I feel right at home in the world of the courtyard house.

This is a formal statement! The protagonist of this book is utterly inhuman, has no moral compass, and is a complete scoundrel. If you have any moral fastidiousness, please leave now.

Furthermore, to address Widow Qin directly, given the protagonist's personality, he will definitely want to try something salty. If you mind, please leave now.

Please don't say anything in the comments section. Thank you everyone.

Fall 1961

"Teacher Yan, are you watering the flowers?"

A greeting came from the other side of the hanging flower gate.

The man pushing the old-fashioned bicycle into the courtyard was a young man of about thirty years old. He was very tall, probably over 180 cm, and was wearing a crisp Zhongshan suit.

A brand-new leather briefcase hung on the handlebars. He nodded to Yan Bugui, who was tending to his flowers and plants in front of his house, with a smile on his face.

"Haha, just something to do when I'm bored, this is my only hobby." The one who answered was a thin middle-aged man in his forties, wearing glasses on his nose. He turned around when he heard the voice. He was carrying a green tin watering can, with water still dripping from the spout.

The young man who pushed the cart in was Li Jing'an.

The exterior is that of Li Jing'an from 1961, but the interior contains a soul from the 21st century.

Three months ago, he woke up to find himself in a different world, becoming this 29-year-old young military officer who shared the same name as him.

The original owner's parents were both alive, and he had an older sister. He himself was a battalion commander in the army.

After understanding the situation, Li Jing'an did not hesitate for long and quickly submitted his transfer application.

The reason is simple—the long-awaited "standard" system finally made a move, but the prompt was cold and impersonal: it can only be activated within the courtyard area.

A courtyard house? That's all too familiar. Before he transmigrated, he read countless fanfictions about courtyard houses on Tomato Novels.

But once he stepped into this world, he gradually realized that it was not the world depicted in those novels, but rather closer to the background of a period drama he had once watched.

These "celebrities" in the courtyard are not as stereotypically despicable as depicted in fan fiction.

Take the third uncle, Yan Bugui, for example. In the novel, he is always described as scheming to the core, blocking doors to take advantage of others and tasting their salty food.

If that were the case, he would have been unable to survive in the prestigious Beijing compound, where reputation and connections are paramount, and he would likely have lost his teaching job.

Second Uncle Liu Haizhong is, at heart, a power-hungry official, but he may not be truly evil at heart.

As for the later raid on the Lou family's property... Li Jing'an shook his head inwardly. That had to be considered within the context of that rapidly advancing era. Faced with such a powerful tide, individual choices were inherently limited. To say he was entirely wrong? Who would have dared to say that back then?

As for taking gold bars without permission—human nature cannot withstand such a test; nine and a half out of ten people would find it hard to resist. Money blinds people; this has been true throughout history.

As for Uncle Yi Zhonghai, he is often depicted in fan fiction as a hypocritical and scheming "ultimate villain" who is destined to ruin his family.

Currently, he has a very good reputation and high prestige in the hospital and factory.

Looking back now, most of those novel plots seem to be the product of later generations' imaginations, detached from the context of their time.

The original owner had a separate small courtyard in the west wing of this courtyard house, which his parents acquired from the original owner.

His grandfather ran a small business and had some savings. But the original owner's parents weren't cut out for business.

After his grandfather passed away, his parents used the inheritance to buy this small courtyard.

It is a quiet study courtyard with three rooms, which were originally used by the family's children for studying and practicing calligraphy.

Because Li Jing'an's parents had another residence in Xicheng, this small courtyard had been rented out after they bought it. After he was demobilized, he moved here, and it became his own private space.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with the third uncle, Li Jing'an pushed the cart further inside.

The courtyard was quite quiet at this moment. As dusk fell, everyone was probably busy preparing dinner, and there was no one to be seen in the courtyard.

He walked through the middle courtyard to the west wing next to the Jia family's house. There was a small courtyard there, leading to a corridor in the backyard, and to the west was a slightly hidden door—that was the entrance to his courtyard.

He took out his key, unlocked the door, and pushed it open with a creak. He pushed the car inside, turned around, and closed the door.

The courtyard wasn't small. After Li Jing'an moved in, he had someone build an additional east-facing room and a small toilet on the east side, next to the Jia family's wall.

The east room is actually two rooms, separated by a half-wall.

The outer room served as the kitchen, with a water pipe connected to it, which was run from the main water pipe in the middle courtyard; the inner room had a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove). When the coldest days of winter arrived, Li Jing'an would move here to stay, where it was warm.

He was also planning to open another door on the west wall in the future for easier access, but there was no rush at the moment.

He parked his bicycle and went into the main house.

The main building consists of those three old rooms, with the partition walls removed, totaling about sixty square meters. Two of them were connected to form a living room, and one was used as a bedroom.

The living room was simply yet tastefully furnished. Facing the door and against the north wall was a set of six pieces of Ming Dynasty central hall furniture, antique items that Li Jing'an had someone find for him.

Unfortunately, the material is not rosewood, but ironwood.

A square table with a few chairs was placed under the south window, and next to it was a fabric sofa, which was still quite rare in this era and looked very soft.

A desk and bookcase stand against the west wall, with some brand-new books on the bookcase.

A thin layer of dust had settled on the desk, indicating that it hadn't been used for some time.