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

The office door was pushed open, and Wei Jialing walked in with a smile, carrying a small cloth bag.

Li Jing'an immediately put down his pen, feigned surprise, stood up, and quickly went to greet her: "Jialing? What brings you here at this hour? Please sit down, isn't it cold outside?"

He reached out and took Wei Jialing's hand, leading her to sit down on the sofa. He then pulled her into his arms, the movements natural and intimate.

"You've been spending all your time at the guesthouse these past few days. I thought you were deliberately avoiding me, so I came to see you to see how busy you really are," Wei Jialing complained coquettishly, leaning against him.

Li Jing'an's heart tightened, and he quickly comforted her gently, lowering his head to kiss her: "Baby, I've been really busy these past two days, with a ton of things to take care of at the guesthouse. I wish I could be with you 24/7. If it weren't for work, I wouldn't want to leave you."

Fearing she wouldn't believe him, he sighed again, feigning helplessness: "By the way, I have to go to Shanghai for a study tour in a couple of days, and I'll be gone for several days. I won't be able to see you for a long time, and I'll miss you terribly."

Wei Jialing's eyes lit up, and she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, saying sweetly, "Really? You really can't bear to part with me?"

"Of course it's true." Li Jing'an's eyes were sincere and his tone was affectionate. "If it weren't for your dad being so strict and insisting that you come home to stay at night, I would have wanted you to move in with me a long time ago, so I could keep you company every day."

These words delighted Wei Jialing. She smiled and kissed Li Jing'an, saying softly, "You're a good girl. Since you're so reluctant to part with me, how about I go with you to Shanghai for your business trip?"

Li Jing'an blurted out, "Okay!"

He had barely finished speaking when he suddenly realized what he meant, his face stiffening: "Huh? What did you say? You're going too?"

"What's wrong?" Wei Jialing pouted, looking displeased. "Why can't I go? You're going to Shanghai, what's wrong with taking me with you?"

Li Jing'an's heart skipped a beat.

He quickly explained, "Jialing, this is an internal exchange within our steel rolling mill within the metallurgical system. Only employees of our mill are allowed to participate. You're not one of the mill's employees, so you can't go at all."

"What's wrong with going?" Wei Jialing said dismissively, raising her chin confidently. "You call the factory office right now and say you're taking me with you. See if they agree."

Wei Jialing looked at him with a smile. He was extremely unwilling, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet and pick up the phone again to call the factory office.

"I am Li Jing'an. Please change the application for the research position I submitted earlier to my girlfriend, Wei Jialing, so we can go to Shanghai together."

Without any hesitation, the person on the other end of the phone immediately agreed: "Yes, Director Li, I'll arrange it right away."

After hanging up the phone, Li Jing'an felt utterly heartbroken.

My dream trip to Shanghai was shattered.

After hanging up the phone, Li Jing'an forced a smile and spent a few moments being affectionate with Wei Jialing before finally managing to coax her away.

Meanwhile, in the factory director's office, the atmosphere was serious. The director of the factory office respectfully handed a neatly printed list to the factory director.

"Factory manager, this is the final list of people to be sent to Shanghai for this study and exchange trip. Please take a look."

The factory director put down the documents in his hand, took the list, and traced the names one by one with his fingertips. He frowned slightly: "Isn't the Party Secretary going to participate in this inspection?"

"The Party Secretary said he has important work to do at the factory and can't leave, so he won't be going," the factory office director quickly replied, his tone somewhat cautious. "However, the Party Secretary instructed that his wife and children would go to Shanghai with the team."

Upon hearing this, the factory manager didn't even raise his eyelids, and nodded indifferently: "Okay, I understand."

"There's one more thing," the factory office director continued, "Comrade Li Jing'an's girlfriend, Wei Jialing, is also going along. What do you think... how should we arrange her train seat?"

The factory director pondered for a moment, picked up his pen, circled a few times on the list, and said in a deep voice, "Li Jing'an's partner has a special status, so arrange two soft sleeper tickets for them. All others who aren't of a high enough rank should buy hard sleeper tickets, not hard seat tickets. National transportation capacity is tight; we are cadres, we shouldn't compete with ordinary people for hard seat seats, it would be beneath our dignity."

"Understood, Factory Director. I'll go to the ticket office to make the arrangements right away." The factory office director respectfully withdrew.

In just one day, the inspection list was completely changed. All the original key workshop personnel and skilled workers were eliminated. The list was now densely packed with the factory's middle and senior management, along with their spouses, children, and relatives—a veritable family tour group.

On the day of departure, it was still dark, and the wind was biting cold. The steel rolling mill specially arranged two buses to take the group of leaders and their families straight to the train station.

Li Jing'an didn't go to the factory for the assembly. He waited at home, and Wei Jialing picked him up directly from the factory in their car and took him to the train station. This way, he could stand out and avoid the attention of other people at the factory.

The train platform was bustling with noise, and bags and packages were piled up like small mountains. The green train rumbled to a stop beside the platform, steam rising and the noise of people filling the air.

Wei Jialing was carrying a huge leather suitcase, stuffed full of clothes, skincare products, and snacks; it was quite heavy. Li Jing'an took the suitcase, grimacing from exhaustion.

"Why did you bring so many clothes? They're so heavy!" Li Jing'an couldn't help but complain.

"This is nothing." Wei Jialing pouted, looking smug. "I originally prepared two suitcases, thinking that Shanghai is warmer than here, and I could buy new ones when I got there, so I brought less."

Li Jing'an sighed helplessly, thinking to himself, "Only you can be so extravagant."

He looked up and saw that everyone in the factory had arrived, a huge crowd. He greeted the deputy factory director and the heads of each department one by one, his face plastered with polite smiles. But as he scanned the crowd, his heart sank – there wasn't a single workshop worker in sight, only leaders and their families, dragging their children along, making a racket, children crying and adults laughing. It didn't look like an inspection tour at all; it was clearly a group trip.

Li Jing'an felt a pang of regret and slapped his thigh hard. What a loss! If he had known it would turn out like this, he should have brought his parents along to Shanghai to broaden their horizons. He was still too young and inconsiderate, missing such a good opportunity.

On the platform, factory staff were busy checking the headcount and verifying tickets, working up a sweat. Luggage was piled up everywhere, and family members were exchanging greetings and comparing the packages in their hands, creating a chaotic yet lively scene.

After passing through the ticket gates and entering the station, Li Jing'an, holding Wei Jialing's hand, followed the staff towards the carriage. To his surprise, the staff led them directly to the soft sleeper carriage.

The soft sleeper carriage was spacious and comfortable, a four-person compartment with a door and berths, clean and tidy, a world apart from the crowded and noisy hard sleeper and hard seat carriages. Li Jing'an, at his level, was not qualified to sit in a soft sleeper at all; he knew in his heart that this was entirely due to Wei Jialing's influence.

He secretly rejoiced, thinking that having a father-in-law who was a municipal party committee leader made all the difference.

The two had just put their luggage away when the door to the sleeper car was pushed open.

A middle-aged man dressed in a respectable Zhongshan suit walked in, followed by a woman dressed in a Lenin-style dress with short hair and carrying a cloth bag. She was clearly the leader's wife.

Li Jing'an looked up and saw Li Huaide. He quickly stood up, a warm smile on his face, and greeted him.

"Hey, Brother Li, what a coincidence! We've been assigned to the same sleeper compartment!"

Li Huaide was also surprised to find himself sharing a private room with Li Jing'an. He was stunned for a moment, then his gaze fell on the pretty Wei Jialing beside him, and he suddenly realized what was going on.

He knew perfectly well that Li Jing'an's ability to travel in a soft sleeper berth and bring his girlfriend was entirely due to Wei Jialing's background. Li Huaide immediately put on a friendly smile, stepped forward, and enthusiastically introduced her:

"Jing'an, what a coincidence! This is my wife. She's traveling with me to Shanghai this time. Please take good care of her along the way."

Li Jing'an quickly responded with a smile and shook hands with Madam Li.

The doors to the sleeper carriages closed gently, shutting out the noise of the platform.