An extraordinary life journey through old Beijing courtyard houses

Jiang Baobin deliberately took a detour through Xitao Hutong, but unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and he didn't see the young lady again.

She bumped head-on into a man who had just returned from relieving himself.

The man wasn't surprised by Jiang Baobin's patched clothes; instead, he gestured with his chin towards the various items in the car:

"Hey buddy, what's wrong with you?"

Jiang Baobin grinned, revealing a set of white teeth: "I've separated from the family and moved out on my own. I just went to 'Beixiao City' to buy this; it was cheap."

The man praised, "Good, you're so young and already know how to be thrifty. Not bad."

Jiang Baobin, quick-witted, took the opportunity of offering him a cigarette to whisper:

"Uncle, I know you play the small drum and have a wide network of connections. Do you know anyone who accepts foreign currency?"

The man couldn't help but glance at him again, and instead of answering, asked, "Do you have that kind of thing?"

Jiang Baobin chuckled: "I'm working as a follower for a foreigner, I should get paid today."

The man looked at him with newfound respect: "Good, you've got some luck. You've found the right person."

"I know a big boss in this business who buys foreign currency at high prices year after year. What country's currency do you have?"

"American."

"US dollars? That'll get you 7.5 dollars."

Jiang Baobin was startled and asked, "Silver dollars?"

"Of course," the man said, pursing his lips. "Would you be willing to exchange it for legal tender?"

Jiang Baobin quickly shook his head – Damn! Seven US dollars, that's enough to buy a cartload of Chinese currency!

But that's not the point; all he wants to do right now is slap himself.

Just yesterday morning, he was in the alley next to Citibank.

They exchanged silver dollars for one US dollar at a ratio of 1:6.2.

He was quite amused at the time, because the official ratio was much worse.

After hearing what the guy said today, I realized I'd been totally scammed!

Jiang Baobin forced a smile: "Forget about the legal tender; it's too stiff even to use as toilet paper these days."

He then asked for advice, "Uncle, to be honest, I really don't understand."

"I saw in the newspaper that the exchange rate between US dollars and silver dollars was 1:2, but it's so high here?"

The man scoffed, "That's the official price. If you listen to the KMT (Kuomintang), you'll get ripped off!"

"I won't lie to you, if you go to the bank and look for a counter, you might find 6.5, 6.8, 7, or even 7.2 yuan."

"But be careful, they might try to scam you with counterfeit silver dollars. You could easily fall for it if you're not careful."

"If I change it for you, you won't have this worry anymore, but I'll only take half the water."

「也就是说，1美刀你到手的是7块1毛2分5，而不是7块5，想好了再找我吧。」

The man was about to leave after he finished speaking.

Jiang Baobin grabbed him and said with a grin, "I'll switch. I need the money to move."

They stopped hiding anything and, as for the lies they told before, they understood that money was never a small matter.

Jiang Baobin pulled out all seven US dollars from the lining of his tattered cloth shoes: "Thank you for your trouble."

"Wow! You've struck it rich, haven't you?"

It seems the man was also a money-grubber, as he accepted the money without any sign of disdain.

Jiang Baobin just chuckled, but he was actually deliberately showing off his strength.

The guy rubbed his hands together and said, "Hey, uncle, could you lend me a few dollars? I still need to spend some money today."

After checking the authenticity of the banknotes, the man nodded in agreement: "Okay, how many do you need?"

"Three or four pieces are enough."

"Okay, four yuan it is, may you prosper in all four seasons."

"Okay, thank you so much..."

He had only exchanged a few more silver dollars, but Jiang Baobin felt as if he had gotten a hundred million dollars off.

This made him, a former millionaire, extremely happy.

I hummed a little tune all the way back to Nanluoguxiang.

As they say, everything goes smoothly when things go well. Just then, a water delivery cart passed by his door, so he bought several buckets of water and filled his water tank.

Today's work involved accompanying Tom around to various places, mainly filming how ordinary people in the Republic of China era lived in dire straits.

Tom planned to meet with government officials in Beiping tomorrow.

If you want to uncover the government's dirty secrets, you still have to rely on them; that's why they say a fortress is always breached from within.

After saying goodbye to Tom, Jiang Baobin bought a bottle of "Xifeng" liquor on the way, as a thank you gift to the man.

Although he has already "siphoned off" his earnings, Jiang Baobin is very open-minded.

No matter how much others earn, as long as it brings you real benefits, you should thank them.

Besides, building good relationships with men is not as simple as just exchanging foreign currency.

They came up empty-handed again; this time, the door was locked tight.

Jiang Baobin waited at the door for a while, then realized something was amiss—

It's as if I'm worried about being scammed, and I'm chasing after people for money.

Now is the time to make a good impression; we can't let them look down on us.

With that thought, he hung the bottle of wine he was carrying on the door and walked away with a flourish.

However, his joy turned to sorrow, and Jiang Baobin was dumbfounded when he got home.

Mr. and Mrs. Jiang, along with their elder brother, were glaring angrily and ready to face any danger, just waiting for him to walk right into their trap!

Well, this was all expected. How could the Chiang family possibly let go of this blood bag so easily?

Without saying a word, Jiang's mother stepped forward and swung her hand in a wide arc, slapping Jiang Baobin directly across the face!

Don't hit someone in the face! Internet celebrities cherish their faces the most.

Fortunately, Jiang Baobin was prepared and dodged it by tilting his head.

This has really stirred up a hornet's nest—a mother beating her son, and you still dare to dodge?

"You little brat! You've gone too far!" Aunt Jiang yelled.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Baowen and his wife rushed over together, wanting to lend their mother a hand.

As the old saying goes, two fists can't beat four hands, let alone Jiang Baobin, who is not a martial arts master.

Seeing that things were going badly, the guy turned and ran.

As fate would have it, the deaf old lady, who had just finished dinner, came out for a stroll and happened to witness this heartwarming scene of "motherly love and filial piety."

Jiang Baobin immediately hid behind the old lady.

The deaf old lady was in a good mood today and jokingly asked, "Hey! What are you doing?"

"On such a hot day, is your whole Jiang family exercising together?"

The old lady never expected that asking would lead to this incident, and Jiang Ma collapsed to the ground, bursting into tears.

"I'm so angry! This unfilial son! He stole money from home to enjoy a life of luxury! He's disobedient, heartless, and ungrateful..."

The deaf old woman's face immediately turned cold. She turned her head and asked, "What's going on? Three children, did you take money from home?"

Jiang Baobin looked aggrieved: "No, Grandma Lu, I didn't take a single penny from home..."

"Bullshit!" Aunt Jiang interrupted him directly.

"If it weren't for your family's money, where would you have gotten the money to rent a place? And to buy so much old stuff?"

Jiang Baobin felt like he had swallowed a fly; it was disgusting!

Everyone knows perfectly well that saying Jiang Baobin stole money from his family to rent a house is just a way of framing him!

The idea that stealing a few coins to buy a match is possible, but stealing money to rent such a large house is utter nonsense!