Traveling back to 1952, starting a comeback from a relief station

In this day and age.

Even in families with better financial means, sugar was still a rare commodity.

Although the He family had no worries about food and drink, they were not exactly well-off.

Although He Daqing was a head chef in the steel rolling mill's kitchen and earned a good income, his family of three didn't have much pressure. However, he was always extravagant with his money and rarely bought candy for his children.

Xu Xiaoling stared wide-eyed at the candy in He Yushui's hand, her eyes filled with envy.

He quickly called out as well:

"Brother Wang!"

Wang Anping smiled and ruffled her hair, then said with a smile:

"Good girl."

"But there's no candy today."

"It's your own fault for not calling out right away. Opportunity only comes to those who are prepared."

Xu Xiaoling was stunned. Watching He Yushui happily run back with the candy in her hand, she swallowed hard.

Wang Anping went back to his house with a happy smile.

He had his own plans in mind.

Everyone in the courtyard has their own agenda.

Just as Yi Zhonghai opened his mouth, He Daqing pulled Sha Zhu aside and watched coldly, clearly indicating that the two were not on the same side.

Wang Anping knew he was destined to be restless and would inevitably clash with the preachy Yi Zhonghai in the future, which meant he needed to win over a group of people.

And in the courtyard.

In fact, He Daqing's influence was no less than Yi Zhonghai's.

Yi Zhonghai is a key technical worker in the steel rolling mill and is indeed prestigious, but this prestige is mostly limited to the mill. Not everyone in the yard is a worker in the steel rolling mill, so not everyone will listen to him.

He Daqing is the cook.

Whenever there's a wedding or funeral in the neighborhood, people inevitably ask him to help with the cooking; it's a favor that every household has to do.

Inside the He family's house, He Yushui skipped and hopped back, clutching two pieces of candy.

Raising his hand happily, he said:

"Dad, brother, Brother Wang, give me two pieces of candy!"

Sha Zhu was squatting by the stove scooping out noodles when he heard this, and he paused for a moment, then asked curiously:

"Brother Wang? Who is that?"

Realizing it was Wang Anping, the new guy from the front yard, he immediately glared at his sister with annoyance:

"What Brother Wang? That guy is no good!"

the next day.

Wang Anping woke up just as dawn was breaking.

In his past life, he was a corporate slave who worked on bidding and always found time to write novels, fantasizing about changing his fate through words. He only slept four or five hours a day.

Instead of changing his fate, he wore himself out.

I haven't made much money, but I've developed a habit of staying up late. I went to bed at eight or nine o'clock last night, but couldn't fall back asleep as soon as it got light.

He stared with his eyes open at the roof above him, where the beams were exposed.

After a long pause, he finally realized the fact that he had traveled through time—this was not a dream, he had really arrived in a Beijing courtyard house in the 1950s.

I poured some hot water from the still-warm thermos.

As Wang Anping pushed open the door and his gaze fell upon the potted red plum blossoms by the entrance, he was instantly stunned.

"Spring water has this effect?"

The potted red plum blossoms had changed noticeably compared to yesterday.

Some flowers that were almost withered seemed to have been given a second spring, unfurling their petals again with dazzlingly bright colors. The whole plant exuded vitality, looking delicate and fresh.

Looking at just this one pot, you wouldn't notice.

But there's another potted plant in front of Yan Bugui's house. Yesterday, the two pots looked about the same, but now there's a clear difference.

"This spring water is wonderful!"

"However, we can't use the spring water freely next time."

As for the stark difference between the two pots of flowers, Wang Anping had already given his explanation—it could only be attributed to Yan Bugui's character!

People nurture flowers, and the flowers, in turn, are not swayed by people!

After sighing, Wang Anping quickly tidied up and went out.

As dawn broke, people in the courtyard gradually got up and started to get lively.

Yan Bugui was brushing his teeth inside when he heard a rustling sound at the door. Puzzled, he pushed the door open and saw Wang Anping carrying a large bundle of straw into the room. He was immediately taken aback.

"Wang Anping, where did you get this straw so early in the morning?"

Wang Anping greeted him with a smile:

Good morning, Teacher Yan.

"I just bought this at the farmers' market."

"The honeycomb briquettes at home have a weak flame, so burning some straw to start a fire makes cooking and boiling water faster."

"But the straw is a bit damp; it needs to be dried in the sun for a few days."

"You're busy."

After saying that, he strode towards the central courtyard.

Yan Bugui was stunned for a long time, his eyes darting around behind his glasses before he instantly realized what was going on.

He quickly rinsed his mouth and ran back to the house, gloating as he said to Yang Ruihua:

"This is going to be interesting."

"There's definitely going to be a fight in the courtyard later!"

Sure enough, a commotion broke out in the middle courtyard shortly afterward.

Upon hearing the commotion, Yan Bugui, who had been waiting to see the excitement, immediately sprang to life and ran towards the central courtyard.

When they arrived at the Intermediate People's Court, a large number of people had already gathered inside.

Yi Zhonghai and his wife, Jia Zhangshi, He Daqing, Liu Erniang, and even Liu Haizhong's wife from the backyard all gathered around.

Wang Anping was leisurely spreading straw on the ground. A patch of straw had already been laid in front of Yi Zhonghai's house, and he was also spreading it in front of Jia's house.

The commotion just now was clearly caused by Jia Zhangshi shouting.

Wang Anping looked up, his smile unchanged:

"Mrs. Jia, that's not right. What do you mean by 'your home'? You didn't say that last night."

He paused, then deliberately raised his voice:

"Last night you and Master Yi both said that the area in the yard is a public area that anyone can use."

"My straw is very damp and needs to be dried thoroughly. There's no space in the front yard, so I can only spread it here."

"Judging by the dampness, it'll probably take a few days to dry out."

As he spoke, he glanced at Yi Zhonghai, whose face was grim.

Smilingly added:

"Master Yi, please don't roll your eyes. We live in the same courtyard; we should be considerate of each other. Look, I even left a path for your door!"

The neighbors watching the commotion all looked at Wang Anping with strange expressions.

Although a path was supposedly left, the area in front of Yi Zhonghai's house was almost entirely covered with straw, leaving only a narrow path less than half a meter wide, barely wide enough for a person to pass through.

Although there was a lot of straw, if it had been laid out more densely, it wouldn't have taken up much space. But Wang Anping deliberately laid it out loosely, claiming that it would "dry faster."

Anyone with eyes can see that he's deliberately trying to annoy people.

At this moment, Jia Zhangshi was jumping up and down and shouting, and Yi Zhonghai and his wife also looked rather unhappy.

But last night he said himself that the yard was a public area that anyone could use. If he were to criticize Wang Anping now, wouldn't he be contradicting himself and giving others grounds for accusations of double standards?

Yi Zhonghai, who has always touted himself as a moral paragon, would naturally not contradict himself in public.

Others naturally wouldn't get involved.

Wang Anping deliberately laid the straw only in front of the Yi and Jia families' doors, without blocking the way for the others. The open space left in the yard was enough for the old women to sunbathe and chat during the day.

No one should offend others for the sake of other people's business.

At this time.

Waking up, Jia Dongxu came out of the house and immediately saw the straw scattered on the ground and Wang Anping busy at work. He instantly understood what was going on.

A young man in his early twenties, at the height of his temper, how could he tolerate such treatment?

He immediately rushed over, cursing and swearing:

"Wang Anping, is your grandson deliberately causing trouble?"

"Just wait and see how I deal with you!"