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

After the meeting ended, everyone dispersed. Li Jing'an returned to the small living room outside the bedroom, sat down, lit a cigarette, and his face suddenly darkened.

Hu Wenshan followed behind, standing in the center of the living room, head down, not daring to utter a sound.

"What are you good for?" Li Jing'an said coldly, his voice not loud but carrying a threatening tone. "Don't you have any sense of vigilance? You didn't notify me immediately after something happened, and you wanted to cover it up with that lousy head of your Metallurgical Bureau, didn't you?" He sat on the sofa, launching a tirade against Hu Wenshan, who stood in the middle of the living room with his head bowed. "I think you've really grown up. Are you up to something?"

"No, no, Minister Li, don't you know who I am?" Hu Wenshan quickly retorted, a wry smile on his face. "I've been loyal to you all these years. It's just that this incident happened so suddenly, and the head of our Metallurgical Bureau spoke with such conviction that I genuinely believed he had some ability and could quickly quell everything. If things escalated, I'd be caught in the crossfire, wouldn't I? That's why I agreed to his nonsense. I never expected..."

Old Hu was filled with regret and cursed Yuan in his heart. It was a real loss. Not only did he make a huge mess, but he also angered Minister Li and made him suspicious of him.

"You self-righteous idiots! You're all like that!" Li Jing'an pointed at him with exasperation. "You're at a crucial moment for your promotion, and you mess this up. It's already a favor that you're not sent back to farm this time."

"Minister, you have to help me, save me!" Old Hu panicked immediately upon hearing this. "Please, for all these years of my sincere service to you..."

"Alright, alright, alright, stop pretending to be pitiful." Li Jing'an interrupted him, his tone still stern. "Let me tell you, if I can get things done smoothly this time, there's still room for maneuver in your case. If something else goes wrong, you don't need to beg me anymore. This is your fate, so just accept it." Li Jing'an didn't give him a kind look. What more did he want after making such a big mess? He lit a cigarette between his fingers and said.

"Stop wailing there and get ready. Tomorrow during the day, you'll represent me at the mine and pretend to talk to them to buy some time for the prefectural committee and military sub-district to make their deployments." Li Jing'an looked at him, his anger rising.

Old Hu was a bit dumbfounded. He hadn't expected that Minister Li hadn't intended to resolve the issue through negotiation at all! Was his plan from the start to be a hardline crackdown? But... if I were to go and negotiate, what if...

"Huh? What the hell?" Old Hu looked embarrassed, pointing to his own nose. If they found out, they'd tear him apart.

"What? You don't want to?" Li Jing'an glared at him, his tone unfriendly. "Fine, fine, don't say I'm making things difficult for you. If you don't want to, you can submit your resignation letter right now. After this matter is over, I'll approve your resignation letter along with the responsibility."

"Minister Li, I'll go, I'll go!" Old Hu quickly changed his tune. "Actually, I'm not afraid of my own safety, I'm afraid of delaying your work, and I'm afraid I'm not good with words and won't be able to complete the task you gave me."

"Alright, alright. I know what you're up to the moment you bend over. Just hold it in." Li Jing'an waved his hand. "You should go back too. Prepare your explanation for tomorrow. I need to get some rest."

"I'm sorry, Minister, it's all my fault." Old Hu bowed repeatedly, apologizing like a schoolboy, standing there awkwardly. Seeing Li Jing'an's still impatient expression, he rolled his eyes and said, "Minister Li, knowing you were coming, I specially brought Comrade Xiao Juan along. How about... I call her in?"

Li Jing'an's face hardened. "What are you trying to do? What time is it? You're still pulling this trick! I think you're hopeless." He slammed his hand on the sofa armrest in anguish, jumped up, and launched into another tirade, "You're trying to be clever again! Do you think you're the only smart one, the only one who can get things done? What did you call her here for? What time is it? Are you here to help or to make things worse?"

"I'm so sorry, Minister, I was so confused." Old Hu was stunned when he saw Li Jing'an's angry face. How did he manage to flatter him so badly again? This was just incredibly unlucky. He wanted to slap himself. "Minister, I... I'll tell her to go back right away. You can rest." Old Hu stammered and backed away, hurriedly trying to leave.

"Wait a minute." Li Jing'an frowned, put his hands behind his back, and walked directly towards the bedroom. "Since she's already here, are you going to kick her out? Call her in."

Old Hu was stunned, standing there dumbfounded, unable to fathom Minister Li's true feelings. This display of emotion was truly unfamiliar to him—had he accepted it, or not?

-

"Director...Director, there's news."

At the same time, inside the mine's office building, several people were sitting together in a smoke-filled office, chatting about something. Suddenly, someone pushed open the door and barged in, interrupting their conversation.

"What is it? Speak." Director Fei, sitting in the middle of the main seat, frowned and asked the visitor.

"Hehe, Director, I have a relative in the government. He just called me and said that their prefectural committee leaders went to the military airport with a group of people to pick up someone. They said it was someone from higher up."

"Oh, really?" Director Fei immediately perked up and squinted his eyes to think.

The person next to them looked excited: "Of course! We must have alerted the higher-ups!"

"Is this deal about to be finalized?" People around them were talking amongst themselves, all looking at Director Fei.

Director Fei then raised his hand to interrupt everyone, a smile appearing on his face: "Comrades, let's hold on for two more days. As long as we don't give in, as long as we stick to the fact that the original factory leaders were all corrupt officials, capitalist roaders, and restorationists, we will be invincible. Even if someone from Beijing comes, they'll have to admit it."

"Hahaha, Director Fei is right! With Director Fei leading us in our endeavors and revolutions, how could we possibly fail? Hahahaha..." The room was filled with cheerful laughter.

"Alright, comrades. We can talk about happy things later. Let's get things settled first," Director Fei said seriously. "We must not let our guard down. We must stand guard where we are and maintain our fighting strength. We must protect our mining area so that it is watertight and impenetrable, and not let anyone find a loophole, so that we don't end up without any bargaining chips. Today, everyone should stay and sleep at the factory."

"Understood! Director Fei, just you wait and see! Hahaha..." Everyone responded in unison, their laughter echoing for a long time in the smoke.