Courtyard House: Starting as an engineer, crushing a yard full of poultry

Page 180

But then I thought, since I'm already here, I might as well go in and take a look, lest I really get a reputation for being ungrateful.

"Grandpa, I brought you some fruit. These apples are really sweet, let me peel one for you!"

He Yuzhu went into the inner room and timidly sat down on the edge of Yi Zhonghai's bed. Yi Zhonghai, who had been listening to the radio, knew that He Yuzhu had come and had already closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

"Grandpa, grandpa, look at the time! Your favorite tomato and egg noodles are almost ready! Wake up!"

He Yuzhu knew Yi Zhonghai quite well. As soon as he entered the room, he could tell that Yi Zhonghai was pretending to be asleep, so he shook Yi Zhonghai's shoulder and said.

"Silly Zhu, your master is of no use to you now, so you don't need to come looking for me anymore. I know you never intended to take care of this old man in his old age from the beginning, right?"

Yi Zhonghai sat up unsteadily and said with feigned helplessness.

"Uncle, what are you saying? I, He Yuzhu, only recognize you and Auntie Yi in this courtyard. I'm not the kind of person who forgets kindness!"

He Yuzhu quickly waved his hand and said, while Yi Zhonghai curled his lip, unwilling to believe his nonsense.

Just then, an older woman carried two steaming bowls of noodles into the house. Yi Zhonghai walked straight past He Yuzhu and went to the table to eat heartily.

"My dear grandpas and grandmas, you've really misunderstood me!"

"Fine, you're still ignoring me, huh? Well then, I'll just tell you both directly: my senior colleague Zhang Feng has been fired from the factory today."

Upon hearing He Yuzhu's words, Yi Zhonghai immediately put down his chopsticks, and an older woman standing next to him also looked puzzled.

"Why? Factories don't usually fire people easily, so why were you suddenly fired?"

"Hey, my senior brother didn't tell me the details, but I think it must be that kid Li Xiangdong causing trouble again. You think about it, it's only been half a year, first you went to jail, then I was made to clean toilets, and now he's just fired my senior brother. Isn't he just going against us?"

"This is outrageous! This is going too far!"

Yi Zhonghai slammed his fist on the table in anger, his eyes blazing with fury.

"So, Master, it's really not that I didn't want to come see you, but Li Xiangdong made me clean the toilets and the factory yard every day. I was so busy I was practically running around like a headless chicken! And cleaning the toilets was so smelly every day, I was too embarrassed to come see you with that stench..."

He Yuzhu took the opportunity to explain again.

"If you ask me, having been to jail isn't anything shameful. It's really not right for you to stay cooped up at home every day."

"And if we just sit idly by and let them bully us like this, they'll only get more and more outrageous, and in the end, it'll be our own people who suffer!"

An older woman standing nearby said earnestly that Yi Zhonghai's habit of staying home all day and not going out had already given her a lot of headaches.

"That's right, that's right. My senior brother and I are still too inexperienced. In critical moments, we still need you to step in."

"My senior colleague is now unemployed, and I don't know how he'll support his wife and children..."

He Yuzhu nodded in agreement. In his opinion, if Yi Zhonghai were really willing to step in and help, perhaps his situation would be reversed.

"Okay... then I'll go have a good talk with Director Yang tomorrow..."

After thinking for a while, Yi Zhonghai said.

"Alright, ma'am, your tomato and egg noodles are making my mouth water! Won't you give me a bowl?"

He Yuzhu pouted and said coquettishly.

"Alright, alright, I was planning to have soup noodles with your uncle tomorrow morning, but you can have them all."

A moment later, an older woman came in carrying a large bowl of noodles. After all, she sincerely hoped that Yi Zhonghai could return to the community, otherwise he would get sick from staying at home all day.

"Shazhu, it's not that I'm criticizing you, but you're getting on in years and you still haven't thought about finding a wife. Look at young men your age, how many of them are still single and just drifting through life? Take your senior brother Zhang Feng for example, his child is already a year and a half old... If you could really find a wife now, would you still need to freeload at my house?"

"Look at you, you're rubbing salt into someone's wounds the moment you meet them!"

He Yuzhu chuckled and picked up the large bowl, swallowing several mouthfuls of noodles in one go.

"Don't take offense. Even though I'm just lying at home all day, I know all about the petty things you young people do."

"I find it strange that you shouldn't mess with a woman like Qin Huairu. Why don't you find a good wife? Why do you hang around that widow every day? As the saying goes, there's always trouble at a widow's door. Look at how much trouble you've gotten into because of her. Why don't you learn your lesson?"

"Look at you now, you don't even have a wife, and you're drowning in debt..."

Having let go of his inner turmoil, Yi Zhonghai began to speak earnestly. He Yuzhu, who had been silently eating his noodles, blushed and didn't know what to say. He put down his chopsticks and gave an awkward smile.

Chapter 235 Workers' Despondency

"It's not that I don't want to find someone... it's just that with my qualifications, I can't find anyone suitable..."

He Yuzhu licked the tomato and egg residue from the corner of his mouth, sighed helplessly, and said...

"Hey ma'am, you have such a wide network of connections, you know so many old ladies and young girls, could you introduce me to one?"

"You know what, recently a young woman's grandma asked me to introduce her to a potential partner. I think you two are a good match!"

An older woman slapped her thigh and exclaimed excitedly, "When women reach this age, their two favorite things to do are gossip and play matchmaker!"

"Her grandma? This girl doesn't have parents, does she?"

He Yuzhu asked with a hint of disdain.

"What are you saying, you brat! Her parents are both high-ranking officials, very busy. This girl has lived with her grandma since she was little."

"Besides, that widow Qin doesn't have parents either, but you still follow her around like a puppy every day!"

An older woman smacked He Yuzhu hard on the head.

"Would a high-ranking official even be interested in me? Is this girl the kind who just stays at home all day living off her savings and does absolutely nothing?"

"She's a teacher, she teaches Chinese, and she has a very good temperament."

"Wouldn't that make them look down on me even more...?"

"Silly Zhu, what's wrong with you? Do you want it or not? If not, I'll introduce you to someone else. Other young men will fight tooth and nail for such a great offer!"

"No, no, please keep it for me. I'm so sorry to trouble you with this, auntie..."

He Yuzhu once again revealed his inferiority complex, but then he thought about how every family in this courtyard had a wife and children and a warm bed, while he was a bachelor of a certain age, and he really longed for that kind of life.

"Okay, it's settled then. I'll let you know when I make plans with the girl. Remember to spend some money to take a good bath and wash off this smell!"

"Okay, thank you, ma'am!"

After saying that, He Yuzhu ran off excitedly.

"Lou Xiao'e, you're really ruthless. You pushed your man out into the yard to stand in the sun for five hours. I see Xu Damao's skin is peeling. Why didn't you wait until he died of sunburn before taking him back?"

As fate would have it, He Yuzhu ran into Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e again as soon as he left Yi Zhonghai's house.

"Silly Zhu, stop spouting nonsense. If it weren't for you, would our Xu Damao be in this state?"

"I see you're all alone every day, without a wife. You're probably just jealous of us, aren't you?"

Lou Xiao'e rolled her eyes at He Yuzhu, then dragged Xu Damao back into the house.

He Yuzhu pursed his lips after hearing this. It seemed it really was time to find a girl to date, at least to shut these people up. Especially when he passed by Li Xiangdong's window and saw Yu Li happily cooking again, he really longed for such a warm and loving life.

Today was the first day of Li Xiangdong's implementation plan, and the work efficiency was much lower than he had expected. In order not to fall behind the schedule, he decided to lead the workers to work overtime tonight. Yu Li was hurriedly cooking at home, also to deliver the food to Li Xiangdong, who was still busy working.

"The surface of this part must be sanded with fine sandpaper, otherwise the impurities will affect the normal operation of the equipment when it is installed."

"This drill bit is the wrong model. You need to measure the diameter before you start working."

"Come on, let me tell you all again. During the processing, you must take frequent measurements to control the error. Otherwise, the finished product will be unusable, and all your efforts will be wasted."

·· ·····Requesting flowers·· ·

At this moment, Li Xiangdong frowned. Only after putting it into practice did he realize that he had overestimated the technical level and execution ability of these workers.

"Brother Dong, let's stop for a moment and have something to eat."

Just as Li Xiangdong was at his wit's end, Yu Li came up from behind and gently patted his back.

"Didn't I tell you I was working overtime today and that you should go home for dinner? Why did you come here again?"

"The food in the cafeteria isn't fresh at night. I was worried you'd be too busy to eat properly, so I went back to your place and made some food first."

... .... ......

"Okay, thank you for your hard work."

"Let's eat first, it's gotten a bit cold from walking for a while."

After saying that, Yu Li pulled Li Xiangdong back to the office.

"I'm exhausted from morning till night, and they don't even let me rest after work!"

"That's right. Setting the task so demanding, even a god couldn't complete it."

"Sigh, that's the difference between leaders and workers. They have beautiful wives who bring them food, while we can only work hard here on an empty stomach."

Upon seeing Li Xiangdong return to the house, the workers threw down their gloves and began to complain.

"It has to be our Section Chief Li! What's that called again? A double win in career and love?"

"Hahaha, that's right. There's no comparison between wives. I have to cook for my wife when I get home from working overtime, but Section Chief Li gets a ready-made meal before he even gets home."

Li Huaide and Director Bao followed Li Xiangdong into the office. The two of them bantered back and forth like a comedian, making Yu Li, who was standing to the side, very embarrassed, her face turning several degrees red.

Chapter 236 Commission Decision

“I don’t think these workers are in a good mood, Section Chief Li. If this continues, it will be difficult to complete our mission plan.”

Director Yang's worried expression broke the previously pleasant atmosphere in the office.

"I have indeed noticed this problem... It's okay, I'll figure something out."