Siheyuan: Winning Over Xu Huizhen, Taking Both Power and Beauty

Cao Mengde transmigrates to Beijing in 1955, becoming the descendant of a revolutionary martyr and a top mechanical engineer who has returned from studying in the Soviet Union. A letter from his sister-in-law, whom he barely knows, leaves him in charge of a small tavern on Qianmen Street and a courtyard home in Nanluoguxiang. Even more absurdly, an indecent Favorability System appears in his mind. Once he earns enough favorability, he can draw prizes, from master-level traditional Chinese medicine to a divine spring. On his first day back at the courtyard home, Yi Zhonghai tries to use his seniority to take his property, while Jia Zhangshi throws a fit and claims his ancestral home. Cao Mengde takes him down with a shoulder throw, lands six hard slaps, and makes him pay a thousand yuan in compensation, teaching the whole courtyard of scoundrels their first lesson of the school year: From today on, things are done by a different set of rules. At the steel mill, a Soviet milling machine that had been out of commission for three months roars back to life in his hands. The factory director immediately promotes him ahead of schedule. From technical backbone to head of a major project, his career takes off like a rocket. Before long, he’s working at the ministry. This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental. Please do not imitate.