When they arrived at the courtyard house and the celestial bridal chamber, they discovered it was a

Returning to Beijing, he will face a new battle, a new war he too must win.

Win cleanly and decisively.

When the train slowly came to a stop at Sijiucheng Station, it was already evening.

Zhou Zheng'an carried simple luggage—a military green backpack containing only a few changes of clothes and his medals—and followed the flow of people off the train.

The platform was bustling with people: soldiers returning home, family members waiting to greet them, and food vendors.

The air was filled with the smells of coal smoke, sweat, and roasted sweet potatoes.

He stood on the platform, looking at the familiar station, feeling as if he had been transported to another world.

"Comrade, do you need any help?" a station worker asked as he approached. He was mainly asking because he noticed Zhou Zheng'an was wearing an old military uniform.

"No need, thank you." Zhou Zheng'an shook his head and walked towards the exit.

He wanted to appear more low-key in order to create a greater sense of shock and to break through defenses more effectively.

As I stepped out of the station, the city lights were just coming on.

Pedestrians hurried along the streets, trams clanged past, rickshaws waited for passengers, and the shops along the roadside were lit with dim, yellow lights. Some were electric lights, and some were kerosene lamps.

That said, although it's still very cold, winter in Beijing is much warmer than at Changjin Lake, at least it doesn't have the severe cold of minus thirty or forty degrees Celsius.

He took a deep breath, savoring the unique atmosphere of the city.

Go home.

Logically, after Zhou Zheng'an returned to the courtyard house, he should have immediately reported to the military control commission. Then, once his identity was known, the higher-ups would have assigned him the appropriate work.

This would make things go more smoothly and result in a more happy ending for everyone.

But Zhou Zheng'an did not do that. One reason was to control the birds and score points, and another was that Zhou Zheng'an wanted to return to his original world and felt that this house was very important.

Soon, Zhou Zheng'an hailed a rickshaw and headed towards Nanluoguxiang. On the way, he chatted with the rickshaw driver about the situation in Beijing.

After all, this isn't seventy years from now, when we can just look at things on our phones.

Thirty minutes later, Zhou Zheng'an stood at the entrance of the alley, looking at the familiar lane with a sense of disbelief, but still went inside.

Courtyard No. 95 was the place he came from, where Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, Yan Bugui, and Jia Zhangshi lived, but he was not actually familiar with this place.

Having just transmigrated here, I caused quite a commotion, and then the police from the Upper City Military Control Commission intervened, and I was arrested.

Damn it, what a load of crap.

He reached the courtyard gate, which was ajar. He pushed it open forcefully and went inside.

The courtyard remained the same as before, with blue bricks paving the ground, the old locust tree bare, and coal briquettes piled in the corner. But no one was there.

It's so cold outside, and it's already dark; even the children don't want to come out.

After a moment's hesitation, Zhou Zheng'an prepared to go to his room.

At that moment, a person came out from inside, and was stunned when he saw him come in.

The man, wearing glasses, appeared somewhat refined but also somewhat sleazy. He asked, "Comrade, who are you looking for?"

Zhou Zheng'an recognized the voice as that of Yan Bugui.

"Yan Bugui, don't you recognize me?" Zhou Zheng'an said.

Yan Bugui adjusted his glasses, looked closely, and suddenly his eyes widened: "You...you're Zhou Zheng'an?"

"it's me."

Yan Bugui fell silent. Then he shouted, "Come out quickly! Zhou Zheng'an is back!"

Because he shouted so forcefully, Yan Bugui's voice cracked when he said that.

But this caused an uproar in the courtyard, and many people ran out.

Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and Jia Dongxu, in particular, ran faster than anyone else. They had been threatened by Zhou Zheng'an with a letter, which terrified them, and they said they would call for help if they saw him.

Then everyone kept a lot of sticks in their homes. These were meant to deal with Zhou Zheng'an.

However, since Zhou Zheng'an hadn't returned after so long, they had all forgotten about it and assumed that Zhou Zheng'an had died long ago.

After all, although we live in a new society, human life is still very cheap. Not to mention the bandits and defeated soldiers, even a common cold can kill a person.

Unexpectedly, three months later, Zhou Zheng'an returned, and the terrifying memories he thought he had forgotten resurfaced in his mind.

"Zhou Zheng'an? That scoundrel?"

"Wasn't he sentenced? No, he escaped from prison. How did he get back?"

"Still wearing an old military uniform? Did they go to join the army?"

Everyone was talking at the same time, chattering away, making people dizzy and confused.

Especially Jia Zhangshi, who rushed out of the house at this moment. Seeing Zhou Zheng'an, she glared at him with her triangular eyes: "You little beast! You dare to come back! You beat my son like that, and you even harassed Huairu, you..."

She suddenly stopped because she saw Zhou Zheng'an wearing an old military uniform, and couldn't help but feel a little scared.

"You...you..." Jia Zhangshi was speechless.

When Yi Zhonghai saw Jia Zhangshi's state and then Zhou Zheng'an, his expression changed, but he quickly regained his composure: "Zhou Zheng'an, where have you been coming from?"

"Where I go is none of your business, mind your own business," Zhou Zheng'an said irritably, then looked around at the people in the courtyard and walked towards his home.

But then he noticed the lights were on in his own house, as if Jia Zhangshi had just come out from there. So he immediately stared at Jia Zhangshi and asked, "Zhang Cuihua, why did you come out of my house?"

The courtyard was completely silent.

Yi Zhonghai coughed and said, "Xiao Zhou, when you were sentenced, the house... was temporarily allocated to someone else by the household registration office."

"Who were they distributed to?"

"It was allocated to... the Jia family," Yi Zhonghai said. "Jia Dongxu was getting married but didn't have a house, so the household registration office allocated your house to him."

Zhou Zheng'an looked at the Jia family mother and son, and couldn't help but repeat, "My house was given to the Jia family?"

Zhou Zheng'an's voice was calm, but it carried a sense of oppression.

"It's...it was a household registration order..." Yi Zhonghai said, his voice low.

Madam Jia Zhang immediately became anxious again and said, "Zhou Zheng'an, what are you so smug about? You are a fugitive. You caused my Dongxu to be unable to find a wife. This is your punishment and compensation to my family."

This isn't just Jia Zhangshi making things up. After Zhou Zheng'an escaped from prison, the Beijing Military Control Commission even issued a warrant for his arrest. However, they haven't found him for a long time. But the warrant is still in effect.

Later, Jia Zhangshi and others went to the police station and household registration office of the Shangcheng District Military Control Commission to discuss Zhou Zheng'an's house situation, and decided that the house would be temporarily given to Jia Zhangshi to live in. Rent would have to be paid.

As for why this happened, Jia Zhangshi said that her house was unlucky, and Zhou Zheng'an had ruined it so that she couldn't get a wife.

It is said that Jia Dongxu went on several more blind dates, but neither he nor Jia Zhangshi were satisfied with any of them. Jia Zhangshi even sent someone to Qin Family Village, but Qin Huairu was afraid of Zhou Zheng'an and refused.

Zhou Zheng'an was naturally unaware of these things; he simply demanded that Jia Zhangshi return the house to him immediately.

Jia Zhangshi immediately screamed, "He...what right does he have! The house was allocated to us by the household registration department! He's a convict, an escaped convict, what right does he have to make me give up the house!"

Her obese body trembled with excitement, the fat on her face quivered with her cries, and her eyes were wide open like copper bells, filled with anger and resentment.

Then immediately, he received a slap from Zhou Zheng'an.

Zhou Zheng'an's slap was swift and decisive. With a crisp "smack," Jia Zhangshi's cheek instantly turned red, and five clear finger marks were imprinted on it.

Zhou Zheng'an shouted, "You old hag, all you know is how to steal houses and be lazy! I'll beat you to death!"