Qingchun City in the Jidong Province was one of the main cities in northeast China. It had the foundation of capitalist time, with buildings of different styles, such as the Liao, Jin, Qing Dynasties, the Republic of China, and the Manchu.

A Beijing-style courtyard house sat in the flourishing district of the city, decorated with cyan tiles and red brick walls. There were two bronze cymbal-shaped door knockers on the black-painted door with red paint at the center of the door. There were also rhyming couplets stuck on the two sides of the door, “Go big or go home, and those with competence should teach others.” The courtyard was paved with cyan tiles, with decorations of flowers on the side. There were three rooms, each in the north and west that adopted moon gates and a passage through the wall. Because it’s already early winter, the fragrance of the wintersweet flower permeated the air. Vehicles drove on the road ten meters away, but despite looking inharmonious with the house, there was a flavor of serenity within the noise.

“How rare for you to visit me.” An old man sat in the center of the courtyard, bathing in the sun, taking puffs from a pipe in his mouth and breathed out...