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

In the medium-sized conference hall, Xu Damao was already waiting at the door with a row of waiters. When he saw Li Jing'an coming, he immediately went to greet him.

"Brother Li, you've finally arrived! What do you think of the overall layout? Is there anything that needs to be changed?"

Li Jing'an didn't immediately check the venue setup. Instead, his gaze slowly swept over the female servers standing ramrod straight to the side, secretly calculating in his mind: These girls are really good quality—young, upright, and obedient. But putting Xu Damao among so many women won't work… He knows this guy; he lacks willpower and will make a mistake sooner or later. He'll have to think of a way to transfer him when he gets back. He's currently handling external liaison work; he needs to have his workload reduced.

He regained his composure and stepped into the venue, looking around as he went.

Xu Damao followed beside him, explaining incessantly the arrangement of table signs, water glasses, place cards, sound system, and lighting. Li Jing'an was surprised to find that someone was already using ropes to position the seats; he had originally thought this was a newer method.

Of course, as the newly appointed director, one must be able to find fault with the work during inspections, otherwise it would make one appear incompetent and unable to maintain control.

Li Jing'an frowned slightly and pointed to the corridor, saying, "The distance between the corridors should be increased so that the leaders can move around comfortably and not feel cramped."

He then pointed to the podium: "Move the podium forward a little more, and the view will be more open, making it easier to take photos and give speeches."

"And over here, all kettles should be placed on the right side for easy access by the leaders; please do not place them haphazardly on the left or right."

Xu Damao nodded repeatedly, took out his notebook and quickly jotted it down, saying repeatedly, "Okay, Brother Li! I'll change it right away! I'll adjust it immediately!"

Around 3 p.m., a green steel mill truck slowly drove into the gate of the First Guesthouse, its wheels kicking up a light dust as they rolled over the ground.

The truck bed was packed with people, men and women, young and old, numbering more than a dozen. They were all dressed in simple cloth clothes and shoes, their faces showing the awkwardness and excitement of country folk visiting the city. They were Li Jing'an's two maternal uncles and their families.

As soon as the car came to a stop, Li Jing'an took Wei Jialing's hand and went to greet her. He had specially asked Wei Jialing to leave work early today so that she could accompany him to receive his relatives.

"Uncle! Second Uncle! You've finally arrived!" Li Jing'an greeted him with a smile, his tone warm and enthusiastic. "You must be exhausted from the long journey!"

My uncle jumped down from the truck bed, dusted himself off, and laughed, "Not tired at all! What's tiring about riding in a truck! It's so spacious!"

My second uncle also got off the cart, nodding repeatedly: "That's right, this is a hundred times better than a donkey cart!"

After everyone got off the vehicle, Li Jing'an noticed that there were two old quilts in the truck bed—obviously used for the road trip, both for wind and cold protection, a practical necessity for rural families when traveling.

Li Jing'an moved to the front of the truck, took out two packs of cigarettes from his pocket, tossed them to the truck driver through the window, and said with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, driver. Take these two packs of cigarettes. Go back to the factory and rest for a bit."

The driver thanked him profusely, turned the car around, and quickly drove away from the guesthouse.

Li Jing'an turned around and led his large family into the hall. The group of country folk huddled together, immediately attracting the attention of many waiters, but no one dared to say anything, and they just kept their heads down and worked silently.

"Huai Ru! Come here for a second!" Li Jing'an called out into the hall.

Qin Huairu immediately walked over quickly, a polite smile on her face: "Brother Li, did you call me?"

Li Jing'an turned to his two uncles and said, "You two go with Supervisor Qin to the guest rooms to rest for a while, have some water, and catch your breath. I'll have the waiter call you down for dinner tonight."

After saying that, he looked at Qin Huairu and instructed, "These are all my relatives, so I'm leaving them to you. Make the arrangements and take good care of them."

"Don't worry, Brother Li, leave it to me, no problem at all." Qin Huairu readily agreed, then turned and waved to a group of relatives with a smile, "Come on, everyone, follow me, walk slowly, no rush..."

A dozen or so people followed Qin Huairu toward the stairwell. The adults were all very reserved, unsure of what to do with their hands and feet, their eyes curious but not daring to look around; the children, however, didn't care about any of that. As soon as they entered the magnificent building, they immediately ran around excitedly, chattering and laughing, their clear laughter echoing in the lobby, followed by the adults' hushed reprimands.

Not long after, the car that had brought Li Jing'an's parents and sister's family returned. As soon as the elderly couple, along with his sister, brother-in-law, and children, got out of the car, they didn't exchange many pleasantries with Li Jing'an and went straight to his uncles' room, where the family gathered to catch up.

Li Jing'an didn't join in the fun. He and Wei Jialing stayed quietly in the office, chatting and waiting for the dinner to start that evening.

As evening fell, two brand-new round tables were set up in the largest private room of the guesthouse. The men sat at one table, the women at another, and the children sat wherever they pleased, creating a lively and bustling atmosphere. Waiters moved back and forth with plates, bringing out one main dish after another: braised pork belly, braised prawns, braised fish, stewed ribs, fried meatballs... The aroma was irresistible, dazzling the group of relatives from the countryside.

Uncle held his wine glass, looking at the table laden with food and then at the impressive private room, and couldn't help but exclaim repeatedly, "Jing'an, you've really become a big leader now! In all the surrounding villages, who has your connections? Who else can eat and sleep in such a nice place? We're all benefiting from your success! We're really benefiting from it!"

My second uncle nodded in agreement: "Yes, I never even dared to dream of getting into a place like this before..."

Li Jing'an sat in the main seat, a smile on his face. He raised his wine glass and said to his two uncles, "Uncles, we're all family, no need for formalities. I invited you here today so you can enjoy yourselves. Before you go back to bed, take a nice bath and relax."

"That's great, now I'll have something to talk about when I get back," the uncle said with a smile.

"Me too, we need to broaden their horizons too," the second uncle chuckled.

Everyone laughed.

Li Jing'an said solemnly, "I have something important to tell you. My eldest cousin, second cousin, and younger cousin, I've already arranged three temporary work positions for them in Huairou. In two years, I'll handle things on my end and make them permanent employees, giving them a secure job. They'll be city dwellers then."

The moment those words were spoken, the entire table fell silent. The men from both the eldest and second uncles' families stared wide-eyed, their faces filled with disbelief. Becoming a permanent worker and receiving government-subsidized grain rations—that was the lifelong dream of every rural person!

After a few seconds of stunned silence, cheers and shouts of gratitude erupted. The older and younger cousins ​​were so excited that their hands trembled, and the two aunts had tears in their eyes, wiping away their tears and repeatedly saying "Thank you, Jing'an." Some of them even cried out loud.

Li Jing'an quickly raised his hand to comfort her: "Don't cry, don't cry. We're all family, it's only right. There are also underage cousins ​​in the family. Don't worry, I won't abandon them. When they grow up, I'll still arrange a way for them."

The whole family was completely stunned by this huge surprise, and could only keep thanking them, unable to say anything else.

After several rounds of drinks and five courses of food,

Li Jing'an deliberately took his wine glass, walked over to his older cousin, touched his glass to his, and whispered, "Brother, I'm so grateful for your help last year. I've always remembered it. This glass is for you."

The eldest cousin was flattered and hurriedly picked up his wine glass, his hand trembling, "Jing'an, you...you're making me feel terrible! We're all brothers, it's only right! It's only right!"

"It's all in the wine." Li Jing'an smiled, tilted his head back, and drank it all in one gulp.