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

A group of people poured out of the club entrance, led by Li Jing'an and the director of the Revolutionary Committee of the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry. A row of cars was parked outside, with a line of sedans in front and several buses behind.

Li Jing'an was leading everyone to the car when he suddenly noticed two people hiding behind a pillar outside the gate: one holding a broom and the other a young man wearing a red armband, who seemed to be supervising the work.

Li Jing'an glanced at it and suddenly remembered that this was Luo Tianyou. He had specifically mentioned this person to Xu Damao on the list of those being demoted from the Ministry of Metallurgy, but then forgot about him. This guy had fallen into Yi Zhonghai's hands again; it was lucky he survived.

He let the others get in the car first, then waved outside. Old Huang immediately followed: "Director Li, what are your orders?"

"You lead the director and the other comrades to the guesthouse first. I'll be there in a bit, no need to wait for me."

"Alright." Old Huang received the order and continued to greet the others. Li Jing'an then walked towards Luo Tianyou's direction.

The young man immediately greeted him, "Director Li!" Luo Tianyou bowed even deeper.

Li Jing'an simply nodded: "What are you doing?"

"Oh, Director Li, I'm monitoring this bad element while he's working," the young man replied.

Li Jing'an frowned: "Bad element? You mean him?" He pointed at Luo Tianyou.

The young man nodded: "Yes."

Li Jing'an snorted: "Nonsense! When were the personnel transferred from the Ministry of Metallurgy classified as 'bad elements'? What crimes were they charged with? How come I don't know anything about it?"

The young man was at a loss: "Ah... Director Li, I..." He was a little confused. Wasn't this how it was always done before? Weren't the people who were sent down to the countryside already classified? Otherwise, why would his former high-ranking leader come here to be taught a lesson?

"Alright, you can go back now. This is none of your business. Tell your team leader that I've reassigned this comrade to another location." Li Jing'an waved his hand, then turned his gaze to Luo Tianyou, who was holding a broom to the side.

Luo Tianyou looks so haggard that his age is hard to guess, but Li Jing'an has seen his file and he should be 36 years old this year, only two years older than himself.

"Hello, Mr. Luo, I am Li Jing'an, the director of the Revolutionary Committee of the Steel Rolling Mill." Li Jing'an said with a smile.

Luo Tianyou was at a loss for words at this sight and could only reply in a low voice, "Director Li."

"Don't be nervous, Engineer Luo. I didn't expect you to be in this situation either. When you were sent to the factory, I told you to take good care of yourselves, but things still went wrong. It seems I didn't do my job well," Li Jing'an said with a look of frustration.

Luo Tianyou had no idea what he was up to, and adhering to the principle of saying and doing as little as possible, he didn't dare to speak.

Li Jing'an didn't seem to mind: "Sigh, seeing you like this makes me feel really bad too. Okay, not today, I have other tasks. Come to my office tomorrow, and I'll arrange something else for you. You should go home and rest today."

"Okay, thank you, Director Li, thank you, Director Li." Luo Tianyou wasn't stunned by these words and remained cautious, after all, he had been living like this for some time.

Watching Luo Tianyou's retreating figure, Li Jing'an muttered to himself: "This guy's family are big capitalists in Southeast Asia; he might be useful someday. After Xu Damao and Yi Zhonghai's mess, if I step in to rescue him, he should be grateful, right? Hehehe..."

Not long after Li Jing'an left, chattering could be heard again in the club. The dance troupe members had finished removing their makeup and were preparing to go to the guesthouse for a banquet.

Liu Yuanyuan walked smugly in the middle, surrounded by several sensible female classmates.

"Yuanyuan, you danced so well! Director Li and the director of the metallurgical department both praised you today!"

"That's right, Yuanyuan is one of the top students in our school, so she'll definitely be in control here."

The crowd chattered and flattered her. Liu Yuanyuan remained calm and composed, not even responding, and simply walked forward on her own, but the smugness in her eyes was undeniable.

Since being cast as the lead actress by Li Jing'an, her situation immediately improved. Her former classmates, who used to be her rivals, were relegated to the very back of the backup dancers and were severely suppressed by her.

On the way to the bus, Liu Yuanyuan suddenly saw a familiar face—Li Chao. She instinctively looked behind Li Chao and finally spotted him at the back of the crowd.

Li Chao and his amateur performance troupe had just finished performing in another workshop and were on their way back to their own. They also saw the propaganda team actors coming out of the club.

"Oh, what a coincidence, they've finished their performance too."

"Look at them, they can go out for a meal after the performance, while we have to go back to the workshop to continue working."

"I'm so envious. They're always dressed neatly and beautifully, and they don't have to do any work."

"How can that be the same? They're on the cadre payroll, graduates of professional schools, while we're just workers."

"Wasn't Wang Manqi one of them too?" Someone mentioned Wang Manqi, and everyone immediately realized, "Yes, Manqi!"

"Do you know them? Why didn't you say hello?"

"Isn't that your classmate? How could you not recognize him?"

Wang Manqi spotted them in the group and tried her best to hide, afraid of being seen by the students from the club. It seemed she couldn't avoid it any longer, and the comments from the crowd made her look extremely uncomfortable.

Before she could even greet him, someone had already spoken up: "Hey, isn't this Captain Li? What a coincidence!" The girl standing next to Liu Yuanyuan's eyes lit up, and she immediately greeted Li Chao.

Li Chao smiled and said, "Hey, what are you guys doing here?"

"We're going to the guesthouse for the banquet tonight!"

"I really envy you guys. Unlike me, I still have to go back to the workshop with a miserable life." Li Chao said with a wry smile.

"Hey, how can that be the same? You're still the team leader, a leader."

"Leader? Heh." Li Chao smiled bitterly to himself. What kind of bullshit leader is this? Who does he lead? Everyone else's job is a factory worker who obeys their own superiors. At most, he has some say in the program scheduling.

The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became. It was a completely undeserved disaster. Why was he suddenly chosen to be the team leader? What was even more frustrating was that he had fallen out with Wang Manqi, who he used to get along well with. Wang Manqi believed that it was because he went to Li Jing'an that she was sent here.

He only wanted Wang Manqi to be treated fairly by Li Jing'an. He didn't use any connections, so why did he get such a huge blame?

Li Chao also saw Liu Yuanyuan, but he was too embarrassed to greet her. After all, although he had sought out Li Jing'an for Wang Manqi's sake, it had indeed caused Liu Yuanyuan's lead role to be suspended, and later caused quite a bit of trouble, so he was genuinely a little embarrassed.

"Let's go, let's go, don't keep the leaders waiting." Liu Yuanyuan suddenly spoke, ending the conversation.

Wang Manqi watched her classmates board the bus one by one and breathed a sigh of relief, glad that she hadn't been discovered—or so she thought.

Nighttime, inside a suite at the guesthouse. The bathroom door opened, and Li Jing'an, wrapped in a bath towel, came out first, walked to the single sofa in the small living room, sat down, and lit a cigarette.

A short while later, Liu Yuanyuan also came out of the bathroom.

"Yuanyuan, did you bring the clothes?"

"I brought it," Liu Yuanyuan said, taking the red performance outfit out of the bag hanging behind the door.

"Okay, come on, put it on and let me see." Li Jing'an smiled.

Liu Yuanyuan untied her bathrobe, which was piled on the floor, and changed into the red dress worn by Wu Qionghua in "The Red Detachment of Women." She even twirled around to show Li Jing'an.

"Haha, okay, come on, come over here and let me take a good look." Li Jing'an sat on the sofa, holding a cigarette in one hand and slapping his thigh with the other.

Liu Yuanyuan obediently walked over, sat on his lap, and hugged his neck.

Li Jing'an took a deep drag of his cigarette and kissed her directly. With a "whoosh," Liu Yuanyuan was forced to swallow a large mouthful of smoke, which choked her and brought tears to her eyes. It took her a while to recover.

Li Jing'an laughed heartily: "I love the feeling of you crying, you know? When you cry, I want to take medicine, and it works immediately, making me energetic again! Hahaha."

He pressed the cigarette butt into the ashtray and started moving his hand.

With a "rip," "Ah, Uncle!"

"Um……?"

"Don't do that, I have a performance in a couple of days."

"Hey, it's just a piece of clothing. I'll get you five sets tomorrow."

"I'm willing to tear them up, and I'll tear them up in different ways. If five sets aren't enough, I'll tear up ten sets, hahaha."

"Sizzle!" Another sound.