Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

And then, it turned into this situation.

In a moment of drunken rage, Zhang Dabiao blurted out most of what he knew.

They basically have no cards left to play.

These things could have been saved as trump cards for later use and would have come in quite useful.

But now that everything has been exposed, it's hard to say which direction the storyline of the courtyard house will take.

The main storyline has completely gone haywire.

He slapped himself twice across the face—[Are you stupid? Are you stupid?!]

He had never seen anything like this in the courtyard house fan fiction he had ever read!

However, although the system ran away without leaving him any awesome cheats, it also didn't give him any tasks.

With his 25-year-old house, he lives a prosperous life in this era without much pressure.

He didn't care anymore.

Let's have fun! Who's afraid of who!

Having figured these things out, he suddenly felt a spasm in his abdomen—

hungry!

These days, everyone's hungry!

Zhang Dabiao was just a young man, and he was quite strong. It was early 60s, a time when food was extremely scarce. He hadn't even eaten breakfast when he was dragged out of bed to attend the hospital's New Year's gathering. It was already noon, and he hadn't eaten for two meals!

I'm almost getting low blood sugar!

Taking advantage of the fact that he was alone in the ward, he quickly slipped into his "space"—no, his apartment that he had lived in for 25 years.

Opening the refrigerator, I found sandwiches and caterpillar bread that I had ordered from Little Elephant Supermarket.

Without saying a word, I tore it open and started eating, not caring whether it was hot or cold, and also casually opened a bottle of sugar-free cola—

—Smack—

—Gurgle gurgle gurgle—

--belch--

Cool!

Damn, this is what life is all about!

After a satisfying meal, light up a Blue Tower cigarette—phew—

That made me feel much better.

Just as he was about to take another look at his room, he heard a noise outside the house.

"Zhang Dabiao!"

"Zhang Dabiao?"

"Where is Zhang Dabiao in bed 28?!

【Oh my god? The ward rounds are here?】

Zhang Dabiao quickly ran to the front gate, and the sound came from outside the gate, which he could hear clearly.

Just to be on the safe side, he opened the electronic peephole and looked inside, and sure enough, he could see outside!

A nurse opened the door and looked around for someone, followed by two police officers.

What's going on?

Has this blown up?

Why are the police here?

I was the one who got hit, it wasn't a fight between us, and I didn't break the law, did I?

Could it be that they've come to uphold justice for me? Though late, they'll surely arrive.

Zhang Dabiao didn't dare to speak. Looking at the electronic peephole screen, he saw the nurse and the police officer whispering to each other, "Did she go to the restroom? Or to the cafeteria? Shall we look again?"

"Okay, I'll go check the restroom. Xiao Li, you go check the cafeteria."

The three of them then walked out of the ward.

Zhang Dabiao instinctively tried to open the door, but no matter how he turned the doorknob, he couldn't push the door open; it seemed to be a rule restriction.

Finally, he could only silently repeat "Go back" in his mind before he flashed back into the ward.

But less than four or five seconds later, the ward door opened: "He was just here..."

At this moment, Zhang Dabiao was still puffing on a cigarette, his head wrapped up like an Indian's. The nurse and two police officers at the ward door looked at him in this state, and the four of them stared at each other in bewilderment.

……

Zhang Dabiao immediately threw away his cigarette and stomped on it twice, saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was wrong, I shouldn't have smoked in the ward!"

This was his instinctive reaction, stemming from his 25 years of experience knowing that smoking was naturally prohibited in places like hospitals, classrooms, offices, conference halls, and restaurants.

It's fine if you smoke in private, but you can't force others to inhale your secondhand smoke.

I was smoking at home, so I still had a cigarette in my mouth when I came out. I just forgot.

The police officer frowned, and Zhang Dabiao's heart skipped a beat—

"Young comrade, what's wrong with you...?"

[It's just smoking a cigarette, why make such a big deal out of it?]

"What a waste?!"

Zhang Dabiao – [Huh?]

"You threw away a filtered cigarette after only taking two puffs?"

"Do you realize this is a serious waste of resources?"

Zhang Dabiao was dumbfounded. What did that mean?

No one cares if you smoke in the hospital, but someone does care if you throw away a cigarette before you finish it?

Has the world gone mad?

And judging from their expressions...

It seems that he is genuinely disgusted by his behavior of "wasting" cigarettes?

Zhang Dabiao has really misunderstood. In the 50s and 60s, smoking was an extremely common and socially accepted behavior. Among men, offering a cigarette was even an important social etiquette. Hospitals, as public places, could hardly isolate this social custom.

In the 1960s, even doctors were smoking in their clinics, let alone patients. However, there would likely be some restrictions in intensive care units, operating rooms, and wards with oxygen tanks.

"Then, shall I pick it up and smoke it again?"

Zhang Dabiao immediately shoveled the crushed cigarette butts off the ground, but they were still...

You can't smoke it either?

How can this be done?

The two policemen exchanged a glance. They had been ordered by their superiors to "arrest" Zhang Dabiao and bring him back.

Engaging in "feudal superstition" on the first day of the Lunar New Year caused a brawl to break out in the entire courtyard, and the consequences were quite serious!

They say Jia Dongxu won't live more than two years, Qin Huairu will go to the factory to trade steamed buns for steamed buns, Xu Damao's wife, the silly moth, will have a child with the silly Zhu and cuckold Xu Damao, and Liu Guangqi is preparing to marry into the family—

These are all baseless rumors, because Xu Damao doesn't have a wife!

Are you some kind of fortune teller or something? Isn't this feudal superstition?

However—Xu Damao's family was arranging a blind date for him with the eldest daughter of the Lou family, a fact known only to members of the Xu family, who had only mentioned it briefly. The fact that Liu Guangqi was preparing to marry into the family was even more unknown, known only to Liu Guangqi and his girlfriend, with whom he hadn't yet registered their marriage!

This is something for the future, but Zhang Dabiao has predicted it accurately. If he's accurate, does that still count as "superstition"?

Another thing that was confirmed was that there was a so-called "family member of a martyr," one of whom embezzled child support fees, and the other two were beaten to death by Sha Zhu... Just think how serious this matter is.

The neighborhood committee can't suppress it at all! Even Director Wang, the "liar," can't cover it up! The police station is making a huge fuss about it.

The instigator was Zhang Dabiao, so naturally he had to be "arrested" and interrogated thoroughly. Where did you hear all that nonsense? Are you spreading rumors and slander?

If he admits it's slander or "feudal superstition" nonsense, then there's room for maneuver. After all, his family has a history of such activities; Grandpa Zhang is a frequent visitor to the neighborhood committee for engaging in "feudal superstition," so it's understandable that Comrade Zhang would know a little bit, right?

But upon seeing the filtered cigarette, the two police officers exchanged a glance.

This matter...

This is getting a bit complicated.

In August 59, Shanghai No. 8 Tobacco Factory imported filter cigarette rolling machines from East Germany, and successfully rolled out its first batch of products about a month later, with extremely limited production. According to records, in 1966, the production of "Chunghwa" brand cigarettes was 3600 cartons, of which only 110 cartons were filter cigarettes.

Now, in the early 60s, what does it mean to throw a filtered cigarette on the ground and stomp on it after only taking two puffs?

The cigarettes were either specially supplied Zhonghua cigarettes or foreign cigarettes, and this young man didn't seem to care at all. In other words, these filtered cigarettes were "ordinary, common, and cheap" to him, and throwing them away before finishing them was an instinctive and habitual reaction.

At that time, filtered cigarettes were a symbol of privilege and high status. They circulated only within a very small, elite social circle, completely isolated from the daily lives of ordinary people. Ordinary citizens could not purchase them with money or ration coupons in any open store. Their distribution relied entirely on a special supply system, with strict rationing based on administrative rank and diplomatic protocol.

As for the claim that it's a foreign cigarette? Is Zhang Dabiao an enemy agent?

It's not impossible, but how could someone as clueless as him possibly be a spy?

According to the information from their station and the street office, Zhang Dabiao is a mentally challenged idiot who has been held back a grade. At 16 years old, he is still in the third grade of elementary school. How could someone like him be a spy?

In addition, enemy agents would not have such abundant operating funds now, and they smoke foreign-made cigarettes every day, taking a couple of puffs and then throwing them on the ground.

Impossible, absolutely impossible!

Therefore, Zhang Dabiao's identity is quite complicated.

"Comrade Zhang Dabiao, do you still have any cigarettes? Could you show them to us?"

One of the older police officers asked Zhang Dabiao a question that left Zhang Dabiao completely bewildered.

Zhang Dabiao immediately took out a cigarette case from his pocket, pulled out two cigarettes, and handed them to the two policemen: "What are you looking at? They're not any good cigarettes. You two officers, have one."

No problem, the Blue Building is just about food and tobacco, it's not like it's 1916.

Looking at the box and Zhang Dabiao's nonchalant attitude, the two police officers gasped.

The soft bag is dark blue and gold, with a transparent plastic film on the outside, and there isn't a single word on it!

The cigarettes handed to me didn't have a single word on them!

The absence of any markings indicates it's not a foreign cigarette; it must be a specially supplied one!

They hadn't seen it, but they'd heard of it.

However, the special edition of Zhonghua (中华) is red and gold with a panda blue background, and is mainly sold in soft boxes or cans. I've also heard of white special edition packaging.

What brand of cigarettes is this blue and gold packaging?

It's definitely not a foreign cigarette!

And you even dare to say this isn't a good cigarette?

Listen to yourself, are you even speaking human language?

The two policemen examined the cigarettes closely, actually looking for any writing or markings. Zhang Dabiao, however, interpreted this as the other party waiting for him to light them, so he quickly reached into his pocket again, but after searching for a while without finding anything, he muttered something under his breath—

"Where's my lighter?"

"It was just here a moment ago? How did it get lost again?"

The two police officers gasped again.

These days everyone uses matches, a box of which costs 2 cents, while old-fashioned gasoline or kerosene lighters cost several to over ten dollars each!

He meant it was lost "again"?!

What kind of family is this Zhang family?

Wasn't Grandpa Zhang the warehouse manager? His class background was poor peasant, and his family didn't have much money.

So another young police officer timidly asked, "Hey, Zhang, was that lighter you lost expensive? Do you want us to help you look for it?"

Zhang Dabiao continued rummaging through his pockets. Do you know how frustrating it is to smoke without a lighter?

I wish I could indiscriminately kill the whole world!

So he casually replied, "It's okay, it's just a little trinket that costs one yuan. If it's lost, it's lost. I still have some at home."

At that moment, the seasoned policeman seized the opportunity to ask, "How much is a pack of these cigarettes?"

Zhang Dabiao blurted out, "19 yuan—"

Then, he was stunned!

Finally it dawned on me, and beads of sweat popped out on my forehead—this is 1960?!

Where did these cigarettes costing 19 yuan a pack come from? Even if they're special edition Zhonghua cigarettes, they shouldn't be this expensive, right? Isn't this giving us away?!

And the two police officers have confirmed it—

Special offer!

It has to be a special supply! There are no cigarettes on the market that cost 19 yuan a pack. This isn't just about price, it's about value!

There's no escaping it!

This child's identity—

Absolutely extraordinary!