In the spring of 1992, Xiao Li, a poor university student who couldn't afford his rent, was brought a bowl of tomato and egg noodles by his landlady, Auntie Sun. "Stay here. Pay me when you find a job." He lived there for two whole years without paying a single cent. Twenty-one years later, Xiao Li had become a vice president of a real estate group. After signing an 1.8-billion-yuan demolition approval, he discovered that the last household scheduled for demolition was none other than Auntie Sun's courtyard home. By then, the elderly woman had been tricked out of her property by her gambling-addicted son and was living in a basement, collecting recyclables. Xiao Li halted the project, hired a lawyer to fight the case in court, and broke ties with the corrupt forces within his company. He won the lawsuit, and the house was returned to Auntie Sun. More importantly, he overturned the original plan, replacing commercial development with historic district preservation and saving the entire old alley.