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

The wooden door opened early the next morning.

Zhou Zheng'an was taken out and put back into the same room as yesterday.

Inside the room were still Section Chief Wang and Liu Qianqian, but there were a few more people. They were all staff members from different departments of the Military Control Commission, including comrades from the Legal Affairs Department of the Military Control Commission, and another person was Yi Zhonghai, the representative recommended by the institute.

"Zhou Zheng'an, after investigation and discussion, we are now announcing the decision regarding your handling of the case." Section Chief Wang read aloud from a handwritten document, his face expressionless.

"Zhou Zheng'an, male, eighteen years old, resident of No. 95 Nanluoguxiang. On the morning of May 13, 1950, he openly harassed Qin Huairu, a young woman who came to the courtyard for a blind date. The circumstances were egregious and the impact was extremely negative. After deliberation, it was decided to sentence him to three years in prison, to be carried out immediately."

Three years.

Zhou Zheng'an's mind went blank.

Although I was mentally prepared for a severe punishment, I actually thought it would only be a few days or two weeks, or maybe just a scolding. But when I actually heard the verdict, it still felt like being hit by a heavy hammer.

"No...this can't be..." he murmured.

"What do you have to say?" Section Chief Wang asked.

Zhou Zheng'an looked up at the people in the room. Section Chief Wang was serious, Liu Qianqian was indifferent, the other staff members shook their heads and sighed, Yi Zhonghai was expressionless, and the comrades from the Legal Affairs Department were organizing documents.

Nobody believed him.

Nobody wanted to listen to his explanation.

"I told you, I didn't do anything indecent!" Zhou Zheng'an suddenly roared. "I thought it was a TV show being filmed! I thought Qin Huairu was an actress! I thought all of you were actors!"

The room was quiet.

Then, Section Chief Wang sneered, "Still playing dumb. You think this will get you a reduced sentence?"

"I'm not faking it! I'm telling the truth!" Zhou Zheng'an stood up excitedly. "I'm from 2025! I got here because I participated in a reality show called 'Time Travel Experience'! I thought it was all arranged by the production team!"

"2025?" Liu Qianqian frowned. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"I'm not talking nonsense! 2025 is more than seventy years from now!" Zhou Zheng'an spoke rapidly, "Back then, we'll have cell phones, computers, the internet, cars, high-speed trains, and airplanes! We can go to the sky, go to the sea, and land on the moon! Our country will be the world's second-largest economy, soon to be number one, some even say it's already number one, and no one will dare to bully us!"

He became increasingly agitated as he spoke: "If you don't believe me, I can prove it! I know what will happen in the future! I know the Korean War is about to break out! I know the Chinese People's Volunteer Army will enter Korea on October 25th! I know about the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, I know about Shangganling, and I know we will ultimately win!"

The people inside looked at each other in bewilderment.

Yi Zhonghai shook his head: "Section Chief Wang, I think he's really gone mad."

One of the staff members sighed, "This child used to be so well-behaved, how did he become like this after getting sick? Did the fever damage his brain?"

"I'm not crazy!" Zhou Zheng'an roared. "I'm telling the truth! You have to believe me!"

Section Chief Wang banged on the table: "Enough! Zhou Zheng'an, I'm warning you, if you spout nonsense again, your punishment will be doubled!"

"I'm not talking nonsense! I'm telling the truth!" Zhou Zheng'an's eyes reddened. "Why don't you believe me? Why? Hahaha, hahaha, hahaha!"

"Because you're talking nonsense!" Section Chief Wang raised his voice. "2025? More than seventy years from now? And you're talking about going to heaven and earth? Do you know what you're saying? This is promoting feudal superstition, it's counter-revolutionary rhetoric!"

Zhou Zheng'an was stunned.

He looked at Section Chief Wang, and then at everyone else in the room, and suddenly understood.

In this era and in this place, what he said sounded like madness to others.

Nobody will believe it.

Nobody can understand.

In fact, Zhou Zheng'an said this in the hope that everyone would treat him as a madman. He thought, "I'm crazy, so I probably won't be dealt with."

In the world he traveled to before, mentally ill people could commit murder without being prosecuted. This place should be similar.

So this guy did it on purpose. He actually learned it from Sun Bin.

Sun Bin was envied by Pang Tong, so he could only pretend to be crazy and even ate excrement.

Of course, Zhou Zheng'an would never eat excrement. He'd rather have the military control committee shoot him down and see if they could return to their original timeline.

In addition, a deep sense of powerlessness welled up inside Zhou Zheng'an, overwhelming him like a tidal wave.

He slumped into the chair and stopped talking.

It's no use saying anything now.

"Take him away." Section Chief Wang waved his hand.

Two officers stepped forward and escorted Zhou Zheng'an out of the house.

This time, instead of returning to that small room, he was put into a military green jeep. This was the first time Zhou Zheng'an had seen a car since coming to this world.

However, this guy only stayed for a little over a day, and while he was causing trouble in the courtyard, he was taken to the police station of the military control commission.

The car quickly started moving, drove out of the yard, and onto the street.

Zhou Zheng'an sat in the back seat, with an officer on each side, sandwiching him in the middle. He looked out the window at the street scene.

In the early morning in Beijing, there weren't many pedestrians. Most of them were people who needed to support their families, and of course, there were also children going to school.

Everything was so real, so vivid, and so, how should I put it, so quiet.

This is not a set, not a film set.

This is Beijing in 1950.

He really did time travel.

The set wouldn't be that big; film studios and film bases can't be that large.

After about half an hour's drive, we arrived at a walled compound. There were armed sentries at the gate, barbed wire fences on the walls, and slogans painted on the walls: "Reform your thinking, start anew."

The First Prison of Shangcheng District, Beijing

Zhou Zheng'an was forced off the car and led through the gate.

Inside was a large courtyard with rows of bungalows. Inmates were working in the courtyard, wearing gray prison uniforms and with shaved heads, carrying bricks, transporting soil, and sweeping the floor under the supervision of the guards.

Zhou Zheng'an was taken into an office to complete the admission procedures.

Take photos, leave fingerprints, register personal information, and distribute prison uniforms.

Then they were taken to a large room and had their heads shaved with a razor.

The razor slowly shaved, and strands of hair fell out. Zhou Zheng'an thought about himself, his young but pale face, and how his hair grew shorter and shorter until his scalp turned bluish.

He suddenly remembered some TV dramas he had watched before, in which almost everyone who went in had their heads shaved.

Now, he is a prisoner.

After my head was shaved, I was put into a gray prison uniform. The rough fabric chafed my skin painfully. The uniform also had a number sewn on it: 0789.

"0789, this is your number." The correctional officer was a man in his thirties, with a dark face and fierce eyes. "Here, there are no names, only numbers. Got it?"

Zhou Zheng'an nodded.

"say!"

"I've got it," Zhou Zheng'an said.

"Speak louder!"

"Got it!" Zhou Zheng'an raised his voice.

The correctional officer nodded in satisfaction, led him out of the office, and brought him to a cell.

The iron gate opened, revealing a large communal sleeping area of ​​over twenty square meters, where eight people were sleeping. It was daytime, and most of the prisoners had gone out for labor reform, leaving only two unwell prisoners lying on the beds.

"Go in." The correctional officer gave him a push.

Zhou Zheng'an staggered inside, and the iron gate closed behind him.

He stood at the doorway, adjusting his head to the dim light.

The cell reeked of sweat, foot odor, and mold. The straw mats on the communal beds were filthy and blackened. A chamber pot sat in the corner, its lid not properly closed, emitting an even stronger stench.

The two people lying on the bed looked up at him.

One was an old man, skin and bones, with cloudy eyes. The other was a middle-aged man with scars on his face and a fierce look in his eyes.

"New here?" the scarred man asked.

Zhou Zheng'an nodded.

"What did you do?"

"Playing the hooligan," Zhou Zheng'an said.

The scarred man scoffed, "Touching a woman's ass?"

Zhou Zheng'an didn't say anything. You can guess that? Are you one of them?

"several years?"

Three years.

"Three years? Three years for just touching someone's butt?" The scarred man sat up. "You've messed up, haven't you?"

Zhou Zheng'an remained silent. It probably wasn't that he had offended anyone; perhaps it was because he had been too arrogant. But why hadn't the system arrived yet?