Era: Starting from the local police station

Jiang Zhenghua walks on the bluestone pavement of Nanluoguxiang.

Beneath the gray walls on both sides of the alley, lush green weeds grow tenaciously at the base of the walls. Several children in patched clothes chase and run past, laughing and playing. On the wall are slogans in black characters on red paper: "Go all out and strive for the top."

He thought to himself, "That TV series from my past life seems to be set in the courtyard at No. 95 on this street. I'll go check it out when I have time, and see if Sha Zhu, Yi Zhonghai, Yan Bugui, and the other characters really live there."

Thinking of the famous internet meme from later generations, "There are thousands of time travelers in the world, and half of them live in courtyard houses," Jiang Zhenghua was immediately glad that he hadn't lived in that courtyard house. Otherwise, it would have been chaotic and unbearable every day.

I wonder if the residents in this courtyard are as "exciting" as they are now?

Involuntarily, those deeply ingrained characters come to mind: the morally upright old man; the incompetent, power-hungry second old man; the abacus-wielding third old man; the necromancer Jia Zhangshi; the friend of women Xu Damao; the silly Ezi everyone wants to stab; the deaf old woman pretending to be deaf and mute; the treacherous thief Jia Geng; the bloodsucking white lotus Qin the widow; the vengeful, idiot Zhuzi...

Thinking of this, Jiang Zhenghua thought to himself, "Fortunately, most of the old men in the courtyard I live in now are old acquaintances, and they're all nice people. Although one old man has the same profession as Yi Zhonghai, he has a son who's also a good friend of mine, so there's a big difference. As for the others, I'll ask my family when I get back..."

Suddenly, he stopped and shook his head: "Why am I thinking about these things for no reason? I should be thinking about how to deal with the next three years of disasters. That's what's important."

At this moment, he stood by the roadside, took out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from his shirt pocket, and opened the package.

I lit a cigarette and quietly gazed at the alleyway.

At this moment, groups of two or three workers dressed in dark blue or gray overalls walked by, chatting and laughing, each carrying a net bag containing two lunch boxes.

These people had bloodshot eyes and messy hair, but their spines were straight, they exuded confidence, and their whole being was full of power.

A middle-aged man yawned and asked, "Old Zhang, did your team finish its production target last night?"

The rather thin man, whose face looked somewhat pale, replied, "Hey... Old Ma, needless to say, our group exceeded our target last night. I reckon we'll be the advanced group flag winner again this month."

After saying that, a hint of pride appeared on his face.

Old Ma sighed, "Your group is much better. Our group is no good. We have a sixth-grade worker apprentice who always takes advantage of his master's power. He not only cheats and shirks his duties, but also produces a lot of defective products. Sigh... we definitely have no chance of being recognized as an advanced worker this month."

Old Zhang touched the words "Red Star Steel Rolling Mill" woven in red thread on his chest and said angrily, "Those kinds of people should be sent to clean toilets. Right now, the country is calling on the whole nation to participate in the Great Leap Forward in steelmaking, to double the growth of our steel industry. Even the countryside is building small blast furnaces to support our steelmaking efforts."

He paused, then sighed deeply, "I never imagined our factory would have someone like this. He's always dragging us down, really..."

His eyes were filled with indignation.

Watching the three leave, Jiang Zhenghua thought to himself, "This is the Red Era. Everyone considers themselves the masters of the factory. Although their food and clothing are not as good as in later generations, their spines are straight and their spirits are vigorous. It is rare to see sickly people walking with their heads down and backs bent."

After finishing his cigarette, he gazed at a courtyard across the street.

The lintel of the Ruyi Gate is decorated with brick carvings of the "Ruyi" pattern, and the door piers are carved with bats. On the right side, a long wooden board hangs vertically with the words "Taotiao Hutong Police Station, Dongcheng Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau" written in black on a white background.

He straightened his clothes, picked up his crossbody bag, and strode inside.

The window and wooden door on the left were open, and a sign that read "Guardian Room" hung on the upper right of the door frame.

Jiang Zhenghua looked inside, but there was no one there.

Walking forward, upon entering the courtyard, there are two large jujube trees laden with green fruit in the very center, and a fragrance of jujubes mixed with the smell of coal smoke wafts over.

The leftmost room, facing backwards, had a sign that read "Household Registration Office" hanging at the entrance. The doors and windows were open, and one could vaguely see a police officer in a white short-sleeved shirt flipping through a booklet.

Next to it was a room marked "Police Reception Room," where two police officers dressed in white shirts and dark blue trousers were squatting on the steps, smoking.

The older man chuckled softly after the young policeman said something.

The young policeman, probably in his early twenties, looked up, saw Jiang Zhenghua, and asked loudly, "Comrade, what brings you here? If it's for household registration, come to this room."

As he spoke, he pointed to the household registration office.

Jiang Zhenghua smiled slightly, strode over, and casually took out two cigarettes from his cigarette case and handed them over.

"Comrade, excuse me for smoking. Where is the director's office?"

The two men accepted the cigarettes.

The older middle-aged man lit a cigarette with the butt from his previous cigarette, glanced at him a few times, exhaled a smoke ring, and asked, "Comrade, I'm Chen Shan, a security officer from the police station. What business do you have with our station chief?"

The young man smiled and replied, "Comrade, my mentor is a veteran in the station; he can usually help you with anything."

Jiang Zhenghua was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Comrade, I'm here to report for duty."

Both of them were taken aback upon hearing this.

Chen Shan then smiled and extended his hand: "Oh, so you're a new colleague. Hello, welcome to Taotiao Police Station. The chief's office is over there; I'll take you there now."

Jiang Zhenghua quickly extended his hand and shook it: "My name is Jiang Zhenghua, thank you for your trouble, Comrade Chen."

The young police officer then extended his hand, smiling warmly: "My name is Liu Baojia. I've only been here for a month, but I joined earlier than you. If you have any questions in the future, feel free to ask me."

Jiang Zhenghua smiled and shook hands: "Comrade Liu, hello. I will definitely learn from you in the future."

Chen Shan instructed, "Baojia, keep an eye on the dispatch room. I'll take Comrade Jiang to see the station chief."

Liu Baojia replied, "Yes, Master."

Jiang Zhenghua politely replied, "Thank you, Comrade Chen."

Chen Shan waved his hand: "From now on, we're all brothers in arms, so don't be shy."

He pointed to the courtyard: "Our police station's courtyard is a standard two-courtyard siheyuan (traditional courtyard house), with five rooms in the rear building. One of them has been converted into a 'reception room,' which you should have seen when you came in."

He took a drag of his cigarette and continued, "There's usually no one inside during the day, only at night when there are staff on duty; next to it is the household registration office, where there's usually one person on duty helping people with their household registration issues; that room is the police reception room, where a group of police officers are usually on duty; and the two rooms to the side are the police chief's offices."

Chen Shan then turned to the side and pointed to the east side room, saying, "That side room is the armory, and the west side room is a storage room."

Jiang Zhenghua looked in the direction he pointed and saw a shed built next to the side room, with several bicycles neatly arranged underneath, and a three-wheeled motorcycle parked next to it.

As they spoke, the two arrived at the hanging flower gate on the north side.

A vermilion-lacquered wooden plaque with the words "Serve the People" hangs above the ceiling.

The covered walkways on both sides lead to the backyard, and slogans such as "Strive for the top" and "Crack down on speculation and profiteering" are posted on the walkways.

Upon arriving at the backyard, Chen Shan explained, "There are three main rooms here, which have now been divided into several smaller rooms for use. The two end rooms are the director's office and the deputy director's office, respectively; the largest room in the middle is our large conference room; and the room closest to the deputy director's office is the archives room and the evidence room."

He stopped and lowered his voice, saying, "The instructor is also working in the deputy director's office. The original deputy director, Sheng, has been transferred, so for the time being, there is only the instructor."

Jiang Zhenghua nodded knowingly.