Chapter 1260: Contacting the World Inside the High Walls!

Around five o'clock in the afternoon, after getting off work, Jin Yang arrived at a hutong.

Recently, he had entrusted someone to acquire a stone basin with a guest-welcoming pine of excellent quality.

Jin Yang knocked on the door of the traditional courtyard house.

Not long after, an old lady walked over to open the door.

"Oh, it's Department Head Jin, why have you come?"

Jin Yang walked straight toward the corner of the courtyard.

Arranged in the corner was a pile of bonsai, such as five-needle pines, small black pines, spring pines, and so on.

Jin Yang said with a smile: "I saw a guest-welcoming pine in a stone basin with a good appearance at the market a while ago, but I don't know the trade myself, so I wanted to ask Director Qi to help me take a look."

The old lady shouted toward the inside of the house: "Old Qi, come out, Department Head Jin is here."

Director Qi walked out from the house, saw the guest-welcoming pine Jin Yang was holding in his arms, and said with a smile: "Put it in the corner."

Jin Yang set the stone basin down, took off his coat, picked up a broom, and offered: "I'll sweep the courtyard."

The old lady hurriedly said: "Department Head Jin, there's no need for such trouble."

Jin Yang waved his hand: "It's fine, don't worry about me."

Just then, there was movement from outside the door.

The old lady walked over to open the door again. Seeing the smile on the old lady's face, Jin Yang wondered to himself, which guest could this be?

A young man and woman walked in.

Coincidentally, Jin Yang knew both of them.

The woman was Shi Yao, and the man was Tang Ye.

Tang Ye was no stranger to this traditional courtyard house.

This traditional courtyard house had been rebuilt on the foundation of an old courtyard.

Stepping through the vermilion-lacquered ruyi gate, one was immediately met with a landscape screen wall.

After entering the main gate, in the first courtyard, there was a room on the south side facing north, known in the old days as the "inverted room," often used to house guests or male servants, but now it had been converted into a boiler room.

All the hot water and heating for the entire traditional courtyard house were supplied from here.

In ancient times, just by looking at the structure of a traditional courtyard house, one could tell the owner's rank and official position.

The roof tiles of an official's house were double-layered, while commoners could only use single-layered ones;

The door frame of an official's house had pillars, which were not permitted for commoners;

An official's house had stone pedestals in front of the door; circular pedestals, shaped like stone drums, were for military officials, while square pedestals were for civil officials.

Some stone pedestals were carved with crouching or lying lions, indicating that the owner had ties to the imperial family; the larger the lion, the closer the relationship with the imperial family.

Those with four pillars above the door frame were the residences of officials of the fourth rank or higher;

Those with two pillars were the residences of officials below the fourth rank.

For officials of the fourth rank and above, the distinction was made by the depth of the doorway.

Tang Ye took note of the doorway; it was about six feet deep.

If this were in ancient times, it would be the residence of a second-rank official.

Tang Ye looked around.

He had not expected to see Jin Yang not far away.

Their eyes met.

Tang Ye was also quite surprised to see Jin Yang in this traditional courtyard house.

More importantly, he had seen a side of Jin Yang that was not known to others.

At this moment, Jin Yang was holding a broom, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his forehead covered in fine beads of sweat.

The smile on Jin Yang's face froze instantly.

He clearly had not expected to run into Tang Ye in Director Qi's traditional courtyard house.

Tang Ye couldn't help but sigh in his heart that Department Head Jin was truly eager to advance.

Tang Ye was the first to react and took the initiative to greet Jin Yang: "Department Head Jin, you are here too."

Jin Yang grunted: "Yes, Little Tang, County Magistrate Tang, hello."

Shi Yao also took the initiative to greet Jin Yang: "Department Head Jin, hello."

Jin Yang smiled dryly: "Little Shi, hello."

The old lady looked at Jin Yang and said softly: "Department Head Jin, are you finished? Why not come inside and have a cup of tea?"

Jin Yang smiled: "I still have some things to do, so I won't have tea."

The fallen leaves on the ground had been cleared, and Jin Yang shouted toward the house: "Director Qi, it's all cleaned up here, I'll be going now."

At this moment, Director Qi walked out and said: "Drive slowly on the road. We have guests, so I won't keep you."

Jin Yang walked out of the traditional courtyard house and paused outside the door for a long time, subconsciously shaking his head, and muttered to himself: "I didn't expect Tang Ye to have a connection with the Shi family; no wonder Director Qi requested that the high-end manufacturing project be located in Yechuan."

Thinking of his own path to promotion, Jin Yang couldn't help but feel emotional.

He had reached his current position through years of hard work.

Yet, some people were born holding resources that others could hardly reach.

Jin Yang was full of envy for Tang Ye; this young man was very lucky to have a guide.

Being able to step into Director Qi's traditional courtyard house meant his future was bound to be limitless.

Director Qi's wife, named Guo Xiuling, had a gentle smile on her face as she invited Shi Yao and Tang Ye to sit down.

Qi Tianyi smiled and said to Shi Yao: "I was wondering who you were bringing to see me; so it was Little Tang."

Shi Yao smiled: "Uncle Qi, it is thanks to your help that we were able to achieve some results; we had to find an opportunity to report our work to you."

"Mm, go ahead, I'm listening."

After speaking, Shi Yao and Tang Ye reported the work progress of Dayu County and Yechuan County to Qi Tianyi one by one.

"The poverty alleviation work in Dayu County has reached a critical stage.

After the E-commerce Incubation Base officially began operations, it created a large number of jobs for the local area.

In addition, the Anthracite Project has also signed several large orders. Dayu County's GDP tripled last year, and the per capita income also doubled.

Next, we will comprehensively advance the poverty alleviation work from the following aspects..."

After Shi Yao finished her report, Qi Tianyi gave his affirmation: "The poverty alleviation work in Dayu County is being watched by the whole country, and everyone has taken Dayu County as a model for poverty alleviation; next year, the National Development and Reform Commission will provide more support."

Subsequently, Qi Tianyi's gaze fell upon Tang Ye.

This was the third time Tang Ye had met him.

The first time was at a high-level forum, and Qi Tianyi's first impression of this young man was very good—he had a good image and a steady stage presence.

The second time was regarding the application for the high-end manufacturing project, and Qi Tianyi was moved by Tang Ye's proposal, which was both imaginative and highly executable.

"The High-end Manufacturing Incubation Base has already begun construction and is expected to be completed by December.

Our plan for next year is to focus on attracting a batch of powerful high-tech enterprises to move in..."

After Tang Ye finished his report, Qi Tianyi nodded slightly: "Although the work directions of you two are different, both are in the two fields that the country values the most.

One solves internal development problems, and the other deals with international competition issues.

Your thinking is clear, and you have execution capability!

I have a lot of confidence in you both."

For Tang Ye, being able to see Director Qi in this courtyard house had an extraordinary significance.

Thanks to Shi Yao, he was able to come into contact with the world inside the high walls...

Guo Xiuling walked into the room: "The meal is ready, let's eat together."

Shi Yao hurriedly stood up: "We won't stay for dinner."

Guo Xiuling did not try to persuade them to stay further.

After seeing Tang Ye and Shi Yao off, Guo Xiuling remarked with emotion: "Yaoyao and this young Tang look quite well-matched standing together."

Qi Tianyi gave Guo Xiuling an annoyed look: "They are colleagues; don't go playing matchmaker indiscriminately..."