Courtyard House: A Prosperous and Joyful Life

In the winters of the 1980s, the cold was like a knife scraping your face.

In a courtyard house in Beijing, the gray walls were mottled, and coal briquettes were piled up in the yard. When the wind blew, the smell of coal smoke went straight up to your neck.

Wang Jun, wrapped in a tattered gray-black cotton coat, stood in the courtyard, looking around. His mind was still a little dazed, but he quickly realized that he had transmigrated, and into the world of "Love in the Courtyard".

No, this is it. It's just that the timeline has been moved to the early 1980s. Many of the old people in the courtyard are gone: the old lady is gone, the deaf old lady is gone, and Xiao Dang and Huaihua are no longer the two little girls they used to be; they've grown into young women. Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu have gotten their marriage certificate and become a family. Xu Damao and Qin Jingru are going through a messy divorce.

He was originally an ordinary resident of this courtyard, just turned seventeen, and an orphan.

Coincidentally, his predecessor was also named Wang Jun. His parents used to be workers at the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, but they passed away early, leaving him only a room.

Children without parents are like neglected grass by the roadside, easily blown down by the wind. After his parents passed away, he had no job, no income, and often went hungry. His clothes were patched upon patched, making him look shabby.

The steel rolling mill has a rule that you must be at least 18 years old to be able to join the factory and take over your parents' jobs.

He was a year too young, and the factory rejected him outright. Without work, there was no food; life was incredibly difficult, and even a hot meal was a rare treat.

"Brother, you've really had a tough time..." Wang Jun sighed, secretly encouraging himself, "Alright, from now on, I'll live well for you."

He turned and went inside.

The house left by my parents is the south-facing room in the courtyard house.

In the past, this place was either where servants lived or where miscellaneous items were stored. It was characterized by being dark and damp, without even a proper window, and the area was less than 20 square meters.

But for Wang Jun, having a roof over his head was already considered lucky.

The room was empty except for a creaking bed, an old cabinet, and a desk with a small mirror on it.

Wang Jun picked up a mirror and looked at himself. In the mirror was a young man with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes. His features were quite regular, but he had been starving for a long time, so his face was yellow and he was as thin as a bamboo pole.

"His features are really good," he thought to himself with a smile. "It's a pity he's been starving and has hardly any flesh on his body, so even the best features won't show." But then he thought that as long as he could eat his fill, it wouldn't be long before he became a handsome man.

No matter the era, being good-looking is always an advantage.

Take Sha Zhu for example. He's simple-minded and a bit silly, which Qin Huairu has always looked down on. Although she's taken advantage of him a lot in life, she's just not willing to live a serious life with him, let alone have children.

Even after they got their marriage certificate and lived together, she still refused to give him a child.

If Lou Xiao'e hadn't given birth to a son for Sha Zhu, he would have been childless for life. If Sha Zhu had been a handsome man, the situation would definitely have been different.

Just as I was pondering this, a "ding" sounded in my mind.

[Already bound to a host.]

Congratulations on obtaining the fishing system! You can obtain various items through fishing.

[Note: The host has one free fishing opportunity per day, and can also exchange money for fishing opportunities. Every 100 yuan can be exchanged for one beginner fishing opportunity.]

[Tip: You have received a new player gift pack. Would you like to claim it now?]

Upon hearing this, Wang Jun was delighted. Even without a system, he was confident that he could become a tycoon if he traveled back to the 1980s.

Now, with the support of the system, making money is even easier.

"receive!"

[Successfully claimed!]

【获得60元现金、香米5斤、麵条5斤、农家腊肠3斤、指定符2张、小霉运符2张、老旧电子元件1堆。】

[Note: Winnings from the system lottery can be stored in the system space, or you can place external items there. The system space is 1 cubic meter.]

Wang Jun couldn't hide his smile. This system was quite generous; it not only provided food and supplies but also gave him a 1-cubic-meter space.

Don't underestimate this cubic meter; it's more than enough to store all the family's valuables, and it can also protect the family's assets in case of any trouble.

He started to calculate in his mind: sixty yuan was not a small amount in the 1980s, and with these grains and sausages, it would at least be enough to get through the most difficult period.

Once I've calmed down, I'll start thinking about using the fishing system to find better ways to make money.

After all, in this era, information asymmetry and resource scarcity are gold mines, and with the help of a system, mining them becomes twice as efficient.

Thinking of this, Wang Jun put the mirror back in its place, took a deep breath of the cold air that smelled of coal smoke, and his eyes became more determined.

He took over the life in this courtyard house. It was tough, but with the system and his own hands, he could always find a way to make things work.

Just then, my stomach suddenly started growling, one rumbling sound after another, like a drumbeat.

This body hadn't eaten for a whole day. Its belly was so flat that its chest was practically touching its back. It was so hungry that its stomach was churning with acid, and it felt dizzy. If it didn't eat something soon, it was afraid it would starve to death.

Without much hesitation, Wang Jun took out the noodles and homemade sausages from the system space, leaving the rest for later.

In the blink of an eye, these two items were neatly arranged on the table. They looked to be of good quality; the noodles were dry and chewy, and the sausages were glossy and fragrant—the kind of food that would whet one's appetite.

He grabbed a handful of noodles and cut two pieces of sausage, then headed straight for the kitchen.

Being this hungry, eating is the most important thing and cannot be delayed.

Beside the stove, he skillfully started a fire, and once the water boiled, he threw the noodles and sausages into the iron pot together.

Before long, a rich aroma wafted out from the boiling water, domineeringly filling the entire dimly lit room, and just smelling it was enough to invigorate one's spirits.

Wang Jun picked up his chopsticks, didn't even look for a bowl, and just squatted down by the pot to start eating.

The noodles absorbed the rich aroma of the sausage, and the warmth soothed them all the way down their throats to their stomachs—it was incredibly comforting.

In less than ten minutes, he devoured half a pot of noodles and sausage in a flash.

Even so, he still didn't feel full.

But reason told him that a person who has been hungry for a long time should not eat too much at once, as his stomach and intestines could not handle it and he would easily get sick.

So he stopped and carefully put away the remaining noodles and sausages. In those days, even the rats in the yard were so hungry that their eyes were green with hunger. If fragrant foods like noodles and sausages were left lying around, they would be devoured in less than half a day.

After packing his things, he sat down in a chair and began to plan his next move.

The courtyard house is a place teeming with gossip and trouble, like a bustling market. It's a melting pot of eccentric characters, and every day there's a lively drama unfolding.

But Wang Jun had no intention of getting involved. His primary goal was clear: to make money and live a stable life.

How to make money? In the 1980s, the country's doors had been opened, and more and more people were doing small businesses on the streets.

Before long, Yan Jiecheng and his wife will take over a shop in the courtyard and open a restaurant, and they will hire Sha Zhu as the chef. The business will be booming.

In other words, starting a small business right now is perfectly feasible.

As he was pondering this, he suddenly remembered the large bag of old electronic components he had picked up during the lottery, and immediately took it out of the system space.

The next second, a huge pile of things appeared on the ground with a "thud," heavy enough to weigh two or three hundred pounds.

Wang Jun glanced at the pile and his excitement surged. It was full of old components from the 1970s and 80s: various circuit boards, transistors, capacitors, resistors, diodes, inductors, potentiometers, sensors, power supplies, switches... and even speakers.

To others, this might be a pile of junk; but to him, it's all treasure.

With these, and by finding suitable casings, a batch of semiconductor radios can be assembled.

In those days, people had very few forms of entertainment. Radios that could play the radio were a rare commodity, costing fifty or sixty yuan each, equivalent to a skilled worker's monthly salary. Wang Jun, who had studied electronic information engineering in his previous life, loved to disassemble and repair electrical appliances. Assembling radios was a piece of cake for him. As long as he had the parts and tools, he could assemble several a day without any problem.

He quickly closed the door, picked out the components that could be used to assemble a radio, sorted them by category, and arranged them into small piles.

A rough calculation shows that these parts can be assembled into about thirty machines.

"Thirty units... If each one sells for forty or fifty yuan, that's over a thousand yuan!" Wang Jun's face lit up with joy.

With this money in hand, I can not only continue to participate in the system's prize draws, but also use it as capital to do other business.

It's important to understand that in the 1980s, a thousand yuan was equivalent to two or three years' income for an average worker—a substantial sum.

He couldn't sit still any longer and immediately prepared to go out to find the radio casing and the necessary tools, hoping to turn these treasures into real money as soon as possible.