Courtyard House: Starting with a 28-inch motorcycle

"sister in law……"

He Yuzhu glanced up and met Lou Xiao'e's heavy gaze. His heart tightened, and he immediately replied, "Don't worry! I'll keep a close eye on her both in and out of class. I won't let my guard down for even a moment!"

He Yushui, with her sharp eyes, immediately discerned the meaning from the slight twitch of her elder brother's eyebrow—if he didn't quickly agree, he might be lectured until midnight.

She felt both close to and fearful of He Yuzhu: ever since He Daqing packed his bags and left, He Yuzhu hadn't let her miss out on a hot meal or a new piece of clothing, making all the children in the neighborhood envious; even that radio had become her exclusive treasure; with her nearly new women's Phoenix bicycle and gleaming new Shanghai watch, everyone in the school knew she was "He Family's Little Rich Girl".

The factory director's daughter treated her with great respect because she had a powerful older brother who was capable of handling everything. However, she had been punished by him since childhood, forced to copy texts, and made to cry. She was also forced by the Jia family to almost be sent back to He Daqing's side. These old grievances made Yu Shui's legs go weak whenever she heard him raise his voice.

So whenever she saw him furrow his brow, her feet would itch, fearing that she would be called upon to "stand up straight and listen carefully" the next second.

"Rain, if you fall out of the top five in your grade, your radio will be confiscated; if you fall out of the top ten, your bicycle will be impounded; but if you consistently stay in the top three, then your sister-in-law will be allowed to go out to eat every week to satisfy her cravings."

He Yuzhu picked up a piece of pickled cucumber with his chopsticks, his tone calm and indifferent, yet it was as if a weight had been dropped.

Rainy Day initially shrank back, then quickly did some mental calculations—she'd just barely ranked second in the monthly exam; maintaining that position shouldn't be difficult. She nodded decisively: "Okay! Brother, sister-in-law, let's high-five!"

Lou Xiao'e smiled and said, "Hurry up and get your cornbread ready, it'll get cold and tasteless."

As night deepened and the lights went out, only the faint creaking of the bed frame remained in the room.

Lou Xiao'e wrapped her arms around his broad, sturdy back, her breathing becoming erratic, and beads of sweat seeping from her temples.

After a long while, she finally caught her breath, her eyelids closed heavily, and she drifted off to sleep.

He Yuzhu took off the condom and threw it into the wastebasket in the corner, then turned over and pulled her into his arms before closing his eyes and falling asleep. The two had already agreed to put the matter of having a child aside for the first year or two.

Lou Xiao'e is young and her mind hasn't fully settled down yet. If she were to get pregnant now, he feared she would be caught off guard and overwhelmed. If it were someone as experienced as Chen Xueru, he wouldn't need to be so cautious. Waiting two more years would give him peace of mind once she was more settled.

"It's almost time to start writing. But all that old equipment in the factory is just for show and doesn't really fit in—why don't we ask Section Chief Zhou to have his teachers and alumni help us with the draft?"

After He Yuzhu sorted out the entire process of scrap steel recycling and smelting, he suddenly realized that none of the existing furnaces, converters, and rolling mills in the steel rolling mill were usable, so he had to start from scratch and build a new steelmaking system.

"Wait a minute... Li Huaide's father-in-law is a senior leader in the Ministry of Industry. It would be both respectable and reliable for him to speak up."

A thought flashed through his mind, and he grabbed the stack of manuscript paper covered with dense writing on the table, turned around and walked towards Li Huaide's office.

"Hey, Zhu Zi, what a rare guest! Did the sun rise in the west today? Thinking of taking a day off?"

Li Huaide smiled as soon as he saw him enter the door. He was about to get up to make tea when He Yuzhu raised his hand and stopped him.

"Brother Li, don't bother. I've come to pay my respects to your father-in-law."

As he spoke, he spread out the materials in his hand, his pace neither too fast nor too slow: "Recently, there's been a lot of activity in the steelmaking factory, which is a good thing, as steel is the backbone of industry. But I've been thinking that quite a few outsiders have also jumped in headfirst, working on it with great enthusiasm..."

"In any trade, experts work steadily and methodically; but if you force an outsider into the job, it's easy to mess things up and waste resources. Like that batch of urgent parts in our factory, if we try to speed things up by having apprentices fill in or having the head chef from the canteen adjust the punch press—that's just a waste of time."

Upon hearing this, Li Huaide's expression changed slightly, and he slowly sat up straight. He had heard a lot of rumors lately, and at first he thought the nationwide mobilization was quite exciting, a construction boom; but after He Yuzhu's comment, he almost broke out in a cold sweat—even regular steel mills often produce substandard and scrap steel, so what about those temporarily hired fitters, machinists, clerks, and drivers? Would they really go and make steel? It would probably be a case of every batch produced being scrapped.

He knew exactly what was going on, but whether he dared to speak up in public was another matter entirely.

With the current heatwave at its peak, anyone who tries to dampen the enthusiasm is likely to be labeled: at best, "inappropriate," at worst, "holding others back."

"Pillar, what are you planning?"

"Scrap steel recycling and smelting".

He Yuzhu pushed the handwritten plan forward, its structure clear and logical: "It's divided into four steps: recycling, sorting, smelting, and quality inspection. If we build a factory using this method, a large-scale scrap steel recycling base can be established."

"This isn't sabotage, it's patching up the leaks—if the steel produced by the non-professional factory meets the standards, everyone's happy; if it doesn't, we'll take it back and remelt it. Iron is the lifeblood of the nation; we can't let it end up in a kitchen knife shop, needlessly damaging the foundation of our industry..."

After listening, Li Huaide felt a chill run up his spine, and his whole body felt comfortable.

Brilliant! He neither dampened the enthusiasm nor failed to elevate himself; if things go wrong, he is the hero who prepared for the worst; even if things are calm, he is the prudent person who takes precautions.

As for the stack of documents He Yuzhu handed over? Li Huaide honestly admitted that he understood less than 30% of them.

He wasn't a technically trained cadre; he had worked his way up from the administrative system. Looking at the dense array of technical parameters in front of him, Li Huaide frowned, feeling uncertain about his future.

"Zhu Zi, wait a moment, let me make a phone call first—speaking of which, my father-in-law has been talking about you for a while now, he misses your cooking skills. Last time we ate together, he even praised your braised pork knuckle for being tender and not greasy."

After Li Huaide finished speaking to He Yuzhu with a smile, he dialed a number. Cooking was just a stepping stone; the real important thing was to first lay out the matter in front of his father-in-law, weigh the pros and cons, and then decide on the next move.

After hanging up the phone, he patted He Yuzhu on the shoulder: "Zhuzi, let's leave early this afternoon and go to my father-in-law's house. I'll have the driver drop you off on the way afterward."

"Okay, I'll go back to my office and tidy up first."

"Okay, I'll have my secretary call you before we leave."

As soon as he finished speaking, He Yuzhu picked up his bag and turned to go back to his room.

Now Li Huaide trusts him completely—if anyone else had brought this pile of blueprints, they would have been dismissed with a "we'll study it later"; but He Yuzhu is different: the washing machine was modified quickly and saved electricity, and the hot water heater allowed all the factory workers to take hot showers in winter. Every single one of these things has brought in real money. Not to mention that he has been to Hong Kong Island and seen large ships, high-rise buildings, and assembly lines, so his horizons are already far ahead of others.

Based on his solid skills and extensive experience, who else could Li Huaide trust if not him?

In the afternoon, Li Huaide's secretary arrived on time and invited He Yuzhu to the appointment. The two traveled by car to Li Huaide's father-in-law's house.

As soon as He Yuzhu entered, he instinctively tried to go into the kitchen, but the old man stopped him: "I didn't call you here today just to fill your stomachs! Let the housekeeper cook, let's go into the study to talk business."

After the three of them sat down, Li Huaide got up to make tea. He didn't know anything about smelting or the process, so he couldn't join in the technical discussion and could only be a listener serving tea and water.

As the aroma of tea began to rise, the old man turned to He Yuzhu: "Little He, Huaide isn't from a technical background, and what he said on the phone was fragmented. Can you sort it out for me? Huaide, you listen too. Don't always feel inferior just because you don't have a formal technical background—Engineer Sharif is a top figure in the White Bear Country. We spent half a year with him, and he managed to warm people's hearts with just a few dishes, bringing back so many in-demand parts for our steel mill!"

Everyone knew the truth: He Yuzhu grew up by the stove, but he won over Sheriff with his superb skills in braising, stewing, simmering, and simmering. When he left, he couldn't bear to throw away even the intricately carved wooden chopstick holders and sugar painting molds. He wrapped them tightly in thick cotton and stuffed them into a special wooden box to take with him.

Later, he upgraded the old washing machine and created a fast-heating model. He could even identify the solder points on the circuit board with his eyes closed.

As for plagiarism? Anyone with a clear head wouldn't even consider that – this is the new China, not the old society. Who would dare to claim credit for someone else's work? Whose? Sharif's? Or the steel mill's veteran workers'?

"Boss, this is a scrap steel recycling and refining plan. To put it bluntly, it's about patching up the holes and plugging the leaks in steelmaking. How can molten steel be perfect every time it comes out of the furnace? If there's any deviation, scrap will pile up like mountains, and those lumps of iron will just turn into slag..."

He Yuzhu explained it clearly and logically, and the old man listened and nodded frequently. He was knowledgeable and knew much more than Li Huaide. He also knew how much crudeness and waste was hidden behind the glamorous steelmaking industry across the country: some places only focused on increasing tonnage, with chaotic proportions, fluctuating temperatures, and short furnace lifespans. As a result, the scrap rate soared, and good iron ore became "disposable products".

"Xiao He, can this method really be implemented?"

"I'm about 70-80% confident," He Yuzhu replied readily. "How about we ask a few experienced metallurgists to take a look first? If it's feasible, we can build a small test furnace and fire a couple of batches to test the waters."

"That's true." The old man nodded. "Some policies and documents from above have actually been pointing in this direction for a while now, but the momentum is strong, and it's not good to dampen the enthusiasm..."

With steel production booming across the country, anyone who immediately complains about "inflated output" or "waste of resources" is likely to be seen as a spoilsport. However, the fact remains that steel production has doubled; the big picture is there, so minor issues can be tolerated for now.

Afterwards, the two talked for more than an hour, repeatedly deducing the processes of scrap steel classification, smelting temperature control, and impurity removal.

Li Huaide couldn't get a word in edgewise, only managing to refill tea, drink tea, and go to the restroom, making two trips back and forth. From the moment he poured the first cup of tea, he only said one sentence: "Dad, Zhuzi, dinner's ready, let's have something to eat first."

As expected, no mention of work came up at the dinner table. While the food at Li Huaide's father-in-law's house couldn't quite match the flavors of He Yuzhu's cooking, it was still authentically Beijing. The old man chatted about the veteran chefs of various restaurants in Beijing, commenting on which one had crispy tripe, which one had glossy roast duck, and which one had tender braised pork knuckle. He would always add at the end, "It's a pity, their skills are still a fraction of what you've got."