it's up to you!"

Hu Xueguang patted his chest and assured her, "Comrade Wang Xia, don't worry! I will definitely do a good job in the subdistrict office!" Then Hu Xueguang chatted with Wang Xia for a few more minutes before leaving her office.

Meanwhile, while He Yuzhu accompanied Song Zhaohong to handle the house paperwork, Xu Damao followed the matchmaker, Qian, to Yu Li's house. Upon entering, the matchmaker said to Yu Li's mother, "Mrs. Yu, this is Xu Damao, the one I told you about. Young Xu is currently in the steel rolling mill's transportation team. He's definitely one of the top eight employees."

Xu Damao hurriedly placed the things he was carrying on the table and said, "Auntie, this is my first visit, please accept this small token of my appreciation!"

Yu Li's mother, Jin Caifeng, said with a smile, "Xiao Xu, you're here! Don't be so polite! Come on, have a seat!" Then she called out to the kitchen, "Xiao Li, come quickly and pour some water for the guest!"

"Coming!" Yu Li came out of the kitchen with a thermos and made a cup of brown sugar water for Xu Damao and Matchmaker Qian. Then she casually put the thermos on the table, walked over and sat down next to her mother, and secretly sized up Xu Damao.

Xu Damao immediately pulled a handful of candy from his pocket and handed it to Yu Li, saying, "Comrade Yu Li, please have some candy!"

Yu Li paused for a moment, then took the candy from Xu Damao's hand somewhat shyly and said, "Thank you!"

Matchmaker Qian then asked, "Old Yu's family, where's your Old Yu?!"

Jin Caifeng replied, "My husband has gone out, but he'll be back soon."

"Oh my?! We have guests?!" Just as Jin Caifeng finished speaking, Yu Li's father, Yu Deshui, walked in from outside. Xu Damao quickly stood up and called out, "Uncle!"

Yu Deshui sized up Xu Damao and asked, "You're Xu Damao, the projectionist's son?!"

Xu Damao asked, "Uncle, do you know my father?!"

Yu Deshui said, "Your dad was the projectionist at our factory." Then he asked, "Why didn't you learn how to project movies from your dad?!"

Xu Damao replied, "My father was a driver for Boss Lou before Liberation. I'm just following in his footsteps."

Yu Deshui then asked, "Da Mao, have you been officially hired yet?!"

Xu Damao replied, "My mentor said that I should take the driver's license exam next month. If I pass the exam, he will talk to the team leader and let me become a full-fledged driver ahead of schedule."

Yu Deshui considered for two or three minutes, then glanced at his daughter and said, "Da Mao, I don't object to your relationship with Xiao Li. But my daughter is still young. You two should get to know each other first. If you get along, then you can settle things. When my daughter is old enough, you can get married. If you don't get along, then we can part ways amicably!"