Siheyuan: With a Spirit Spring From My Home, I Head to Jichun to Marry Zheng Juan

In the winter of 1965, Cheng Zhiguo arrives in Guangzi District, Jichun, with 532 yuan in savings and knocks on Zheng Juan's door through the swirling snow. Three days later, Zheng Juan, her mother, and her blind younger brother Guangming board a train with him bound for the capital and move into Courtyard No. 95 on Nanluoguxiang. The whole courtyard is full of busybodies, and they're all dumbfounded.

Jia Zhangshi blocks the doorway and starts cursing that very day. Yi Zhonghai calls a courtyard meeting to "clean house." Cheng Zhiguo kicks a chair to pieces. "I'm bringing my wife home. Who says you get to approve it?" The deaf old lady comes out, leaning shakily on her cane. "I was the one who let them stay." Everyone falls silent.

Zheng Juan mends Cheng Zhiguo's clothes, cares for the deaf old lady, and tidies their two shabby rooms until they are bright and spotless. The women in the courtyard compete in secret: Qin Huairu looks down at the chilblains on her hands, First Aunt counts her eggs and sighs, and Third Aunt yanks her daughter's ear and scolds, "Look at her!"

The Jia family is mad with envy. Banggeng sneaks into the backyard to steal chickens while Cheng Zhiguo is at work, and that night all five members of the Jia family end up in the hospital with vomiting and diarrhea.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance is coincidental. Do not imitate.