An extraordinary life journey through old Beijing courtyard houses

Yi Zhonghai gestured to Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui to calm down, meaning that he hadn't finished speaking yet.

The two had to swallow the words that were already on their lips.

Yi Zhonghai then slowly and deliberately said, "This is what I think."

"Brother Jia is well-liked. With so many coworkers in the factory, he should definitely come and help out."

"I'll look for a few more employers. Brother Jia is an old worker; they should at least show some appreciation."

"What about the neighbors? What about Brother Jia's relatives back home? Nobody can come empty-handed, can they?"

"Besides, there are still a few of us. Old Yan and Old Liu will handle the arrangements."

"Old He and Old Yan were in charge of purchasing; Old He took care of the entire banquet."

"Let's be even more careful with our spending, and not spend a single penny on anything unnecessary."

"Even with this approach, there might not be a significant gap left, don't you think?"

Liu Haizhong remained silent, silently calculating in his mind.

Yan Bugui, however, had already planned ahead: "Old Yi, your calculation is wrong, isn't it?"

He was quite dismissive: "Old Yi, although you meant well..."

"But you know what the situation is like outside, who's rich?"

"Even if we come to save face, we probably won't be able to spend much money, so..."

Although Yan Bugui didn't say anything, he shook his head repeatedly, his attitude was very clear - I disagree!

Yi Zhonghai remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was seething with hatred.

That old Yan is too calculating; he never suffers a loss.

Actually, it was all his fault. If it weren't for him, everyone would have waited for quite a while.

Maybe it's true, like Dongxu's mom said, that we might miss it.

Now look at them, all they care about is money. Don't they feel any remorse at all?

But that's just the kind of person he is, what can you do?

When it comes to money, they're completely unyielding.

Since Yan Bugui is interfering, Liu Haizhong certainly can't fall for it.

Having said all that, Yi Zhonghai knew he had no choice but to bleed.

He did have some ulterior motives; otherwise, he could have just let Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong continue arguing with Jia Zhangshi instead of taking on the matter himself.

Even if Jia Zhangshi acts like a rogue and refuses to send Old Jia away, leaving him to rot in the courtyard, what does it have to do with her?

Women are just women; they have long hair but short wits.

If Lao Jia really becomes disgraced—would the landlord agree? Would the government agree?

Will she still have a choice then?

It's hard to say, but just like the corpses that are cleared away every day, any random mass grave ends up being fed to stray dogs.

Yi Zhonghai stopped wasting words and said directly, "Alright, I'll take responsibility for this."

As soon as he said this, several people looked at him.

Yi Zhonghai forced a wry smile: "Who told us to get into this mess? It's quite pitiful for an orphan and a widow."

"My family has light financial burdens, so I'll consider it an act of good karma and accept this offer."

Yan Bugui immediately said, "Old Yi, you're a true friend! It's not that I don't want to help, but Old Jia is really in a terrible situation."

"But you know my family situation. My eldest son is in school, and my wife is pregnant again. It's a heavy burden."

Liu Haizhong quickly chimed in, "Me too, my family is really struggling..."

Yi Zhonghai listened patiently to the end, then said with a half-smile:

"I'll take the job, but you all need to put in the effort!"

As long as I don't have to pay anything, everything is negotiable.

Yan Bugui patted his chest confidently: "Old Yi, you can rest assured."

"The table and the tent are mine now, I guarantee there won't be any problems."

"If Lao He is too busy with the purchasing, I can lend a hand."

"We will ensure that we are frugal and save money wherever possible."

"Yes, I fully support it too! I'll take care of all the arrangements outside!" Liu Haizhong chimed in.

Yi Zhonghai looked at He Daqing last.

The latter smiled and said, "I'm fine with it, just you wait and see."

Yi Zhonghai nodded in satisfaction: "Then it's settled. I'll go buy it now..."

Jiang Baobin was truly amazed. The four bigwigs of the courtyard house were indeed quite something; each of them was incredibly cunning.

Seeing that they weren't going to get anything out of them anytime soon, he came out.

He hadn't forgotten that he still had a mission to complete.

If you ask Liu Decai now, he's definitely not home.

Alright, let's use the old method again: find rickshaw pullers, they're well-informed.

He handed out a pack of cigarettes, and the matter was finally getting to him.

Therefore, he went to see Du Qi again and received an affirmative answer.

Du Qi was the rickshaw driver that Jiang Baobin met when he first started working for Tom.

Later, whenever I needed a car, I would ask him for help; we got along quite well.

After wandering around for a long time and having lunch, Jiang Baobin finally returned to the courtyard house.

In just a short while, the coffin has been bought.

However, Jia Jinwang is still covered under the cloth and has not been placed in the coffin.

It's probably not the right time yet.

Funeral customs vary from place to place, and Beijing, being a place rich in culture and tradition, must have even more elaborate customs.

After asking around, I found out that my guess was right; it really was Yi Zhonghai who paid for my coffin.

Has she set her sights on Jia Dongxu? Should we place our bets decisively?

Who Yi Zhonghai takes a liking to is none of my business. Jiang Baobin just wants to get out of there as soon as possible; he has important business to attend to.

So he ran to the table in front of the tent to look at the gift list.

"Hey! Binzi," Yan Bugui teased.

"You're the most outstanding among the younger generation in our department, so shouldn't you give a gift?"

Jiang Baobin gave him a half-smile, because what he said was rather disgusting—

Does my success or failure have anything to do with how much money I give as a wedding gift?

So Jiang Baobin deliberately said, "How about I go with 20?"

Yan Bugui's smile immediately vanished, because Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and his own name were all listed first.

Each person has 10 yuan.

If Jiang Baobin really does give 20, where will his elders put their faces?

If he were to have to pay the difference, given Yan Bugui's personality, he would be heartbroken!

Ten yuan was enough to annoy him.

Back in August, 2 gold yuan notes could be exchanged for 1 silver dollar.

Ten gold yuan notes are equivalent to five silver dollars. That's outrageous!

But at this point, it's just that kind of thing.

What's the state of inflation in the market?

Just two days ago, on October 31, the Kuomintang issued an order to cancel the price control policy that had only been in effect for a little over two months.

The regulations stipulated that "grain should be traded at market prices and freely transported and sold" and that "the government will continue to handle the distribution of grain in the six major cities."

Prices of other essential goods will remain under control; public transportation prices will be adjusted; civil servant benefits and salaries will be adjusted; taxes will be adjusted...

As soon as this order was issued, the price of gold on the black market skyrocketed.

Food prices! Those will rise even more alarmingly—

The price of rice per shi (about 100 jin) suddenly rose from 20 yuan when the price was capped to 800 yuan (this article uses the national average).

It increased 40 times overnight!

Who the hell could stand this?

Haha, you have to put up with it even if you can't stand it!

The masses are like leeks, and since they can't avoid being harvested, who cares whether they feel pain or not...