He Jin sat on the edge of the creaking bed, staring at the shabby and somewhat empty room before him. Even though he had already been in this new world for over a month—and had mentally accepted the reality—he still occasionally felt that everything was unreal.
Honestly, He Jin had never imagined that he, a man born into an ordinary family in his previous life, who graduated from an average university and worked at a very ordinary chemical plant earning five or six thousand yuan a month, still unmarried past thirty, would one day be chosen by Lady Luck. After being crushed by factory machinery in an accident, he had somehow been granted a second chance through transmigration—becoming Sha Zhu, the protagonist of the TV drama 禽满四合院 (Birds Filling the Courtyard), which he had once watched.
Although Lady Luck hadn't let him become a young Sha Zhu and change his fate early on, instead dropping him directly into the year 1968 as a thirty-three-year-old middle-aged Sha Zhu, He Jin actually felt that wasn't too bad.
After all, compared to Sha Zhu—who owned three main rooms and an east wing in the capital—He Jin in his previous life had never even dared dream of becoming a Beijinger, let alone owning a house in the capital worth at least tens of millions.
Besides, He Jin had been thirty-two before transmigrating. Becoming thirty-three now only made him one year older. Compared to what he had gained, he truly felt he hadn't lost anything—if anything, he had struck it rich.
Because of this, He Jin quickly accepted his new identity. Just like the fanfiction stories he had read in his previous life, he planned to replace Sha Zhu, change his fate, and embark on a brand-new, glorious life.
Thinking about the current year, He Jin's first reaction had been that he must not act recklessly. He would live steadily and safely for ten years. Once the country opened up a decade later, he would use the connections Sha Zhu had accumulated, along with his own decades of future knowledge, to build a business empire and truly rise above others.
However, this idea lasted only two or three days before it was completely overturned. Soon after, he began planning his escape from the courtyard compound.
Because once He Jin sorted out his thoughts and came into contact with the sanctimonious First Uncle Yi Zhonghai and the seemingly gentle yet calculating Qin Huairu, he suddenly realized that if he stayed in this courtyard, even living a peaceful life would be impossible.
First of all, it was already 1968. That meant Lou Xiaoe—pregnant with Sha Zhu's only child—had already fled south with her parents. Qin Jingru, Ran Qiuye, Ding Haitang, and the other women who had once had the possibility of marrying Sha Zhu had either married someone else or drifted away due to the meddling of the courtyard residents. There was no longer any chance of rekindling those relationships.
In other words, at this point in time, if He Jin hadn't transmigrated, Sha Zhu would have been completely manipulated by Yi Zhonghai, Qin Huairu, and the others, with no possibility of breaking free from his fate.
As for He Jin—although he clearly understood the true colors of Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu and had absolutely no intention of marrying Qin Huairu, a widowed mother with children and an IUD—he soon realized that Sha Zhu's reputation had already been thoroughly ruined by his former self, along with Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu.
If He Jin continued living in the courtyard, with his reputation already in tatters, no matter how hard he tried, he wouldn't be able to marry a good girl or an unmarried young woman.
And that was something He Jin—who had remained unmarried in both lifetimes—simply could not accept. Having finally been given a second chance, and with better circumstances than before, he wanted to marry someone who had never been married. Whether it was Qin Huairu, whom he viewed as a manipulative widow, or any other widow, he wanted none of it.
Before arriving in this era, He Jin had truly never realized how important a person's reputation could be.
At this thought, he felt both helpless and wronged. The mess created by the original Sha Zhu was now his burden to bear.
But with his reputation already damaged, and surrounded by the "beasts" of the courtyard, He Jin felt he had little chance of restoring his name if he stayed. Nor was he confident he could secretly marry a young and beautiful wife to his satisfaction without others interfering.
And beyond the issue of marriage, He Jin—accustomed to the more modern conveniences of his previous life—discovered that while he could barely tolerate life without a phone or computer, he simply couldn't endure this era's conditions for handling basic bodily needs.
Seriously, no one had told him that the public toilets of this time were so overwhelmingly foul and unsightly. Worst of all, compared to the readily available toilet paper of the future, something he had long taken for granted, obtaining enough toilet paper here to meet his own needs wasn't easy at all.
In fact, with his current status, it was practically impossible for him to buy sufficient toilet paper for personal use.
In these days, being able to consistently use toilet paper or newspapers was already considered a sign of relatively good living conditions. In a vast city like the capital, probably only a small minority could afford that.
The reality was that most people simply couldn't afford toilet paper or newspapers. In the entire Birds Filling the Courtyard, even the three most well-off uncles didn't use paper every time they went to the toilet.
It should be noted that the wages of Yi Zhonghai and the other two were among the highest for ordinary workers—only officials and cadres surpassed them. If even they were like this, one could imagine what everyone else used.
From the original Sha Zhu's memories, He Jin learned that most ordinary people at this time used clods of dirt, stones, pieces of wood, bamboo slats, or even sticks—anything inexpensive that could serve the purpose.
He Jin himself had only gone to the public toilet once, using a somewhat stiff piece of newspaper the original owner had saved. After emerging with ink smeared all over, he resolved never again to step into such a filthy, chaotic, and foul-smelling place.
But he also knew he couldn't simply relieve himself anywhere. So just as he was sinking into deep worry over how he would handle this problem in the future, that very night, he discovered the "culprit" behind his transmigration—and with it, his toilet troubles were finally resolved.
He had never expected that the simple-looking ancient jade pendant he had bought online for three hundred yuan in his previous life would turn out to be anything but ordinary. When he was crushed by the machine, his blood had stained the pendant he wore, and it had carried him across worlds.
Even more astonishingly, the mysterious jade pendant had acknowledged him as its master and unlocked a secret realm within.
Filled with excitement, he merely entertained the thought of entering the space—and in the next instant, his vision blurred, causing him to reflexively shut his eyes.
When He Jin opened them again, it took only a single glance for him to realize that he was already inside the secret realm within the jade pendant.