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

An old man wearing a coarse cloth jacket and an old cloth hat was slowly walking uphill along the rugged mountain path.

This man looked to be nearly sixty years old, with dark, rough skin and wrinkles etched on his face from years of hard work in the mountains. However, his eyes revealed a shrewdness and calculation, darting around as he sized people up, unlike those of an ordinary old farmer.

The visitor was none other than Jin Fusheng, the brigade secretary of Shimo Village at the foot of the mountain.

Jin Fusheng had a habit of taking a stroll around the village every day, like an old lion patrolling its territory, making sure he knew exactly where even a weed was growing. Today, when he reached the halfway point of the mountain, he spotted two figures standing in the valley in the distance. His heart skipped a beat, and he immediately turned a corner and took a shortcut up the mountain.

Jin Fusheng walked closer, sizing up Li Jing'an and his son. His gaze lingered on their clean Zhongshan suits for a second longer, and his tone was wary and questioning: "Hey, who are you people? What are you doing up here on this mountain?"

Li Jing'an didn't speak, but simply looked at the other person calmly.

Mr. Li quickly stepped forward, a polite smile plastered on his face: "Hehe, brother, don't misunderstand. This is our family's ancestral grave. We are descendants, just came to take a look."

Jin Fusheng said "Oh," and his eyes swept over Li Jing'an again. This young man was tall and composed, and he was obviously not an ordinary farmer. He was probably a cadre from the city.

"So that's how it is." Jin Fusheng's tone softened a bit, but his eyes still lingered on Li Jing'an. "I've been the village secretary for so many years, and this is the first time I've ever seen the owner of this land. I only knew that this grave existed before Liberation, but I never knew whose it was. Today I've finally seen it."

Mr. Li smiled, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, pulled one out, and handed it to him: "Brother, you've had a hard day. Have a smoke. May I ask your surname?"

Jin Fusheng took the cigarette, lit it with the famous match that Li's father had struck, took a slow puff, exhaled a cloud of white smoke, and then said, "My surname is Jin, my name is Jin Fusheng, and I am the brigade secretary of Shimo Village."

Upon hearing the words "brigade secretary," Li Jing'an's eyebrows twitched slightly. He was just worried about not being able to find locals to help him buy saplings and plant trees, and this person had taken the initiative to approach him.

He stepped forward, a polite smile on his face: "Secretary Jin, hello, hello, it's a pleasure to meet you."

After a few pleasantries, Li Jing'an got straight to the point: "Secretary Jin, I was just about to ask you something. Are there any places around here that sell cypress saplings? I'd like to plant trees at our ancestral graves."

"We do have saplings; the commune's nursery has some, but there aren't many, so we have to call ahead."

Li Jing'an laughed and said, "That's great. I don't just want a few trees, I want to plant this entire ancestral cemetery forest with cypress trees."

"Plant it all?" Jin Fusheng was stunned. He subconsciously glanced around. This land was quite large, a completely bare expanse, at least two acres. "Plant it all? That would require a lot of saplings, and a lot of money."

"Money is not a problem," Li Jing'an said calmly. "Secretary Jin, I would like to ask you for a favor. After spring, could you please help me find a few people in the village to plant all the saplings? I will pay them the highest wages possible, and I will definitely not treat anyone unfairly."

Jin Fusheng's eyes suddenly lit up.

He took another careful look at Li Jing'an and thought to himself: This young man is generous and confident; he's obviously not an ordinary person.

He asked casually, "Comrade, you look unfamiliar. May I ask where you work?"

Li Jing'an smiled slightly and said in a calm tone, "I work at a steel rolling mill in Beijing."

"A steel rolling mill?!"

Jin Fusheng's eyes lit up instantly, as if a lamp had been suddenly lit in the night.

It's like my wish came true!

Their village is currently preparing to build an irrigation canal. Everything else is going smoothly, except for the crucial steel bars. Approval has been requested time and again, but it just won't come through. They're incredibly scarce on the market; even with money, you can't buy them anywhere. And this man in front of them turns out to be from the steel rolling mill!

Jin Fusheng's smile immediately deepened, and his tone became warmer: "Not bad, not bad, so you're from the steel mill. No wonder you're so impressive. But speaking of which, planting so many trees must have cost a lot."

"It's alright, I'll pay whatever it costs," Li Jing'an readily agreed.

Jin Fusheng chuckled, then suddenly changed the subject: "Actually, comrade, this isn't just about saplings and manpower."

Li Jing'an was slightly taken aback: "Oh? What does Secretary Jin mean by that? Is there some other trouble?"

Jin Fusheng smiled, but his tone left no room for negotiation: "Planting trees, digging holes, and planting saplings are all minor matters. But if you want to go up and down the mountain, you need a path, right? We need to build a road!"

"Road construction?"

Li Jing'an was completely dumbfounded, staring at the other person with a bewildered expression.

"Secretary Jin, this road is perfectly fine, why are you building a new one? It's just a dirt road from the mountainside down to the bottom, only forty or fifty meters long. It's a mountain path, you can just walk on it anywhere. This mountain is barren, there isn't even a single tree. Who's going to use this road?"

Jin Fusheng, without batting an eye, solemnly spouted nonsense: "You can't say that. This ancestral burial ground is your family's land, that's true, but all the mountain land outside the ground belongs to the collective land of our Shimo Village!"

"With all your people and vehicles coming and going, if you accidentally damage the collective saplings we're cultivating in our village and disrupt production, who can bear that responsibility? So, if we want to plant trees safely, we must build roads first!"

Li Jing'an froze on the spot, his gaze instinctively sweeping around.

Looking around, the entire mountain was barren, with bare yellow soil and sparse weeds. Not to mention saplings, it was hard to find even a decent piece of firewood.

The village party secretary in front of me is blatantly lying!

A surge of anger welled up inside her. This was the first time in Li Jing'an's life that she had been so blatantly extorted.

He sneered inwardly: "You, Jin Fusheng, you're ruthless, daring to set your sights on me."

Although he was annoyed, he kept a straight face and smiled at the other party: "So that's how it is. Then, Secretary Jin, please tell me directly, how should this road be repaired? How much money and manpower will it cost? Please give me a definite answer."

When Jin Fusheng saw that he not only didn't get angry, but also went along with the conversation, he was overjoyed, knowing that the matter was very likely to succeed.

He rubbed his hands together and smiled honestly: "This isn't just about money. Building the road will take up the village's collective land and require mobilizing all the village's labor force to go up the mountain. It's a huge project, and it can't be solved just by spending money."

"Don't you work at the steel rolling mill? Our village needs to build an irrigation canal, but we're short of steel bars and can't get the permits. If you could help us get some steel bars, I'll take care of your tree-planting problem! You can also contribute a little money and cover lunch for the people working on the mountain, and everything will be fine!"

Li Jingan looked at him quietly, her smile unwavering, but her heart was already ice-cold.

It's truly eye-opening to see someone extort money so brazenly.

He nodded slowly, his tone unusually agreeable: "Okay, okay, I understand."

"Secretary Jin, I'll go back first and then try to find some connections at the factory to get the steel bars for your village sorted out. It shouldn't take too long; we should have news in a couple of days. Just wait for my message at home."

Jin Fusheng was overjoyed, his smile almost overflowing. He repeatedly clasped his hands in thanks, saying, "Thank you so much, Comrade Li! Thank you so much! Don't worry, as soon as the steel bars arrive, I'll take full responsibility for planting the trees and guarantee it will be done beautifully!"

Li Jing'an smiled, said nothing more, turned around and helped his father, slowly walking down the mountain path.

Once they were completely out of Jin Fusheng's sight, Li's father lowered his voice and looked at his son with a worried expression: "Jing'an, did you... really agree to him just now?"

"Those steel bars are in such high demand right now, there's a shortage all over the country, and even getting the factory permits is difficult. How could you just agree to that so easily? What if he can't deliver and then makes things difficult for us?"

Li Jing'an gently waved his hand, signaling his father to rest assured, his eyes calm and resolute: "Dad, it's alright, don't worry. I know what I'm doing, I'll handle it."

He wouldn't let himself be blackmailed like that. If Jin Fusheng wanted to use the ancestral graves to threaten him, then he should be prepared for the backlash.

On the other side, Jin Fusheng hummed an off-key tune and walked briskly down the mountain.

As soon as he entered, he couldn't hide the smugness on his face.

His son had just returned home and, seeing his father's cheerful expression, couldn't help but ask curiously, "Dad, where have you been? It's so cold, why aren't you staying home? Why are you out wandering around again?"

Jin Fusheng sat down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), pulled out his pipe, and laughed smugly, "Hey, what are you saying, kid! I wasn't just wandering around today, I went out on important business, it was worth it!"

"Something big?" The son asked, even more puzzled. "What's so big? Did you find some grain?"

"Tch, picking up grain is nothing!" Jin Fusheng waved his hand dismissively, lowering his voice, his tone mysterious and excited, "Dad picked up steel today!"

"Steel?" The son looked completely bewildered, his face blank. "What steel? Where did you get steel?"

Jin Fusheng chuckled and recounted in detail, with embellishments, his encounter with Li Jing'an and his son on the mountain.

"Our village was supposed to build an irrigation canal, but the steel reinforcement permits wouldn't come through, and I couldn't sleep for several nights in a row because of it. And then what happened? A windfall fell from the sky—we bumped into a cadre from a steel rolling mill, and his family's ancestral graves are right on the mountain in our village!"

"Isn't this a piece of fat meat delivered to our door? Who else should we extort if not him?"

After hearing this, the son felt a pang of panic and couldn't help but worry, "Dad, isn't what you're doing... a bit inappropriate? What if that person has connections and retaliates against us?"

Jin Fusheng picked up his pipe and banged it heavily on the sole of his shoe twice, looking completely unconcerned: "What's there to be afraid of? If he were a local cadre, someone from the commune or county, I would actually have some reservations and wouldn't dare to go too far."

"But he's just a company executive. No matter how far his influence extends, can it really reach into this remote mountain village? The central government is far away; who can control our Shimo Village?"

"Just wait patiently. In a few days, he will definitely send a message to us and deliver the steel bars."

The son was still worried: "Dad, you're asking for too much. What if they go back and think it's not worth it, and then they don't come at all? Wouldn't we have worked for nothing?"

"He dares?!"

Jin Fusheng slapped his thigh suddenly, his eyes widened, and his tone was blatantly threatening.

"Don't forget, his family's ancestral graves are still buried on our mountain!"

"He's not coming? If he doesn't deliver the steel bars, his family's ancestral graves won't rest in peace!"