Courtyard House: From Bloodsucking Jia Zhangshi to Industrial Giant

Chapter 57 System Upgrade!

The two entered the room, Zhang Chengfei locked the car, and Wen Shuangqing led them to the study.

Zhang Chengfei placed the bottle on the table. Old Tai glanced at it and said seriously, "I never drink. Because our line of work requires long hours of drawing at a desk, and alcohol damages the nervous system, causing fine motor incoordination..."

Zhang Chengfei nodded: "Then I'll drink less in the future."

Actually, except for the first time he drank with Xu Damao and the others, he actually drank. After that, no matter who he drank with, he always stored the alcohol in his spatial storage.

However, after spending time with him recently, he came to understand Lao Tai's character. He realized that although Lao Tai was rigid, he genuinely cared about him, so he didn't confront him directly.

"Take this bottle of wine and give it to someone else later." Old Tai then pointed to the Erguotou on the table.

Zhang Chengfei readily agreed and stuffed the bottle back into his bag. Old Tai meant what he said; when he told him to take it, he genuinely meant it, there was no feigned refusal.

Seeing that the bottle of wine was out of sight, Old Tai's expression softened: "If there's anything you don't understand, just say it."

Zhang Chengfei took out the German beginner's book and found the place he had marked...

After clarifying all the doubts, it was already past six o'clock in the evening, time for dinner.

Wen Shuangqing emerged from the kitchen, saying she had made pancakes and minced garlic, and wanted Zhang Chengfei to stay for dinner.

Zhang Chengfei glanced at Lao Tai and shook his head: "My eldest niece has already prepared a meal for me at home."

Wen Shuangqing glanced at her husband and sighed, "Then I won't keep you any longer."

"Okay, I'm leaving now. It's chilly outside, Auntie, you should go back inside."

……

Monday, Beijing, steel mill auditorium.

The steel rolling mill has two factories under its jurisdiction, the machinery factory and the automobile leaf spring factory. Both of them have their own medical rooms and reading rooms, but none of them have their own auditorium.

Therefore, whenever there is a major event, both branch factories borrow the auditorium of the steel rolling mill.

However, strictly speaking, this cannot be considered a borrowing.

Because Zhang Chengfei helped capture a high-ranking spy chief who had been on the run for many years, the matter was of great importance.

Therefore, it was only natural that this commendation meeting was jointly organized by the subdistrict office and the steel rolling mill, and that the auditorium was used.

The auditorium was meticulously decorated, with a large red banner hanging above the stage—a commendation ceremony for Comrade Zhang Chengfei's clever battle against the "poisonous scorpion".

The banner did not specify that Zhang Chengfei was an employee of the machinery factory rather than the steel rolling mill, which was reportedly instructed by Deputy Factory Director Li.

Li Huaide specifically instructed the factory's propaganda department to write a report on the incident and submit it to a prestigious newspaper in Beijing.

The banner did not specify Zhang Chengfei's work unit in order to make it easier to confuse the audience in subsequent reports.

Below the stage, almost all the workers from the steel rolling mill, the machinery factory, and the automobile leaf spring factory, as well as the families of several factory workers, were either standing or sitting, eagerly awaiting the start of the conference.

Er Ya and Bang Geng arrived early upon hearing the news and secured the best spots.

As more and more people gathered, Zhang Erya got up and searched diligently. When she saw where Auntie Er, Auntie San, and Auntie Yi were, she got up again, pushed through the crowd, and went over.

"Oh my, my third uncle has really brought honor to the family this time... When I see my seventh grandfather next time, I'm going to tell him to give my third uncle a separate page in the family tree."

Several middle-aged women and Zhang Erya learned the news around the same time. They were surprised, but they had also expected her to come and show off. They all kept their eyes down and ignored her completely.

Zhang Erya, having been snubbed, was about to explode when a worker nearby approached and asked, "Ma'am, does this mean Comrade Zhang Chengfei is related to your family?"

Zhang Erya immediately started showing off: "Zhang Chengfei is my third uncle, my own third uncle!! Let me tell you, my third uncle is quite remarkable, he became a cadre at the age of eighteen..."

Good grief, I still couldn't dodge it...

The older woman and her companions looked pained. They were naturally happy that Zhang Chengfei had caught the spy, as it would help their courtyard house's year-end evaluation.

But the thought of Zhang Erya's tail wagging even higher in the future made them feel uncomfortable.

The three exchanged glances, and a thought involuntarily arose in their minds: how could Zhang Chengfei be related to Zhang Erya?

And another thing, what do you mean by saying that Zhang Chengfei's achievements today are inseparable from Zhang Erya's contributions? I've never seen anyone so self-aggrandizing, shameless!

Seeing Zhang Erya constantly taking credit for herself, the third aunt couldn't help but say sarcastically, "Zhang Dama, what you're saying is really shameless."

Zhang Erya scratched her head: "I'm not that greedy. I just ate half a string of pig intestines last night, so my stomach is full of oil now."

This is completely irrelevant... Everyone was speechless.

The second aunt scoffed, "The third aunt is talking about the city gate tower, and you're talking about the hip shaft... You're so uncultured, it's laughable."

Zhang Erya realized she was being mocked, and put her hands on her hips, ready to yell at her.

An older woman hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over, saying that the neighborhood committee member Zhou had taken the stage and the meeting was about to begin, and everyone quieted down.

On the stage, Zhou Jihong stood tall and proud, holding the microphone. She first asked everyone to be quiet, and then recounted how Zhang Chengfei had outwitted the criminals.

Finally, he raised his hand and announced, "Let us welcome Comrade Zhang Chengfei, the hero of Jiaodaokou and the steel rolling mill, to the stage!"

Before he finished speaking, thunderous applause erupted, almost enough to lift the roof off the building.

Amid thunderous applause, Zhang Chengfei strode onto the stage and waved to everyone.

A child ran onto the stage and put a big red flower on him.

"Comrade Zhang Chengfei, would you like to say something to everyone?" Zhou Jihong handed over the microphone with a smile.

With everyone from all three factories present, this was a perfect opportunity to establish a persona. Zhang Chengfei took the microphone, but instead of speaking eloquently, he began to speak somewhat woodenly:

"Comrade Zhou asked me to say something, but we tech guys aren't good at talking..."

When I saw that the person I was having dinner with was a spy, I only had one thought in my mind.

That is to say, it wasn't easy for us to defeat the Japanese and establish a new country amidst the devastation of war!

Now that I've encountered this spy, I'm determined to catch him...

Finally, I would like to thank my leaders, the factory, and the organization...

After speaking, he bowed deeply and smiled shyly, saying, "I apologize for not speaking well."

"Comrade Zhang Chengfei, you spoke very well." Zhou Jihong took the microphone with a smile, looked at the audience, and said, "Let's all give Comrade Zhang Chengfei a round of applause, shall we?"

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

"Next, please welcome Director Yang and Director Li of the steel rolling mill, Director Wang of the street office, and Director Song of the police station to present the award to Comrade Zhang Chengfei."

Good heavens, another award? The crowd in the courtyard below the stage stared in disbelief.

Jia Dongxu was overjoyed, his back straight as if he were standing at attention, and he looked around: "My grandfather... yes, my mother's uncle."

Guo Da Piezi curled his lip: "Shouldn't your mother's third uncle be your maternal uncle?"

"What do you know? Calling him grandpa makes you seem closer." Jia Dongxu proudly raised his chin.

His third grandfather had performed many extraordinary feats, and for a moment, he even considered changing the surname of his family's Banggeng family to Zhanggeng, in order to express his closeness to his third grandfather.

Two surnames, I always feel there's something between them...