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

Liu Yuanyuan heard news from the workshop last night that Wang Manqi's father seemed to have been detained by the steel rolling mill.

She then heard that Wang Manqi had gotten into Li Jing'an's car yesterday afternoon. Her heart immediately tightened, and she rushed to the office building early this morning, hoping to find an opportunity to probe Li Jing'an for information.

But she had just seen Li Jing'an and Wang Manqi get out of the car together through the door. Seeing Wang Manqi's haggard and disheveled appearance, she knew things were going badly. She had also ended up with Li Jing'an.

"Good morning, Director Li—" Liu Yuanyuan greeted him with a forced smile, but quickly corrected herself halfway through her sentence, "Uh, Uncle…"

Li Jing'an stopped and raised an eyebrow at her: "Yuanyuan? What are you doing at the office building this morning instead of at the club?"

"Uncle, I am..." Liu Yuanyuan bit her lip, her gaze unconsciously drifting towards the door. "I saw you and Manqi come together... Does she have some plans?"

Li Jing'an chuckled, a hint of amusement in his smile: "Smart, youth is indeed a smart thing. Comrade Wang Manqi will take over my secretary duties from now on—she's efficient, eloquent, and I like her very much; she's truly a capable secretary."

Liu Yuanyuan's heart sank, her face visibly paled, and her fingers gripped the hem of her clothes even tighter: "Uncle...why don't you...reconsider?"

Before he could finish speaking, Li Jing'an's smile vanished instantly. He took a step forward, his eyes suddenly sharpening: "What do you mean?"

He stared into Liu Yuanyuan's eyes, slamming each word down his throat, "Are you questioning my decision? Who do you think you are? Here to tell me what to do? Did I give you a couple of nice days and you think you know your place?"

Liu Yuanyuan was forced to retreat, her face turning deathly pale. She tried to explain, but Li Jing'an was already right in front of her, his eyes filled with icy coldness, his tone growing increasingly harsh: "Think before you speak from now on. This is an office building. If this were anywhere else, I wouldn't have been too harsh on you by slapping you across the face. Who do you think you are? Don't think you can teach me how to do things just because you've been with me for a few days! Bullshit!"

Liu Yuanyuan was trembling all over, her lips were trembling and she couldn't say a word, tears were welling up in her eyes and sliding down her cheeks.

"Damn it," Li Jing'an took a half step back, glancing at her with disgust, his voice filled with impatience, "You've ruined my good mood this morning. It's only good in the morning; at any other time I'd beat you half to death. Get out of here!"

Liu Yuanyuan felt as if she had been granted a pardon. She propped up her weak legs and turned to walk out, her head down and staggering. When she reached the door, her legs gave way and she almost knelt down, only managing to steady herself by holding onto the door frame. Li Jing'an snorted at her retreating figure and turned to go upstairs.

As he passed by Xiaolin's office, he peeked out and called out, "Xiaolin, come to my office."

Xiao Lin put down the documents in her hand, quickly followed Li Jing'an inside, deftly poured him some hot water, handed him a cigarette, and stood respectfully in front of the desk with her hands at her sides, even her breathing becoming slightly softer. Li Jing'an leaned back in his chair, lit the cigarette, took a puff, slowly exhaled a smoke ring, and glanced at Xiao Lin's face.

"Xiao Lin," he began, his tone unusually amiable, "you're not getting any younger, it's time to find someone. Brother Li can't hold you back—how about this, I'll transfer you to a support role, how about that?"

Xiaolin suddenly looked up, a glint of disbelief flashing in her eyes. She had dreamed of leaving this person, leaving this office.

But when Li Jing'an said those words, her first reaction wasn't joy, but fear—she didn't know if it was a test or genuine sincerity. In the end, she didn't dare to speak, and just stood there blankly.

Seeing his expression, Li Jing'an found it amusing and raised the corner of his mouth: "What's wrong, missing Brother Li? Don't worry, we're all in the same factory, I can call you anytime if I miss you." He paused, his gaze falling meaningfully on Xiao Lin's face, "Even if it's inconvenient for you, you still have your sister Lin Wan, right? It's all the same."

Xiao Lin's expression changed slightly, and she lowered her head, not daring to meet Li Jing'an's gaze. Li Jing'an stared at her for two seconds, then chuckled, "Alright, it's settled then. I'm just informing you that someone will be coming to take over your duties in a bit. After that, go directly to report to Team Leader Song of the Political Work Group."

Kobayashi managed to squeeze out only one word at the end: "...Yes."

---

After lunch, Li Jing'an leaned back in his chair, head down, instructing Wang Manqi on how to clean thoroughly, leaving no corner untouched and cleaning from head to toe.

Knock, knock, knock—the sound of knocking on the door rang out.

Wang Manqi panicked a little, but Li Jing'an stopped her.

"What's the rush? Ignore him, clean up first, then open the door."

A few minutes later, Li Jing'an released his hand from Wang Manqi's head.

Wang Manqi immediately got up, swallowed hard, hurriedly straightened her clothes, ran her fingers through her hair, and took a deep breath before opening the door.

"Hello comrade... I'm looking for Director Li." Qin Jingru's voice came through.

"Jingru?" Li Jing'an leaned halfway out of his chair. "Come in. Manqi, you can go out first."

Wang Manqi felt as if she had been granted a pardon. She lowered her head and quickly walked out, gently closing the door behind her. Li Jing'an looked at Qin Jingru, his brows slowly furrowing: "You're almost due, aren't you? Why are you here again?"

"Brother Li..." Qin Jingru rubbed her hands, her gaze darting around a few times before hesitatingly speaking, "It's still about Da Mao..."

"What's wrong with him now?" Li Jing'an leaned back impatiently in his chair, grinding the cigarette butt between his fingers.

"This afternoon... Xu Damao was arrested at home by people sent by Yi Zhonghai and locked up in the steel rolling mill. They said they were going to criticize and denounce him." Qin Jingru's eyes reddened and her voice began to tremble.

Li Jing'an raised an eyebrow: "What's going on?"

Qin Jingru recounted the whole story haltingly—Qin Huairu and Sha Zhu finally confronted each other and decided to live together. Xu Damao had been having a rough time lately, and after learning about this, he wasn't about to let Sha Zhu have an easy time, so someone hung a "broken shoe" around Bang Geng's neck.

Afterwards, Sha Zhu beat up Xu Damao. In order to gain favor with Sha Zhu and ease tensions, Yi Zhonghai sent people to kidnap Xu Damao from his home to the factory.

After listening, Li Jing'an scoffed and stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray. "Is Xu Damao crazy? Why is he always provoking Sha Zhu? Sha Zhu is so old, and he finally got married—even if it's a second-hand one, he didn't lose out. He went from being single to having elderly parents and young children, isn't that a perfect life? He just has to trip him up now." He shook his head. "Bang Geng was assaulted when he was a kid, and Sha Zhu suspected Xu Damao was behind it—looks like he wasn't wrong. That bastard, he's fucking wicked."

Qin Jingru was so anxious that tears streamed down her face. She took a step forward and said, "Brother Li... please help him, for the sake of the years he worked for you..."

"Why save him?" Li Jing'an glanced at her sideways. "The one less of this kind of scoundrel is a good thing for everyone else. He brought it on himself."

Qin Jingru's lips trembled, and she couldn't speak.

Li Jing'an stared at her for a few seconds, then suddenly curled his lips into a half-smile: "Hey, I suddenly realize that you really care about Xu Damao now—you came to beg me last time, and you're here again this time. Have you two really developed feelings for each other?"

Qin Jingru's face stiffened. She lived under the same roof as Xu Damao every day; even a dog develops feelings over time. Besides, who else could she rely on besides Xu Damao? She barely saw Li Jing'an a few times; she even suspected he had long forgotten about her.

"Alright." Li Jing'an pushed the ashtray forward, his tone laced with a hint of condescension. "I'll let him off this time for your sake. But let's make this clear—this is the last time. Don't keep coming to my office. There are so many people and so many eyes in the factory; if rumors start circulating, it won't look good for me. After I help you this time, go back and live a good life with Xu Damao. Don't come here again."

After Qin Jingru nodded in agreement.

"Go back and find Yi Zhonghai directly. Tell him I said to release Xu Damao. If he doesn't believe me, let him come to me." Li Jing'an waved his hand as if shooing away a fly, his head already turned back to the documents on the table.

Qin Jingru lowered her head and left, gently closing the door behind her.