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

At noon, two tables were set up in the large private room of the steel rolling mill canteen.

Li Jing'an remained unaffected by the earlier float incident, smiling as he picked up his teacup: "Welcome everyone to the steel rolling mill to continue our revolutionary cause! Especially you artistic talents, you are a vital force on the propaganda front. I believe that with your addition, our factory's work will definitely reach new heights!"

He paused, then announced loudly, "It's working time now, so I'll offer everyone a toast with tea instead of wine!"

The students responded enthusiastically, creating a lively atmosphere.

After Li Jing'an sat down, he looked around his table. Besides Song Yun, the head of the political work group, and Su Liting, the deputy head, there were several newly assigned students.

He smiled and looked at one of the boys: "You must be Li Chao, right? Haha, I've seen your file, you're outstanding! The factory has decided not to assign you to the cultural propaganda team, but to put you directly in the propaganda department as the propaganda group leader. You already have revolutionary experience from school, I hope you continue to maintain this spirit and make new contributions to our factory's revolutionary cause!"

"Director Li, please rest assured!" Li Chao's face flushed with excitement. "Thank you for the factory's trust! I promise to dedicate all my energy to my work and live up to your expectations!"

Then, Li Jing'an's gaze seemed to fall casually on the ballet dancers: "Our factory is going to rehearse a revolutionary model opera. I know your dance school is very good at ballet, and the information gives you all high praise. But a play always needs lead dancers and principal dancers, so I hope you all understand."

"Tomorrow, all the female ballet dancers, please get ready to go to the club for a demonstration so we can finalize the assignments. Whether you're selected or not, don't complain; it's all part of the work."

After Li Jing'an finished speaking, the students echoed him, but their eyes kept glancing at Liu Yuanyuan and Wang Manqi.

At school, they were always the top students in the dance department, unmatched by anyone else. This time, the factory was selecting a lead actress, and it was anyone's guess who would win. Liu Yuanyuan and Wang Manqi exchanged a glance, each calculating their own chances of winning.

Wang Manqi was determined to get the lead role. During rehearsals at school, she had been cast as the lead far more often than Liu Yuanyuan—her striking appearance immediately drew attention on stage, a natural advantage. She believed this advantage would hold true at the steel mill. She would never give up. After all, being the lead meant more screen time, advantages in performance reviews, promotions, and housing allocation, and greater future prospects—a classic example of getting ahead quickly.

Liu Yuanyuan also had the desire to compete, but she wasn't that competitive. She knew she was at a disadvantage compared to Wang Manqi, but she still wanted to give it a shot—the opportunity was there, and it didn't matter if she lost.

The front yard of the courtyard house, Liu Yuanyuan's home.

"Yuanyuan, how was your first day at work?" Li's mother asked with a smile.

"It's great! The factory area is really big. Director Li even treated us to lunch at the cafeteria." Liu Yuanyuan replied happily.

"Director Li? You mean Li Jing'an?" Mr. Liu said regretfully. "Oh dear, why didn't we interact with him more back then? Otherwise, he might have taken care of you."

"Stop talking the hindsight!" Li's mother rolled her eyes. "Who knew he would become the director of the steel rolling mill? Who knew our Yuanyuan would be assigned to the steel rolling mill? Saying this is as good as saying nothing at all."

Liu Yuanyuan listened to her parents bickering with a smile.

"Hey, I heard from the steel mill workers at the gate after get off work today that Yi Zhonghai from the Intermediate People's Court has been promoted to some kind of team leader." Mr. Li suddenly lowered his voice. "Why don't you check what we have at home, like eggs or something? Maybe we could go over to his house and see if we can help take care of Yuanyuan at the factory?"

"Did you hear that? You might as well go find Xu Damao in the backyard instead of him! He's a proper member of the Revolutionary Committee." Li's mother hesitated.

"You're kidding me! Xu Damao's character is such that even if he were willing to help, we wouldn't dare ask him. Yi Zhonghai is much more reliable. We'd only feel at ease if he agreed to take care of Yuanyuan. Besides, isn't Xu Damao a team leader at the steel mill? Yi Zhonghai is a team leader now too, so it should be about the same. Trust me, I won't go wrong!" Mr. Liu said firmly.

Liu Yuanyuan initially wanted to stop it, but then she thought that if she wanted to gain a foothold in the steel rolling mill in the future, she would indeed need someone to help her. Having more acquaintances would always make things easier.

Meanwhile, at the home of Yi Zhonghai of the Intermediate People's Court.

The door was pushed open, and Sha Zhu's old face poked in: "Uncle Yi, I heard you became a team leader? Is that true?"

"Zhu Zi, don't listen to their nonsense. I'm just a temporary deputy leader of the production team; I'll be dismissed once the production task is finished," Yi Zhonghai replied absentmindedly from home, already quite troubled. The incident during today's test run was completely unexpected. Judging from the factory's reaction, this matter was far from resolved, and he still had no idea what to do. This afternoon, he specifically went to investigate, and it was indeed the faulty part that caused the chain reaction—but could he admit it? If he did, he didn't know what charges he would be leveled against. If he didn't admit it, he didn't know what would happen to the original deputy leader, Wang. He was currently overwhelmed with mixed feelings and deeply conflicted.

"Haha, really? That's not bad! Even though neither of us has ever been an official, it's good to have a taste." Sha Zhu suddenly realized, "I knew it! You advised me against becoming an official back then, but you became one in the blink of an eye. I felt something was off. Turns out you were just talking nonsense."

Yi Zhonghai gave a perfunctory reply, his mind a jumble of thoughts. He was to report the conclusions to Li Jing'an tomorrow, and he didn't know what punishment he would receive. His biggest dilemma was—should he tell the truth tomorrow? Was it an accidental mistake on his part, and not Wang, the deputy team leader's fault? Or should he simply pretend he didn't know?

Just as I was struggling with this decision, more people from the Liu family in the front yard arrived.

Yi Zhonghai was taken aback, not expecting them to come looking for him, and quickly got up to greet them.

"Uncle Yi, here's the thing—our Yuanyuan has been assigned to a steel rolling mill. So, we'd like to ask you to take care of her at the mill." As he spoke, Mr. Liu placed a small bag of eggs on the table.

"Huh? Uncle Liu, Yuanyuan has also been assigned to our factory?" Sha Zhu asked in surprise.

"Yes, I just reported for duty today. Oh, and I had lunch in the cafeteria."

"Oh! Our cafeteria did indeed host a group of new employees today, and I didn't expect Yuanyuan to be among them." Shazhu chuckled. "Ha, what a coincidence! Uncle Liu, your family has really turned their fortunes around. Yuanyuan is a vocational school graduate, right? She's already a cadre right off the bat, your good days are just around the corner!" Shazhu complimented her with a smile.

Mr. Liu smiled and said a few words of modesty.

"Okay, you guys talk first, I have something to do." Sha Zhu said and left first.

Shortly after Sha Zhu left, Yi Zhonghai also saw Liu's father to the door.

"Oh, they're all my own kids, I would have taken care of them even if you hadn't asked."

"Thank you so much. I heard you're a leader now! If Yuanyuan doesn't do well at the factory, you'll have to criticize and educate her." Mr. Liu was still holding the bag of eggs, so it seemed Yi Zhonghai hadn't accepted them.

"Don't say that! What kind of leader am I?" Yi Zhonghai's face flushed red as he quickly replied.

This scene was witnessed by Xu Damao, who had just returned to the courtyard. He was standing at the gate, pushing his bicycle. Liu's father nodded to him as he passed by, a gesture of greeting. Xu Damao's face was all smiles, but as soon as Liu's father left, his expression immediately fell, and he sneered, "A boss, huh? He's like a toad yawning—talking big!"

These words were meant for Yi Zhonghai to hear. Yi Zhonghai had just turned around when he paused for a moment, but he said nothing.

Xu Damao continued muttering, "You're like a pig with a scallion stuck in its nose—pretending to be something you're not! You just wait! Your group has caused such a huge mess, and you're still acting like a leader? I'll make you regret this!"

After Yi Zhonghai entered the house, Xu Damao snorted and hurried to the backyard with a gloomy expression, cursing as he went, "That damn old bastard, he's got an addiction to being a temporary deputy group leader!"