Love in the Courtyard: Starting with Engineers

Li Yu closed the door behind him, took two bowls and placed them on the table. Seeing that He Yushui was still in a daze, he said, "Don't just stand there, sit down and eat." As he spoke, he divided the noodle soup in the large bowl into two bowls, placing one in front of He Yushui and taking a slurp of the other himself.

He Yushui sat down awkwardly, holding the dumpling soup in front of her. She didn't dare to pick up any food and just kept sipping the soup in small sips. Seeing this, Li Yu handed her a steamed bun and said, "Don't just drink the soup, eat more. Here, have a steamed bun."

He Yushui took the steamed bun before starting to eat, first a bite of shredded potatoes, then a piece of scrambled eggs.

Qin Huairu never tasted such simple food again after she married into the courtyard house.

The meal was finished in a relatively quiet atmosphere. He Yushui insisted on washing the dishes, and Li Yu didn't refuse. After washing the dishes and wiping the table clean, she looked at Li Yu and said, "Thank you for the meal, Brother Li Yu. I... I'll head back now!"

"Hmm," Li Yu nodded, and then He Yushui quickly walked out, carefully closing the door behind her.

Li Yu shook his head as he listened to the receding footsteps. He Yushui wasn't inherently bad; the reason he ignored He Yuzhu later was simply his own fault.

The next day, Li Yu arrived at the steel rolling mill early. Although it was Saturday, the mill was still open because China was still implementing a single-day-off system.

Upon arriving at the steel rolling mill, Li Yu didn't go to the technical department but went directly to Li Huaide's office to inquire about the construction team. Li Huaide introduced him to a construction team in the east of the city led by a man named Lao Wu, who was described as a good person with excellent skills and fast construction speed.

After leaving Li Huaide's office, Li Yu went to the technical department to ask Li Jianshe for leave. Li Jianshe approved it directly when he heard that Li Yu was planning to renovate the house. When Li Yu didn't see Deputy Section Chief Wang in the technical department, he asked him out of curiosity. Li Jianshe said that he hadn't seen him since yesterday afternoon and he hadn't asked for leave.

Li Yu didn't take it to heart because he planned to find an opportunity to force a confession and then kill him. There was no need to make things too complicated for the Japanese.

It's lucky that we didn't run into that guy today. Today, Li Yu plans to go to the east of the city to find a construction team to renovate the house.

Following the address given by Li Huaide, Li Yu rode his bicycle to Old Wu's house. The door opened as soon as he knocked, and the person who opened it asked, "Young man, who are you looking for?"

Li Yu looked at the man in front of him, a burly man with a face full of scars, covered in dust and holding an ink line in his hand, and guessed that this man was Old Wu.

Li Yu said, "I'm here to see Old Wu from the construction team." Upon hearing that he was looking for him, the man in front of him softened his tone and said, "Oh, that's me. What do you need?"

Li Yu replied, "I was introduced by Deputy Director Li of the steel rolling mill. I'm planning to have you renovate my house."

The man, introduced by Li Huaide, immediately broke into a smile, revealing his large, yellow teeth: "Come, come, come in and sit down. Tell me your requirements."

As soon as Li Yu and the man entered the courtyard, they saw that it was a single-courtyard house with three families living there. Old Wu's family lived in the main house on the side. Upon entering, Old Wu quickly poured Li Yu a glass of water and asked, "Young man, how many rooms do you have, and how do you plan to renovate them?"

Li Yu briefly explained his thoughts to Lao Wu. After listening, Lao Wu frowned and pondered for a while before saying, "These are not major issues, but I need to go and see for myself to know."

Upon hearing this, Li Yu immediately said, "Brother Wu, do you have time to come with me now? If so, we'll go right away."

Old Wu was originally going to replace a roof beam for the people in the next courtyard, but since it wasn't a big rush, she decided to go with Li Yu first.

As soon as Lao Wu and Li Yu arrived at the courtyard, they saw Yan Bugui sitting at the entrance, his shoulders hunched and his small eyes, wearing glasses, looking around, probably trying to find a bargain to take advantage of.

When Yan Bugui saw Li Yu leading a burly man with a fierce face about to enter the courtyard, Yan Bugui immediately stood up and shouted, "Li Yu, stop! Who are you bringing into the courtyard and what are you doing?"

Li Yu glanced at Yan Bugui impatiently and said, "The construction team is here to renovate my house. What, you have a problem with that?"

When Li Yu asked this question, Yan Bugui bluntly replied, "Did you get permission from me and Second Uncle to repair the house?"

Li Yu was stunned for a moment, and even Wu Dashan next to him was confused. When did it become necessary to have the liaison officer's approval to repair a house? Li Yu had shown him the certificate from the street office before, so how come there's this "second uncle" now?

Li Yu approached Yan Bugui and said, "When did it become necessary to get the liaison officer's approval to repair a house? Mr. Yan, do you want me to remind you of the liaison officer's responsibilities?" After saying that, he threw the certificate issued by the street office earlier at Yan Bugui's face.

"Look carefully, this is a certificate issued by the neighborhood office. If you have any questions, go ask Director Wang yourself," he said, taking the certificate back and leading Old Wu towards his home.

[Ding! Received 100 points of malicious emotion from Yan Bugui]

As Old Wu walked, he said, "Your courtyard is pretty... you know." Li Yu immediately understood what Old Wu meant and replied, "When you come to renovate, if you encounter anyone causing trouble, don't hold back. If you need to curse, curse; if you need to hit, hit."

Li Yu said this because he knew that Jia, Zhangshi, Yan Bugui, and others would definitely not behave themselves during the renovation. Just as Lao Wu was looking at his house, Bang Geng, who was not in school today, was looking at Li Yu's house from behind Jia's window.

He went there once this morning, but he couldn't open the lock no matter what he tried. Now he's planning to see if he can get in through the window. Actually, Li Yu already knew that Bang Geng would definitely be after him.

After all, the smell of his cooking at home every day would definitely reach the Jia family, so it would be strange if Bang Geng didn't come over.

So Li Yu not only changed the lock, but also prepared a mousetrap by the window as a surprise for Bang Geng. The mousetraps of today are not the kind with wire in later generations; they are small animal traps that will definitely tear your skin apart if they catch you.

After carefully reading through the document and comparing it with Li Yu's previous requirements, Lao Wu wrote and drew on the notebook for a while before saying to Li Yu, "Brother Li, according to your requirements, the cost of labor and materials included is at least 800 yuan. If you provide the materials, it will only cost 270 yuan. The construction period will be about 5 days."

After listening, Li Yu said, "Let's do it on a turnkey basis, including both materials and labor." As soon as Li Yu finished speaking, Old Wu added, "I have a batch of nanmu wood here. Do you want to have a set of furniture made?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yu became interested and quickly said, "Name your price and let me see if it's reasonable." Old Wu quoted, "How about 1200 yuan?" Old Wu was also afraid that Li Yu would think it was too expensive, mainly because the harvest season was bad; otherwise, he wouldn't have sold those pieces of wood for two thousand.

Upon hearing this, Li Yu immediately agreed: "No problem, as long as you do a good job, I'll give you 1300." Old Wu quickly thanked him: "Oh, thank you, Brother Li. Don't worry, leave it to Brother Wu. I'll definitely do a good job for you."