Chapter 1: then translation of chapter title

In spring 1952, at the Beijing railway station, a young man in earth-yellow military uniform walked out of the station in a daze. Looking at the scene before him, the young man still wore an expression of utter disbelief. He had slept soundly at home the previous night, and upon waking found himself transported to the present.

The young man was named Li Qiang, a veteran of the twenty-first century who, after discharge, had found a job as a security guard. Due to several consecutive days of duty, feeling a bit unwell, Li Qiang returned to the dormitory and went to bed to rest. Who would have thought he would die suddenly in his sleep and accidentally transmigrate into the body of a namesake Li Qiang from the 1950s. This Li Qiang was a company commander on the Korean battlefield, wounded in battle and hospitalized, but was not rescued there, so the Li Qiang of later generations took over his body, occupying it like a cuckoo taking over a magpie's nest.

According to his memory, Li Qiang lay in the hospital for over a month before his body recovered, but because of his earlier injury he was no longer fit to remain in the unit. His superiors awarded him a second-class merit, promoted him one rank, and processed his transfer to civilian work.

Li Qiang's parents died early; it was his older brother who raised him. At fifteen, Li Qiang followed the unit campaigning south and north; otherwise, the twenty-one-year-old Li Qiang would not have lived to attain the position of battalion commander.

"No. 95 Siheyuan, Nanluoguxiang" — reading the characters on the wooden sign at the Siheyuan gate, Li Qiang stood there dumbfounded for a while.

"Comrade, who are you looking for?" A bespectacled, thin man in his thirties to under forty, seeing Li Qiang dazed at the Siheyuan gate, couldn't help stepping forward to ask.

"Holy shit, this isn't Yan Butgui, the Third Grandmaster from 'Affectionate Siheyuan,' the miserly old Yan, is it?" Li Qiang thought to himself upon seeing the man before him.

"Hello, comrade. I'm looking for Li Bin; I'm his younger brother, Li Qiang." A person from the 1950s, a forty-year-old face looked older than a sixty-year-old from later times.

"Oh, I heard Li Bin mention he had a brother in the army; I didn't expect it to be you. Li Bin lives in the rear courtyard; I'll take you there." Yan Butgui warmly greeted Li Qiang. Before transmigrating, Li Qiang had watched the TV series 'Affectionate Siheyuan,' so he knew very well about Third Grandmaster Yan the miser. Yan was the sort who never rose early without profit; his enthusiastic help in showing Li Qiang the way was likely motivated by self-interest.

"Thank you, Elder, but I don't know how to address you." Li Qiang pretended not to know Yan Butgui.

"I am the Third Grandmaster of this Siheyuan, Yan Butgui. Just call me Third Grandmaster. Recently, the Military Control Committee, to guard against enemy agents, specially selected a Household Manager for each Siheyuan; I was fortunate to be elected by everyone as our Siheyuan's Third Grandmaster." Yan Butgui said proudly.

"Then thank you, Third Grandmaster." Li Qiang, having seen the TV series' storyline after 1965, only knew that the Siheyuan had three Household Managers: the First Grandmaster was the Moral Heavenly Virtue Yi Zhonghai, who, having no children, liked to morally blackmail others.

The Second Grandmaster, Liu Haizhong, was an official-obsessed man who would stop at nothing to become an officer. During the mass movements, to curry favor with Li Huaide, chairman of the Yagangchang Revolutionary Committee, he led people to ransack Lou Xiaoe's home. Though he only had an elementary education, he constantly boasted that he was a senior elementary graduate. He had three sons: his eldest son Liu Guangqi was a treasure in his palm; his second son Liu Guangtian; his third son Liu Guangfu fared poorly with him, receiving almost beatings every three days and major beatings every five days, so much so that outsiders might think those two younger sons were picked up off the street.

Finally came the Third Grandmaster, Yan Butgui, nicknamed 'Iron Plate Plate Yan the Miser,' a man who would even taste the saltiness of a passing manure cart. He had three sons and one daughter: eldest son Yan Jiecheng, second son Yan Jiefang, third son Yan Jiekuang, and little daughter Yan Jiedi. It is now 1952, and Yan Jiedi is probably just recently born.

"Big Bin, your family has relatives visiting." Yan Butgui led Li Qiang to the rear courtyard and stopped in front of the two side rooms.

"Third Grandmaster has come," a loud voice called from inside the room; the inner door opened and a man about thirty stepped out.

"Qiangzi," the man was indeed Li Qiang's older brother, Li Bin. Seeing Li Qiang before him, Li Bin's face showed utter disbelief; although the brothers had not seen each other for five or six years, Li Bin still recognized Li Qiang at a glance.

"Brother," Li Qiang called out, choking back tears. Although Li Qiang was no longer the original Li Qiang, at this moment the blood‑relation affection awakened instantly. In his previous life Li Qiang had been an orphan; seeing others with brothers, sisters, and family had filled him with envy, and now he could finally shout "Brother" with all his heart.

"Just coming back is good, just coming back is good," Li Bin said, his eyes red.

"Hurry inside, Xiao Fen, hurry and see who's come back," Li Bin shouted excitedly to the people inside.

"Who's come? Look how excited you're making me," the words had barely fallen when a woman in her mid‑twenties walked out.

"Sister‑in‑law," Li Qiang called out as he saw the woman step out; during his military service his brother and sister‑in‑law had already been married, so he naturally knew his sister‑in‑law Yang Fen.

"Qiangzi, you little brat, you've finally come back," Yang Fen walked up to Li Qiang and punched his arm hard. When Li Qiang first said he wanted to join the army, his brother and sister‑in‑law were unwilling; Li Bin was a very traditional sort who believed that, with their parents gone, it was an older brother's duty to look after his younger sibling, get him married and have children. Moreover, before liberation, serving in the army and dying in battle was commonplace, so Li Bin was even more reluctant to let Li Qiang enlist. But Li Qiang was born stubborn; once he set his mind on something, not even nine oxen could pull him back. One day, taking advantage of his brother and sister‑in‑law's inattention, he sneaked off to sign up. Since he was underage, they initially refused to accept him, but he clung to the unit, begging and pleading, until they had no choice but to take him in.

But when his brother and sister‑in‑law discovered he was missing, it was already too late to look for him; even Li Bin and his wife searched for days without finding him. No wonder Yang Fen gave him a punch when they met—there was some resentment, but more worry and heartache.

"It's fine, sister‑in‑law; I'm back, aren't I?" Li Qiang smiled as he comforted Yang Fen.

"This time you're coming back for good, aren't you?" Li Bin asked.

"No, I'm not leaving; I've returned after transferring to civilian work," Li Qiang said with a smile.

"Not leaving is good; in a couple of days I'll have your sister‑in‑law find a matchmaker to set you up with a wife. Get married and live a steady life—that's all I need, and I'll feel I've done right by our parents underground." Li Bin said earnestly.

"There's no rush; I've only just come back," Li Qiang said with a smile.

"Cough, cough, Big Bin, your brother's come back—you can't just keep standing at the doorway chatting," Yan Butgui said, seeing that no one was paying attention to him, feeling embarrassed.

"Sorry, Third Grandmaster, I got so excited I forgot—Qiangzi, hurry inside," Li Bin hurriedly urged Li Qiang to go indoors, again overlooking Yan Butgui.

But what sort of person was Yan Butgui? He wouldn't work for nothing; even if he went to Li Bin's house just to mooch a bowl of water, he wouldn't simply leave like that. Without Li Bin saying a word, he just followed Li Qiang from behind into Li Bin's house.