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

The grand banquet hall is bright and spacious with a ceiling height of 5.5 meters.

Li Jing'an stood with his hands behind his back in the center of the banquet hall, his gaze sweeping over the sixteen female employees standing in three rows in front of him, his satisfaction almost overflowing. These were the women he had carefully selected from that stack of photos.

The first row consists of young girls who have only been hired a few months ago, around eighteen or nineteen years old, with an innocent and naive charm; the second row consists of veteran employees who have worked at the guesthouse for two or three years, in their early twenties, with relaxed features and a more capable demeanor; the third row consists of several older women, in their thirties, with their hair styled in buns, exuding a mature and sophisticated air.

The group exchanged bewildered glances, their faces showing confusion. No one knew why Director Li had suddenly summoned them all, leaving them nervous and clutching their clothes, barely daring to breathe.

Li Jing'an took in everyone's reactions and nodded in satisfaction. He cleared his throat and spoke through the empty banquet hall: "I called you all here because I have something important to tell you. Our guesthouse is going to hold a badminton tournament, and you sixteen people are the team members I carefully selected."

As soon as the words were spoken, a murmur rippled through the crowd. Some people widened their eyes in surprise, while others exchanged glances, but no one dared to speak. Li Jing'an had taken their photos, and once he made a decision, there was no reason to easily change it. No one dared to utter a word of dissent.

"Is anyone unwilling?" Li Jing'an put his hands behind his back and took two steps forward. "I've always believed in democracy. If anyone feels it's inappropriate, they can speak up now, and I will never force them."

Everyone remained silent, even their breathing became softer. Who would be foolish enough to say no at this moment?

Seeing no one respond, Li Jing'an's lips curled into a satisfied smile, and he said loudly, "It seems everyone agrees. It's okay if you don't. Since you've agreed, let's start today and set aside one hour each day to practice. I want your shots to be powerful, beautiful, and exciting."

He pointed to the bright and spacious banquet hall around him, his tone tinged with pride: "See? I specially had this large banquet hall cleaned up for you to use as your training ground. The ceiling is a full five and a half meters high, more than enough for playing badminton. You won't get wet in the rain or be blown away by the wind. Tell me, am I good to you?" Seeing that no one reacted, he raised his voice and scanned the room.

"Um?"

"Okay!" A unified response rang out from the crowd.

Li Jing'an waved his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet: "Alright, everyone come here."

He walked to a table with several rackets and a thick notebook, pointed to the rackets on the table, and said, "Take one racket each. Also, write down your clothing sizes in this notebook, and get each of you a set of competition clothes."

When everyone saw the brand-new rackets on the table and heard that new clothes would be given out, the blank look on their faces was instantly replaced by smiles. They crowded forward, carefully picked up the rackets, and then gathered in front of the notebook to write down their sizes.

After everyone had their rackets and filled out their sizes, Li Jing'an pointed to two young women: "You two, come out and play a game. I want to see your skills and give you some pointers."

The two girls exchanged a glance, walked nervously to the center of the court, assumed their positions, gently tossed the shuttlecock up, and swung their rackets. The shuttlecock arced through the air and flew towards the other side.

But after only one round, Li Jing'an shouted a stern command to stop: "Stop!"

The two girls immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at Li Jing'an nervously.

"You need to hit high shots, do you hear me?" Li Jing'an frowned, his tone stern. "And also, jump! If you can jump when you hit the ball, you must jump! Make sure your movements are fluid!"

The two women were puzzled but could only obediently comply. When they started sparring again, they were a little awkward, and their high jumps and racket swings looked stiff. Before long, they gradually got the hang of it, but occasionally, in their haste, they would forget to jump.

Standing on the sidelines, Li Jing'an watched them jump intermittently, sometimes jumping and sometimes not, and stomped his feet in frustration. He couldn't help but yell, "Why did you forget to jump again? Cheer up! Jump!"

After several rounds, the two girls were already panting heavily, their hair soaked with sweat and clinging to their cheeks. Li Jing'an then waved his hand: "Alright, stop and rest for a bit. Everyone else practice, just like we said before, high balls, jumps, no one can slack off!"

"Yufei, you stay here and keep an eye on them. If anyone slacks off, report it to me directly."

"Yes, Brother Li," Zhou Yufei, who had been standing to the side, replied.

Li Jing'an then turned around, straightened his clothes, and walked out of the banquet hall back to his office.

He had just sat down behind his desk when there was a gentle knock on the office door.

"Come in."

Xu Damao, his back hunched and a fawning smile plastered on his face, strode in. As soon as he entered, he leaned forward and whispered, "Brother Li, there's progress on the matter you asked me to handle!"

Li Jing'an tossed a cigarette from the pack on the table, saying casually, "Take it."

"Thank you, Brother Li!" Xu Damao quickly reached out and took it, carefully tucking it behind his ear. He then took out a lighter from his pocket, lit it with a "snap," took a deep drag, and slowly spoke, "Brother Li, I've been to several places, but the department stores really don't sell professional badminton uniforms. They said that these kinds of sportswear have to be ordered through the company's channels, through sporting goods stores."

"Understood." Li Jing'an nodded and pointed to the notebook on the table. "Then go order seventeen sets. The numbers are all in this notebook. Order accordingly."

Xu Damao quickly went over, picked up the notebook, flipped through it, and said with a smile, "Okay, Brother Li, I'll get it done right away. I guarantee I'll handle it perfectly and without any delays!"

"No need to rush, we won't need it for a while." Li Jing'an waved his hand and added, "Also, let me tell you, the first sixteen numbers in this book all need to be changed. Increase the number of each upper body item by one size; decrease the number of each lower body item by one size."

Xu Damao's smile froze for a moment, his eyes filled with doubt, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions. He quickly took out a small notebook from his pocket and wrote it down, muttering to himself, "One size larger for the upper body, one size smaller for the lower body, remember that, Brother Li."

Li Jing'an nodded in satisfaction as he watched him diligently taking notes, then added, "There's one last individual number, remember it well. Subtract one size from both the top and bottom. Also, for the top, don't go for a collared shirt, just a simple V-neck, and remember, make sure the V-neck is deep."

As he said this, a meaningful smile appeared on his lips, and a subtle glint of shrewdness flashed in his eyes.

Xu Damao hesitated for a moment, but still didn't dare to ask why. He quickly nodded and agreed, "Okay, okay, Brother Li, I've remembered everything. I promise to order according to your requirements!"

He carefully put the notebook away, tucked it into his pocket, gave a forced smile, and then bowed as he left, his heart filled with doubt, but he dared not show it at all.

Once again, Li Jing'an was alone in the office. He leaned back in his chair, his fingertips lightly tapping the desk, the image of the sixteen girls in their custom-made sportswear flashing through his mind.

The size of the lower body was reduced, so the fabric would naturally be tighter, outlining a deeper curve; the size of the upper body was increased, so the trajectory of the ball would be clearly visible when running. As for the last set, it was deliberately made smaller and the style was modified, but it was just kept as a backup to see if it would come in handy in the end.