Fusion System: Rebirth in a Courtyard - Bird Fighting Chronicles

Chapter 92: The Green Fence, First Cut, Soothes the Dustful Heart; The Cold Branches Gradually Warm,

On the morning of the eleventh day of the twelfth lunar month, the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill was still shrouded in frost. Smoke from the canteen chimney lingered low in the air, like a layer of gray gauze. Qin Huai held the newly received notice of her transfer to a logistics position. Her fingertips gripped the thin stack of papers, yet it felt so heavy it could bend her arms. The ink on the notice, bearing the words "Greening Group," still carried the warmth of the printing press, but her back was already soaked with cold sweat—from an apprentice in the fitter's workshop to a logistics greening worker, in the eyes of others, this was clearly a demotion due to insufficient skills.

She stood under the corridor of the workshop office building, gazing at the bare plane trees in the distance. The icicles hanging from the branches reflected the morning light, stinging her eyes. Yesterday, the quarterly assessment results for the fitter workshop were posted, and her practical skills score was the lowest among all the apprentices. The words in the comment section, "Insufficient hands-on skills, not suited for precision machining," pricked her self-esteem like a fine needle. Master Yi Zhonghai had spoken to her privately, his tone filled with undisguised disappointment: "Huai Ru, it's not that I don't want to help you, but your hand always shakes when you hold the file, and you can't even find the center of the hole when drilling. If you stay any longer, I'm afraid it will affect the workshop's pass rate."

As she stood there in a daze, she heard familiar footsteps behind her, the heavy thud of work boots on the concrete. Qin Huairu turned around and saw Lin Chen walking towards her carrying a toolbox. The "Precision Group" label on the side of the toolbox was very conspicuous in the morning light. He had just returned from the early shift's equipment inspection, his forehead still smudged with machine oil. Seeing the notification slip in Qin Huairu's hand, he paused: "Transferred to logistics?"

Qin Huai subconsciously hid the notice behind her back, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace: "Hmm, the landscaping team, managing the flowers, plants, and trees, that's not bad." As soon as she finished speaking, tears almost welled up in her eyes—she remembered when she first took over the job, carrying the infant Huaihua on her back, busy in the workshop, being bossed around and handed tools by the apprentices, and now she couldn't even keep that "busyness."

Lin Chen noticed her embarrassment, placed the toolbox on the stone platform under the corridor, took out an oil paper package from his pocket and handed it to her: "These are brown sugar steamed buns I just bought from the cafeteria. Take them back to Huaihua." He glanced at the address of the greening group on the notice, "Many of those plane trees froze to death last winter, and the logistics director is worried about who will take care of them. You are meticulous, so you might be able to do a good job."

"What do I know about planting trees?" Qin Huairu took the steamed bun. The warmth of the oil paper wrapping seeped through her fingertips, making her nose sting even more. Before, in the workshop, she relied on playing the victim to get help from Sha Zhu and on Yi Zhonghai's favoritism to get by. Now that she no longer had those advantages, she couldn't even hold onto a decent job.

Lin Chen pointed to the hedges not far away: "When you sew clothes, you pay attention to the spacing of the stitches. It's the same with trimming hedges. You have to follow their growth pattern and not cut them too hard. If you really don't know, just ask Old Wang from logistics. He's been in charge of the factory's landscaping for twenty years, and he's a very easy person to talk to." He paused and added, "Making a living with your skills is more reliable than pretending to be pitiful. Landscaping is also a skill."

These words struck a chord with Qin Huairu. Ever since Lin Chen's words of wisdom, she had closed her sewing stall at the gate of the courtyard, intending to learn a skill in the workshop. However, lacking the talent, she ultimately ended up being reassigned. She clenched the steamed bun in her hand and nodded: "I understand, Master Lin, thank you."

On her first day reporting to the landscaping team, Qin Huairu ran into a tough nut to crack. The logistics director, a rough-looking man in his fifties surnamed Zhou, had wrinkles etched on his face from years of wind and sun. When he saw her carrying a cloth bag, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a mosquito: "Qin Huairu? The one who retired from the fitter's workshop?" He spat on the ground and pointed to the shovels and brooms piled in the corner. "First, sweep up the fallen leaves in front of the office building, then trim the holly hedge on the east side. If you're not done by noon, you won't get lunch."

Old Wang, a fellow worker in the same group, quickly smoothed things over: "Director Zhou, Xiao Qin is new and doesn't know the rules. Let me show her." Old Wang, with his gray hair and always carrying a pair of shin-tipped pruning shears, was a well-known "gardener" in the factory area. He pulled Qin Huairu to the holly hedge and demonstrated how to hold the shears: "Look, when pruning this kind of clump-forming plant, you have to leave three-tenths of the tip, otherwise it won't sprout new buds in the spring. Just like in life, you can't go to extremes; you have to leave room for maneuver."

Qin Huairu tried to imitate Master Wang by holding the pruning shears, but after just a couple of snips, her hand went numb from the tremors. The holly hedge was growing haphazardly, and some branches had already turned black from the frost, making pruning particularly difficult. She recalled how she used to hold a file in the workshop; it was the same—you had to use your hand—but the file was inanimate, while these branches had a vibrant resilience. If you cut too deep, sap would ooze out; if you cut too shallow, the cuts would be uneven.

During the lunch break, Qin Huairu sat on the stone steps, munching on her own cornbread, watching Old Wang water the frostbitten roses with warm water. "Master, these flowers are so frozen, can they still survive?" she asked, pointing to the drooping buds.

Old Wang breathed on his palms, rubbing his frostbitten hands: "They'll survive. As long as the roots aren't damaged by the cold, they'll sprout again in the spring. It's the same with people. A few setbacks are nothing. As long as your heart isn't completely cold, you can always get through it." He glanced at Qin Huairu's reddened palms and took out a plaster from his cloth bag: "This is a frostbite ointment my wife made. Take it and use it. Wear gloves when you're working, so you don't get frostbite."

Qin Huairu accepted the plaster. The herbal scent of the plaster mixed with the earthy smell of Old Wang warmed her heart. Before, in the courtyard house, she was used to scheming and being wary, always feeling that everyone wanted to take advantage of her. But in the landscaping team, she experienced kindness without any ulterior motives for the first time.

Work had just started in the afternoon when Director Zhou arrived with a man in a Zhongshan suit, saying he was the factory's publicity officer and wanted to take photos of the factory's greenery for publication in the factory newspaper. Pointing to the neatly trimmed holly hedges, Director Zhou deliberately raised his voice: "Look at our factory's greenery! It's all thanks to the team trained by Master Wang. It's much better than other factories!"

The propaganda officer's camera had just been focused on the holly hedge when it was drawn to a clump of forsythia next to Qin Huairu: "What's going on with this clump of flowers? Why are they growing so vigorously?" Everyone looked over and saw that the branches of the forsythia clump had been carefully pruned, with the withered branches removed, revealing tender green buds inside, exuding a bit of vitality in the cold wind.

Master Wang smiled and said, "Little Qin did this this morning. She said she used to braid her child's hair at home and wanted to straighten out the branches." Qin Huairu blushed and quickly explained, "I just thought it looked messy, so I just messed it up."

The publicity officer's eyes lit up, and he took several pictures of the forsythia: "That's called 'ingenious design'! Take a picture of this, and caption it 'The craftsmanship of a landscaping worker'!" After taking the photos, he asked Qin Huairu, "Did you work in horticulture before?"

"No, I just know a little needlework," Qin Huairu said softly. But suddenly her heart skipped a beat—to sew clothes, one needs to understand the texture of the fabric; to prune flowers and plants, one needs to understand the growth of the branches. It seemed that there really was something in common between the two.

That evening, when Qin Huairu returned to the courtyard, she was clutching two photo negatives given to her by the propaganda officer. At the stone table in the middle courtyard, Liu Haizhong was telling Lin Chen about Liu Guangtian's apprenticeship assessment. Seeing Qin Huairu return, Liu Haizhong deliberately said sarcastically, "Oh, Qin, the landscaping expert, is back? No need to carry the child to the workshop anymore?"

Madam Jia poked her head out of the house and joined in the commotion: "I always said she wasn't cut out to be a technician. Now look at her, dealing with flowers and plants. It does suit her reputation for being 'virtuous'."

Qin Huai didn't feign pitifulness or argue with them as she usually did; she simply smiled faintly and went into her house. Jia Dang was doing his homework at the table when he saw his mother return. He quickly handed her a cup of hot water: "Mom, why are your hands so red?"

"It's from working so hard." Qin Huairu patted her daughter's head and took out the photo negatives. "Look, the forsythia I made today is going to be featured in the factory newspaper." Jia Dang leaned over to look, her eyes sparkling. "Mom, you're amazing! Even better than when you were sewing clothes!"

These words stirred something within Qin Huairu. She carefully tucked the film negative into Jia Dang's textbook and then went to the kitchen to cook. In the past, when cooking, she always thought about how to save food coupons and how to ask Sha Zhu for a lunchbox, but today, looking at the bubbling sweet potato porridge in the pot, she suddenly felt that the food she earned with her own hands was more delicious than anything else.

In the days that followed, Qin Huairu seemed like a different person. Every day before dawn, she would go to the factory area, first watering the severely frozen flowers and trees with warm water, and then carefully pruning the branches. She applied the meticulousness she used for sewing to landscaping; when pruning roses, she would wrap the wounds with strips of cloth, and when pruning holly hedges, she would draw lines with chalk to ensure the pruning was neat and uniform. Even Old Wang said, "With Qin Huairu's skills, in another six months, she could be my successor."

On Laba Festival, the factory organized a hygiene competition among the workshops, and the landscaping team was responsible for placing potted plants at the entrance of each workshop. Director Zhou assigned this task to Qin Huairu, instructing her, "This is related to the reputation of the logistics team; there can't be any mistakes."

Qin Huairu pondered all night, arranging the camellias, daffodils, and poinsettias in the factory's greenhouse in different combinations, with each workshop entrance having a different arrangement of flowerpots—deep red camellias in a sturdy pot at the entrance of the forging workshop, giving it a dignified look; elegant daffodils at the entrance of the finance department, exuding a delicate charm; and at the entrance of the precision group where Lin Chen worked, she placed a pot of poinsettias in full bloom, with a red ribbon she had sewn herself tied to the pot.

When the results of the competition were announced, the landscaping team won first place. At the commendation meeting, Director Zhou, for the first time ever, praised Qin Huairu: "I used to think she was a delicate widow who couldn't do any hard work, but now it seems I was wrong! This girl is meticulous, capable, and a real gem!"

After the meeting, Lin Chen found Qin Huairu and handed her a paper package: "My colleagues from the precision group chipped in to buy this. Thank you for the flowerpot. The red ribbon is very festive." Inside the package was a bag of fruit candies, which was a rare item in those days.

Qin Huairu took the paper package, her hands trembling slightly. This was the first time she had been recognized for her work ability, not for feigning pitifulness to gain sympathy. She looked at Lin Chen and said earnestly, "Master Lin, thank you for reminding me back then that earning a living with your skills is truly reassuring."

That night, Qin Huairu distributed fruit candies to her three children. Jia Geng took the candy, gritted his teeth, and said, "Mom, I will never steal again. I want to earn money with my own hands, just like you." Qin Huairu patted her son's head, and tears fell down her face. This time, they were tears of joy.

Before the Spring Festival, the factory was going to hold a Spring Festival celebration, and the logistics team was responsible for setting up the venue. Director Zhou assigned the task of making lanterns to Qin Huairu, saying, "You can sew clothes, so you must be good at making lanterns too." Qin Huairu was not confident, so after returning home, she found the fabric she had used to make tiger-head shoes for her children, and went to the factory's scrap heap to pick up some bamboo strips, and tried to make a rabbit lantern.

At first, the bamboo strips were unruly, either bending too much or pricking their hands. Jia Dang would help his mother whittle the bamboo strips after school; Jia Huaihua would watch from the side, holding a rag doll, occasionally handing her a piece of thread. Watching the children busy themselves, Qin Huairu suddenly felt that these days were much warmer than the days of constant calculation and planning she had lived before.

When Lin Chen heard that she was making lanterns, he specially brought some discarded colored paper from the workshop: "This is colored paper used for packaging precision parts. It's waterproof and the colors are accurate. Give it a try." He also helped Qin Huairu adjust the angle of the bamboo strips: "Making lanterns is like forging parts. It requires even force distribution, otherwise they will easily fall apart."

With Lin Chen's help, Qin Huairu crafted lanterns shaped like the twelve zodiac animals. Each lantern was incredibly lifelike; the rabbit lantern even had fur sewn onto its ears, and the tiger lantern had the character "王" (king) embroidered on its forehead. On the day of the celebration, these lanterns were hung around the venue, drawing praise from everyone. Even the factory manager came over to ask, "Who made these lanterns? Their craftsmanship is truly excellent!"

Standing at the back of the crowd, Qin Huairu watched as her handmade lanterns were praised by everyone, filling her with pride. She saw Lin Chen and Su Qing standing together, Su Qing smiling and nodding at her, her eyes full of approval. She suddenly realized that she had always relied on others for help, forgetting that she also had hands, skills, and could earn respect through her own abilities.

On the day of the Spring Festival holiday, Qin Huairu received her year-end bonus from the logistics team—five jin of pork, ten jin of flour, and a certificate for "Advanced Worker." She carried these things back to the courtyard house, and was immediately surrounded by her neighbors as soon as she entered.

"Hey, Huairu, is this your year-end bonus?" Aunt Li came over to look, her eyes full of envy. "The landscaping team is so lucky, the benefits are so good!"

Madam Jia squeezed in, looked at the five catties of pork, and swallowed hard. "Huai Ru, look, Gengzi is growing so fast, could we have some of this pork?"

In the past, when faced with this situation, Qin Huai would either feign pitifulness to refuse or try to take the opportunity to ask Sha Zhu for something. But this time, she smiled and said, "Auntie, this pork is what I received with my award for being an outstanding worker. I need it to nourish the children. If you want some, I'll buy some and send it to you when I get my next paycheck." Her tone was neither humble nor arrogant; she neither offended anyone nor did she lose her own possessions.

Madam Jia was stunned. She hadn't expected that her daughter-in-law, who used to be so easy to manipulate, would become so assertive. She could only leave awkwardly.

Liu Haizhong walked over carrying his grandson, looked at the certificate in Qin Huairu's hand, and nodded: "Not bad, honors earned by oneself are more precious than anything else." He recalled how he used to rely on beating and scolding his children to show his authority, and now, seeing his second son Liu Guangtian becoming more and more successful under Lin Chen's guidance, he felt a little emotional.

That evening, Qin Huairu prepared a large feast, the aroma of braised pork filling the entire courtyard. Jia Geng, his mouth greasy, mumbled, "Mother, the meat is so delicious today!" Jia Dang placed a piece of meat on his mother's plate, saying, "Mother, you should eat too, it's yours."

Watching the children wolf down their food, and glancing at the "Advanced Worker" certificate on the wall, Qin Huairu suddenly felt that all her previous scheming and pretense were like a joke. She remembered Lin Chen's words, "It's reassuring to earn a living with your skills," and Old Master Wang's words, "As long as your heart isn't completely cold, you can always get through it." Tears welled up in her eyes once again.

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, Qin Huairu got up very early and took the children to visit the neighbors. When she arrived at Lin Chen's door, she saw Lin Chen and Su Qing putting up Spring Festival couplets. The couplets read, "Skills are perfected through diligence, and virtue is cultivated through the heart."

"Master Lin, Comrade Su, Happy New Year!" Qin Huairu said with a smile, holding a bowl of freshly cooked dumplings in her hand. "These are cabbage and pork dumplings that I made. Please have a taste."

Lin Chen took the dumplings and said with a smile, "Happy New Year, Chef Qin. I heard the logistics team is expanding and they're planning to make you the deputy leader, in charge of flower and tree cultivation, is that right?"

Qin Huairu was taken aback for a moment, then a bright smile appeared on her face: "Director Zhou told me, I haven't dared to tell anyone else yet."