The Great Beauty of the 1980S Courtyard

My 1960s novel, I Offered Myself to the Country and Became a National Treasure, is currently serializing. Next novel: My 1990s Novel, I Offered Myself to the Country and Became a Detective. Completed novel: A Professor's Everyday Life of Spoiling His Wife in the 1980s. Chu Ying graduated from junior high, passed the bus company entrance exam, and became a bus driver after a year of training. Fang Jian was a worker-peasant-soldier student. He passed the procuratorate entrance exam, worked as a judicial police officer for a year, and then became a prosecutor. They both had bright futures. As a native of old Beijing, Chu Ying was most often asked: Your family must own several homes, right? Your family must be rich, right? The truth was that Chu Ying and her family had spent most of their lives in a crowded courtyard compound in Yangshan Alley, near Houhai. Later, when the alley was cleared, they received an apartment in the southern part of the city. Her three brothers sold it and divided the money for down payments on homes of their own. It wasn't until they were close to retirement that they took on huge debts and finally got a two-bedroom apartment of their own. By then, her proud iron rice bowl had become ordinary physical labor, completely at odds with her husband Fang Jian's work as a prosecutor. They divorced but stayed in the same home, living under one roof with nothing to say to each other. Chu Ying was reborn. She was once again a young, enthusiastic bus driver who took pride in her work, while Fang Jian was a tall, handsome district prosecutor, upright and righteous. Under the faint streetlamps at a little after four in the morning, Fang Jian considerately rode his bike to take her to work. The biting wind carried his voice to her: "Yingying, are you cold?" "We can't sell the room our family will be moving out of!" Chu Ying said, wrapping her arms around his waist. After being reborn, Chu Ying discovered two earth-shattering things. First, being a bus driver was great. She could earn in a day what other people made in several months. Second, Fang Jian was incredibly handsome. He had an eight-pack and long legs, and with his peaked cap on, he looked both abstinent and authoritative. In her previous life, she'd been blind and wasted a fresh-faced hunk like him. Serializing: My 1960s Novel, I Offered Myself to the Country and Became a National Treasure Wen Sihai was beside himself with worry lately. His daughter Wen Miao had been cursed. Rain followed her around, soaking her every day no matter what she wore. It rained on her constantly. It was warm now, but would she freeze to death in the rain when winter came? With nowhere else to turn, Wen Sihai could only entrust his daughter to a scientist who had returned to the village to visit family. Reluctant to part with her, Wen Sihai asked the scientist: Can you cure this problem of hers? Can you find a way to keep the rain from freezing her in winter? The scientist promised, "I'll apply to the state to arrange an official job for Miao Miao." It wasn't until Wen Miao arrived at the northwestern base that she learned there were countless scientists, soldiers, and educated youth here, reclaiming the desert and growing crops in an effort to solve the country's food shortages. They treated her like a treasure. She joined the research institute, they farmed, and she made it rain. + The desert was irrigated by rain. Rice and wheat flourished, and vast stretches of wasteland turned into granaries. People across the country could finally eat their fill. + When a severe drought struck a region, Wen Miao accompanied the Ministry of Agriculture on an inspection tour. Local legends said the Dragon King's daughter had come to bring rain. Sure enough, a timely downpour fell from the sky, and the crops on the verge of dying turned green again. + When a fire broke out at the port, Wen Miao hurried there on a special plane to make it rain. The raging flames were no match for fifteen days' worth of rain brought down all at once. Wen Miao saved the port, prevented a chemical leak, and rescued the entire city. She had thought she was sick, but it turned out she was a person with special abilities, the base's precious asset, and a national treasure. + She earned the same salary as top scientists: over 200 yuan a month. + Her brothers joined the military and went to school, while her father became the head of the production team. + She had more than ten bodyguards operating undercover. The base assigned researcher Qin Geng to arrange Wen Miao's work and take care of her in every aspect of her work and daily life. Wen Miao knew that this man, who made her soup, washed her clothes, and taught her cultural subjects, cared only about food production and farming. His concern for her was simply because he wanted to make use of her and squeeze every last bit of value from her. Still, with delicious meals to eat, dry clothes to wear, a high school education under her belt, and Qin Geng's handsome, tall, and sturdy appearance giving her a strong sense of security, Wen Miao decided it wasn't such a bad arrangement. Every time Wen Miao got soaked by the rain, Qin Geng was heartbroken and worried she'd catch a cold. As soon as she finished working, he would bring her hot soup. But lately, he'd had a new problem: someone was competing with him for the job of taking care of Wen Miao. Wen Miao had actually grown tired of the ginger and jujube tea he made and gone to drink someone else's chicken soup. Inside the room, his rival "coaxed" Wen Miao. "That guy can only make ginger and jujube tea. He never changes things up. I'll make you meat soup from now on." Qin Geng stood outside the door, radiating coldness, his eyes dark and gloomy. Should he leave? Should he back off? After thinking it over for two minutes, Qin Geng pushed open the door and strode in. He sat beside Wen Miao and said gently, "The chicken soup smells salty. Too much sodium can cause high blood pressure. Let me try some." No one was allowed to steal Miao Miao away! Completed novels: The Sweet Life in a 1970s Courtyard Compound; The Darling Wife Who Returned to the City in the 1980s Theme: A beautiful life