The courtyard: the atmosphere of human life

The factory where Darong worked as a substitute worker processed coils and belonged to the early assembly line industry. People sat opposite each other at a long table. The head worker took the materials and removed the copper wire ends, while the people behind him twisted the wire and soldered it, forming an assembly line with different divisions of labor.

Since Darong was a novice, she was responsible for the simplest first step, stripping the copper wire.

At that time, most of the factories were old state-owned factories, and there was no exploitative labor like in foreign-funded factories. The production standards of Darong and her colleagues in the factory were relatively humane, and they could have a few minutes of rest after completing a batch of materials.

"You're pretty quick at pulling the line. There's a lot of people piled up behind you, but you're doing it pretty easily."

When Darong was drinking water from the cup, a man's voice came from behind. Darong turned around and saw that the man behind her didn't look very old, in his early twenties, wearing glasses and looking very gentle.

"What's wrong? Can't you take a break after working so fast?"

Darong's first reaction when she saw this man was Jin Sumei's brother. Ever since Xiaofen told her that Jin Sumei's brother was the leader who was coming to the factory to inspect, Darong had already prepared for the battle.

"Oh, the little girl has a bad temper."

After hearing what Darong said, the man was stunned for a moment, then he laughed. He had only meant to compliment her, but he didn't expect that the girl would take it as a provocation.

Darong didn't raise her eyelids. After drinking a few sips of water, she saw that the progress of the process next to her had almost caught up. Then she stood up slowly and went to get the materials.

"Director, you're here quite early."

As soon as Darong sat down, she saw two more men walking in from outside. The middle-aged man in the lead walked straight towards the man behind him. After chatting for a few words, they began to look around the factory.

Darong knew that she was probably wrong, but she didn't look up again and just did her job seriously.

The three men left after touring the factory. No one bothered or provoked Darong again, and the little friction between Darong and Jin Sumei ended up in nothing.

"Rong, you are going to school next week, right?" That day, my great aunt pulled Darong into the house to sit and talk.

"Well, you've almost recovered. I'm planning on going home this Saturday."

My uncle is not at home today, so my great aunt is not in a hurry to cook.

"Rong, do you want to find a partner in the city and stay here?"

"I don't want to." Darong replied without hesitation.

"Oh, you don't even want to think about it? The conditions in the city are definitely better than those in the southern suburbs. Don't you want to think about it?" My great aunt pouted and smiled.

"No, there are too many pretentious people in the city. I'm afraid I can't get along with them. Besides, I don't want to live in one room with several families. It's so awkward."

Darong answered truthfully that she had heard the conversation between her great aunt and uncle that night, and had already thought of the words to refuse.

"Not everyone in the city lives in a dormitory. Look at my house, it's a single room with a separate bathroom and kitchen. It's much better than the tenements in the southern suburbs."

After hearing this, Darong did not refute it. In this respect, the bungalow dormitory was indeed incomparable.

"Your great-uncle's comrade's family is even better off. It's a small western-style building with a courtyard. Would you like to consider it?"

Seeing that Darong remained silent, the great aunt added, "Why don't you meet someone? What if you like him?"

"Forget it. I want to go home and study hard for a job. I don't want to do odd jobs here and there anymore." Darong thought about it and decided to refuse her great aunt's introduction.

After get off work on Friday, Darong arrived home early with brisk steps. Having lived here for a month, Darong really missed home.

"Grandma, I'm back." As soon as Darong entered the house and saw that there were guests at home, she greeted them with a smile and turned around to help in the kitchen.

"Rong, this is Grandpa Liang's son, Liang Jianjun." The uncle quickly called Da Rong and introduced her to the son of his old comrade-in-arms.

When Darong heard the name, she remembered the conversation she heard that night. Combined with the temptation from her great aunt two days ago, she immediately understood the significance of tonight's meal.

"Hello." Liang Jianjun greeted Darong generously.

"Hello, uncle."

Darong still had Pei Bin in her heart to some extent, and had no intention of dating him, so as soon as she opened her mouth, she narrowed the gap between them to two levels.

Liang Jianjun was caught off guard by being called 'uncle'. He stood there stupidly, not knowing how to respond for a moment.

"Hey, no need to call me that. You are almost the same age, just call me brother." The old man quickly tried to smooth things over.

"That won't work. The generations are all messed up." Darong still spoke softly, but her tone revealed a hint of stubbornness.

"Hahaha, I told you that you have a bad temper."

Upon hearing this, Darong raised her head and looked at Liang Jianjun carefully. What a coincidence, this Liang Jianjun was the leader who went to the factory for inspection two days ago.

"Do you know each other?" The old man at the side asked with a puzzled look on his face.

“Hahaha…I guess so.”

Liang Jianjun is a very cheerful person. During this evening, Darong got to know him a little better.

Liang Jianjun's family conditions are indeed very good. His grandfather was an old leader who survived a life-and-death battle in the Korean battlefield and returned home victorious. After retirement, there were police officers and aunts at home who took care of his grandfather's daily life.

He is a college student and was directly assigned to work in the Industrial and Commercial Bureau after graduation. Both of his parents are military veterans and have always had very high expectations of him since he was a child.

With such good conditions and a good appearance, he should have been a very popular boy, but he had very high standards and after being picky, he ended up being the only one left.

Originally, Darong simply didn't want to stay in the city, but after she learned about Liang Jianjun's situation, she became very aware of the huge difference between the two.

In that era, college students were considered truly intellectuals, and Liang Jianjun possessed the noble character that intellectuals pride themselves on.

Darong grew up in a slum. Although she always considered herself noble in her environment, in front of Liang Jianjun, she was just an uneducated country girl.

Of course, Darong could not admit such a gap, but she knew clearly in her heart that she could not afford him.

The next morning, Darong packed her luggage and checked her ticket back to southern suburbs. No one disclosed her meeting with Liang Jianjun, so it naturally came to nothing.

"Mom, I'm back." Darong greeted her mother through the window as she entered the yard.

Although the relationship between the mother and daughter is not close at ordinary times, they actually miss each other after being separated for a while.