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

Li Jing'an's home.

As soon as the door opened, Xu Damao stepped inside and immediately spotted Yan Bugui kneeling on the ground. He froze for a moment, then a wicked smile crept onto his lips.

Yan Bugui panicked, wishing he could disappear into the ground. He quickly lay down on the ground, frantically groping around while shouting, "Hey, where are my glasses? Where did they go?!"

Xu Damao crossed his arms, a mocking look on his face: "Hehe, Third Uncle, aren't your glasses just sitting right on your nose?"

Yan Bugui touched it and found it was still there. His face instantly turned bright red, and he was so embarrassed that he didn't know what to do with his hands and feet. As he got up, he tried to smooth things over: "Ah... look at my memory, I'm getting old, confused, and my eyesight isn't good anymore..."

Xu Damao suppressed a laugh and didn't press the matter further, then went straight into the house.

Li Jing'an sat comfortably on the sofa, glanced at the two of them, and slowly asked, "Da Mao, have you delivered the things?"

"It's been delivered to Brother Li, don't worry," Xu Damao quickly replied.

In the morning, Li Jing'an asked him to deliver a bag of new rice to his parents back home. It was fresh grain that had just arrived at the guesthouse that day, and he went there as soon as he got off work.

Li Jing'an nodded, then turned his gaze to Yan Bugui, who was standing awkwardly to the side, and said in a calm tone, "Alright, Uncle, I've taken your matter to heart. I won't delay handling Yan Jiecheng's file; I'll definitely give you a definite answer. It won't affect the child, so don't worry."

As he spoke, he stood up as if to see the guest out, and pointed to the snacks and cigarettes on the table: "Take these things back with you. I don't need them, and I can't accept your gifts."

Yan Bugui shook his head vigorously, his face full of fear: "No, Director Li, this is just a small token of my appreciation. If you don't accept it, I won't feel at ease, and I won't be able to sleep well at night..."

He was genuinely afraid that Li Jing'an would refuse the gifts and then suppress Yan Jiecheng's matter again, which would mean there would be no hope for his son.

Seeing this, Li Jing'an stopped refusing and waved his hand, "Alright, since you've said so, I'll stay. You can go back now, I'll go to the personnel department as soon as I get to work tomorrow and get back to you as soon as possible."

"Oh! Thank you! Director Li! Thank you so much!" Yan Bugui bowed repeatedly, his posture extremely humble, and only moved out after expressing his deepest gratitude.

"Da Mao, why don't you go back with Uncle San? It's on the way."

"Okay, Brother Li, you should get some rest." Xu Damao replied and followed Yan Bugui out the door.

As soon as the two stepped out of the courtyard, Li Jing'an closed the door behind him and locked it from the inside.

Outside the courtyard gate, only Yan Bugui and Xu Damao remained.

Yan Bugui looked around, lowered his voice, and nervously grabbed Xu Damao: "Damao, you absolutely can't talk nonsense about what happened today. If word gets out, where will I put my face?"

Xu Damao feigned ignorance, looking puzzled: "Huh? Third Uncle, what is it? I don't quite understand."

"It's...it's about looking for the glasses earlier." Yan Bugui stammered, too embarrassed to admit that he had knelt down.

Xu Damao suddenly realized, and patted his chest: "Oh, you mean this? What's the big deal? Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person who gossips and spreads rumors. I'll keep this to myself."

Yan Bugui finally breathed a sigh of relief, gave a few more instructions, and then left in a hurry.

Xu Damao stood there, watching his disheveled figure, and couldn't help but sneer, feeling extremely smug.

He had just turned around when he bumped into Sha Zhu, who was carrying a basin of water for washing feet as he walked out.

As soon as Sha Zhu saw Xu Damao loitering in the middle courtyard, he frowned and immediately said something unpleasant: "What are you doing? Why aren't you sleeping in the backyard in the middle of the night? What kind of mischief are you plotting?"

Xu Damao immediately objected: "You idiot Zhu, you can't say anything nice! Do you own this court? I can stand wherever I want, it's none of your business!"

He had just turned to leave when he suddenly stopped and leaned closer with a mysterious look on his face.

"Hey, forget it, I won't argue with you. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll tell you a secret."

Sha Zhu rolled his eyes: "Spit it out, stop playing tricks."

Xu Damao didn't bother arguing with him at this point. He glanced around, lowered his voice, and told Sha Zhu, embellishing the story of Yan Bugui kneeling and presenting gifts at Li Jing'an's house.

Sha Zhu's eyes lit up when he heard that.

The next morning, at the No. 1 Guesthouse of the Steel Rolling Mill.

Li Jing'an called Qin Huairu, Jiang Yuebai, Lao Huang, and others to his office and began assigning them positions.

"Huai Ru, you'll be the shift leader in the housekeeping department, overseeing floor service and cleanliness. Yue Bai, you'll be transferred to the front desk, responsible for registration, reception, and inquiries. Lao Huang, you'll take the two of them downstairs to familiarize them with the area and make sure they're properly arranged."

Upon hearing this, Old Huang immediately nodded and bowed, "Yes, Chief, I'll take care of it right away! Is there anything else you need?"

"Has Xu Wangshu made all the arrangements?" Li Jing'an asked casually.

"The director has been assigned. As you wish, he's been placed in the guardhouse. He'll be watching the gate and registering people coming and going. It'll be an easy job for him."

"Alright, that's settled then. You can go with Deputy Director Huang. If you need anything related to work in the future, come find me."

"I understand," Jiang Yuebai said softly, her head bowed.

Qin Huairu, on the other hand, seemed much more composed. She smiled and responded, and the two of them followed Lao Huang out of the office.

The noise had barely stopped when there was another knock on the door.

"Enter."

As soon as the door opened, Zhou Yufei walked in, holding a printed menu in her hand. She handed it to Li Jing'an and said, "Brother Li, this is the banquet menu after the Ministry of Metallurgy meeting in a couple of days. Please take a look and see if it's okay. If there are no problems, I'll report it to the factory and the ministry."

Zhou Yufei has officially started working at the guesthouse. Li Jing'an has handed over the entire banquet hall and restaurant to her, planning to process her application for a temporary cadre position and directly transfer her to cadre status once things have gone smoothly for a while.

Li Jing'an took the menu and flipped through it. The dishes were a good mix of meat and vegetables, and included both hot and cold options. There were both substantial dishes and local specialties. He couldn't find anything wrong with it.

"Okay, that's fine, let's do it this way." He handed the menu back and added, "Also, give me the quantity for two more tables, and I'll have someone come over to taste the dishes."

"Okay, Brother Li, I've got it." Zhou Yufei put away the menu and quietly slipped out.

Li Jing'an was busy all morning, leading Lao Huang to inspect the cleanliness of each floor, from guest rooms and corridors to restrooms and stairwells. Any areas that didn't meet the standards were ordered to be rectified on the spot. Unexpectedly, they made an unexpected discovery.