Courtyard House: Initial Donation of 50 Million

No. 95, Nanluoguxiang, Beijing (formerly known as Sijiucheng), west courtyard.

Night fell, and the early winter wind whistled softly through the bare branches of the jujube tree. Wang Huanbo had just finished the dinner that Sha Zhu had brought him—a plate of fragrant stir-fried mutton with scallions, a bowl of steaming rice, and a small pot of milky white fish head tofu soup. Sha Zhu's cooking skills were indeed superb; he could make ordinary ingredients taste just as good as those in a restaurant. Wang Huanbo wiped his mouth with satisfaction, placed the bowl and chopsticks in the newly built sink, and turned on the gleaming faucet, letting the cool tap water flow freely.

Life here is a world apart from when I first transmigrated. Now I have a separate kitchen and bathroom, running water, a flush toilet and shower. I no longer have to use that stinking, dangerous public outhouse outside the courtyard. My quality of life has improved by leaps and bounds. The deaf old lady's situation is also settled; she's overjoyed, praising her "young master's" filial piety to everyone she meets. Although the other men in the courtyard are envious, given Wang Huanbo's current status (head of the technical department at Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, a registered expert, and a cadre with a personal car) and the explicit support of Lou Zhenhua and Director Wang of the neighborhood committee, they can only gossip behind his back and dare not make any more moves openly.

Wang Huanbo brewed a cup of Longjing tea brought from the south by a messenger, sat on the newly built sofa, and, under the bright electric light, flipped through several foreign machinery journals he had brought back from the ministry. His mind, however, wasn't entirely on the journals; he was calculating the next steps. The steel rolling mill's technological upgrades were showing initial results, but to truly achieve leapfrog development, more core and forward-looking technologies were needed. Should he gradually reveal the basic special metallurgical processes first, or should he focus on improving the precision of machine tools? Taking too big a step would arouse suspicion, while taking too small a step would be too slow. He was deep in thought…

[Ding! A violent fluctuation has been detected in the spacetime node of the host's current plane, meeting the conditions for triggering an emergency mission! The Multiverse Transmigration System has issued a mandatory mission!]

A cold, abrupt mechanical voice exploded in the depths of Wang Huanbo's mind without warning!

Wang Huanbo's hand, holding the teacup, trembled violently, spilling a few drops of scalding tea onto the back of his hand, but he seemed oblivious. His heart felt as if it had been gripped by an invisible hand, and for a moment, it stopped beating!

A system?! It's that multiverse transmigration system that lay dormant for eighteen years, only to fall back into slumber after he was reborn into this world and activated it, after which it only gave him some "newbie benefits"?! It actually woke up at this moment, in this way...?!

[Mission Dimension: A real-world dimension derived from the film "The Flowers of War" (December 1937, Nanjing)]

[Mission Nature: Mandatory Survival Rescue Mission]

[Task Objective: All of the following must be completed.]

Mission 1: Rescue the dancers Doukou and Xianglan, who were killed by the Japanese army.

[Mission Two: Rescue the young soldier Urao and ensure his survival until evacuation.]

[Mission Three: Rescue Mr. Meng, who was killed by the Japanese army while trying to save his daughter.]

[Mission Four: Rescue the dancer (Yu Mo and all others) who volunteered to take the place of the female student and die.]

[Mission Five: Rescue Chen Qiaozhi, the church handyman who is impersonating a female student.]

[Mission Six: Successfully lead the remaining Nationalist Army German-equipped training unit soldiers, surviving female students, dancers, and other key characters out of Nanjing.]

[Punishment for mission failure: The host's soul will be permanently trapped in the "The Flowers of War" dimension and unable to return to the main world (the 1954 courtyard dimension).]

[Task completion reward: Based on the overall task completion rate and performance, the reward will be calculated and distributed upon returning to the main plane.]

[Dimensional travel countdown: 29 minutes 58 seconds... 29 minutes 57 seconds...]

A series of cold, clear messages were etched into Wang Huanbo's mind like a stamp. Especially the last one: "Mission Failure Penalty"—Permanent entrapment! No return!

Wang Huanbo's face turned pale instantly, and cold sweat poured down his forehead. He abruptly stood up from the sofa, the teacup in his hand falling to the floor with a "crash" and shattering, spilling warm tea and tea leaves onto the brand-new terrazzo floor, but he didn't care at all!

"The Flowers of War"! Nanjing! December 1937! What kind of place is that? What kind of time is that?! It's a living hell! An eternal pain for the Chinese nation! A place where 12 souls wailed! The system actually wants to send him there?! And to complete such a difficult, almost impossible mission?! Rescue Doukou Xianglan, rescue Pusheng, rescue Mr. Meng, rescue all the dancers and Chen Qiaozhi, and lead a large group of people to evacuate... Any one of these tasks would be incredibly difficult in that environment, let alone completing them all!

Failure means being trapped in that hell forever?! What a joke! He finally managed to gain a foothold in this world, build a career, improve his life, and had a vast family business empire supporting him—his future was bright! How could he… how could he be trapped in Nanjing in 1937?!

Panic, anger, and disbelief surged through him like a tidal wave, threatening to overwhelm him. He forced himself to calm down, took a few deep breaths, walked to the window, and with a whoosh, pulled back the curtains. Outside the cold glass window, the courtyard was silent, each household lit by a dim, yellowish light. Occasionally, the cries of children and the scolding of adults could be heard, filled with the mundane yet real atmosphere of everyday life. This stood in stark contrast to the blood-soaked hell described by the system.

Half an hour to prepare! Too short! He needs weapons, medicine, food, intelligence... and a plausible reason to "disappear"!

He glanced at the clock on the wall: 7:31 PM. Time was of the essence; he had to act immediately!

First, there's the identity and abilities he'll have after transmigrating. Since the system issued the mission, it couldn't possibly be sending him to his death unarmed, could it?

"System! System! Answer me! What will my identity be when I travel back in time? What initial equipment or abilities will I have to assist me?" Wang Huanbo cried out anxiously in his mind.

[Ding! After transmigrating, the host will replace Instructor Li (deceased), an officer in the Chinese Army's German-equipped training unit, shortly after his squad was ambushed by the Japanese. To improve the host's survival and mission success rate, the system is issuing a newbie gift pack:]

[1. Advanced Firearms Proficiency (Permanent): Master the skillful use, maintenance, troubleshooting, and tactical application of all light weapons of this era.]

[2. Intermediate Surgical Proficiency (Permanent): Mastery of battlefield first aid, wound cleaning, suturing, and common wound management skills.]

3. Fluent in Japanese (Permanent): Proficient in listening, speaking, reading, and writing Japanese; able to imitate different accents such as Kanto and Kansai.

[4. Intermediate Close Combat Proficiency (Permanent): Masters unarmed and melee weapon combat skills, with an emphasis on practical kills.]

[The skill has been infused; the host can experience it for themselves.]

[Special Note: After the host and their faction (Nationalist Army Training Corps) kill Japanese soldiers in the mission instance, there is a chance that random equipment (including but not limited to ammunition, medicine, food, tools, and even weapons) will drop. The equipment will be directly stored in the system space or appear next to the enemy corpse, the method of appearance determined by the host's consciousness. The system space (10000 cubic meters, time frozen) has been temporarily and fully opened for this mission and can be used to store supplies.]

It's here! The cheat code is here! Wang Huanbo felt a little relieved. Replacing Instructor Li! This identity is not bad; at least he has soldiers, guns, and a certain degree of command authority. The four mastery skills, especially the advanced firearms mastery and the battlefield equipment drop feature, are simply a godsend! The fully open system space means he can bring a large amount of supplies with him!

We must make the most of this half hour!