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

A large crowd had gathered around the bulletin board in front of the steel rolling mill's office building, chattering excitedly. The bulletin board was still empty, but the faces of the people showed a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Some kept checking their watches, some paced back and forth, and some, with cigarettes dangling from their lips, forgot to light them—the much-anticipated housing allocation list was about to be revealed.

Wang Gong was also squeezed into the crowd, listening intently to the idle chatter of those around him. His hands were in his pockets, and he appeared calm on the surface, but inside he was feeling very anxious—although his score was not low, who could say for sure about these things?

Suddenly, a hand slapped him on the shoulder with considerable force, startling him so much that he flinched. He turned around abruptly and bumped right into Section Chief Zhang's smiling face.

"Hey, Lao Duan, you scared me half to death!" Engineer Wang patted his chest, his face full of complaint. "Everyone's waiting here to see the announcement, why are you so late?"

Section Chief Zhang squinted, his face inscrutable, and chuckled, "I haven't been idle; I went to find out information beforehand."

Engineer Wang was taken aback, then waved his hand dismissively: "What's there to ask? Everything'll be clear once the notice is posted."

"Hey, what do you know!" Section Chief Zhang lowered his voice, leaned closer, and a hint of smugness flashed in his eyes. "Knowing this in advance will save you from feeling frustrated if you don't make the list. At least you can be prepared."

Engineer Wang glanced at him, then instantly became interested: "So you actually found out the news?"

Section Chief Zhang raised an eyebrow, his smugness practically radiating from his face: "Of course! I secretly got a tip from someone in the factory office—our factory has two new apartment buildings built this year, both four stories high, four units per building, accommodating a total of sixty-four households, all for cadres. Ordinary cadres will be allocated one-bedroom apartments of about thirty square meters, forty-eight units in total; and for section-level cadres, sixteen units of forty square meters each, just like your rank." He paused deliberately, glancing at Engineer Wang, his tone tinged with smugness, "I checked my points, hey, I'm right on the very bottom!"

"Oh? Really?" Engineer Wang's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "Did you also check my ranking?"

"Hey, with our relationship, how could I forget you?" Section Chief Zhang patted his arm, his tone unusually warm. "I specifically asked for you, and you're ranked high, so you're pretty sure of success. Don't worry about it!"

The tension on Wang's face visibly eased, and his lips unconsciously parted into a wide grin, his eyes narrowing into slits: "Okay, thank you very much!"

He smiled, took out a cigarette from his pocket, offered one to Section Chief Zhang, and then distributed them to the people around him. A match was struck, and several people gathered around to light them, the bluish-white smoke drifting above the crowd.

"Hey," said Engineer Wang, a cigarette dangling from his lips, his brow furrowing slightly, "wasn't it supposed to be announced at nine today? It's almost eleven, lunchtime is approaching, and there's still no word from us."

Section Chief Zhang took a deep drag of his cigarette, slowly exhaled, and waved his hand. "I guess something came up with the leadership. When I went to ask, the people in the factory office couldn't explain it either. They just said the leaders were still inside discussing it, and we couldn't ask too many questions about the specifics." He glanced down at his watch, then looked up at the office building entrance. "Let's wait a bit longer. It should be soon. We can't let it drag on until the afternoon."

The two chatted for a few more minutes, rambling about trivial matters in the workshop. After about ten minutes, two staff members finally emerged from the office building, each carrying a roll of bright red notices under their armpits, followed by a handyman carrying a bucket of paste.

"Here it comes!"

Someone shouted softly, the sound not loud, but like a pebble thrown into still water. The crowd fell silent instantly, everyone shut their mouths, and all eyes turned to that direction, craning their necks and looking expectantly, as if they wanted to stretch their necks into swan necks.

Section Chief Zhang, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, nudged Engineer Wang beside him with his elbow, chuckled mockingly, and said in a low voice, "Look at this, there are only sixty-odd spots, but almost a hundred people have already shown up. In a minute, someone's bound to be crying and making a scene. We can just watch the show from the sidelines."

Engineer Wang smiled and glanced around the crowd: "Actually, a hundred or so people isn't a lot. After all, this is a staff dormitory, and ordinary employees don't participate. If it were the ordinary employees' turn to get housing, this place would be surrounded by layers upon layers of people. Every time, it's considered a small number if there aren't several hundred people gathered here."

"That's right," Section Chief Zhang chimed in, a look of nonchalance on his face. "Every time we assign rooms, it's like a theatrical performance. The younger ones cry and the older ones make a scene. There's always someone who's dissatisfied and questions why others have higher scores than them. How often is there no fighting? The entire security department has to be mobilized to maintain order, otherwise someone might get killed."

Engineer Wang nodded and exhaled a puff of smoke: "The only thing that's peaceful is the allocation of cadre housing. Since there are fewer cadres, the probability of getting one is higher. If you didn't get one this time, you'll have more opportunities next time, so the conflicts are naturally smaller. But it's not completely nonexistent; there are definitely still quite a few people secretly competing with each other."

As they were talking, two factory office staff members walked up to the bulletin board. One was holding a red paper, and the other was carrying a small bucket, brushing paste onto the wooden board. The "swish swish" sound was particularly clear in the quiet crowd.

The crowd immediately surged forward, pushing and shoving like a tidal wave. The moment the bright red notice was smoothed out and firmly pasted up, a cacophony of voices erupted.

"Hey, it's me! My name is on the list! Hahaha, it's finally my turn!" A middle-aged man's voice came from the middle of the crowd, filled with barely suppressed elation.

Congratulations!

"Same to you! I'm watching you too!"

Amidst the noise, a sharp, annoyed complaint suddenly broke out: "What's going on? Why isn't my score high enough? What's wrong with Zhao Heizi from Workshop Five? Why can he get in but I can't!"

Before the words were even finished, a gruff voice immediately retorted, full of hostility: "What nonsense are you spouting? I have a year more seniority than you, and I also have an advanced worker title. It's only natural that I'm ranked ahead of you. What are you complaining about?"

"you--!"

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean'? If you're not happy, then shut up!"

The two argued more and more fiercely, their voices growing louder and louder. People around them who wanted to break up the fight and incite others joined in, creating complete chaos.

On the outskirts of the crowd, Engineer Wang and Section Chief Zhang leisurely smoked, smoke swirling around their faces. They already knew what was going on and weren't in a hurry to push forward, planning to wait until things calmed down before checking the results. Section Chief Zhang even crossed one leg, his toe lightly touching the ground, looking completely unperturbed.

At this time, people who had finished looking at the list gradually squeezed out of the crowd. Those who recognized the two greeted them with smiles as they passed by.