Reborn in the 1980S: A Tough Life in the Blue-Brick Courtyard

In his previous life, he was a master chef at a steel mill, but his soft heart made him an easy target for the neighbors in the old brick courtyard. Every month, most of his wages, along with meat and grain from the canteen, went to support the widowed Liu Huizhen and her family. Zhang Chai Shi encouraged her children to take without limit, turning Xiaogen and her two siblings into a pack of ungrateful wolves. When he grew old and frail and could no longer earn money, the family threw him out into the snowy night. He froze to death beside the woodpile outside the courtyard. When he opened his eyes, he was reborn in the late summer of 1960. It was the very day the tragedy began, when he was about to give away a box of braised pork. Given another chance at life, Zhao Dazhu saw through everyone’s schemes. So much for neighborly bonds, so much for pitying the weak. Being kind doesn’t mean you have to impoverish yourself to feed wolves! This time, he would protect his own money and provisions, refuse to let others manipulate him, tear away the courtyard’s mask of neighborly goodwill, and live a life of his own.