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

Li Jing'an leaned back in the wicker chair in his office, a cigarette between his fingers, the smoke curling upwards, blurring the languid weariness in his eyes. The newspaper on the table was open, but he barely read a few lines; his mind was mostly on that delicate and docile figure.

These past two days, he simply turned down a lot of miscellaneous tasks at the office and didn't go to work at all, spending his days in the courtyard. Bai Ting, that girl, was as pure as a blank sheet of paper, completely ignorant about matters between men and women, and he taught her everything step by step. At first, she was timid, but after a few times, she actually got hooked and became very clingy.

Li Jing'an's physical condition far exceeded that of ordinary people, but even he found it somewhat unbearable to stay by his side every day. Just as he was about to take a break under the pretext of going to work, a chaotic and jarring noise suddenly came from downstairs.

Li Jing'an's brows furrowed sharply, his languid expression vanishing instantly, replaced by impatience. He stubbed out his cigarette, straightened his crisp Zhongshan suit, and strode downstairs.

As soon as I walked into the corridor of the guesthouse on the first floor, I saw a group of guests crowding at the door of the duty room, craning their necks to look inside, and chattering incessantly, making my head spin.

Li Jing'an's face darkened, and his voice, though not loud, carried an undeniable air of authority: "Everyone, disperse! What kind of order is this, blocking the way like this! Those staying at the hotel, go back to your rooms and rest. Those not staying, get out of here immediately and stop causing trouble!"

When everyone looked up, they saw that Li Jing'an was neatly dressed and had a calm demeanor, clearly the person in charge here. They immediately dared not say anything more and dispersed in twos and threes, making the corridor much quieter in an instant.

Li Jing'an stepped into the duty room and immediately saw Qin Huairu standing to the side with several afternoon shift waitresses. They all looked flustered, and Qin Huairu's eyes were red, as if she had been wronged.

Opposite them stood a young man in his early twenties, wearing a dark blue Zhongshan suit. He had a sharp, angular face and piercing eyes. He was sternly reprimanding the waiters. Behind him stood two middle-aged men who looked anxious and appeared to be guests at the hotel.

As soon as Qin Huairu saw Li Jing'an enter, she felt as if she had found her pillar of support. Tears welled up instantly, and she cried out in a choked voice, "Brother Li!"

Li Jing'an frowned even more deeply, his tone turning colder: "In this unit, use your position. Don't be disrespectful." Those words instantly made Qin Huairu swallow back her words, and she dared not let her tears fall. He looked up at the young man and asked in a deep voice, "What happened?"

The young man slowly turned around, looked Li Jing'an up and down, and then asked, "Are you the person in charge here?"

Li Jing'an calmly returned his gaze and nodded: "I am Li Jing'an, the manager of the guesthouse. Who are you? What brings you here?"

The young man raised his arm, revealing a red armband he was wearing: "I'm Xie Hui, the new inspector from the steel rolling mill. I came to the guesthouse today for an inspection and happened to witness one of your staff members secretly charging guests extra fees. I just wanted to get to know what happened."

Li Jing'an's heart skipped a beat. He turned and glared at Qin Huairu, already understanding the situation. He immediately put on a polite smile and gestured to Xie Hui, "So it's Inspector Xie. There are too many people here; let's go upstairs to my office and talk." Then, he looked at the two men behind Xie Hui, "And who are these two?"

Xie Hui nodded: "It was the two of them who had their accommodation costs increased."

"Qin Huairu," Li Jing'an turned and instructed, "return every penny of the overcharged money to the two comrades, and be polite." He then added, "You come upstairs with me."

Qin Huairu quickly nodded in agreement, promptly refunded the money to the two guests, and apologized apologically before following Li Jing'an nervously toward the office on the third floor.

Upon entering the office, Li Jing'an warmly invited Xie Hui to sit down, then turned to fetch a thermos to pour water: "Inspector Xie, you must be tired from your journey. Have some tea and rest."

Xie Hui waved his hand, refusing directly, and looked at Li Jing'an with a serious expression: "Director Li, tea is unnecessary. Let's get down to business. Are you aware that your guesthouse's staff are charging guests extra without permission?"

Li Jing'an looked completely bewildered and shook his head: "I don't know! Inspector Xie, I've had some things to take care of at home these past two days and haven't been keeping an eye on things much. I'm totally clueless and have never heard of this."

As soon as she finished speaking, Qin Huairu also tiptoed in, standing to the side with her head down, not daring to breathe.

Li Jing'an immediately looked at her, his tone stern: "Qin Huairu, what exactly happened? Explain yourself clearly in front of Inspector Xie!"

Qin Huairu trembled slightly and stammered for a long time before explaining in a low voice, "Director, it wasn't intentional... Didn't our guesthouse reserve three rooms in case there was an emergency at the factory and no beds were available? We were originally going to open them to the public later this afternoon, but these two comrades were really anxious today and kept begging me, so I softened and gave them the beds early, and... so it cost an extra two cents..."

As Li Jing'an listened, he cursed inwardly: "You widow Qin, you've got a good plan. You used the excuse of reserving rooms to secretly raise prices, making a little money while also doing favors for the guests. You're very shrewd! You probably planned to do this from the very beginning when you gave me this idea."

He remained outwardly calm, glaring fiercely at Qin Huairu before turning to Xie Hui with a forced smile: "Inspector Xie, I'm truly sorry. I never expected something like this to happen at the guesthouse. It's my fault for lax management. Don't worry, I will definitely handle this matter seriously and without leniency! Thanks to your timely discovery, you helped us find the management loopholes in the guesthouse. I will definitely host a banquet in a couple of days to properly thank you!"

Xie Hui, however, wasn't buying it. His brows furrowed tightly, and his tone suddenly became serious: "Director Li, this is no small matter! Your employees are engaging in extortion, bribery, and extortion; they're undermining socialism and promoting capitalist remnants! The nature of this is egregious and must be dealt with severely!"

Looking at Xie Hui's serious and unyielding expression, Li Jing'an realized that this young inspector wasn't just there for show; he was genuinely serious about handling matters.

He immediately dropped his perfunctory smile, his expression becoming serious: "Inspector Xie is right! It was my negligence. Our guesthouse will immediately conduct a comprehensive self-examination and rectification, and from now on, we will resolutely prevent such behavior and never allow anything like this to happen again!"

Xie Hui remained unmoved, coldly looking at Li Jing'an: "Director Li, I have said everything I need to say. I will report this matter truthfully to the factory leaders and handle it according to regulations."

After saying that, Xie Hui didn't say anything more, turned around and walked towards the door without showing any mercy.