Courtyard Houses: Starting with Li Yunlong's Comrades-in-Arms

Liu Yuheng responded with an "okay," and the two stopped in front of a door. Shen Mo took out his key, opened the door, and stepped aside to let Liu Yuheng go in first.

The office wasn't large, but it was clean and tidy. A dark-colored desk stood by the window, its surface currently empty except for a clean enamel mug and a brand-new calendar. A bookshelf stood in the corner, empty of books. The window faced south, and sunlight streamed through the glass, casting bright patches of light on the floor.

Liu Yuheng walked around the room, then sat down at his desk, picked up the desk calendar, flipped through it, put it down, and looked up at Shen Mo, saying, "Director Shen, could you please prepare a few documents for me?"

"First, a list and progress reports of all projects related to our Second Ministry of Machine Building in the Big Brother's aid to China projects; second, information on various weapons and equipment research and development projects that are currently underway or have been approved; third, the work processes and existing communication mechanisms between our Second Ministry of Machine Building and the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense."

"Prepare as much complete material as possible for these three areas; I want to familiarize myself with them as soon as possible."

As Shen Mo listened, he quickly took out a small notebook from his pocket and jotted down notes. After Liu Yuheng finished speaking, he closed the notebook, put it back in his pocket, and nodded in response, "No problem! Our office has drafts of these materials, and some are still being organized. I'll send you the ones that are already organized later, and I'll have the relevant departments complete the parts that are incomplete as soon as possible."

Liu Yuheng nodded: "Thank you for your hard work."

Shen Mo stood there for a while, and seeing that Liu Yuheng had no further instructions, he turned and left.

Liu Yuheng had barely sat down in his office, and the enamel mug on his desk hadn't even warmed up, when footsteps sounded at the door.

Shen Mo walked in front, followed by a young man in his late twenties. The two of them carried a thick stack of documents and filed in through the door.

Shen Mo placed the documents on the corner of his desk and wiped the little sweat from his forehead with his sleeve: "Minister Liu, this is the information on various weapons projects that have been approved so far, as well as some information on aid projects to China. There are also some projects that are in the process of being transferred, and the relevant documents have not yet been sent over. I will send them to you as soon as they arrive."

He added with a hint of apology, "The materials we've been working on with the Central Military Commission are still being prepared by our staff, and they should be delivered to you in the next couple of days."

Liu Yuheng stood up and took the documents. He weighed them in his hand; they were quite heavy. He placed them on the table and nodded to Shen Mo: "Thank you for your hard work, Director Shen. I'll put these here for now and take my time to look at them."

Shen Mo smiled and waved his hand, then stepped aside to let the young man behind him step forward: "Minister Liu, this is Chen Shuo. He came to work in the ministry in 1952 and is now the deputy section chief of the First Section of the Secretariat. He's considered one of the senior members of our ministry. He's quite familiar with all aspects of the work. What do you think about having him as your secretary?" As he spoke, he turned to Chen Shuo, "Young Chen, this is Vice Minister Liu."

Chen Shuo immediately stepped forward, straightened up, and displayed the typical nervousness of a young person facing a new leader—a desire to appear composed yet unable to hide it: "Minister Liu, hello! My name is Chen Shuo. I previously worked in the Secretariat of the Ministry of Heavy Industry for three years, where I was responsible for document circulation and meeting coordination for some military projects. I am quite familiar with the ministry's work processes. Please feel free to ask me anything."

Liu Yuheng sized him up. Chen Shuo was of medium height, wearing a clean blue cadre uniform, his hair was neatly combed, and his eyes had a down-to-earth and earnest look.

Liu Yuheng nodded, his tone amiable: "Alright, then let Xiao Chen try it out with me first. I'm new here, and there are many things I need to familiarize myself with, so please take good care of me."

Chen Shuo nodded quickly: "Don't worry, I will do my best."

Seeing that things were arranged, Shen Mo stopped bothering him and politely said, "Then you can go ahead and do your work. If you need anything, just let me know." He then turned and left the office, closing the door behind him.

Chen Shuo didn't rush to leave. He stood in front of the desk for a while. Seeing that Liu Yuheng didn't assign him any tasks immediately, he took the initiative to say, "Minister Liu, I'll go and tidy up the secretary's office next door first. Please call me anytime if you need anything."

Liu Yuheng responded with an "okay," and Chen Shuo quietly slipped out, gently closing the door behind him.

The office fell silent. Liu Yuheng sat down at his desk, pulled the stack of documents in front of him, opened the top one, and began to flip through it page by page.

The documents contained a variety of information, including reports on the development progress of a new rifle, technical solutions for improving tank engines, test records on the localization of aviation materials, and summaries of several cooperation agreements on projects aided by the Big Brother to China.

He observed carefully, marking any unclear parts with a question mark and occasionally jotting down keywords in his notebook. Sunlight streamed in through the window, slowly moving across the table, from one corner to the center, then back to the other, and before he knew it, it was afternoon.

He glanced at the clock on the wall; it was almost six. Liu Yuheng closed the documents in his hand, tidied his desk, and stood up. He picked up his coat, put it on, and as he walked to the door, the door to the secretary's office next door opened. Chen Shuo poked his head out and asked, "Minister Liu, are you leaving? Is there anything I need to prepare for tomorrow?"

Liu Yuheng thought for a moment and said, "Tomorrow morning, could you help me review the current routine procedures for coordinating with the Central Military Commission? We'll go through them together when I arrive."

Chen Shuo nodded, made a note in his notebook, and said, "Then I'll come earlier tomorrow and prepare the materials first."

Liu Yuheng responded and turned to go downstairs.

The car drove through the streets of Beijing in the twilight, and by the time it returned to the North City Courtyard, it was already dark.

Liu Yuheng pushed open the door to the small building and smelled the aroma of food wafting from the kitchen. Yao Qingwan was standing in front of the stove, wearing an apron, with something simmering in a pot, steaming gently. He placed his briefcase on the shoe cabinet by the door, strode into the kitchen, and took the spatula from Yao Qingwan's hand: "Let me do it, you rest."

Yao Qingwan didn't insist. She took off her apron and handed it to him, then stepped back to the kitchen doorway and leaned against the doorframe to watch him work. She watched Liu Yuheng flip the food in the pot, then bend down to take a bowl from the cupboard before finally asking, "How was your first day? Is the new workplace alright?"