Courtyard House: I, the eldest son of the Jia family, have returned from the battlefield.

He repeated the word, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the glass. "Jia Dongming? The one who just reported for duty today?"

The person standing opposite the desk nodded: "Old Jiang from the team said it himself."

The note was directly approved by Xiao Heping of Changping Commune.

Li Huaide got up and walked to the window.

On the main road of the factory area, the workers leaving get off work are forming a gray-blue tide.

The lights in the security department building in the distance came on one by one, and behind one of the windows, the tall figure of the new department head could be vaguely seen bending over to examine documents.

As dusk deepened, wisps of smoke rose from the low eaves of the residential area.

The aroma of stir-frying wafted from someone's window, mingling with the smells of rust and coal smoke from the factory area, creating a complex and poignant atmosphere of daily life in the early autumn evening breeze.

The phone in the fleet's duty room rang again during the night.

Old Liu answered the phone repeatedly, and after hanging up, he wrote on the small blackboard: "Ming, 6:00 AM, Jiefang truck, Changping direction."

The chalk writing was dazzlingly white under the light.

At this moment, Jia Dongming had already returned to No. 95 Tongluoguxiang.

He pushed open the half-closed wooden door of the courtyard, and the shadow of the locust tree swayed on the blue brick ground.

The room was dark, so he groped his way to the thermos and swallowed the dry water down his throat with a glass of cold liquor.

The sound of a neighbor humming to lull their child to sleep drifted in from outside the window, long and soft, like cotton thread bathed in moonlight.

Just past noon, the aroma of stir-fried dishes still wafted faintly from the steel rolling mill's small canteen.

The day before, Li Huaide had specially hosted Jia Dongming, the newly appointed head of the security department, at this place. During the meal, they chatted warmly, clearly hoping to establish a good relationship as soon as possible.

Unexpectedly, before this Section Chief Jia had even settled in, he had already quietly secured a perk for the Security Section—bringing a live pig from Changping Commune.

When the news reached Li Huaide's ears, he pondered for a moment, waved away the messenger, and muttered to himself, "They do have some skills."

Around noon, Jia Dongming carried his lunchbox into the small canteen of the security department.

The team members, who were having their meal, immediately became lively upon seeing him enter, greeting him enthusiastically. "Good morning, Section Chief!"

"You're here for dinner!"

One of the more outspoken team members simply raised his voice and asked, "Section Chief Jia, I heard our section is going to get a big, fat pig. Is that true?"

Jia Dongming glanced at the faces looking at him, his smile deepening. He knew he had done something that pleased everyone. "Zhu Mingtian arrived; Section Chief Zhang personally went to Changping to bring him back."

When you go back to work the day after tomorrow, remember to bring an extra lunchbox with some meat and vegetables to take home, so that the elderly and children can have some meat too.

These words brought a gleam to everyone's faces, filling them with joy.

Only one person stood in the shadows by the cafeteria door—Chen Jianfei. His face was ashen as he stared at the bustling scene inside, inwardly cursing, "That Jia Dongming, he's already using this tactic to win people over on his very first day!"

The sun was setting in the west, and it was almost time to leave work.

Jia Dongming spent the whole day rummaging through case files in his office. When he saw that it was time to leave, he picked up the worn-out cloth bag, got up, and locked the door.

He got on his bicycle, left the factory gate, turned the handlebars, and headed towards the market.

After wandering around the bustling market, when I came out, there was a heavy cloth bag on my handlebars.

Pushing the cart back to the entrance of the courtyard house, I ran into the "door gods."

Yan Bugui.

Yan Bugui's eyes lit up, and he greeted him warmly, "Section Chief Jia, are you off work?"

His gaze, however, seemed glued to the cloth bag on the handlebars.

Knowing the temperament of this third uncle, Jia Dongming smiled and replied, "Third uncle, we'll have a meeting in the courtyard tonight to return all the money that everyone contributed recently."

To express my gratitude, I asked someone to get me some eggs; we divided three among the family as a small token.

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui was overjoyed, thinking he could not only get his investment back but also get free eggs. He immediately agreed, saying, "Of course, of course! Our courtyard is a model household in the neighborhood, so neighbors should help each other out!"

Jia Dongming nodded and pushed the cart toward the Intermediate People's Court: "Then you go ahead and do your work, I'll head back."

As soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw my mother, Jia Zhangshi, sitting on the doorstep of our house, sewing shoe soles.

Seeing her son return, she quickly dropped what she was doing and rushed to greet him, her eyes fixed on the cloth bag: "Dongming's back? What's in this bag...?"

Jia Dongming explained gently, "Mom, it's an egg."

We'll have a meeting tonight, and each family will receive three as a token of our gratitude to the community for their care over the years.

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhangshi felt as if she had been pricked by a needle, and her heart ached terribly.

But remembering what her son had said last night, she swallowed back the complaint that was on the tip of her tongue, and simply reached out to take it: "Give it to me, Mom will take it inside for you."

"It's not heavy, I can do it myself."

Jia Dongming stepped aside and went into the house with the bag.

For Bang Geng, today can be considered a day of triumph.

His uncle personally took him to school in the morning, and his classmates got a good look at his brand-new bicycle and uniform.

Within half a day, the whole class knew that his great-uncle was the head of the security department at the steel rolling mill.

Those classmates who used to tease him now avoid him when they see him, giving him a taste of "having someone back him up" for the first time.

The taste.

For the first time ever, he went straight home after school, opened his homework, and pretended to write.

As I was writing, the familiar sound of wheels came from the courtyard.

Bang Geng dropped his pencil and rushed to the door, where he saw Jia Dongming pushing his cart in.

He called out in a clear, crisp voice, "Uncle!"

Jia Dongming stopped the car and reached out to rub his head: "Were you paying attention in class today?"

Bang Geng puffed out his little chest, his face beaming with undisguised pride: "I was so diligent! The teacher even gave me a little red flower as a reward!"

Seeing his smug look, Jia Dongming laughed: "You deserve a reward for getting a little red flower."

Tell your mom tonight that she's making braised pork.

When Bang Geng heard "braised pork,"

Her eyes lit up at those three words, and she hurriedly grabbed Jia Dongming's sleeve: "Uncle, you're not lying? We can really have meat tonight?"

Just as Jia Dongming had propped the bicycle up against the wall, he reached down to take the cloth bag hanging on the handlebars. The bottom of the bag was bulging from something.

He patted the meat with a smile: "The meat is right here. When your mom comes back, she can braise it for you."

Bang Geng stared at the heavy cloth bag, swallowed hard, and nodded vigorously: "Then I'll go back to my room to do my homework!"

After saying that, he ran away in a flash.

Jia Dongming carried Dongxi into the main room, and when he returned to the courtyard, he saw a small figure wobbling in from outside the door—it was Xiaodang.

He bent down, scooped the little girl into his arms, and kissed her soft cheek: "Did you behave well at home today, Xiaodang?"

Xiao Dang immediately nodded like a woodpecker, her voice sweet and soft: "Be good! I also helped Grandma take care of Huaihua."

Jia Dongming smiled, reached into his coat pocket as if groping for something—but actually took out a milky white candy from somewhere unseen by others.

He deftly unwrapped the candy and gently stuffed the candy into Xiaodang's open mouth: "Our Xiaodang is so capable, she can even take care of her little sister."

Here's a candy for you.

The sweet, milky aroma melted on her tongue, and Xiaodang squinted her eyes, mumbling indistinctly, "So sweet, Uncle."

"If you behave well, you'll get candy every day from now on."

Jia Dongming rubbed his forehead against hers.

Before the words were even finished, Madam Jia, carrying Huaihua, stepped into the courtyard and happened to hear this. She frowned and said, "Dongming, sugar is so precious! How can we give it to him every day? That would cost so much money..."

Jia Dongming calmly took out another one from his pocket and handed it to his mother: "Mom, you should try one too."

My monthly salary is a little over a hundred yuan, so I won't go broke even if I eat a few candies.

Besides, daughters need to be pampered so they won't be easily fooled by sweet talk in the future.

"Mom, brother, I'm home!"

A clear voice came from the doorway. Qin Huairu walked into the courtyard carrying a cloth bag, a smile on her face.

Upon seeing her, Madam Jia immediately instructed, "It's good that Huairu is back. Hurry up and cook. Dongming has been working all day and must be starving."

"Okay, I'll go right now."

Qin Huairu agreed and turned to walk towards the kitchen.

Jia Dongming called out to her, "Huai Ru, I bought eggs and pork belly."

Tonight I'll steam white rice, fry an egg, and cook a bowl of braised pork.

Upon hearing that meat had been bought again, Jia Zhangshi's throat moved involuntarily, but she muttered, "Dongming, it's true that you have a high salary, but you're already twenty-eight and still haven't found a spouse."

"We still need to save money in this province; it'll be better to find a wife later."

Jia Dongming waved his hand and smiled easily: "Mom, don't worry about it."

I saved up this much salary in just a few months.

Qin Huairu, who was about to enter the kitchen, paused as she overheard her mother-in-law and brother-in-law's conversation.

She suddenly remembered that she had a cousin in her hometown named Qin Jingru, who was quite pretty... A thought quietly popped into her head.

As the Jia family gathered around the dining table in the main room for their meal, Xu Damao pushed his bicycle into the courtyard, with Lou Xiao'e following beside him.

A bulging burlap sack was tied to the rear rack of the vehicle.

Yan Bugui was pacing around the yard with his hands behind his back when he spotted the dried mushrooms and wood ear fungus peeking out of the burlap sack. His eyes lit up immediately, and he quickly went to greet them: "Da Mao and Xiao'e are back! You didn't know, did you? That other courtyard in our yard has been separated."

Xu Damao glanced at the rear rack of his car following Yan Bugui's gaze, his mind clearing up the thought.

He reached into the sack, pulled out a string of dried mushrooms, and handed them over: "Uncle, these were given to me by the villagers when we went to the countryside to show movies. Take some and have a taste."

Yan Bugui took the bunch of mushrooms, his face beaming with joy: "How could I possibly accept this..."

Xu Damao was still smiling on the surface, but inwardly he scoffed.

He leaned closer and asked in a low voice, "The villa has five rooms, doesn't it?"

"Those who get assigned here aren't ordinary people, are they?"

Yan Bugui immediately perked up and lowered his voice: "The new guy who moved in is your steel rolling mill's newly appointed security chief!"

Yan Bugui's news was like a stone thrown into a pond. Xu Damao stood at the courtyard gate, nearly dropping his bicycle handlebars. "Say it again?"

He raised his voice by half a beat, "Jia Dongxu's older brother? He's the head of security at our steel rolling mill?"

Yan Bugui adjusted his glasses, unable to hide the smile on his lips: "No mistake."

Old Jia took his eldest son to the market years ago, but something went wrong. He was so focused on protecting the grain bags that he lost his son.

Who would have thought that he later joined the army and fought in the war, and now, after being demobilized, he's in charge of the security department at your factory.

Xu Damao's mind was buzzing.

The idea that Jia Dongxu was the only son in the Jia family had been rooted in the courtyard for more than a decade, but it was suddenly overturned by the mud and soil.

His face turned pale and then red, but finally he grinned and said, "Third Uncle, this is going to be interesting."

That old man in the courtyard is probably going to have a hard time getting into his pillow tonight.

Yan Bugui simply dusted off the dust from his sleeves and didn't reply.

Some things are best left unsaid.

As the cart passed through the moon gate, Xu Damao subconsciously glanced towards the west wing of the villa.

The door was open, and Jia Zhangshi's hunched back sat in the dim light.

He suddenly remembered the way Qin Huairu bent over to fetch water, and cursed inwardly: He had originally planned to exchange flour for some cheap goods, but now, out of nowhere, a powerful backer has appeared.

As darkness fell, the third son of the Yan family rushed into the villa, shouting that a meeting was to be held.

Jia Dongming got up from the bamboo chair, went into the house and brought out a small bamboo basket. Inside, the eggs were neatly stacked, each one with a light brown sheen.

A crowd had already gathered around the old locust tree in the courtyard.

Upon seeing the basket of eggs from afar, Liu Haizhong's voice immediately filled with obsequiousness: "Section Chief Jia! A seat has been specially prepared for you!"

He pointed to the single stool next to the square table, then turned and yelled at his son, "Guangtian, why aren't you pouring tea for the section chief!"

"Thank you for your trouble."

As soon as Jia Dongming waved his hand and sat down, a round-faced person leaned over next to him.

"Brother Dongming, these eggs look delicious!"

Sha Zhu's eyes were glued to the basket. "From the supply and marketing cooperative?"

"He asked a comrade to bring it; he's over at Jiaodaokou."

Just as Jia Dongming finished speaking, another sticky voice interrupted.

"Section Chief Jia, this is our first time meeting. I'm projectionist Xu Damao."

His long face was full of smiles, and the wrinkles around his eyes were tightly packed together.

Jia Dongming sized him up—a long face, slightly hunched shoulders, a faded blue work uniform, and a half-pack of filtered cigarettes in his hand.