An extraordinary life journey through old Beijing courtyard houses

However, the younger sister couldn't understand and was extremely anxious:

"Third Brother, didn't you say you found it in the alley? Where did you find it? Tell Mom right now!"

Jiang Ma glared at her youngest daughter, clearly annoyed by her talkativeness.

Jiang's mother then glared at Jiang Baobin, as if trying to see into his mind and figure out if he was lying.

Jiang Baobin then looked as if he had just woken up from a dream: "I picked it up from 'Mao'er Hutong,' someone dropped it."

"There was one every few steps, and since there was no one else around, I picked them up. There were only a few of them."

The older sister-in-law pressed, "Why are you taking a walk in this sweltering heat?"

Jiang Baobin immediately replied, "It's too hot inside, it's cool outside."

That's absolutely right; even someone as sharp-tongued as my sister-in-law couldn't refute it.

Anyone who has ever stayed in a room with a reverse-facing roof knows how stuffy it is inside.

"Why did it become your turn to pick it up? And you dare not tell the truth? You better confess, how much money did you steal from the house?"

Jiang's mother was still using threats and inducements, but she had learned her lesson and stopped slamming her hand on the table.

Instead, he used a feather duster, making a loud slapping sound! This was to intimidate Jiang Baobin.

The eldest sister-in-law continued to entice him: "Third brother, you'd better just admit it already, keeping it up won't do you any good..."

Jiang Baobin cursed inwardly: Admit it my ass! This old woman has a terrible conscience!

This shows how much they despise the original owner of this body; it's practically an attempt to wipe them out!

Wait a minute!

Jiang Baobin suddenly had a brilliant idea—if he admitted to stealing the money, would he be able to get kicked out of the house without any trouble?

At that time, the sea will be wide enough for fish to leap freely, and the sky will be high enough for birds to fly freely.

No, no, he immediately dismissed the idea.

At this time, people value their reputation very much. If they are branded with a bad reputation for their hands and feet, they can never wash it off for the rest of their lives.

Even if it's money from home, it won't work! Your reputation will still be ruined!

So no matter how much the two argued, Jiang Baobin insisted that he picked it up, picked it up, picked it up, and that's it!

Just as they were sawing, Jiang's father and Jiang Baowen returned carrying loads on their shoulders.

After listening to Jiang Ma's complaint, Jiang Mantang gave his youngest son a deep look, who had made the two women jump up and down in anger, while he himself seemed completely unaffected.

He didn't say anything, he just waved his hand.

Although Jiang's mother was somewhat confused, she still upheld her husband's authority.

So he bossed Jiang Baobin around, saying, "Go back to your room! From now on, stay home and lie there like a corpse. Don't go out wandering around anymore!"

Jiang Baobin found it amusing—you think you can just stop me from going out? Who do you think you are?

How will I complete my grand money-making plan? And there's Yifei, whom I'm determined to have.

This guy dawdled as he walked out, deliberately taking a half-circle, and when he passed the table, he grabbed a matchlock and ran—

I paid for it, why should you get it for free? Only a fool would want to feed mosquitoes at night!

This move was unexpected by everyone. It wasn't until Jiang Baobin had already left that everyone realized what was happening.

Jiang's mother was scolding, her sister-in-law was complaining, Jiang's father was frowning, and Jiang Baowen was about to chase after them to snatch the things back.

But his quick-witted wife stopped him. The sister-in-law instinctively felt that her husband was probably no match for her brother-in-law.

However, she believed she had plenty of ways to deal with this kind of simpleton, and there was no need to resort to violence.

Jiang's mother continued to nag, insisting that Jiang Baobin had gone astray and had stolen money from the family to buy the matchlock.

Annoyed, Jiang Mantang glanced towards the door and said, "What are you stealing? What are you yelling about?"

"Don't you know how much money you give him every day, and how many clothes you get in return?"

"Besides, if a thief breaks into your house, who's more proud, you or me?"

Jiang's mother was speechless after being rebuked, and went off to quietly prepare the meal...

The eldest sister-in-law was eating while pondering something—she couldn't let the third brother get away with it so easily.

Immediately, the woman had an idea.

He had just put down his chopsticks when he bent down and scooped up Jiang Hongsheng, who was only wearing a bib and walking on the ground, and headed towards the back room.

Jiang Baobin had just finished eating the meal his younger sister had brought him when he lit the fuse.

He planned to go to bed early and get up early so that he could go and experience the legendary "ghost market" of old Beiping the next day.

But unexpectedly, an uninvited guest arrived.

"Third brother, are you home?" the eldest sister-in-law called from outside the door.

No matter how fierce she was, she didn't dare to barge into the young man's room without making a sound.

Jiang Baobin quickly hid the map he was studying: "It's here."

"The child's third uncle." The eldest sister-in-law forced a smile as she entered the room.

Jiang Baobin lazily sat up from his bunk.

His eyes sized up his sister-in-law with a half-smile.

(This person is alright looking, but their features together make them look rather mean.)

Feeling inexplicably uncomfortable under her gaze, the sister-in-law quickly got down to business:

"Third Uncle, look at the bite marks on the child's body."

As she spoke, the older sister-in-law showed Jiang Hongsheng several mosquito bites on his body to Jiang Baobin.

"You're an adult now, why don't you leave this fuse to the children?"

Holy crap! Jiang Baobin was stunned—was the Jiang family really that stingy? They couldn't even bear to light a single fuse.

Wait a minute! Jiang Baobin immediately realized something was wrong.

Children are the most attractive to mosquitoes, and if you don't light the fire rope, you'll get more than just a few bites.

Take myself as an example, I was bitten at least a hundred times on the first day.

From this perspective, it's not that the Chiang family was stingy, but rather that they were only stingy with themselves.

While Jiang Baobin was distracted, his sister-in-law quickly stepped out the fire rope.

Afterwards, he left smugly, as if he had gotten a huge advantage.

Jiang Baobin was furious—"Am I just supposed to get bitten by mosquitoes?"

They wouldn't even give me a single fuse, and the most ridiculous thing is that I bought it (or found it).

Hmph! Since you're so heartless, don't blame me for being ruthless too!

This guy was just worried about not having a chance to break ties with his original family when he unexpectedly received a lucky break.

Sister-in-law, you're such a good person!

After waiting and waiting, it finally became noisy outside, obviously the factory workers had all returned.

Seeing that the time was right, Jiang Baobin stretched out two fingers and poked them into his eyes!

Then he staggered out of the house, his mouth agape as he wailed:

"Ahhh! I've lost my matchlock! I found several outside!"

"My sister-in-law took them all, she didn't leave me a single one."

"Mosquitoes are biting me! I'm so sad! Waaaaah..."

Jiang Baobin's crying and tantrum stunned everyone.

In my memory, the three sons of the Jiang family were always timid and submissive, and you couldn't get a word out of them even if you hit them three times.

No matter who in the family hits him or kicks him, he always endures it silently without uttering a sound. Is the sun rising in the west today?

But think that's all? Wrong!

This guy plopped down on the ground, slapping the floor with his hands, tears streaming down his face (poking eyes is a really effective trick):

"I miss you, Grandma! I'm so miserable without you..."

Wow! They even made an old person cry.