Today was a weekday, so the courtyard was rather quiet.
Aside from a few women doing laundry and cooking, there was hardly anyone around.
“Hey, Director Wang, what brings you here?” a woman greeted her with a smile.
“Third Aunt.” Director Wang smiled politely.
“We have a new employee at the steel mill, so I brought him over to look at the house.” “Look at the house?” The woman’s smile froze.
There were indeed houses in this courtyard: three large rooms standing side by side beyond the moon gate, forming the west wing.
If a door could be installed at the moon gate, it would almost count as a detached home with its own entrance and small courtyard.
Many people had coveted those rooms, but despite numerous applications being submitted, the street office had never approved them.
“How’s the house?” Yang Weiguo asked Zhang Guoping with a smile.
“You’ll have to ask Leon about that.” After Zhang Guoping took out a cigarette and offered one to each of them, he smiled and said, “Leon, if it works, great.
If it doesn’t, just say so.
The ministry will find another way to help you.” Hearing this, Director Wang could not help glancing at Yang Weiguo.
Yang Weiguo leaned over and whispered a few words to her.
“Giving up an apartment building for a single-story house.” Director Wang looked at Leon in shock.
In this era, apartment buildings were a symbol of luxury.
Even if the rooms were small and the floors were high, they were still houses many people would fight tooth and nail to obtain.
“Work is the same no matter where it is.” Leon wore a faint smile, but inwardly, he was groaning.
If he had a choice, he certainly would not want to be neighbors with these people.
But the words had already been spoken.
He could not be too picky now, could he?
In this day and age, reputation was extremely important.
“Well said.” Director Wang gave him a thumbs-up.
“Dr.
Cole, if you’re willing to live here, I’ll make the decision and give you all three rooms.” Three rooms?
Leon was stunned.
Altogether, these three rooms probably added up to two hundred square meters.
In an era when a family of four or five might be crammed into a forty-square-meter home, how could such a large house be approved?
“Dr.
Cole is willing to give up an apartment to come work here, so our neighborhood committee and the factory can’t be stingy, can we?” Director Wang said to Yang Weiguo with a smile.
“Yes, yes, yes.” Yang Weiguo agreed at once.
“These three rooms will all be yours.
Although they’re a little old and run-down, they’re spacious.” Leon looked at the three rooms standing side by side, and his thoughts began to race.
To be honest, it was not easy to find such a large house these days.
His apartment in the Ministry of Industry’s staff quarters had only been seventy square meters, nowhere near as comfortable as this small courtyard.
Although it was a bit old and dilapidated, once he spent some money repairing it, then bought a lounge chair to lie on in the yard, life here would be quite pleasant.
As for those beasts… he would just avoid dealing with them.
“Then… this house will belong to our Ministry of Industry,” Zhang Guoping said.
“Your street office and the steel mill will hand me the housing documents.
I’ll take them to the ministry to have them stamped, then transfer the ownership to Leon.” His idea was very cunning.
This house was in terrible condition, and renovating it would definitely cost a lot of money.
If Leon grew tired of working at the steel rolling mill one day and wanted to transfer elsewhere, the steel mill could take back the house, and there would be nothing he could do about it.
But if the house went through the Ministry of Industry, that would be different.
Once the owner was Leon, the steel mill would have to think twice before trying to take it back.
The Ministry of Industry would beat them until they cried for their mothers.
“No problem.” Director Wang and Yang Weiguo both agreed readily.
They had not thought that far ahead.
As long as Leon agreed, that was enough.
Otherwise, where were they supposed to find him an apartment?
The formalities were completed in a single afternoon.
The three large rooms in the west wing of the courtyard house in South Luogu Lane were registered under Leon’s name.
“Uncle Zhang, thank you,” Leon said gratefully.
“Are you still being so polite with me?” Zhang Guoping laughed.
“Live your life well.
Don’t abandon your skills.
If someday… well, we’ll talk about it then.” He did not finish his sentence, but he believed Leon understood what he meant.
“I know, Uncle Zhang.” Leon smiled.
It simply meant that if he no longer wanted to stay at the factory someday, Zhang Guoping could arrange for him to enter a hospital.
But Leon, who had watched Full House of Love, knew that coming to the steel rolling mill was the right choice.
A few years later, a great storm would sweep across the country, and the more prominent the position, the more dangerous it would be.
It would be much safer for him to remain a small factory doctor at the steel rolling mill—especially since he still knew absolutely nothing about medicine.
Zhang Guoping treated Leon to dinner before returning home, while Leon went to the courtyard alone.
As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, someone came over to greet him.
“Young man, who are you looking for?” A middle-aged man wearing glasses approached.
Leon recognized him at a glance: the Third Uncle of the courtyard, the “Door God,” Yan Bugui.
“Sir, I’m a resident here.” Leon smiled, took out a Daqianmen(*Big Front Door) cigarette he had gotten from Zhang Guoping, and handed it to him.
“You live here?” After Yan Bugui lit the cigarette with a smug look on his face, he suddenly cried out, “Could it be that the rooms beyond the moon gate were allocated to you?” “Yes.
We’ll be neighbors from now on, so please take care of me, sir,” Leon said with a nod.
“Of course, of course…” Yan Bugui suddenly felt that the cigarette in his mouth no longer tasted so good.
Those three rooms had been coveted by countless people in the courtyard.
Unexpectedly, none of them had managed to eat the meat, while an outsider had benefited instead.
Leon did not care and walked straight toward his house.
He had bedding and other daily necessities, but the house was too old.
He needed to figure out how to repair it.
Yan Bugui watched his retreating figure, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes.
No way.
This kid had already taken one room, but Yan Bugui had to get one of the remaining two.
His family of six was squeezed into two rooms, and they were afraid of stepping on someone whenever they turned over in bed.
Thinking of this, he immediately ran to the central courtyard.
“Lao Yi, this is terrible!” Hearing Yan Bugui’s shout, many people came out.
“What happened?” Yi Zhonghai asked with a frown.
“Those three rooms have been allocated,” Yan Bugui said, slapping his thigh.
“What?” Not only Yi Zhonghai, but even Jia Zhangshi and Liu Haizhong, who had come out to watch the excitement, frowned.
“First Uncle, this isn’t right.
My family has been applying for those rooms for ages,” Liu Haizhong shouted.
“That’s right.
Dongxu is married now, and it’s so inconvenient for the whole family to be crammed into one room,” Jia Zhangshi said unhappily.
“Hey, everyone, what’s going on here?” A slick voice rang out, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Zhuzi, you came at the perfect time.
Come with us.” Yi Zhonghai grabbed him without another word.
(Sha Zhu (傻柱) means “Silly Zhu” or “Foolish Pillar.” His full name is He Yuzhu (何雨柱).
“Zhuzi” (柱子) functions as a familiar, affectionate nickname meaning “Pillar boy”.) “What’s going on?” Sha Zhu asked in surprise.
“Someone has moved into the west wing of the backyard.
Let’s go meet our new neighbor,” Yi Zhonghai said with a smile.
“I’m still cooking,” Sha Zhu said, unwilling to go.
He had no interest in meeting any new neighbor.
Just then, a graceful figure walked out the door, causing Sha Zhu, who had originally been planning to go home, to stop in his tracks.
“Sister Qin.” “Zhuzi.” Qin Huairu greeted him with a smile.
“Huairu, you came at the right time.
Let’s go together…” Yi Zhonghai’s plan was perfectly reasonable.
As a newcomer, Leon should at least learn the rules.
He needed to know who was in charge here.