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

A thin layer of condensation covered the glass of the office on the third floor of the steel mill's guesthouse.

Zhou Yufei sat softly in Li Jing'an's lap, her arms naturally draped over his neck, her cheeks flushed slightly. She tilted her head slightly, her voice tinged with a coquettish tone, "Brother Jing'an, will you help me or not?"

Li Jing'an, exasperated by her persistence, sighed helplessly, "You've asked me to help you three times this month already. Why are your relatives so troublesome? Is it your hometown commune that's bothering you again this time?"

Zhou Yufei rested her head on his shoulder, her voice tinged with a helpless grievance: "What can I do? My hometown commune is building water conservancy projects and urgently needs a batch of unplanned steel bars. I'm the only one in the whole village working at the steel rolling mill. Who else can they ask if not me? I really can't refuse, so I had no choice but to come to you."

"Okay, okay, I give up." Li Jing'an, worn down by her persistence, nodded. "I'll let the branch factory know later, alright?"

Zhou Yufei's eyes lit up immediately. She hugged his neck and gave him a quick kiss, her eyes crinkling as she looked at him. She then quickly added, "You can't ask for money this time. My hometown is very poor; everyone there is a farmer. You can't squeeze a penny out of them."

Li Jing'an's eyes widened, and his face immediately hardened: "I can't work for free, that's my principle. Wouldn't that cause me trouble if word got out?"

Zhou Yufei quickly shook his arm and acted coquettishly, smiling ingratiatingly: "Okay, okay, I'll have them send you some local specialties from your hometown, is that alright?" Seeing that he was still frowning, she glared at him, "At worst, I'll treat you to another meal. Even if I don't go back to my hometown, my parents still need to go back and visit them."

Li Jing'an glanced at her and finally relented: "Just this once. Stay away from your poor relatives in the future. I've been losing out big time by helping you these past few times."

Zhou Yufei smiled and agreed, then lingered for a while before getting up and leaving.

The office fell silent. Li Jing'an leaned back on the sofa to catch his breath, picked up the phone to call the branch factory, and had just put down the receiver when the phone suddenly rang urgently.

He frowned, answered the phone, and immediately heard his sister Li Hongying's tearful voice through the receiver. Li Jing'an's heart tightened, and he quickly asked what was wrong, but Li Hongying only said that she had been bullied and was at the local police station, and told him to come over immediately.

Li Jing'an hung up the phone, grabbed his coat, and was about to punch someone when he stopped abruptly at the door. He turned back, picked up the phone again, and said in a deep voice, "Hello, is this the switchboard? Connect me to Wei Jialing from the Municipal Party Committee Policy Research Office."

A moment later, Wei Jialing's light and sweet voice came from the other end of the phone: "Hello, who is it?"

"I am Li Jing'an."

"Oh! Why are you calling the municipal party committee? Did you miss me?" Wei Jialing's tone was full of laughter as she idly twirled the telephone cord with her fingers.

Li Jing'an wasn't in the mood for teasing her and asked directly, "Are you busy right now?"

"Not busy at all, I'm so bored I'm practically rotting away." Wei Jialing immediately perked up.

"Then come find me, remember to take a car."

"Okay! Is something wrong?" Wei Jialing quickly asked.

"It's nothing serious, you'll know when you get here." Li Jing'an hung up the phone, put his coat back in its place, lit a cigarette, and smoked it slowly.

Meanwhile, in an office of the municipal party committee, a dignified middle-aged male voice rang out: "Xiao Han, call a car, let's go to the Education Bureau."

"Oh? Boss, your car was just called away by Jialing. Should I have the fleet send another one?" the young subordinate replied quickly.

The leader sighed, both amused and exasperated: "So, from now on, I'll have to report to Jialing in advance if I need a car? Fine, just send any car."

"Yes, sir, please wait a moment, I'll get right on it."

In the main control room of the steel rolling mill, the telephones rang incessantly.

Zhou Yufei spoke softly into the phone, "Hello, Secretary Zhang? This is Zhou from the steel rolling mill. I've taken care of the matter you asked me to handle. Just come to the branch factory when you have some free time; I've already made arrangements."

"Yes, you're welcome. Please bring some local specialties with you when you come; the boss said he misses the taste of home, hmm..."

Watch as Zhou Yufei finished her phone call and hung up her earphones.

A young woman nearby, who had been waiting impatiently, leaned closer and stared intently at her wrist: "Sister Yufei, what brand of watch is that? I haven't seen you wearing it for the past few days, is it new?"

Another girl squeezed in, her eyes shining as she stared at the watch: "Ah! I know! I saw it at the Friendship Store! What was it called again... I can't remember, it wasn't cheap!"

Zhou Yufei smiled gently, her tone indifferent: "It was a gift from someone before, but I've never worn it. This is the first time I've taken it out today." She raised her hand to look at the watch face, a hint of barely perceptible satisfaction flashing in her eyes.

The first girl couldn't help but reach out and gently touch the watch face, praising its beauty repeatedly, her eyes filled with envy.

"Oh! I remember now, it's Omega! A foreign brand, you can't buy it even if you have money!" Another girl also came over enviously, her eyes full of longing.

Zhou Yufei simply smiled as she watched the two of them repeatedly touching and admiring the watch, but in her heart, it was as if she were looking in a mirror and seeing the version of herself who used to envy others.

Just then, Sister Wang passed by and, seeing several people gathered together, curiously joined in. Upon learning that Zhou Yufei was wearing a foreign watch, she reached out and enviously touched it. Suddenly, as if remembering something, she tugged at Zhou Yufei's arm, her expression somewhat serious: "Yufei, I have something to tell you."

Seeing this, Zhou Yufei took off her watch and handed it to the two girls to continue looking at, then followed Sister Wang outside. Sister Wang glanced back first to make sure no one was following, then lowered her voice and said apologetically, "Yufei, I'm so sorry. My mom told the neighbors about how you helped my sister-in-law get a job transfer last time; she was too quick to speak..."

Seeing her guilty expression, Zhou Yufei quickly reassured her, "It's alright, Sister Wang, don't worry about it."

Sister Wang sighed, then said with difficulty, "It's not just that. Now everyone thinks my family knows a high-ranking official, and they all come to our door trying to pull strings. They've been neighbors for years, I can't refuse them all, so I had to come and ask you..."

Zhou Yufei smiled gently and said calmly, "Sister Wang, I can't do everything. I need to understand the specific situation before I can give you a definite answer."

Sister Wang nodded quickly and thanked her, "Thank you, Yufei. I'll have him come to the steel mill gate at noon, and you two can chat."

Zhou Yufei nodded gently: "Okay."

Sister Wang thanked her repeatedly, saying she was sorry for troubling her, but Zhou Yufei just waved her hand, not minding at all. Back in the switchboard room, she glanced at the clock on the wall; there was enough time to process the telegrams she had. As she sat down, the two girls were still examining her watch, carefully touching the strap. Zhou Yufei smiled, letting them be, and put on her headset to continue answering the next call.