An extraordinary life journey through old Beijing courtyard houses

The deaf old lady, forgetting all about the braised pork knuckle in the room, said anxiously:

"Something terrible must have happened. Let's go check it out quickly."

Jiang Baobin almost slapped himself in the face.

Why the hell did I come back? Isn't this just asking for trouble?

But we've already caught up with it, so what can we do but grit our teeth and go for it?

Jiang Baobin helped the deaf old lady around to the front yard.

Upon entering the gate, one sees a cloth covering the ground, stained with blood.

No need to ask, it's guaranteed to be a person covered up—a dead person!

Having lived two lives, this was only the second time Jiang Baobin had seen a dead person.

The previous one was his grandmother from his previous life, and he personally dressed her in her burial clothes.

And who is this person?

Jiang Baobin scanned the area—

The people craning their necks to look inside from the outermost edge of the crowd were the original owner's adoptive mother, sister-in-law, and Xu Damao's mother.

Then it wasn't the Jiang or Xu family that got into trouble, otherwise they wouldn't be able to stay out of it like this.

He continued searching.

Someone suggested—no need for all that trouble, just flip through the list and take a look, and you'll know everything.

"Get lost!" That was the only way Jiang Baobin could retort.

Okay, he admits, he doesn't dare.

The reason I dared to face the dead before was because it was my own grandmother, who raised me from childhood, so of course I wasn't afraid.

This person has nothing to do with me, but once I see them, I'll probably never forget them for the rest of my life.

The deaf old woman didn't dare look at the dead person, but instead parted the crowd to see who had fainted.

By this point, Jiang Baobin had already guessed who it was, since he had watched the TV series.

Sure enough, the one lying stiffly in the middle of the crowd, having her philtrum pinched, is none other than Jia Zhangshi.

Next to her was Jia Dongxu, kneeling and calling out "Mom."

Jiang Baobin couldn't help but sigh—Old Jia still couldn't escape his fate!

Compared to Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, Yan Bugui, He Daqing, and Xu Fugui, Lao Jia is definitely an honest man.

He is usually quiet and doesn't scheme against others.

It's a pity that good people don't live long, but evil people live for thousands of years!

Knowing who it was, the deaf old lady backed away.

At the same time, she grabbed his slightly bewildered bangs and asked him what had happened—

It turns out that today is October 31st, the day the steel rolling mill pays its employees.

Everyone knows that times are not peaceful, especially with money losing value so much lately.

The grain stores were out of stock of rice and flour with price controls, so people had to go to the black market to buy expensive grain to solve their hunger problem.

Good people have it tough, and so do bad people, which has led to the emergence of all sorts of "wildcats and wild beasts".

The market is in complete chaos.

Just in case, people became more cautious and encouraged each other to go home together after get off work.

But unexpectedly, trouble still occurred—five or six men walking together encountered robbers.

Although the enemy outnumbered them, the disparity in weaponry rendered them lambs to the slaughter.

They not only had knives, but one of the guys was even carrying a "turtle pistol"!

Logically speaking, if you encounter this situation, you should just obediently pay the money and that's it; nothing is more important than your life.

Old Jia, however, cleverly hid a few banknotes beforehand.

The robbers weren't stupid. They saw that he was the oldest, yet his salary was much less than Yi Zhonghai's and Liu Haizhong's. How could they not be suspicious?

So they searched him!

They were professionals, and they quickly pulled out the few banknotes that Lao Jia had hidden in his underwear.

The robber, annoyed by his trickery, casually stabbed him in the groin as a way of teaching him a lesson.

These guys are used to being lawless and don't care at all when they hurt people.

Tell Lao Jia and his gang to get lost; they're waiting for the next unlucky guy.

At first, even Lao Jia himself didn't think it was anything special.

In factory work, bumps and scrapes are inevitable; this is just a minor leg injury.

He was about to walk a little further away to check on his injuries, but after only a dozen or so steps, Old Jia collapsed to the ground.

At this moment, everyone could see clearly in the dim light that one of Old Jia's trouser legs was soaked with blood.

By the time they got the person to the hospital, they had bled to death, and there was no point in trying to save them.

The worst thing is dying a violent death like this, because I was perfectly fine when I left home in the morning.

When evening came, what was brought back was a corpse. How could the family bear it?

Before Yi Zhonghai could finish speaking, Jia Zhangshi let out a scream and fainted...

After listening to Liu Haizhong's account, the deaf old woman repeated several times, "What a tragedy, what a tragedy..."

After understanding the situation, it was discovered that the deaf old lady had no intention of leaving.

Jiang Baobin has a very good eye for things.

Liu Guangqi, who had come out to idly observe, brought a chair from his home and invited the old lady to sit down.

Zhang Cuihua was only in her thirties at the time, in the prime of her life.

So it didn't take much effort to revive him.

The first thing she did when she woke up was to stare blankly, and then she realized what was happening and rushed into the crowd like a madwoman.

People instinctively avoided her, which resulted in Jiang Ma, her sister-in-law, and Xu Damao's mother, who were in the last row, bumping into each other and falling on their backsides.

If Jiang Baobin hadn't reacted quickly and caught Yan Bugui's pregnant wife, something even more serious might have happened.

Jia Zhangshi's madness brought her a barrage of curses.

Zhang Cuihua didn't care about anything else anymore. She stumbled to the body, lifted it up, and saw that it was indeed the same corpse.

They are separated by life and death!

Jia Zhangshi plopped down next to the corpse and slapped her thigh with her hand:

"Oh my God! Please open your eyes!"

"Old Jia! How could you be so heartless! How could you just kick the bucket like that!"

"You've abandoned me and Dongxu, how are we supposed to survive now..."

With his father gone, Jia Dongxu grinned widely and burst into tears.

People like the older woman were moved to tears by their plight.

Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and Yan Bugui were ashen-faced; the man had died right before their eyes.

To this day, they still don't understand—it's just a cut in the leg, the skin is thick and tough, so how did the person die?

People with broken legs are living perfectly well, aren't they?

In comparison, the only ones who could remain uninvolved, besides the group of children, were Jiang's mother, her sister-in-law, and Xu Damao's mother.

The people at the steel rolling mill banded together, and the Jiang and Xu families were the ones who were excluded.

Now that even the most arrogant Zhang Cuihua has lost her man, no one knows what they're thinking.

Jiang's mother and sister-in-law both wanted to strike up a conversation with Jiang Baobin, who had suddenly appeared, but hesitated because of their relationship.

In the end, it was the older sister-in-law who was quick-witted and understood the principle of "closing the door and letting the dog out."

Jiang Hongsheng was that dog—a lapdog.

Children grow up quickly, they change every day.

They used to stumble and fall when they walked, but now they run all over the place.

At his mother's urging, he grabbed Jiang Baobin's leg.

Jiang Baobin looked down at him, and the little guy looked up at him.

This kid has really made something of himself—he's no longer naked, but wearing open-crotch pants now.

Well, this doesn't seem to have anything to do with success or failure, but rather with the weather...