The protagonist transmigrates to a courtyard house in Beijing’s Nanluoguxiang during the 1960s or 70s, where he faces “beastly neighbors” like Yi Zhonghai, Xu Damao, Jia Zhangshi, and Qin Huairu.
But he doesn’t lie low and passively put up with it. Instead, he uses a door to stir up trouble: “With a door in hand, the world is mine.”