Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

At that time, Wei Chen had just joined the purchasing department and quickly got the hang of his job, earning the attention of the department leaders. Jin Aimin was hesitant to poach him, so he could only suppress his thoughts and keep a close eye on Wei Chen's movements.

This observation made Jin Aimin feel even more strongly that Wei Chen was the talent the security department needed most.

On weekdays, Wei Chen shuttles through every corner of the factory area, running errands, coordinating materials, and inspecting the status of materials. Jin Aimin has encountered him in the factory area many times and has also secretly observed him countless times.

He discovered that Wei Chen had extremely keen observation skills. Whether at the crowded factory gate or in the chaotic material workshop, he could always spot potential safety hazards in the surroundings immediately. He always maintained a high level of vigilance when walking and acting, and his reaction speed was far beyond that of ordinary people. Even if there was a sudden noise behind him, he could react instantly and his movements were swift and decisive, which was incomparable to ordinary people.

On one occasion, Jin Aimin was patrolling the back gate of the factory with his security team when they encountered several idlers climbing over the wall into the factory, intending to steal factory supplies. When the security team members caught them, instead of being afraid, they tried to resist and escape because they outnumbered the others.

Wei Chen happened to be going out the back door to buy supplies when he saw this scene. Without saying a word, he stepped forward and acted swiftly and decisively, without any hesitation. In no time, he helped the security team subdue the troublemakers.

His moves were simple and practical, each move aimed at defeating the enemy without any fancy moves. His strength, speed, and reaction were all perfect. In just a few short movements, he demonstrated his superb skills, even surpassing the veteran members of the security department who had been trained for many years.

Jin Aimin was present that time and witnessed Wei Chen's skills clearly, which further increased his respect for Wei Chen.

In addition, Wei Chen is skilled at hunting and can easily obtain meat that is extremely scarce in the market, which Jin Aimin considers an even more rare skill. Hunting requires not only skill, but also extraordinary courage, great patience, and accurate judgment, all of which are essential abilities for security personnel.

In the days that followed, Jin Aimin paid more and more attention to Wei Chen.

He watched Wei Chen work steadily and meticulously in his purchasing position, coordinating materials and various parties without ever arguing with anyone, yet never being arrogant or servile, always acting with great tact. He watched him quietly resolve minor hidden dangers and accidents in the factory area, each time demonstrating a reaction and action speed far exceeding that of ordinary people. He watched him maintain a capable and vigilant demeanor even in an ordinary position, exuding a spirit that others lacked.

With each observation and witness to Wei Chen's outstanding performance, Jin Aimin's resolve to transfer Wei Chen to the security department grew stronger.

In his view, it would be a waste of talent to place someone like Wei Chen in the purchasing department, where he would only be responsible for purchasing materials. With his skills, reflexes, courage, and character, he could only truly utilize his strengths in the security department. Whether it was guarding the factory area, handling emergencies, or leading the security team in training and carrying out missions, he would be an excellent candidate.

Moreover, Wei Chen can easily solve the problem of meat shortage. The Security Section has heavy training and duty tasks on weekdays, and the team members consume a lot of physical strength. Meat supply has always been a problem. With Wei Chen there, the meat supply in the section can be greatly improved, which is of great help to improve the combat effectiveness and cohesion of the Security Section members.

At this moment, Jin Aimin stood still, watching Wei Chen's back as he walked into the steelmaking workshop, his eyes firm, his mind already made up.

He raised his hand to beckon the security team members beside him and said in a deep voice, "You continue to patrol the factory area and carefully check for safety hazards in every corner, especially key locations such as the workshop material area and the back gate of the factory. Be sure to strengthen patrols and report any situations immediately. I have to go back to my office to take care of some things."

"Yes, Deputy Section Chief!" the team members responded in unison, then lined up and continued their patrol.

Jin Aimin withdrew his gaze, no longer hesitated, and turned to walk towards the security office of the office building.

His steps were steady, his expression solemn, and he was already planning the specific strategy for poaching people.

Transferring Wei Chen from the purchasing department to the security department will not be easy. The purchasing department is the core department of the factory, and Wei Chen is currently performing well in the purchasing department and is a capable assistant. The leaders and team leaders of the purchasing department will certainly not let him go easily.

Moreover, personnel transfers between departments require approval at every level, must be reported to factory leaders, and must be negotiated by the personnel department and the leaders of both departments before a final decision can be made. The process is cumbersome and allows no room for haste.

Jin Aimin knew that this matter could not be rushed and that he could not rashly submit a transfer application to the purchasing department directly, otherwise it would only cause the purchasing department to object and make things worse.

He needed to find the most opportune moment and come up with sufficient reasons to explain to the factory leaders the necessity of Wei Chen joining the security department, to explain his important value to the factory's security work, to make the factory leaders recognize this talent transfer, and to make the purchasing department unable to refuse.

Before that, he needed to continue to secretly monitor Wei Chen's movements, fully understand Wei Chen's work performance, skills, and character, and collect enough evidence to make sufficient preparations for the subsequent personnel transfer application.

At the same time, he also needs to lay the groundwork slowly, find opportunities to conduct exploratory communications with the leaders of the purchasing department and Wei Chen himself, find out the attitudes of both parties, and gradually advance the poaching plan.

Back in the security office, Jin Aimin sat down at his desk, picked up a pen, and carefully wrote Wei Chen's name in his notebook. He then meticulously recorded the entire process of Wei Chen defusing danger in the materials area that day, as well as Wei Chen's previous feats of skill, assisting the security department in subduing loiterers, and solving the factory's problem of wild boar meat.

His handwriting was neat and his records were extremely detailed, with each item clearly listed and each one sufficient to prove Wei Chen's ability and value.

Putting down his pen, Jin Aimin looked at the notes in his notebook with a determined look in his eyes. He made up his mind: no matter how complicated the transfer process was, no matter how many obstacles he encountered, he would find a way to get Wei Chen into the security department.

With Wei Chen joining, the overall strength of the security department will definitely be greatly improved, and the security work in the factory area will be more reliable.

He carefully put the notebook away, then began to organize the work of the security department, while silently waiting for the best opportunity.

As soon as the opportunity arises, he will immediately submit a transfer application to the factory leaders, formally proposing to transfer Wei Chen to the security department.

At this moment, Wei Chen was completely unaware of Jin Aimin's secret observation and attempts to probe his mind.

He remained in the steelmaking workshop, meticulously checking the material list with the workshop manager, verifying the quality of the materials, and completing the handover work with utmost care.

For him, defusing the danger of the out-of-control handcart was just a simple act, a subconscious gesture, and he never thought much of it. He remained focused on his job in the purchasing department, thinking about how to solve more material problems for the factory, how to better complete his work, and how to protect the peaceful life of himself and his family.

The machines in the factory area were still humming, and production was still in full swing. Wei Chen was still the same calm and capable purchasing staff member, shuttling through every corner of the factory area.

Meanwhile, a plan concerning his job transfer was quietly brewing in the mind of Jin Aimin, the deputy head of the security department.

Jin Aimin sat in his office, glancing out the window at the factory area from time to time, his gaze precisely fixed on Wei Chen's figure, observing silently and without making a sound.

He waited patiently, waiting for the perfect opportunity to transfer Wei Chen to the Security Department in one fell swoop, determined to bring this skilled and upright young man under the command of the Security Department.

In 1959, just after the Spring Festival, with the chill still lingering, an invisible tension had already silently enveloped the entire capital city, as well as every ordinary household in the streets and alleys.

Everyone could clearly feel that since the end of last year, life had become tighter day by day. By the spring of 1959, the food shortage was no longer just a private matter, but a real difficulty facing everyone.

At this time of year, the grain stores on the street could barely supply rice, flour and other grains according to the ration. If you held onto your ration coupons tightly and ate sparingly, you could at least make a living.

But things are different now. Many parts of the country are experiencing spring famine, grain reserves are plummeting, and the supply of grain, oil and non-staple foods in the market is tightening across the board. The ration of food for every household is being reduced again and again, and coarse grains are replacing fine grains and vegetables are replacing staple foods, which has become the norm.

Not to mention ordinary wage earners' families, even many factory cadres began to carefully budget their food rations, mixing wild vegetables and dried sweet potatoes into their meals, and daring not to touch a single grain of white flour.

Meat coupons and oil coupons were extremely hard to come by. Even with money, it was difficult to buy real meat. In the entire courtyard, every household's stove was very bland, and the chimneys emitted only watery smoke, with hardly a drop of oil in sight.

In the alleys and lanes surrounding the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, one can hear neighbors sighing and complaining everywhere. The most common topics of conversation are not holiday gossip or everyday matters, but rather worries about insufficient food, lack of side dishes, and the hardship of daily life.

Everyone held onto their long-spent grain coupons, queued for half a day at the grain store, and often only received a pitiful amount of coarse grains. They were filled with helplessness and had nowhere to complain.

In such an environment of scarce resources and precious food, the people living in the courtyard became more active, and their eyes all quietly fell on Wei Chen in the east wing.

The reason is simple: among all the families in the compound, only Wei Chen's family was unaffected by the food shortage. They had plenty of food and clothing, with rice, flour, and cooking oil piled high. They had meat and vegetables at every meal and lived a prosperous and stable life, which was in stark contrast to the poverty and hardship of every other family in the compound.

Of course, she still had to put on a show. Wang Xiulan often told Wei Ran that she couldn't tell anyone what she ate at home. If anyone asked, she should just say cornmeal and wild vegetables.

When the people from the courtyard went out to dig for wild vegetables, Wang Xiulan followed along to dig some too, so that her family wouldn't stand out too much.