In 1959, what's wrong with me pedaling a tricycle?

August 9, 1959, interrogation room of Jiaodaokou Police Station.

Suppressing a laugh, Liu Chang'an asked with difficulty, "Name, age, gender, occupation, and home address?"

Wang Xingguo replied with a look of disgust, "Brother Chang'an, have you lost your mind? You actually asked me for my name?"

Liu Chang'an finally couldn't hold back his laughter and burst out laughing, clutching his stomach.

His appearance made Wang Xingguo's face darken, and he was extremely frustrated.

Wang Xingguo is eighteen years old and unemployed!

His family was ordinary. Three years ago, his father died in a work accident, and his mother died of grief six months later.

His older brother, Wang Xingbang, who is two years older than him, took over his father's job at the electric wire factory located north of the Temple of Earth outside Andingmen.

There are two younger brothers and sisters in the family. His younger sister, Wang Xingning, is thirteen years old this year and will be starting junior high school in September.

My younger brother, Wang Xingmin, is nine years old this year and will be starting the third grade of elementary school in September.

At that time, primary school followed a 4-2 system, meaning that lower primary school lasted four years and upper primary school lasted two years. The two were separate, and students needed to pass an exam to enter upper primary school.

After laughing enough, Liu Chang'an tried to keep a straight face and said, "You brat, you actually dared to engage in speculation in broad daylight, and you even got caught. Aren't you ashamed?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Xingguo immediately wilted; he felt wronged!

Damn it, he's a transmigrator with a personal space as a cheat code, and he's been in this world for almost a year now. He finally managed to raise some chickens and ducks, four piglets, and some fish and shrimp he caught from the river and kept them in his space. He's usually too reluctant to eat much of it himself, thinking he'll sell it to the villagers at a reasonable price to improve their lives!

Who knew that the old lady with bound feet was so uncivilized!

One minute he was saying his duck eggs were big, the next he thought they were overpriced and went to report him to the local security team, accusing him of speculation and profiteering…

Wang Xingguo was furious!

But he's not a bad person, so he can't just kill someone to cover it up over such a small matter, can he?

So he was taken to the police station, and the person who interrogated him was actually his neighbor who lived in the next courtyard and was also in Fuxiang Hutong...

Liu Chang'an was actually only two years older than him, and had only been a beat cop at Jiaodaokou Police Station for a little over a year. This incident caused quite a stir...

How shameful!

Wang Xingguo had already cursed that old woman with bound feet a hundred times in his heart. He shouldn't have sold her duck eggs, so that she wouldn't have a chance to improve her life!

In the latter half of 1959, Beijing had entered the beginning of a difficult period. The supply of goods was becoming increasingly tight, and nutritional products on the market had become extremely scarce because they had been taken over by the collective the previous year.

Although the government has called for a combination of public and private farming this year, requiring farmers to be allocated private plots for raising poultry and livestock, that directive was only issued in July. Now, due to food and feed shortages in rural areas, raising poultry and livestock privately has become difficult.

The tools and goods used for speculation were confiscated, including a medium-sized bamboo basket worth seven cents and the twelve duck eggs that were left unsold inside.

To be honest, in the first half of this year, Wang Xingguo could only sell duck eggs for 10 cents each, but in the second half of the year, he dared to sell them for 25 cents each.

Because duck eggs on the market could only be purchased in limited quantities from state-run local product stores with ration coupons, and each household was limited to purchasing one pound of poultry eggs per month, this was why people needed to buy expensive poultry eggs privately.

Liu Chang'an gave Wang Xingguo a lecture and then released him.

After all, they see each other all the time, and he knows that Wang Xingguo is a good person. He occasionally exchanges some of his own things with Wang Xingguo for chicken and duck eggs to supplement the nutrition of his family, so their relationship is quite good.

Unfortunately, he was too unreliable. He even got reported by an old lady with bound feet for stealing and selling duck eggs. Liu Chang'an didn't know what to say about him. It was just too embarrassing!

Having such a neighbor, Wang Xingguo was ridiculed by his colleagues for a long time after he let him go.

Wang Xingguo grumbled and cursed as he walked home.

Fuxiangsi Hutong is only about 200 meters long from east to west and five or six meters wide at its widest point. More than 20 courtyards are scattered around, most of which are large tenements housing three or four families.

Only numbers 5 and 11 still retain the neat layout of the old courtyard houses.

The courtyard at No. 25, deep in the alley, was originally the Fuxiang Temple from the Ming Dynasty. The front courtyard was converted into a state-run coal shop, where the neighbors bought coal.

The east entrance is next to Nanluoguxiang, with a few oil and salt shops and shoe repair stalls, but nothing else.

The entire alley is usually very quiet. The family of Wang Shuchang, a former patriotic general of the Kuomintang, lives in No. 11 courtyard. They are a well-known wealthy family in the alley.

The Wang family lived in No. 17, which was originally the residence of the "Jin Wang Family" of the Qing Dynasty's Imperial Household Department. The Jin family was originally surnamed Wang, but later changed their surname to Jin, and they were in charge of the royal treasury. The property rights of this house were divided after the Republic of China was established, and it was nationalized after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Later, it was converted into a large courtyard with multiple households, and the Wang Xingguo family moved in at that time.

其实整个9号、11号、13号、15号、17号都是金王家当年连片的府邸，只是民国拆分成五个院子，其中15号是主院，也就是邻居刘长安他家住的院子。

Courtyard No. 17 is a three-section siheyuan (traditional courtyard house), crammed with fourteen households and more than forty people. Four households live in the front courtyard, and five households each live in the middle and back courtyards.

Each household filled the open space with coal sheds and small kitchens, squeezing the originally spacious courtyard into a narrow passageway.

The entire hospital shared a single water tap in the middle courtyard and a dry toilet in the back courtyard. Every morning and evening, people had to queue to fetch water and empty chamber pots.

In the corner of the backyard lives an old lady who is a descendant of the Jin family. She lives alone in a side room, doesn't like to get involved in neighborhood gossip, and only occasionally mentions the past glory of the courtyard when others are chatting.

Wang Xingguo should have started working last year. Back then, it was quite easy for junior high school graduates to find temporary jobs. However, his family had no connections, and the factory that he could have gotten into ended up hiring someone from the countryside.

Wang Xingguo was extremely frustrated, but there was nothing he could do. His family had no connections, and his older brother, who had taken over the job, hadn't even completed his three-year apprenticeship and would need to wait until next year to become a full-time employee.

The eldest brother is a responsible man. Although he was paid an apprentice's salary, he never wronged the three siblings and always saved the best things for them.

He truly embodied the saying that an elder brother is like a father.

Wang Xingguo released a carp from his spatial storage. As soon as he returned to the front yard of No. 17, his neighbor, Aunt Sun, greeted him: "Xingguo, what's wrong? You look so unhappy. Who upset you?"

Wang Xingguo shook his head and said, "Don't mention it, Aunt Sun, it's a long story."

As he was about to continue walking towards the central courtyard, Aunt Sun called out to him, "Xingguo, don't rush home. Auntie has something to tell you."

Wang Xingguo stopped and turned to look at Granny Sun warily, saying, "Granny Sun, you wouldn't be thinking of buying the duck eggs I worked so hard to get, only to turn around and report me, would you?"