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

(I don't know how to write this anymore. Nothing I write feels right. I need to speed things up and get this over with quickly. I'll add more later when I have a better idea.)

Private dining room in the steel rolling mill canteen.

"Come on, let's have another drink!" Li Huaide greeted everyone with a big smile, holding a wine glass, his eyes showing familiarity and enthusiasm.

"I'm saying," Section Chief Gou picked up a peanut, popped it into his mouth, chewed, and leaned closer to Li Huaide, his voice low but unable to hide his excitement, "that Xie Hui, really transferred away?"

Li Huaide smiled slightly, twirling the wine glass between his fingers: "I'm leaving. The formalities were completed this morning."

"Great!" Section Chief Gou slammed his hand on the table, leaned back, and beamed with satisfaction. "That troublemaker is finally gone! Tell me, everyone, since he came to our factory, has he ever had a single day of peace?"

Li Jing'an, holding a wine glass, glanced at Section Chief Gou's face, inwardly scoffing: What a complete idiot. If he's the troublemaker, then who's the troublemaker?

Director Wang of the production department chuckled and replied unhurriedly, "Could he stay? The year is almost over, and the production targets are still pending. With him causing all this trouble, the progress has dropped significantly. The higher-ups are counting on us to exceed the targets as a gift; isn't he just asking for trouble? Nobody can protect him."

"I just don't know," said Section Chief Chen of the Finance Department with a gloating smile, leaning back in his chair. "Which factory will he be transferred to, so he can continue to cause trouble for others?"

"Hey—" Li Huaide raised his hand and pressed it down, indicating that he should stop talking. He put on a fair expression and said, "You can't say that. Comrade Xie... he's just not familiar with the affairs of our factory yet. Young people are bound to do more harm than good. His original intention was to make things better for the factory, but... he was too hasty, too hasty."

He paused, then raised his glass, took a sip, as if suddenly remembering something: "Oh right, he didn't go to the factory. I think he went to... a prosecutor's office in the south."

"Wow!" Personnel Section Chief Zhang raised an eyebrow and clicked his tongue twice. "Having connections is great! He made a mess of this place, then packed his bags and headed south."

Li Jing'an then spoke slowly and calmly: "Perhaps he's never been suited for a corporate life. He might thrive in a local setting and shine brightly."

"Yes!" Li Huaide's eyes lit up, and he raised his glass high again. "Then let's raise a glass to Comrade Xie! We wish him continued success in his new post, contributing to the country's development! Come on, come on—"

"Come on, come on!" Everyone responded enthusiastically. As their glasses clinked, their faces beamed with genuine smiles, as if they had just been talking about a dear friend who was about to embark on a long journey. The atmosphere in the private room was warm and harmonious, like a pot of lukewarm water.

The door opened, and the cafeteria manager walked in, followed by Liu Lan, who was carrying dishes. The manager glanced around, a courteous smile typical of the service industry spreading across his face: "How is it, Director Li, and all the leaders? Are you satisfied with today's food?"

"Satisfied!" "Not bad, not bad!" Everyone nodded in response.

Li Huaide waved enthusiastically: "Come, come, sit here and have a drink! We've been waiting for you all this time; you've been serving us and haven't even had a sip of your drink yet!"

The canteen manager waved his hands repeatedly and took a half step back: "No, Director Li, there's another table over there! It's the Party Secretary, the factory director, and several leaders from the Ministry of Metallurgy."

"Oh?" A hint of doubt flashed across Li Huaide's face, and his brows furrowed slightly. "I didn't know that. When was it decided?"

"Hi, it's about this afternoon!" The cafeteria manager said with a smile, bowing slightly. "I was so busy I forgot to tell you."

Li Huaide waved his hand dismissively and stood up: "You've been busy today, setting up several tables at noon and still haven't had a break. Come on, I'll go toast you, you lead the way." With that, he walked towards the door.

After they left, the atmosphere in the private room seemed to relax a bit. Everyone continued smoking, drinking, and chatting. Amidst the swirling smoke, the laughter was even louder than before, as if they had been suppressed by something for a long time and were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

-

At the entrance of the courtyard house.

Yan Bugui was on his way home from get off work when he bumped into Xu Damao, who was pushing his bicycle home. When his eyes fell on what was hanging on Xu Damao's handlebars, Yan Bugui's eyes widened and his mouth formed an "O".

"Da Mao!" He lowered his voice, unconsciously craning his neck towards the courtyard, his eyes filled with surprise and wariness. "You... how dare you take things back?"

Xu Damao followed his gaze and glanced into the courtyard, a disdainful smile appearing on his face. He raised his chin slightly and said, "Third Uncle, you don't know this, do you? That kid Xie Hui sprained his ankle! He got kicked out of the factory. He offended so many people, how could he possibly be happy?"

Yan Bugui's gaze, however, was already drawn to the contents of the bicycle handlebars—garlic, dried mushrooms, dried fish, cured meat, and so on, exuding an air of abundance. He clicked his tongue in amazement, "So much..."

Seeing this, Xu Damao's smugness grew even stronger, his tone laced with boastfulness: "It's because I haven't been showing movies to the villagers much these days, is it? No choice, everyone's too enthusiastic, I couldn't refuse." He glanced at Yan Bugui's envious look, his eyes darting around, and he reached for a string of garlic on the handlebars, handing it over: "Here, Uncle San, have a string for you!"

"Oh!" Yan Bugui said, declining verbally, but his hand had already reached out, the movement so fast it almost left a blur. "How could I accept this? How could I accept this..."

-

The Jia family of the Intermediate People's Court.

Qin Huairu took things out of her cloth bag, and four or five aluminum lunchboxes were laid out on the table. Jia Zhangshi's eyes immediately lit up, and she leaned closer, her voice filled with barely suppressed surprise: "Where did these come from?"

"The cafeteria." Qin Huairu didn't even look up as she neatly arranged the lunchboxes, folded up the empty cloth bags, and put them back on the cabinet.

"Didn't your factory canteen stop serving individual meals?" Jia Zhangshi asked, staring at the lunchboxes with a puzzled look.

Qin Huairu clapped her hands, a smile playing on her lips: "We started resuming operations at noon today. We served two tables of food at lunchtime alone."

"Really!" Madam Jia slapped her thigh, her eyes darting around, then lowered her voice and asked, "So, that Xie guy in the front yard... he's not going to take care of him anymore?"

Qin Huairu nodded with a smile, lowering her voice: "Xie Hui was transferred today. I passed by his room on my way home from get off work and specifically checked it; all his things were gone."

"Really!" Madam Jia exclaimed incredulously, clicking her tongue. "What is he after? He's not eating any of the money; it's all public property, not his personal property! He's just meddling in other people's business! What he does and what he eats, isn't that all predetermined?"

Qin Huairu nodded in agreement, her tone matter-of-fact: "Exactly. Who's ever seen a cigarette factory worker unable to buy cigarettes? A winery worker unable to buy wine? Or an electrician paying their electricity bill?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Madam Jia nodded repeatedly, her gaze returning to the pile of lunchboxes, her face beaming with joy. "So many, they'll last for two days, won't they?"

"Hmm." Qin Huairu also looked at the lunchbox. "Shazhu's family is having a special meal tonight. I didn't take it, I can't finish it. He said he'd send some to Uncle Yi and the deaf old lady in the backyard tonight."

"Hehe, that's quite a lot!" Jia Zhangshi deftly grabbed two lunchboxes, turned around and hid them in the cupboard. "Take two and put them away, we'll eat them tomorrow! Quickly call the children, let's eat!"

Suddenly remembering something, Jia Zhangshi leaned closer to Qin Huairu, lowering her voice even further, almost whispering in her ear, "Huairu, has the guesthouse's takeout service resumed?"

Qin Huairu smiled slightly and nodded.

Madam Jia's face immediately lit up with joy, her wrinkles crinkling at the corners of her eyes, and she unconsciously rubbed her hands together: "That's good, that's good! That's a lot of money this month!"

-

Yi Zhonghai's home.

The elderly couple were eating dinner. Yi Zhonghai paused, chopsticks in hand, and asked the older woman, "Did you take it to the old lady?"

The woman nodded: "I've sent it over. I'll go clean up the dishes in a bit."

Yi Zhonghai grunted in agreement and continued eating.

An older woman seemed to remember something, leaned forward, and whispered, "You know what? Xie Hui from the front yard moved all his things away this afternoon."

Yi Zhonghai paused with his chopsticks, then nodded: "I know. He's no longer working at the steel rolling mill; he's been transferred elsewhere."

"Really?" The middle-aged woman sighed. "Sigh, with his personality, if he doesn't change, he'll run into trouble everywhere he goes."

Yi Zhonghai didn't reply. He slowly put down his chopsticks, his gaze falling on the darkening sky outside the window, his thoughts drifting back to the scene of meeting Xie Hui in the front yard at noon.

At that moment, he was packing his things, and his back looked somewhat tired. Yi Zhonghai walked over and asked him a question.

Xie Hui turned around, his face expressionless, and simply said that he had been transferred, causing trouble for the old man and the factory. Yi Zhonghai repeatedly said that it was too much to ask.

Then, Xie Hui looked at him and asked, "Uncle, you're a level eight worker at the steel rolling mill, the oldest man in the compound. Everyone in the factory and the compound speaks highly of you. Tell me... why do you say that about me?"

Yi Zhonghai opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say. He looked at the young man with a complicated expression. After a moment of silence, he raised his hand and patted Xie Hui on the shoulder.

"Maybe," he said softly, "you're a good person."