I'm the Old Codger of the Siheyuan

If you think it’s a power fantasy, then it’s a power fantasy. If you think it’s about the politics and social relationships of the 1960s, then it’s a serious period drama and an expose of officialdom dressed up as a courtyard-house novel.

Power-fantasy version:

Silly Zhu wouldn’t even ride his bike, but Chen Dingyuan got on and pedaled.

Veteran Chen Dingyuan is reassigned to work as head of security at the Hongxing Steelworks. On his first day moving into the courtyard, he beats up Silly Zhu and Banggeng, sends Jia Zhangshi to a reeducation-through-labor camp, and befriends Qin Huairu (Chapter 14).

In front of Director Chen, all those monsters and demons are nothing but trash.

There’s no such thing as a courtyard full of scheming troublemakers here. Under Chen Dingyuan’s firm hand, everyone in the courtyard is a good person, united around Director Chen as their leader.

Chen Dingyuan may be a calculating old fox, but he always pays back his enemies and never takes a loss. His revenge never takes more than ten chapters.

Serious period-drama version:

With revolutionary upheaval on the horizon, Chen Dingyuan has no choice but to transfer to the Hongxing Steelworks. At this critical juncture, his first priority is to establish himself, avoid being brought down, and make it through these turbulent times unscathed. To that end, he moves back and forth between enemies and friends, experiencing cooperation and conflict, betrayal and defection. In the end, he reaches the other side of a road with sheer cliffs on both sides.

Chen Dingyuan is no great man. He has only two dreams in life: first, to become an official; and second, to serve the people. In this turbulent new era, he wants to help our motherland move forward a little more smoothly.

This book is written boldly, and I hope it doesn’t get banned. It’s realistic, not overblown, and while it is satisfying, it’s never childish. (The author has written three books totaling over eight million characters, and is not a professional historian.)