I feel right at home in the world of the courtyard house.

At the entrance of the state-run restaurant, Li Jing'an and Zhou Yufei stood side by side on the steps, smiling and waving to the department store manager who had just gotten into the car. They only looked away when the car turned out of the street.

Li Jing'an turned his head, his gaze slowly landing on Zhou Yufei. She was wearing a newly acquired outfit today—a crisp Lenin suit, neat trousers, and gleaming leather shoes; she looked both smart and presentable. A faint smile played on Li Jing'an's lips, his tone tinged with appreciation: "You look good today, quite nice."

Zhou Yufei's cheeks flushed slightly, but she just pursed her lips and smiled gently.

Li Jing'an didn't say anything more, and led her back to the steel mill's guesthouse, going straight to the office on the third floor.

After entering the house, Li Jing'an leaned back on the sofa and relaxed completely. Zhou Yufei, ever observant, immediately got to work.

The news he received from Li Huaide today was exactly what he wanted—Wei Jialing had indeed followed his hints and asked her elders to put in a good word for her with the Ministry of Metallurgy. This caused an uproar not only among the factory leaders but also among the ministry officials. Everyone felt that the ministry was overstepping its bounds; it was clearly an internal matter for the factory, and outsiders had no right to interfere.

The workshop has been in complete chaos these past two days.

Because the rectification was strictly carried out according to the standards proposed by Xie Hui, the production progress dropped sharply and the efficiency became frighteningly low.

The cafeteria has also completely changed.

After Sha Zhu was released, he simply quit, stopped cooking at the canteen, and left on time without any regard for others. The factory leaders wanted to entertain guests at restaurants outside, but they were afraid of being reported for extravagance and waste, which would have a bad influence. However, since the canteen had stopped cooking at the canteen, they couldn't continue to provide entertainment. They were caught in a dilemma and had no choice but to suspend all entertainment.

Thinking of Xie Hui's current predicament of being surrounded by enemies and hitting walls everywhere, Li Jing'an felt a sense of relief, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.

Zhou Yufei was working hard.

Li Jing'an looked up at her, feeling even better. He slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, his gaze falling on her, his tone filled with satisfaction: "That's great, Yufei, you're getting better and better at it."

Meanwhile, at a construction site far away in Huairou.

A cold wind howled, dust swirled, and evening was approaching. Chen Qing paced back and forth at the entrance of the construction site, his brow furrowed, his expression anxious, and he tossed cigarette butts at his feet one after another.

Every Sunday, Zhou Yufei would come over. Although they couldn't do anything, just sitting for a while and exchanging a few words was enough to ease their longing for each other. But today, they waited from morning until afternoon, and the sun was almost setting, but they still hadn't seen Zhou Yufei.

Chen Qing's heart was in her throat, feeling extremely anxious.

The longer he waited, the more anxious and fearful he became.

Fearing something might happen to her on the way, countless terrible thoughts swirled in my mind.

After standing in the wind for another half hour, Chen Qing could only stomp his feet in frustration and return to his dormitory, feeling utterly uneasy. He made up his mind that he would call the steel mill first thing tomorrow morning, no matter what, to ask Zhou Yufei how she was doing.

Everything fell silent in the office on the third floor of the guesthouse.

Li Jing'an leaned back on the sofa, looking relaxed and content. He watched Zhou Yufei squatting down to clean, and felt that everything had gone smoothly and as he pleased that day.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

As soon as he got off work and walked to the entrance of the alley, he saw the familiar black car parked outside the gate in the distance—Li Jing'an recognized it at a glance; it was the car that had taken Wei Jialing there.

A thought struck him, and he immediately changed his route. Instead of taking the usual convenient and quick small gate on West Street, he deliberately entered through the main gate of the courtyard house. When he reached the vicinity of the front yard, he deliberately slowed down and pricked up his ears slightly.

Sure enough, after walking a few steps, a fierce argument broke out from Xie Hui's house. The voices weren't loud, but they were filled with suppressed anger.

Immediately afterwards, with a loud bang, the door was slammed shut.

Wei Jialing stormed out angrily, her eyes red-rimmed, looking both angry and aggrieved.

Upon seeing this, Li Jing'an immediately stepped forward, his face filled with concern and surprise, his tone soft and gentle: "Comrade Wei? What's wrong?"

Wei Jialing was furious, her face was pale, and she didn't say a word. She just wanted to leave this suffocating place as soon as possible.

Seeing this, Li Jing'an quickly pressed his advantage, lowering his voice even more and being more considerate: "If you're feeling down, don't keep it to yourself. How about... coming to my place for a while? I'm in the small courtyard on the west side of the central courtyard, it's close by. If you have any grievances, you can talk to me and calm down."

Wei Jialing was furious and had nowhere to vent her anger. Hearing this, she didn't refuse, but just nodded with a sullen face.

Li Jing'an was secretly delighted, but remained outwardly calm, leading her to the main living room of his small courtyard. Once inside, he quickly poured her a cup of warm tea, handing it to her in a gentle tone: "Have some water first, catch your breath."

Before Li Jing'an could even ask, Wei Jialing, brimming with grievances, blurted out, her voice filled with anger and frustration: "Xie Hui knows I asked my dad for help! He's furious, saying he's not the kind of person who relies on connections or elders, that he only wants to do things on his own, and that I've ruined his principles!"

Li Jing'an immediately adopted a conciliatory stance, gently comforting her: "Oh, it's not a big deal. Your two families have been friends for generations, and the elders are just doing it for your own good. It's not worth arguing and hurting your relationship over something like this."

Wei Jialing snorted, her face full of indignation: "Who has feelings for him? If it weren't for my father forcing me to get along with him, I wouldn't be here to put up with this!"

Li Jing'an feigned confusion, raising an eyebrow slightly: "You two...haven't you been familiar with each other since childhood?"

Wei Jialing pursed her lips, looking indifferent: "We played together when we were little, but he went to the south with his father when we got older, and he only just got transferred back this year. We haven't seen each other for so many years, I've almost forgotten what he looks like, so where's the sentimentality?"

Li Jing'an's eyes darted around slightly, as if he had suddenly remembered something, and he smiled and said, "Oh, by the way, I still have some coffee here, would you like some?"

Wei Jialing's eyes lit up, somewhat surprised: "I didn't expect you to have this here? Great, I really like drinking it."

Li Jing'an smiled, got up and took out a small and exquisite hand-grind coffee machine and a small jar of roasted coffee beans from the cabinet.

Wei Jialing's eyes lit up when she saw it, and she immediately reached out to take it: "I'll grind it!" As she fiddled with it, she couldn't help but exclaim, "I didn't expect you to have freshly ground coffee beans. I thought you had instant coffee."

Watching her practiced movements, Li Jing'an said in a relaxed tone, "I don't like instant drinks; they lack atmosphere and flavor."

Wei Jialing nodded repeatedly, expressing her deep agreement: "Me too! I love the feeling of grinding it myself, it's so great." She paused, then added angrily, "Last time at my house, I specially made a cup for Xie Hui, but not only did he refuse to drink it, he also said that I had petty-bourgeois ideas and that my revolutionary will was waning. It made me so angry!"

Li Jing'an immediately echoed her words, his tone tinged with indignation on her behalf: "It's just a personal habit, likes to drink coffee and tinker with small things, why make such a big deal out of it? Xie Hui can be too serious sometimes."

Wei Jialing felt like she had found a kindred spirit; the more they talked, the more relaxed and compatible they became.

They chatted about coffee, then about life, then about hobbies. When the conversation turned to music, Li Jing'an sighed with feigned regret, "It's a pity I don't have a phonograph here, otherwise I could play a couple of pieces."

Wei Jialing's eyes immediately lit up, and she readily replied, "I have one! I have one at home. I'll bring it next time, and we can listen together!"

The two chatted more and more congenially, the atmosphere extremely harmonious, almost as if they had known each other for a long time. Li Jing'an followed her words throughout, every sentence resonating with her heart, making Wei Jialing feel that in the entire courtyard, Li Jing'an was the one who understood her best and was the most reasonable.

As they chatted until it got late, Wei Jialing prepared to leave.

Li Jing'an escorted her to the door, then pointed to the secluded west gate in the corner of the courtyard and whispered a reminder: "If you ever come to find me in the future, try to use this west gate. It's more discreet, so Xie Hui won't suspect anything."

Wei Jialing shrugged nonchalantly, her tone straightforward and frank: "He wouldn't overthink it; he doesn't care about me at all."

She paused, lowered her voice, and said with a hint of nonchalance, "Actually, just like him, this marriage was entirely arranged by our elders. If it weren't for the approval of both families and their familiarity with each other, I would never have gotten this close to him."

Li Jing'an was slightly taken aback, then tentatively asked, "Then... if you really have no feelings for each other and are unwilling, you can just say so."

Wei Jialing smiled, her tone relaxed: "Why wouldn't I be willing? My family agrees, we have similar backgrounds, and we both trust each other. That's good enough."

Li Jing'an was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say, so he could only smile and nod, watching her leave.

Once Wei Jialing's figure had completely disappeared into the night, Li Jing'an slowly closed the courtyard gate, his smile gradually fading.