Reborn in 1977, I will no longer be my brother's blood bag.

The next day, before dawn, Lin Xiuhe went out.

Yesterday, the gatekeeper left three messages for her, one of which was from a guest from Ningzhou. He had been waiting in vain at Xinghe's gate for almost an hour, and was leaving the day after tomorrow afternoon. Before leaving, he only said one thing—if he didn't run into Lin Xiuhe today, he would go to another house.

Xinghe has been open for less than a month.

She used to ride her bike around looking for clients, but now that someone has finally come to her door, she almost didn't even get to see them.

Around 6 a.m., the Qianmen Guesthouse had just started serving breakfast.

Lin Xiuhe asked her way up to the second floor and finally found someone by the counter.

The man was in his forties, with a bulging canvas bag at his feet; he had just finished checking out. Upon hearing the name "Xinghe," he turned around, his expression not particularly polite.

"You're Lin Xiuhe?"

"You visited the operations department yesterday."

"I'm gone, the door's locked."

The man stuffed the hotel ticket into his bag. "I waited for more than fifty minutes, and the security guard said you went to Linzhou."

His name is Qiu Zhenhai, and he is a purchasing agent for a labor protection supplies store in Ningzhou. He is only staying in Beijing for two days this time. In addition to purchasing goods, he also wants to find someone to make a batch of simple storage racks for use in dormitories.

Several factories in Ningzhou are currently renovating their employee dormitories. The wooden frames take up too much space, and the welded iron frames are difficult to transport. Someone told him that a new business unit called Xinghe has opened in Beijing, which is willing to take on small batches of work and can make changes quickly.

He went to look for them along the way, but didn't find them.

"I went to Nanhua last night," Qiu Zhenhai said, picking up his canvas bag. "They asked me to come over at 9:30 this morning to see the samples."

Lin Xiuhe, whose forehead was still damp with sweat from the journey, became more serious upon hearing the name Nanhua.

She didn't rush to stop people.

"Did you bring what you're currently using?"

Qiu Zhenhai stopped in his tracks.

After a moment, he put the canvas bag back next to the counter and took out an iron rack wrapped in old newspapers.

"The bad ones, bring them to show a few factories."

Once unfolded, the contents are not complicated.

The double-layered frame has a fixed hook at each of the four corners and is usually hung on the bunk bed frame in the dormitory. One of the crossbars on the right side has warped, and the weld joint is rusted.

Lin Xiuhe did not check the damaged parts first.

She tried four hooks.

They are exactly the same size.

Are all the beds in your dorm the same size?

Qiu Zhenhai paused for a moment.

"How is that possible? Several factories have added beds three or four times over the years."

Lin Xiuhe took the rack to the counter and first tried to hook it onto the wider wooden edge, but it wouldn't fit. She then tried the crossbar of the chair back next to it, but the hook was too wide and wobbled back and forth when she touched it.

Qiu Zhenhai's impatience gradually faded.

"Weren't many of the broken shelves in the past also unstable?"

"The workers tied it up themselves with wire."

"Just making the weld strong won't help."

Qiu Zhenhai took the rack and looked at the fixed hooks twice more.

During his trip to Beijing, he had already shown his work to two hardware and general merchandise companies. Their first question was always about the quantity and material quality; no one even asked if the beds in the dormitory were the same type.

"How do you plan to change it?"

"It's hard to say right now."

These words made Qiu Zhenhai raise his head.

Lin Xiuhe pointed to the clock on the wall.

It's just past seven o'clock.

"Are you still going to Nan Hua at 9:30?"

"go."

"Then please go as planned. I'll come back before nine o'clock."

"What are you bringing back?"

"First, find something that you can understand."

She finished speaking and left the guesthouse.

Lin Xiuhe did not rush to Linzhou for this one frame.

When she was working on the Qiming project, she had come into contact with many processing sites in Beijing. One of them was a small hardware workshop just a few streets away from Qianmen. The boss was unloading iron materials with his men and was somewhat surprised to recognize her.

"Engineer Lin? I heard you left the research institute."

"It's now called Xinghe."

The boss laughed.

"He actually did it himself."

After Lin Xiuhe finished explaining the problem with the iron frame, she only asked him to make a hook that could be adjusted in width, not the whole frame.

The boss picked out a few pieces of iron from the scraps, squatted by the vise and tried for a long time. The final product was not pretty, and even a bit rough, but the clasp could be extended outwards or retracted inwards.

He tried it on iron frames of different thicknesses.

"Making real products still requires further refinement. Right now, I'm just showing you whether this is a viable path."

That's enough.

Lin Xiuhe took out her money, but the shopkeeper complained that she was too much trouble.

"You're charging for a few scraps? Come back when you really need work."

She didn't argue with anyone, thanked them, and hurried back with her things.

Around 8:40, Qiu Zhenhai had already slung his canvas bag over his shoulder and was ready to leave.

When he saw her return, he instinctively glanced at the clock on the wall.

"They actually made it back in time."

Lin Xiuhe attached the movable hook to the old shelf.

It didn't explain many of the underlying principles.

A vegetable delivery tricycle was parked at the entrance of the guesthouse. She fastened the rack to the edge of the carriage and secured it firmly. Then she borrowed a wooden chair next to the counter. The back of the chair was obviously narrower, but she could still secure it by adjusting the buckle inward.

Qiu Zhenhai tried it himself.

As rough it may be, at least it solved the most troublesome problem he brought with the shelf.

"How much would this cost as a finished product?"

"It's not possible to apply now."

Why?

"I haven't seen how many types of beds your dorm has, or how much weight you plan to put on each floor."

Lin Xiuhe handed the old frame back to him, saying, "It's easy for me to give you a random number now in order to keep you here. But I'll be the one who loses money when it's actually made."

Qiu Zhenhai stared at her for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

"Yesterday I waited outside your door for almost an hour, and I still felt that others were exaggerating Xinghe's reputation."

"And today?"

"I can't say you're that great today."

He put the movable clasp into his canvas bag.

"But I'll take this back with me."

After saying that, he added, "I will still go to Nanhua. When doing business, you always have to look at several places."

"Of course."

Qiu Zhenhai took out a piece of paper with an address written on it from his bag and handed it to her.

"I'm going back to Ningzhou next week. If you really want to take this batch of stuff, go check out the dorm. We can discuss the quantity and price after you've seen it."

Lin Xiuhe took the address.

There were no orders, and no promises.

But the person who was already prepared to give up on Xinghe yesterday was willing to let her go to Ningzhou to see the scene.

This morning's trip wasn't in vain after all.

After the sun rose higher, Lin Xiuhe rushed back to Xinghe.

Before she even entered the courtyard, she saw two unfamiliar women standing under the shade of a tree. The older one was carrying a sample bag and was already getting impatient.

As soon as the gatekeeper saw her, he quickly leaned out from the guardhouse.

"Comrade Lin, I've managed to keep him here today."

When the older woman saw Lin Xiuhe push the cart in, she first asked, "What time do you open here?"

"Eight o'clock."

It's almost 10 o'clock now.

There's no way to argue with that.

Lin Xiuhe parked the car and invited the people inside.

The 12-square-meter business office was already cramped. With just a table, a metal cabinet, and three more people squeezed in, anyone who got up had to make way to the side.

The two women came from a logistics service station in the west of the city and wanted to make a batch of small iron parts for the canteen and dormitory. Just as they took the samples out of the bag, a bicycle bell rang outside the gate.

"Is Lin Xiuhe here?"

The gatekeeper shouted from outside, "They're looking for you again!"

Lin Xiuhe went out to greet the person.

The person who came was a purchasing agent introduced by the department store, and she was carrying some items. She temporarily settled the person on a chair in the yard, and when she turned around to go back into the house, the older woman had already put the samples into bags.

"Comrade Lin, we have other matters to attend to this afternoon."

"The matter is not over yet."

"But people keep coming to see you."

The woman's tone wasn't harsh, but she was clearly ready to leave. "We drove for over an hour to get here; we can't keep waiting."

Lin Xiuhe invited the people who arrived later into the duty room to have some water before letting the two female guests stay.

The matter was only halfway through when another message arrived from Linzhou.

Zheng Qiaoyun and her team have prepared to start working on the additional order of 320 pieces. Director Ye asked her when the revised sample would be sent over.

There are people waiting inside the operations department.

There are people waiting in the courtyard.

Linzhou is also waiting for her.

Lin Xiuhe barely sat still all morning.

By the time the last group of guests left, it was past lunchtime.

The gatekeeper came out carrying a lunchbox and saw her carrying the borrowed chair back by herself, and couldn't help but laugh.

"The door was locked yesterday, and everyone was heading back."

"Today, they're practically squeezing your little house to the point of collapse."

Lin Xiuhe moved the last chair into the duty room and smiled to herself.

That morning she was still feeling relieved that she had managed to win back the guest from Ningzhou who was about to leave.

It wasn't until noon that we realized that recovering just one was far from enough.

She can't keep running around Linzhou every day while sending clients to Beijing to try their luck.

Suddenly, a bicycle bell rang outside the courtyard gate.

"Xiuhe?"

The woman's voice carried a hint of hesitation.

Lin Xiuhe straightened up.

A person I hadn't seen in a long time was standing at the gate of the courtyard.

He Qiuyan was thinner than she was in college, with a neat short haircut, a dark cloth bag slung over her shoulder, and a duffel bag tied to the back seat of the car.

She first glanced at the chairs that hadn't been completely moved back by the door, then looked up at the sign for "Xinghe Business Department".

"Zhao Guodong came to our area on business the other day and said that you really resigned from the research institute. I thought he was just trying to scare me."

Lin Xiuhe walked over.

"Why did you come to Beijing?"

"My company sent me here for training, and I'm reporting for duty this afternoon. I was originally planning to have a meal with you first."

He Qiuyan glanced into the small twelve-square-meter room.

The samples left by the guests were still on the table, and the water glasses hadn't been cleared away yet.

She quickly realized just how busy the place had become that day.

"Did I come at the wrong time?"

"If you had come two hours earlier, you could have kept watch the door for me for a while."

He Qiuyan laughed after hearing this.

It's still that same straightforward laugh from college.

"Then tell me first."

"How much do you get paid for guarding the gate?"

Lin Xiuhe smiled too.

This is more like He Qiuyan.

When she joined the Qiming Project, the first thing she asked was if there was any subsidy. Later, when she went to the sites with them, she never used "we are all classmates" as an excuse to work for free.

"How long will your training last?"

"Half a month."

"What about your former workplace?"

"It's still there."

He Qiuyan propped up the bicycle, her tone becoming serious.

"Zhao Guodong only told me that you had gone out to do business, he didn't say that you were already this busy."

She glanced inside the door again.

"Lin Xiuhe, are you looking for someone to help out temporarily, or are you actually planning to hire someone?"

This time, Lin Xiuhe did not immediately respond out of friendship.

He Qiuyan was clearly not prepared to lose her job just because of the words "old classmate".

The two stared at each other for a moment across the "Xinghe Business Department" sign that had only been hung up recently.

He Qiuyan spoke first.

"If it's really a confession—"

"Tell me clearly about your salary, what you'll be doing, and whether you'll have a job in the future."