Siheyuan, my new life

More than ten minutes later, Guo Yongping arrived at the gate of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill on his bicycle. Like other cyclists, he got off his bicycle about ten meters away from the gate and pushed it into the steel rolling mill gate with the flow of people going to work.

Sure enough, when Guo Yongping arrived at the office of the third purchasing section, he saw that the door was still locked. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was already 7:45 a.m., and the section chief, Zhao Xiangdong, had not yet arrived.

Guo Yongping stood by the window at the end of the corridor, took out a cigarette and lit it. While smoking, he looked out the window at the towering chimneys, rows of tall factory buildings, and the workers who were walking quickly towards the workshop.

The area on the right side of the first floor of the office building belongs to the purchasing department of the steel rolling mill. On both sides of the corridor are the offices of the department head, deputy department head, statistics office, purchasing section one, purchasing section two, and purchasing section three. At this time, several colleagues working in the purchasing department have been walking into their respective offices one after another. Occasionally, someone will curiously glance at the unfamiliar young man standing in front of the window at the end of the corridor. Since Guo Yongping only officially started his job yesterday morning, the staff of other departments do not know him at all, so no one greets him. At most, everyone will just glance at him casually and then quickly go into their own offices.

Guo Yongping caught a glimpse of the purchasing staff entering his office out of the corner of his eye, and couldn't help but think to himself that compared to the workers outside who strode confidently toward the workshop, these purchasing staff seemed much more relaxed and undisciplined. But thinking about it, it made sense. The workshop workers dealt with extremely dangerous machinery every day, and the slightest carelessness could result in injury or death. It's important to know that the safety measures for these large and medium-sized machines are almost nonexistent, and they rely entirely on the workers' skills and experience to operate them. If they are not operated properly, accidents will occur. Large and medium-sized metallurgical enterprises like Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill experience safety production accidents of varying degrees almost every year.

The office staff, on the other hand, have it much easier. After finishing their work each day, they spend the rest of their time reading newspapers, drinking tea and chatting. Some of the female staff even knit sweaters and gloves whenever they have free time.

Guo Yongping, from the future, couldn't help but shudder. If he were to work in a production workshop, where he would either be moving steel ingots and iron blocks or operating highly dangerous machinery every day, he really couldn't imagine whether he could endure it.

Just then, a familiar voice called out from behind: "Xiao Guo, you've arrived early."

Turning around, Guo Yongping saw Section Chief Zhao Xiangdong standing at the office door unlocking it. He quickly walked over and greeted him as he went, "Good morning, Section Chief Zhao."

Entering the chilly Sangu office, Guo Yongping took off his cotton-padded coat and hung it on the clothes rack next to the door. He saw Zhao Xiangdong already squatting in front of the coal stove, scooping out coal ash. In just a short while, the office was filled with dust.

Guo Yongping quickly approached, picked up the iron box full of coal ash, and strode out of the office.

When Guo Yongping returned to the office after emptying the coal ash, Zhao Xiangdong had already lit the coal stove and was wiping his desk with a rag.

Guo Yongping took out a cigarette and offered one to Zhao Xiangdong. He lit a match, lit one for Zhao first, then lit one for himself. After taking a deep drag, he hesitated before speaking, "Section Chief, there's something I don't know how to do, and I'd like to report it to you."

Zhao Xiangdong casually tossed the rag onto the washstand next to the door and said with a smile, "Xiao Guo, I told you yesterday that from now on we're in the same boat. If you need anything, just let me know. I'll definitely help if I can. If all else fails, you can always ask the section chief or the director."

Guo Yongping didn't beat around the bush any longer and recounted the events of the previous night's meeting at the No. 95 courtyard. He knew, of course, that he absolutely couldn't embellish such matters. Under normal circumstances, the steel mill leaders would definitely investigate the residents of the No. 95 courtyard who worked at the mill, based on what he had reported today. If they found out that he had fabricated lies to try to deceive the mill leaders, it would leave an extremely bad impression on the higher-ups.

After listening to Guo Yongping's words, Zhao Xiangdong slammed his hand on the desk and cursed, "Hao Aiguo is just an ordinary worker in the workshop. Who gave him the audacity to slander military families? Come on, you come with me now to report to the section chief. We absolutely cannot let this audacious bastard get away with this. A mere third-in-command in a courtyard, he really thinks he's something." With that, he pulled Guo Yongping out of the office.

In the purchasing department chief's office, Chief Xiao's face darkened after listening to Guo Yongping's report. He himself had transferred from the army to work at Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill. Although he had smoothed out his rough edges over the years, as a former soldier, this was something he was most proud of, so how could he stand idly by?

Moreover, whether from a public or private perspective, Section Chief Xiao had to handle this matter properly. Publicly, Guo Yongping was from the purchasing department, and that damned steward Hao Aiguo had openly demanded at a general meeting of the entire courtyard that Guo Yongping get cheap grain for the residents. This was forcing Guo Yongping to violate the national policy of unified purchase and sale. What was even more despicable was that Hao Aiguo had the audacity to label Guo Yongping a bad element, which was simply courting death. Privately, Guo Yongping had been specifically called by Deputy Director Wang Shengli of the security department, who asked him to give him some special consideration. Guo Yongping had only been working for a few days and had already encountered such a distressing situation. It was clear that the steward in the courtyard was bullying Guo Yongping because he was alone and just a young man under twenty. If Guo Yongping agreed to the other party's demands, this young man's future might be ruined. Wouldn't this be a slap in the face to Xiao himself?

It should be noted that the situation at Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill was similar to that of other factories in Beijing. Most of the main leaders and cadres in the factory were demobilized soldiers who had been resettled from the military. Once these leaders and cadres learned about Guo Yongping's plight, they would not stand idly by.

So, in the following time, Guo Yongping followed Section Chief Xiao to the logistics director's office, and under the logistics director's guidance, he met the main villain in "Full House of Love," Deputy Factory Director Li Huaide.

In fact, similar to the views of other time travelers in Tomato's novels, Guo Yongping had a good impression of the deputy factory director Li, who had a reputation for getting things done for money. Perhaps because he had seen too many reports of corruption on the internet in his later years, he was even more convinced of Li Huaide's character.