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

On the roadside, Song Yun pushed her bicycle and turned to Su Liting, who was following behind, to complain, "Why are you so slow? It's just ahead, hurry up."

Su Liting lingered behind her and said, "Do you think if we go to find Li Jing'an, he'll make arrangements for us?"

"Why can't they arrange something for us? Let me tell you, Xu Damao, who used to work at our factory, is now working for Li Jing'an, isn't he?" Song Yun lowered her voice, her tone urgent. "I heard that his basic salary alone is two thousand a month, plus commission, which doubles it. Do you know how much that is? It's equivalent to several years' worth of our salaries! Aren't you interested?"

Song Yun lectured Su Liting behind her, as if trying to persuade her, but more like she was encouraging herself. Since Li Jing'an resigned, her days at the steel rolling mill were over. Her position had been promoted during a special period; the new leadership showed no mercy to the older generation, quickly transferring her to the logistics warehouse as a warehouse manager. Although she still held a cadre status, she did the same work as the workers, only receiving a slightly higher salary. Without her position at the factory, her status at home vanished as well.

Whenever they have a minor argument, her husband brings up her past with Li Jing'an, calling her shameless and a "cuckold." Song Yun has had enough of him. If it weren't for the children and her age, she would have broken up with him long ago. But her husband doesn't seem to realize that he was the one who pushed her to go to Li Jing'an in the first place, hoping to get a position and benefits, and then he turned around and blamed it all on Song Yun.

Song Yun had made up her mind that if she could stay at Li Jing'an's company today, she would go back to get a divorce tomorrow.

"Look, it's up ahead, over there with a bunch of bikes piled up in front." Song Yun pointed to a villa by the roadside, its entrance overflowing with bicycles, and a few people lingering there. Song Yun's eyes lit up. "Look how booming the business is! You know what? That 'Brain Gold' they produce sells so well. As soon as it hits the shelves in department stores, it's sold out instantly, with demand exceeding supply. Actually, at first, I just wanted to use my old connections to get some from him and secretly resell it to the people in our factory to earn some pocket money. But ever since I found out that Xu Damao was working for him, I made up my mind—I had to come."

Su Liting, on the other hand, wasn't so strongly motivated. She had only been encouraged by Song Yun and lured by the high salary. Although her life wasn't as good as before, her husband, Engineer Han, treated her as well as ever. Since Li Jing'an resigned and she went to school, Engineer Han had been even better to her than before. She had even gotten used to her current life, though sometimes when she lay in bed, she felt a little dazed, as if she were in another world—missing the days when she was a leader in the factory with Li Jing'an, enjoying all the glory.

"Hey, hey, what are you doing? Why are you just barging in like that?" The two guards at the door stopped Song Yun, who was trying to rush in, and spoke to her in an unfriendly tone.

"I'm here to see Li Jing'an," Song Yun said, frowning at the two people blocking her way.

"Who is this Li Jing'an? Hurry up and leave." One of them waved impatiently, as if trying to shoo Song Yun away like a fly.

"Who do you mean Li Jing'an? Isn't Li Jing'an your boss?" Song Yun was getting a little angry.

"We don't know the boss's name, but his surname is definitely Li. How do I know if you're right or wrong?" The security guard remained unmoved.

"Why don't you just go and inform someone?" Song Yun said, frowning.

"Can't you see we're short-handed? There are only two of us. If one of us goes to deliver the message, we'll only have one person left. If you two try to force your way in, who's going to stop you? Let me tell you, someone else has already used this trick on us. Do you think we'll fall for it a second time?"

"Do you know who I am? How dare you stop me like this? Let me tell you, you'd better be sensible, or I'll tell your boss and you'll be fired right away, believe it or not? Do you know my relationship with your boss?" Song Yun's face was ugly.

"I can't do anything about you firing me. Who can just find our boss whenever they want? In that case, I wouldn't need you to fire me; I would have already packed my bags and left. Do you know anyone else in the company? I can pass on the message, but it's impossible to go directly to the boss."

Just then, a black Crown turned from the road and was about to turn into the courtyard.

"Quick, quick, get out of the way, a car is coming!" The gatekeeper quickly told Song Yun and the others to move aside so as not to block the way for the car to enter.

Song Yun watched as the black sedan slowly drove in and suddenly stopped in front of them. The passenger window rolled down, and Xu Damao, in the driver's seat, greeted Song Yun with a smile across the passenger side: "Team Leader Song."

"Don't call me Team Leader Song anymore, I'm not anymore. I'm just a warehouse manager now." Song Yun smiled, then looked at the car's interior with envy. "Wow, Xu Damao, it's only been a short time since we last met, and you're already driving a car."

"Well, it's mainly because Brother Li values ​​me, thinks highly of me, keeps me by his side, and even provided me with a car," Xu Damao asked. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, I came to see Brother Li, but these two at the door stopped me." Song Yun glanced sideways at the doorman standing respectfully to the side.

"What? Are you that insensible? You dare to stop just anyone?" Xu Damao pretended to be angry, then looked apologetically at Song Yun and said, "Oh right, I forgot, we did issue a notice a few days ago. Because recently many people have been trying to break into the company to see Brother Li under various pretexts, there have been too many of these incidents. From now on, no one can go directly to Brother Li; they have to be notified first. How about this, wait a moment, I'll call my wife out and lead you in."

After saying that, Xu Damao drove slowly into the yard.