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

Wang Defa originally intended to go over and tidy things up, but he was scolded by several shrewish female workers in the laundry room. He was filled with resentment and felt suffocated. So he turned back to the linen room with a dark face.

He angrily pushed open the door to the linen room and immediately saw the old towel blanket that Qin Huairu had just brought on the table, crumpled up and dusty, an eyesore. Wang Defa frowned, held his breath in disgust, pinched one corner of the towel blanket with two fingers, quickly lifted it up, and threw it into the nearby trash can with a "thud," as if he would be disgusted if it even touched him.

He sighed heavily, leaned against the table, and felt extremely frustrated: How was he supposed to establish his authority? None of the cleaning staff or laundry workers respected him. They were all stubborn and shrewish women. If he couldn't win an argument, they would hurl insults and vulgarities at him. It was unbearable. He felt utterly pathetic as a manager.

Just as he was deep in thought, the door to the linen room creaked open, and a young waiter peeked in, a fawning smile on his face: "Manager Wang!"

"Hmm? What is it?" Wang Defa immediately composed himself, frowned again, and asked in a bossy manner.

The waiter quickly stepped forward, his tone respectful and somewhat solicitous: "Well, I was cleaning the guest rooms just now and I found that one of the sheets had a big hole in it and needed to be replaced. That's why I brought it over right away." As he spoke, he took out an old sheet with a hole from behind his back and handed it to Wang Defa.

Wang Defa frowned even more, and asked with some displeasure, "When your class monitor Qin Huairu came to report the damage earlier, she didn't mention this bed sheet. What's going on?"

"Hey, look at you. I was in such a rush just now that I didn't notice. As soon as I saw it, I rushed over. I didn't run into the team leader on the way, and since you're the cadre in charge of linens, I figured asking you would be more effective than asking the team leader. In the end, this matter still depends on you, right?" The waiter flattered him, which made Wang Defa's expression soften considerably.

"Alright, alright," Wang Defa waved his hand, his tone softening. "There's a trash can over there. Throw this old sheet in there. I'll sign off on the damage report for your class monitor later. Go get a sheet to use first."

"Okay! Thank you, Mr. Wang, you're busy!" The waiter replied happily, put down the old sheet, grabbed a clean one, and quickly left.

After a long and tiring day, Wang Defa dragged his weary body home. As soon as he entered, he smelled the aroma of food. His mother had already set the table and, seeing her son return, quickly greeted him with a smile, "Defa, wash your hands and eat. You've had a long day, take a rest."

"Okay, Mom," Wang Defa replied weakly, hanging the cloth bag he was carrying on the wooden rack behind the door. He walked to the basin in the corner of the room to wash his hands. After rubbing for a couple of seconds, he noticed that there was only a tiny bit of soap left in the soap dish. He rubbed it for a long time but couldn't get any lather. He frowned and said to his mother, "Mom, we're out of soap. There's only this much left."

Upon hearing this, the Queen Mother leaned over to take a look, slapped her forehead, and said with annoyance, "Oh? It really is! I was thinking of buying it a couple of days ago, but I've been busy with this and that all day long, and I completely forgot about it. I'll go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy it first thing tomorrow morning."

As Wang Defa rubbed his face, a thought suddenly occurred to him: he was in charge of the supplies for the customer service department at the guesthouse, and there were piles of soap and laundry detergent. There were also a lot of items reported as damaged. He could take a couple of bars home to use. It shouldn't be a problem, right? It's just a bar of soap, no one will notice.

Thinking about it, he blurted out, "Mom, no need to buy it. I'll just get two from the guesthouse tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, the Queen Mother's eyes lit up instantly, and her face immediately broke into a wide smile. She exclaimed repeatedly, "What? That's wonderful! Oh my, my son is truly capable..."

"What are you saying, so happy?" Just then, Mr. Wang came home from get off work and walked in. Seeing his wife beaming from ear to ear, he asked in confusion.

Mrs. Wang quickly pulled Mr. Wang over, beaming, and said, "We ran out of soap, didn't we? Defa said he'll bring two bars back from work tomorrow, so we won't have to buy any more!"

After listening, Wang's father smiled and looked at Wang Defa, his eyes full of approval.

Seeing his parents' happy faces, Wang Defa couldn't help but feel a surge of pride. He couldn't help but smugly straighten his back and say, "Hey, Mom and Dad, is it really necessary to be so happy? It's just a bar of soap, no big deal. Your son is now in charge of all the supplies in the guesthouse rooms—sheets, blankets, towels, toothbrushes, everything is under my care. This little thing is nothing."

"My son is really successful!" Mr. Wang said with a smile, patting Wang Defa on the shoulder, his face full of pride.

The family of three sat around the small dining table eating. Wang's mother kept putting meat into Wang Defa's bowl, saying, "Eat more. Your older brother and sister-in-law came over today and specially cut some meat for you to nourish yourself."

Wang Defa nodded, ate his meal in silence, and said nothing more.

After taking a few bites, Wang's mother suddenly put down her chopsticks, looked at Wang Defa, and said, "Defa, your cousin from your aunt's side is getting married in a few days. I've been worried about what kind of presentable gift to give him. Now that you mention it, I'm thinking, why don't you get him a new bed sheet from the office? It's public property, after all. Giving it as a gift is both respectable and prestigious, much better than buying one!"

Wang Defa paused, his chopsticks momentarily still in his hand. His first instinct was to refuse; public property shouldn't be given away so easily. But when he looked up and met his mother's expectant gaze, seeing the pride and anticipation on his parents' faces, the words of refusal he was about to utter stuck in his throat. He silently comforted himself: it's just a bed sheet; I can just go through the damage reporting process, sign something, and it'll be over. It's no big deal; no one will notice.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally gave a soft "hmm" and nodded in agreement.

When the Queen Mother saw that he agreed, she was overjoyed, and her smile was impossible to hide. In those days, being able to get things from the government was a symbol of ability and connections. Regardless of the value of the items, as long as they were "government-related," they were considered valuable and would make one look very prestigious.