An extraordinary life journey through old Beijing courtyard houses

What does it mean to cry tears of joy? Isn't this exactly what it means?

This was the first time Jiang Baobin had cried since he transmigrated—not counting his previous fake crying and faking it.

Why are you so happy?

Because of the high vantage point, one can see far – under the bright moonlight, a small village is faintly visible.

The dog couldn't wait any longer and barked excitedly in that direction!

Only after walking through the gates of hell will you understand—it's so good to be alive!

Jiang Baobin breathed a long sigh of relief: Damn it! I finally made it out alive!

Damn system, your plot has failed!

He cursed as he grabbed a handful of snow and threw it behind him!

Then, she happily patted the dog's head: "Don't bother, you're still asleep."

Suddenly I had strength again.

Jiang Baobin cleared out a large area and started a huge fire, which was a signal to his subordinates.

Then it covered its mouth with both hands and started howling.

At that distance, it's impossible for anyone to hear.

Jiang Baobin hopes that there are dogs in the village, whose hearing can surely reach this place.

After shouting until he was tired, this guy kicked the four-eyed guy's butt and laughed:

"Silly girl, it's your turn. You don't call out when you should, and you call out when you shouldn't..."

Around noon, the guy was already sprawled out on the kang (a heated brick bed) of a family at the foot of the mountain.

On the small table were two empty bowls, a pair of chopsticks, and not a single grain of rice left.

He made both chickens by himself!

No, that's not right either; the bones and internal organs were given to the dog.

It's quite a coincidence that this is the village where Sister-in-law Zhou lives.

No wonder Four-Eyes became more and more confident as time went on; it turns out he went back to his hometown.

It seems that the system's heart isn't completely black yet, leaving Jiang Baobin a glimmer of hope.

And he really seized the opportunity.

The pitiful squeals of pigs could be heard coming from outside the yard.

This was bought by Jiang Baobin. He ate some himself and gave the rest to the people who dug the snow track to rescue him.

The villager who owned pigs initially didn't want to sell to him, but upon hearing the price, he regretted not having enough pigs at home.

There was no other way; all the pigs that were supposed to be sold for the New Year had been sold, leaving only this old sow to give birth in the spring.

Kill them anyway! What can't you buy with money?

A boy, about half a year old, carrying a wooden shovel, came back excitedly from outside.

She watched helplessly as the white knife went in and the red knife came out, and the old sow died with a mournful cry.

The young man then went home satisfied.

"Mom! When are we going to eat pork?"

"Chang Sheng is back?" Sister-in-law Zhou asked with a smile. "We'll have pork stew for dinner tonight."

Zhou Changsheng forced a smile: "Yeah, I'm back for dinner, and I'll go shovel snow later."

"I'm warming you up. Come inside and wash up, you look like a little kitten."

"hey-hey!"

As soon as he pushed open the door, Zhou Changsheng sniffed hard. He couldn't help it; it smelled so good!

Then I got a fright.

The guest was wearing only underwear and striking an indescribable pose!

The old man lying on the kang waved his hand at him, meaning don't make a fuss.

Zhou Changsheng lowered his voice and asked, "Sir, what is Master Jiang doing?"

The old man was also a little unsure: "Most likely, he's practicing martial arts?"

"What kind of skill is this? Why practice like this?"

The old man shook his head: "Never seen it before, it might be Buddhist internal energy cultivation."

Zhou Changsheng nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

At this moment, Four-Eyes got up from the futon and rubbed affectionately against his former owner's leg.

Zhou Changsheng was immediately delighted, squatted down, and began to enthusiastically pet the dog.

Four-Eyes was thoroughly enjoying himself, making snoring noises in his throat.

After a while, Jiang Baobin finished practicing his Kundalini Qigong.

I feel much better now.

He wasn't in a hurry to put on clothes, so he just covered his legs because he was feeling hot.

Zhou Changsheng had finished eating by now.

He moved closer to Jiang Baobin and asked curiously, "Master Jiang, what kind of kung fu do you practice?"

Jiang Baobin fabricated a story: "This is a secret technique of Tantric Buddhism, does the Grand Lama know about it?"

Zhou Changsheng nodded.

"I have some connection with them, but not a complete one."

Zhou Changsheng seemed to understand but not quite, but he still nodded admiringly, and then asked:

"Uncle Jiang, with such heavy snow, how did you manage to get out of the mountains? That's amazing!"

Upon hearing this, Sister Zhou, who was doing needlework, and the old man who was smoking a pipe both looked over.

They were clearly very interested.

Especially Sister-in-law Zhou, whose eyes held a strange expression.

Jiang Baobin patted him on the shoulder and shook his head, saying:

"I don't want to think about what I went through before."

"If possible, I don't even want to go into the mountains again."

"Chang Sheng, good days await you from now on."

"Stop overthinking it. The mountains aren't a place for people to stay."

Zhou Changsheng was about to speak again when he was interrupted by his sister-in-law:

"Chang Sheng, aren't you going to work? Everyone else has already left."

"Okay." Zhou Changsheng obediently agreed and picked up the shovel.

Jiang Baobin then asked Grandpa Zhou Changsheng, "Grandpa, when will this road be completed?"

The old man said confidently, "If we dig for two days today and tomorrow, we should be able to get out of the mountain the day after tomorrow."

"The snow outside isn't as thick as in the mountains, so as long as the horse can walk, it can pull the sled."

"Hey, that's great!"

For the next day, Jiang Baobin did nothing but eat and wait for food to come to him.

Goodness! From the time I came down the mountain until I went to bed, I ate five meals in total.

Besides the pig, the village's old hen also suffered bad luck!

By the time he leaves, the species will be extinct.

This astonished the entire village and was talked about for decades afterward.

Everyone unanimously said that they had seen a divine being.

Judging by that appetite, no wonder he survived coming out of the mountains...

A heated kang bed + a quiet night = what? Of course, it's a good night's sleep.

This was the most restful sleep Jiang Baobin had had in over a month.

It's a pity I almost slept until I naturally woke up.

The loud thunder finally woke him up.

In the darkness, Jiang Baobin blinked several times before he realized what was happening—

It's the dead of winter! Where did this thunder come from?

He looked outside; the gaps in the oil paper were still shrouded in a hazy gray, indicating that dawn had not yet broken.

In northern households, it is common to prepare a piece of oiled paper to cover the windows.

The bottom part is glued to a stick, and it is usually rolled up and hung under the eaves.

On snowy days like this, it's too bright outside and it affects my sleep, so I'll lower the window to block it out.

On the other side of the kang (a heated brick bed), a red light flickered on and off.

It was clear that Zhou Changsheng's grandfather had also woken up and was smoking a pipe.

Jiang Baobin quickly asked, "Grandpa, are you playing drums?"

"Is someone putting on a private performance around here? Or are they holding some kind of event?"

The phrase "handling matters" is a euphemism for something else, meaning someone in someone's family has died and there's music playing.

The old man smiled.

Jiang Baobin asked a silly question: In this desolate village, where even people can't leave, what family would be able to hold a traditional folk performance?

He only replied with three words: "It's about firing cannons!"

Fire the cannon...

Jiang Baobin was reminded of something indescribable.

Surely not, why make such a big fuss?

Holy crap! This guy suddenly sat up.

Because I finally realized what was happening...