Courtyard House: A Leisurely and Contented Life

After a night of heavy drinking, He Shun was practically carried away by the big guy. Luckily, he was the quiet type of drunkard, not causing any trouble or shouting. With the help of others, he staggered out the door. Before leaving, he tugged at Yang Jianye's ear, his tongue tied, but he still tried to maintain a respectable demeanor: "Brother, from now on we're brothers! If you need anything... just come to me. If anyone bullies you, I'll beat them up for you!"

Yang Jianye chuckled, feeling the drink hadn't been in vain. As for whether it was truly from the heart? Heh, there's a long road ahead; let's take it slow.

When they returned to the house, Sha Zhu and Ying Zi were tidying up the leftovers on the table, stuffing the good meat and vegetables into lunchboxes. "Zhu Zi, stop busy!" Yang Jianye gestured, "Let's divide this food between our two families and take it all with us. It'll be a waste if it spoils." Ying Zi chimed in, "That's right, Chef He should keep half. We can't waste food!"

Today, he used Sha Zhu's place and cook, and even drank with He Shun to keep things lively. The peanuts on the table and the ingredients in the dishes were all bought with Sha Zhu's own money. Yang Jianye knew better; one should be a decent person and not take all the favors for oneself.

Sha Zhu grinned: "So I'm really keeping it?"

"Me, being polite with you?" Yang Jianye rolled his eyes at him, took a small portion for himself, and said, "Zhuzi, I'd like to send some to the deaf old lady, is that alright?"

The deaf old lady was one of the elderly people receiving government assistance in the compound. She treated Sha Zhu like her own grandson, even more lovingly than her own parents. Yang Jianye waved his hand: "This is what you deserve. It's not a favor I'm giving you. Give it to whoever you want."

Having received confirmation, Sha Zhu felt relieved. He prepared chicken, fish, and pork knuckle for the old lady to try, which would surely make her happy for days. He cherished the old lady's kindness, especially since, after his falling out with Yi Zhonghai, the only people in the courtyard he could truly be close to were the old lady and He Yushui. Jianye was a brother, not exactly a "close friend"; and Yushui hadn't come home late at night—could she be dating someone?

Just as she was wondering what was going on, He Yushui called out from outside, "Brother, I'm back!" Pushing open the door, she saw Yang Jianye in Sha Zhu's room, and then at the table laden with delicious food, she immediately reached out and touched it, saying, "Brother, you made so much but didn't leave any for me?"

Sha Zhu slapped her hand away: "This was paid by Brother Jianye to make for me to serve guests! Do you think this is your own home, where you can eat whatever you want?" In Beijing, ration coupons were very scarce. How could ordinary families dare to eat chicken, duck, fish, and meat every day? Even if Yang Jianye had money, he still needed coupons. Could the ticket seller at the market let him buy everything for his family?

Taking advantage of Sha Zhu's inattention, He Yushui secretly picked up a piece of fish and stuffed it into her mouth, then ran away laughing. She then came over and asked, "Brother Jianye, you're so successful at the factory, why are you treating people to dinner?"

Yang Jianye wiped his hands and laughed: "There are plenty of capable people in the world. What are my skills compared to others? Besides, everyone has their own expertise. You might be a dragon in your own workshop, but if you go to the canteen, you might not even be able to get a single vegetable leaf. So, don't take yourself too seriously, or you'll easily make a mistake."

He Yushui was stunned for a moment: "Then why did you hit someone? With my brother around, who would dare to hit me?"

Yang Jianye glanced at Sha Zhu: "I was just using an analogy! It's the same thing as feeling embarrassed, like your face is burning as if you've been punched, isn't it?"

He Yushui blushed, feeling a little embarrassed. Jianye was right; how come she hadn't thought of that before?

Just then, Yingzi finished sweeping the floor and rolled up her sleeves to go to the stove to wash the dishes. Shazhu blocked her way, saying, "Hey, hey, you two don't need to do this! Go back to your room and sleep. Aren't you going to work tomorrow?" He pushed the couple out the door and then called to He Yushui, "Bring the lunchbox!"

He Yushui came out carrying a lunchbox, which Sha Zhu took and shoved into Yang Jianye's hand: "Come on, come on, hurry up!" Yang Jianye took it with a wry smile, saying the same thing again: there's a long road ahead.

After closing the door, Sha Zhu rolled up his sleeves to wash the dishes, but when he looked up, he saw He Yushui already scrubbing them in the basin. He laughed in surprise, "Hey, did the sun rise in the west today?"

He Yushui rolled her eyes at him: "What, did I not do much housework before?"

"No, no, not at all!" Sha Zhu hurriedly smiled apologetically, "It's just that I missed you because you've been living at school for so long!"

He Yushui chuckled, but then her face darkened: "Brother, you and Jianye are really close now, aren't you? You're even hosting a dinner party at my house?"

Sha Zhu grinned: "That's because Brother Jianye thinks highly of me!"

"You're happy when people order you around?" He Yushui threw the rag into the basin. "Is there anyone like you?"

Sha Zhu knew she was concerned about him, so he wasn't angry. He pulled her down to sit and said, "Your brother is able to live a sensible life entirely thanks to Jianye. I remember this kindness, and you should remember it too."

He Yushui was displeased: "Why should I remember his kindness? I haven't gotten anything out of him!"

Sha Zhu raised an eyebrow and said seriously, "Isn't it enough that your brother has figured things out and wants to find you a good sister-in-law, and save up money to give you a grand wedding?"

He Yushui's eyes lit up immediately: "Really? Brother, what did you prepare for me? Tell me quickly!"

Sha Zhu glared at her first, then grinned: "A bicycle, a radio, how about it?"

He Yushui was stunned at first, then jumped up and hugged his arm: "Ah, silly brother, you're so great! I love you to death!"

"Go away!" Sha Zhu tapped her on the forehead. "If you call me 'Silly Brother' again, the radio will be gone!"

He Yushui quickly covered her mouth: "No, no! I'll never call him that again!" What a silly brother! This is a real brother! From now on, if anyone dares to say anything bad about her brother, she will definitely reason with them; if they can't reason with her, she will go to the neighborhood committee to file a complaint. She is a high school student, how could she not win against a shrew?

The next day, when Yang Jianye opened the door, the spider webs under the eaves were shattered from the noise of the previous night, and the spiders scurried away in a panic, finally quieting down. He stretched and fetched water to wash his face. Inside, Yingzi was serving breakfast: eggs, steamed buns, and leftovers from the previous night.

While I was washing up, Liu Guangtian peeked in through the doorframe, grinning, "Brother Jianye, who were you drinking with last night? We could hear the commotion even through the walls!"

Yang Jianye glanced at him, and Liu Guangtian immediately stopped smiling, scratching his head: "My dad sent me to ask..." Well, he'd betrayed his dad again.

Yang Jianye picked up his toothbrush, squeezed out toothpaste, and said casually, "Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. Go eat your own food."

"Sigh." Liu Guangtian turned and left, his steps quickening by a third compared to usual.

In this courtyard, the person he feared most was Yang Jianye. He couldn't explain why, since they had never actually argued, but the moment he saw that figure, his heart would race like a rabbit, making him feel uneasy, like a mouse seeing a cat, even holding his breath.

As soon as he sat down back inside, Liu Haizhong slammed his pipe on the corner of the table, making a loud "bang, bang!" "Useless piece of trash! You can't even get a basic news report, what good are you?"

Liu Guangtian hung his head and remained silent, standing there like a wooden stake. In his father's eyes, he had never been a "thing." He had only one thought: to get his eldest son back as soon as possible! At least if he came back, the old man wouldn't have to watch over him like a supervisor all day long.

After breakfast, feeling warm all over, I pushed the cart out of the hospital gate and bumped into Sha Zhu. He was dressed very smartly: a new cotton-padded jacket over a thin sweater, a white shirt with the collar buttoned up neatly, brand-new blue cloth trousers, and a pair of shiny big-toed shoes. He looked like a completely different person.

Sha Zhu smiled as soon as he saw him, and called out in a loud voice, "Jianye!" He then turned and shouted into the side room, "Yushui, keep the rice warm in the pot. You can heat it up yourself when you wake up!" After shouting, he got into the car and left the courtyard with Yang Jianye and Liu Guangtian.

"Dressed up so formally today, where are you going to show off?" Yang Jianye glanced at him sideways, a smile playing on his lips.

Sha Zhu slapped his thigh, just waiting for this line: "I need to meet Teacher Ran after get off work! I haven't seen her for three days!"

"Wow, you're already distracted after just three days?" Yang Jianye nudged him with his elbow. "Why don't you just get a marriage certificate? That way you won't be like an ant on a hot pan every day."

Sha Zhu scratched his head and chuckled, his ears turning red: "I want to too! But Teacher Ran said we should see how things go, saying it's a test for me!"

"Testing you?" Yang Jianye shook his head. "Silly Zhu, silly Zhu, she's waiting for you to take the initiative! Buy some things, go to Aunt Liu's, and be frank with her. Then Aunt Liu will act as a go-between, and it'll be done! Understand?"

As he spoke, Yang Jianye hopped on his bike, pedaling furiously without turning back, and shouted, "Let's go today! They might be getting impatient!"

Yang Jianye first took a detour to drop Yingzi off at her workplace, then parked the car steadily at the factory gate and rushed into the workshop. As soon as he got there, he frowned; the outer thermal insulation shell had a crack about an inch long, with weld slag still clinging to it.

"How did you do that?" His voice was like it was filled with ice. The apprentice turned pale with fright and stammered, "My hand slipped... I didn't hold the welding torch properly, and it exploded with a bang..."

Yang Jianye's face was grim, and his tone, though softened, was even more suffocating: "Alright, that's it for your job. Go find Director Li and tell him you've been eliminated."

These days, he can even mess up the most basic surface welding, and you think you can learn technology from him? Dream on!

He didn't look at the apprentice's pale face again, turned around and shouted, "Yaoye! Yaoye! Come and take a look, can this shell still be repaired?" He called the man over, and the apprentices swarmed around him. The one who had been scolded by him earlier felt himself pushed to the outer circle, sullenly threw his tools on the ground, muttered "What's so great about it", and turned to walk towards the factory manager's office.

"Uncle, busy?" The man leaned out of the door frame with a grin.

Factory Director Yang looked up, his brows furrowing instantly: "Who sent you? Didn't I say you weren't allowed to see me?"

Hearing his uncle's reprimand, the man took it as concern and rushed forward to complain, "What's so great about Yang Jianye? He's just a fourth-grade worker! He's always putting on airs, and when it comes to teaching real skills, he hides them from us. He just makes us learn grinding from the welders and material handling from the forgers! Uncle, I think he needs to be taught a lesson..."

"Bang!"

Factory Director Yang slammed his hand on the table, making the teacup lid jump. The man trembled in fright, his words caught in his throat.

"I think you really need to get yourself together!" Factory Director Yang pulled open a drawer, threw a form out, and slammed it on the table with a loud "thud." His eyes widened. "Do you even know what this is? Huh?"

The man stared blankly at the dense text on the form, wondering to himself: "Has Uncle taken some kind of poison today?"

It wasn't just a matter of being fed gunpowder! Director Yang was practically bursting with rage, just waiting for it to explode! This form, handwritten by Yang Jianye, recorded the apprentices' performance over the past few days: working hours, focus, learning progress, work enthusiasm, even their ideological awareness and personality flaws were clearly documented, not a single word was omitted. Wasn't this blatant evidence that Yang Jianye took his apprentices seriously?

But in the form, there was a "2" next to this distant relative's name. Out of 5 points, he only got 2! He messed up the welding job, slacked off during the training, and even gossiped behind people's backs—he was utterly worthless! If he were his own son, Director Yang would hang him up right now and whip him with that pure leather belt until he cried for his parents!

"Two points, you, two points." Factory Director Yang shoved the form into his drawer with a "whoosh," his voice turning cold. "Pack your things and get out of here. You can't stay in this factory anymore."

"Uncle! I was wrong! I'll change, okay?" The man panicked and was about to kneel down with a thud. "Please give me another chance!"

Factory Director Yang turned his face away, his voice weary: "It's not that I'm not giving you a chance, it's that you've driven yourself to your own doom."

"I'm busy here!" He was too lazy to say anything more. This was the first time Yang Jianye had fired an apprentice. In the past, at most, it would be a change of workshop, and Yang Jianye would personally explain things to the new master, breaking down the kid's temper and shortcomings in detail, just in case the kid couldn't keep up. If he couldn't keep up in the special workshop, surely he could be a regular worker?

But this time? He directly had Director Li fire him?! Yang Jianye was truly angry.

Not to mention that Director Yang never considered pleading for him, even if he had really intended to say something, he would have changed his mind long ago.

"I can't afford to lose face like this, get the hell out of here!"

Besides, even if we kept him, Yang Jianye's hot temper would cause him to slam his fist on the table and fire him as soon as he heard about what he had done. Even Yang Jianye, who usually turns a blind eye to his apprentices, would do the same. Which master would dare to take on such a big shot?

Factory Director Yang buried his head in writing a report. He listened to the footsteps outside getting further and further away. He glanced at the empty doorway and then peered out the window at the workshop. He wondered to himself: What kind of mess has this kid gotten into that made Jianye so angry?

"No, I have to go check it out." He stuck the pen into the pen holder, got up, and walked out.

In the special workshop, Yang Jianye was staring at a machine being debugged, his face as tense as an iron plate. On the ground lay the ruined insulation shell, which Li Yaoye had just inspected; the cracks had penetrated to the inside, and minor repairs couldn't guarantee the quality; it had to be redone.

This scrapping brought everyone's progress to a complete standstill. Fortunately, Yang Jianye didn't yell anymore, but the air in the workshop was tense, and everyone was working with their heads held high, afraid that something else might go wrong.

"Jianye".

As soon as Director Yang pushed open the door, he sensed something was wrong. The room was so quiet you could hear the machines humming; even breathing seemed to have slowed. Yang Jianye looked up at the sound, his tense face relaxing into a slight smile: "Director, what brings you here?"

Seeing his expression, Director Yang felt a sense of relief. Thankfully, the young man wasn't angry with him. Logically, as a leader, he shouldn't be afraid of a mere fourth-grade worker, right? But everyone in the steel mill knew that his fourth-grade status wasn't due to a lack of ability, but rather a lack of competence. Other fourth-grade workers lacked the ability to advance, while he lacked the opportunity. They weren't the same.

Besides, the special workshop would fall apart without him, and he earned all the tough tasks one after another through his skills. The steel rolling mill is now favored by the higher-ups, which has nothing to do with him, the factory director. The only credit he received was for discovering him, and there was also that video recording... The more Director Yang thought about it, the more envious he became, and his eyes glazed over.

"Let me see what trouble that kid got into earlier?" Fearing Yang Jianye might misunderstand, he quickly added, "I told him to get lost."

Yang Jianye laughed; he hadn't expected Factory Director Yang to come and bail him out at all. If he really did come and try to persuade him, all the respect he had for him would be halved.

"The simplest surface welding, I've been learning for so many days and I still can't get the hang of it, I've ruined the material." He raised his chin and pointed to the insulation shell on the ground, "Now all the progress I made before is wasted."

Factory Director Yang slapped his thigh in exasperation. "How could they let him go? They should have dragged him back and hung him up for a beating! Damn it, all the progress the whole workshop worked so hard to achieve, he wiped it all out with a single finger. He's got some serious skills!"

"This is my fault; I shouldn't have let him come."

"How can I blame you?" Yang Jianye waved his hand to comfort him. "Everyone has the opportunity to try and make mistakes. It would be unreasonable to reject someone before they've even tried. But his personality is really not suitable for working in a factory. He's too arrogant and can't sit still. I think you should find him a job with more freedom."

Factory Director Yang was still angry and retorted defiantly, "Why would I find him a job? Go find one yourself, or he'll starve!"

Yang Jianye ignored these angry words; the fact that they were sent here meant they were very close. If he said he wouldn't care now, he'd have to clean up their mess later.

"Can we catch up with the schedule?" Director Yang asked anxiously. If the project was delayed, he would be severely reprimanded by his superiors.

"It should be possible," Yang Jianye leaned forward, pondering for a moment, "As long as nothing goes wrong, I'll do my best..."

It was that typical Yang Jianye-style rhetoric again, always leaving room for maneuver. Factory Director Yang was both anxious and amused: "You always leave yourself a way out."

"Leave seven-tenths of what you say unsaid, as our ancestors taught," Yang Jianye replied with a smile.

"Alright, I won't keep you any longer. Keep up the good work." Director Yang nodded and was about to leave when Yang Jianye suddenly called out to him, "Director."

When it comes to water heaters, it's not some fancy design, but it really works. "I think it's feasible to produce them on a small scale and sell them to those who need them, controlling the quantity—that's a goodwill tactic."

Factory Director Yang knew exactly what was going on, and looked at Yang Jianye as if he were a monster: "Jianye... luckily you're a technician." If he were in Deputy Factory Director Li's position, what would he be fighting for? He might as well just quit and go home to raise pigs, and maybe he could even become a thousand-yuan household.

"There's something else, Da Liu, do you remember?" Yang Jianye didn't respond to the praise, but brought up Da Liu.

Factory Director Yang's expression darkened: "Jianye, about that incident back then..."

"I know it was an accident." Yang Jianye smiled and said directly, "I want to ask you for a favor. As long as it doesn't violate my principles, I'll do it without hesitation."

At the other end of the workshop, Qin Huairu, gripping her welding torch, looked up and saw Factory Director Yang talking to Yang Jianye. A surge of longing welled up inside her; when would she be able to stand beside the factory director and exchange a few words?

"Qin Huairu! What are you doing? Hurry up!" The old master's shout pulled her back to reality. She quickly focused on the part in her hand, the soldering sparks splattering on her gloves, making her shrink back, but she didn't dare to slow down even a second.