Siheyuan: I Choose to Keep My Distance from the Beasts

Chen Zhiyuan, a history PhD from the 21st century, wakes up to find himself in the world of Birds of a Feather in the Courtyard.

Here, there is Yi Zhonghai's moral blackmail, Jia Zhangshi's tantrums and schemes, Qin Huairu's plaintive gaze, and a whole courtyard full of neighbors like Silly Zhu and Xu Damao, each with their own agenda.

While everyone else fights tooth and nail over a meal or a room, he watches coldly, studying the Constitution and Selected Works of Mao Zedong by oil lamp.

When the national college entrance exams resume in 1977, he tops the list and escapes the mire.