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

"Brother Li, you were looking for me?" Wang Caixia asked with a smile, her voice full of charm.

Li Jing'an exhaled a puff of smoke and pointed to the sofa: "Sit down, Huairu, sit down too."

Wang Caixia and Qin Huairu sat down on the sofa, with a coffee table between them. Wang Caixia noticed that Qin Huairu's sitting posture was a little awkward, and she sneered inwardly, but kept a straight face.

"I called you here because I have something to announce," Li Jing'an flicked his cigarette ash. "I've decided to make Comrade Qin Huairu the class monitor for the afternoon shift."

Wang Caixia's heart skipped a beat. Although she had expected it, she hadn't anticipated it would happen so quickly. Her smile remained unchanged as she nodded, "This is good news! Sister Qin is very capable; she'll definitely be the class monitor."

Qin Huairu quickly replied modestly, "I still have a lot to learn from Squad Leader Wang."

"From now on, you'll be the squad leader, and Qin Huairu will be the squad leader," Li Jing'an continued. "You two will rotate shifts every two weeks for the morning and afternoon shifts. As for the night shift, one person from the afternoon shift will take turns on duty. Anyway, there's nothing to do at night; you just sleep in the duty room. The squad leader won't be on duty."

He paused, then looked at Qin Huairu, "Huairu is new here, so the class monitor allowance won't be issued for now. If she performs well, it will be added later."

Wang Caixia smiled and said, "Understood, Brother Li, don't worry, I will definitely cooperate with Sister Qin's work."

In her heart, she was thinking: Qin Huairu has only been here a few days and she has already become the class monitor. She must have served Li Jing'an very well.

She thought she needed to step up her game and not let Qin Huairu pull ahead. After all, Qin Huairu and Li Jing'an were neighbors, and Qin Huairu was a widow; being close by naturally gave her an advantage.

In the future, when they are together, I need to be more proactive and learn all sorts of positions and moves so that Qin Huairu can take advantage of me all by herself.

Li Jing'an, unaware of Wang Caixia's inner thoughts, continued, "Also, there's something else. Huai Ru just mentioned an idea to me, which I think is quite good, so I'll share it with you."

He explained Qin Huairu's thoughts on the price difference of grain coupons, and added, "The price difference when exchanging grain coupons will be yours. However, don't just focus on the national grain coupons."

He leaned forward and lowered his voice, "If customers don't have enough national grain coupons, they can use their local grain coupons plus a little money to exchange for Beijing grain coupons with the waiter. The reverse is also possible; they can pay extra to exchange for national grain coupons with the waiter."

He paused, looking at the two women meaningfully, "We can even exchange them for other types of coupons—cloth coupons, oil coupons, sugar coupons. Wouldn't that expand our business significantly?"

Wang Caixia and Qin Huairu's eyes lit up. This wasn't the work of a guesthouse waitress; it was practically the business of a black market ticket scalper! But working at a guesthouse was safe, had a stable clientele, and was purely helping customers solve "practical problems"—who could say anything wrong with that?

"Brother Li, that's a brilliant idea!" Wang Caixia was the first to react, praising repeatedly, "This way, our guesthouse's services will be even more comprehensive, and customers will definitely be more satisfied!"

Qin Huairu quickly chimed in, "Yes, Brother Li, you've thought of everything! How come we didn't consider that?"

Li Jing'an smiled with satisfaction and waved his hand: "Alright, stop flattering me. It's settled then. You two discuss it and be careful not to be too blatant."

"Understood!" the two replied in unison.

"Let's go, come with me to the first floor to announce Huairu's appointment." Li Jing'an stubbed out his cigarette and stood up.

As they went downstairs, Wang Caixia and Qin Huairu followed Li Jing'an on either side.

As they reached the corner of the stairs, Li Jing'an's hand "inadvertently" landed on Wang Caixia's buttocks and gently pinched it. Wang Caixia stiffened for a moment, then quickly recovered, pretending nothing had happened, but her eyes darted to Qin Huairu on the other side.

Qin Huairu was looking straight ahead and seemed not to notice the little movement, but Wang Caixia saw that her ears were slightly red and sneered inwardly: What are you pretending for? Do you think Li Jing'an only touched you?

Upon reaching the duty room on the first floor, several waiters were chatting idly. When they saw Li Jing'an bring two people in, they all stood up.

"Everyone, please quiet down," Li Jing'an cleared his throat. "I have an announcement to make. Starting today, Comrade Qin Huairu will be the class monitor for the afternoon shift, that is, the second class monitor. Comrade Wang Caixia will be the first class monitor. From now on, the morning and afternoon shifts will rotate every two weeks. The specific arrangements will be discussed between the two class monitors."

As soon as he finished speaking, a murmur arose in the duty room.

"Qin Huairu has only been here a few days, and she's already the class monitor?"

"It's all because of that little thing..."

"Keep your voice down, someone might hear you..."

"What's there to hide? Everyone knows she and Director Li are neighbors..."

The murmurs weren't loud, but everyone could hear them clearly. Qin Huairu's face burned; her fingers gripped the hem of her clothes so tightly that her nails almost dug into her flesh. She knew what these people would say about her; widows always attract gossip, especially since she had gotten in through Li Jing'an's connections.

Li Jing'an coughed, and the murmurs subsided somewhat. He continued, "Also, since Comrade Qin Huairu has only been here a short time, the squad leader's allowance will not be issued for now; we'll discuss it again once she performs well."

This statement quieted the discussion somewhat. After all, there were no real benefits; he was just a figurehead class monitor, so the jealousy wasn't as strong.

Qin Huairu stood beside Li Jing'an, trying her best to straighten her back. She knew what these people would say about her behind her back, that she used her body to get ahead, that she and Li Jing'an were having an affair... She accepted all of that.

More than these gossips, she fears returning to the old days—doing the hardest work in the factory, earning the lowest wages, coming home to find her children hungry, and listening to her mother-in-law's complaints.

She never wanted to live that kind of life again.

After making the announcement, Li Jing'an gave a few more instructions before turning and going upstairs. Wang Caixia clapped her hands: "Alright, everyone go back to what you were doing. Xiao Liu, go check all the rooms on the second floor; Xiao Zhang, keep an eye on the front desk..."

The crowd dispersed, each going about their own business. Wang Caixia walked up to Qin Huairu and whispered, "Sister Qin, congratulations!"

Qin Huairu sensed the complexity in her tone and smiled, "I'll have to rely on Squad Leader Wang for guidance in the future."

"I wouldn't call it giving pointers," Wang Caixia laughed, "Let's just help each other out. That thing Brother Li asked us to do... we need to think about it carefully."

The two exchanged a knowing glance, both knowing that the other was referring to the grain coupons.

"How about we find a place to talk after get off work this afternoon?" Wang Caixia suggested.

Qin Huairu nodded: "Okay, let's go to my house, it's nearby."

"Okay," Wang Caixia replied, turning around to get busy.

Qin Huairu stood there, watching her busy colleagues in the duty room, her heart filled with mixed emotions. She knew that from today onwards, her status in this guesthouse would be different. Although she was just a shift leader without any subsidies, at least she would no longer be ordered around or do the dirtiest and most tiring work.

She recalled the feeling of Li Jing'an's hands roaming over her body, and the half hour she had spent in the office just now, and her stomach suddenly churned. She hurried to the bathroom, closed the door, and dry heaved a few times in front of the sink.

She's willing to do anything for her children and her family.

Qin Huairu turned on the tap, splashed cold water on her face, and carefully tidied her hair and clothes. When she came out of the bathroom, her face had returned to calm, even with a faint smile.

She is now Squad Leader Qin.

She stopped at the door of the duty room, took a deep breath, and then pushed the door open and went inside.

"Xiao Zhang, let me see today's register."

Xiao Zhang was stunned for a moment, seemingly not yet used to Qin Huairu's new identity, but he quickly reacted and hurriedly handed over the registration book: "Okay, Class Monitor Qin."

Qin Huairu took the register. Although she couldn't read, she pretended to flip through it, her mind racing with thoughts of her conversation with Wang Caixia that afternoon. She needed to carefully plan the grain coupons; they were crucial to how much money she could earn in the future...

Outside the window, the afternoon sun shone through the glass, casting bright patches of light on the concrete floor of the duty room. Qin Huairu looked up, squinted at the sunlight, and suddenly felt that this winter might not be so hard to endure.