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

In the living room, Wei Jialing sat at the other end of the sofa, her gaze fixed like a searchlight on Li Jing'an, who had just come out of the study.

"What exactly did you talk to Dad about on the phone?" Wei Jialing's voice was low. "And what did your uncle's family want with you this time?"

Li Jing'an waved his hand and sat down on the other side of the sofa. "Hey, it's nothing earth-shattering. You're always so dramatic." He put down his teacup, his tone tinged with helplessness. "It's just that my uncle's two cousins ​​got into a fight with the neighbors yesterday and were taken to the police station. It's nothing serious. I've already spoken to the police station and asked around. It's just that the two neighbors got a few injuries—one broke his leg, and the other got a head injury. It's nothing."

"Our dad is really something," Wei Jialing's brows furrowed instantly, her tone full of disdain, "He bothers you with such trivial matters as a fight at my uncle's house?"

Li Jing'an glanced at her sideways: "You make it sound so easy. If he doesn't come to me, who else would he come to?"

As they were talking, there was still no movement from the kitchen. Wei Jialing's impatience reached its peak, and she shouted towards the kitchen, "Xiao Zhang! What's going on? It's been so long and it's still not done? Is the hot water out or something?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the attendant, Xiao Zhang, came out of the kitchen carrying a tray, her face full of panic. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, the water I boiled was a little slow..." she said, as she hurriedly placed the coffee and tea in front of the two of them.

"Seriously! Don't you keep hot water at home all the time? What kind of job do you do?" Wei Jialing persisted, her gaze like a knife scraping across Xiao Zhang's face.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Fine beads of sweat had already seeped out of Xiao Zhang's forehead as he kept bowing.

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded at the door. Another orderly rushed into the living room, bowed deeply to Li Jing'an, and said urgently, "Minister, comrades from the Ministry of Metallurgy are here to visit."

Li Jing'an frowned, somewhat displeased. Why were they only arriving at this hour? Did they have a problem with him? He waved his hand and said in a deep voice, "Yes, let them in."

"Minister, it's...it's several people," the orderly added.

"What? They came as a group?" Li Jing'an was somewhat surprised. He turned to look at Wei Jialing, who was still lecturing him, and impatiently interrupted, "Alright, alright, are you done yet? Can't you see we have guests?"

Hearing Li Jing'an speak, Wei Jialing finally toned down her aggressive demeanor. She gave Xiao Zhang a disdainful look, then coldly said, "Xiao Zhang, listen to me carefully! Be careful next time! If this happens again, you're fired! You can forget about going back to the Ministry of Metallurgy. You'd better use your connections to find a factory job in the neighborhood!"

Xiao Zhang's face turned deathly pale instantly. He nodded repeatedly in fear and then retreated back to the kitchen as if fleeing.

Soon, a voice called "Minister" came from the doorway. Li Jing'an put down his teacup, then raised his eyelids to look at the person who had entered.

"Oh, Xiao Liu, what brings you here again?" Li Jing'an recognized the man as his office director. He had seen the list; the man had already come once that afternoon.

With a smile plastered on his face, Xiao Liu quickly stepped forward, bowed slightly, and explained, "Minister, it's like this. The comrades from Qin Province rushed over overnight, and as soon as they arrived in Beijing, they blocked the entrance to the department, insisting that I contact you to report on our work. I was so bothered that I had no choice but to turn back."

"Which company in Qin Province?" Li Jing'an asked.

"It's Lao Zhou from Qin Gang."

"Oh, it's him." Li Jing'an suddenly realized. He remembered Old Zhou from the Qin Province Steel Plant. When he went to conduct research before, this person in charge received him very attentively and thoughtfully. He was a man who knew how to get things done.

"Where are the others?"

"I'm waiting at the door. I came to ask what you think first," Xiao Liu replied cautiously.

Li Jing'an nodded in satisfaction: "Okay, I understand. Let him in."

Xiao Liu quickly turned and went out. Not long after, a group of people filed in, carrying large and small suitcases. Leading them was Old Zhou from the Qin Province Steel Plant; Xiao Liu hadn't returned.

Before Li Jing'an could speak, Old Zhou put down the box he was carrying, his face beaming with a fawning smile, and bowed deeply: "Minister, I'm so sorry to bother you so suddenly."

"Oh, what's the big deal?" Li Jing'an waved his hand, appearing magnanimous. "You've come all this way to see me, how could I refuse?" He then looked at Wei Jialing and ordered, "Why aren't you going to tell them to pour tea for the guest?"

Wei Jialing rolled her eyes at him, reluctantly stood up, and walked towards the kitchen.

"No need, no need, I'm not thirsty, no need to trouble yourself." Old Zhou quickly waved his hand, while directing the people behind him to put the things away and then let them all go out first.

Li Jing'an frowned again as he looked at the rows of suitcases on the ground: "What's going on? Why did you bring so many suitcases?"

"Hehe, these are just some local specialties from our Qin Province." Old Zhou rubbed his hands together, smiling obsequiously. "It would be so embarrassing to come here empty-handed for the first time. I wanted to offer you some local specialties."

"I appreciate your kind intentions, but there's no need for such expense," Li Jing'an said, gesturing to the sofa opposite him. "Come, sit down."

After everyone was seated, the attendant brought in fresh tea. Old Zhou quickly stood up to express his gratitude, then looked intently at Li Jing'an and said respectfully, "Minister, the main reason I've come is to report to you on the implementation of the Fourth Five-Year Plan in our factory."

When the "Fourth Five-Year Plan" was mentioned, Li Jing'an's eyes narrowed slightly. The goals set in this plan were indeed somewhat unrealistic. In the past few years, he had exhausted all his efforts, and this year he could only barely achieve the bare minimum target—3000 million tons of steel production. This was already a target that had been reduced again and again; it was practically a decision made on a whim.

"Minister, because you have entrusted us with important responsibilities and paid special attention to Qin Steel, our output has increased year by year since the expansion in the past two years. It looks like we will be able to exceed our target this year, so I came here to give you the good news!" Old Zhou's voice was full of excitement.

"Thank you for your hard work." Li Jing'an sighed, a smile of approval on his face. "Your team at Qin Steel is capable; I've seen it all."

"It's not hard work, it's not hard work! Without your earnest instructions and the approval of targets that expanded our production lines and factory area, we wouldn't have been able to achieve this result!" Old Zhou quickly took credit.

Li Jing'an offered a few more words of encouragement, then asked, "Why did you suddenly come to the capital today? Is there something urgent?"