An extraordinary life journey through old Beijing courtyard houses

After stuffing the candy into his mouth, Jiang Baobin simply lay down.

With my head resting on my arm, I gazed at the hazy ceiling and began to ponder my thoughts—

Today marks the tenth day since I transmigrated, and my journey can be described as "smooth".

Her first success was finding the right career path in "Dongjiaomin Lane," and she was even more fortunate to meet Tom.

It can be said that this foreigner single-handedly rescued himself from abject poverty.

This fills me with hope for the future.

It has to be said, money really gives men courage.

The second success is that breaking free from the constraints of one's original family and moving towards independence is entirely predictable.

Of course, there are also regrets, such as personal issues.

In his observation, early marriage and childbirth are far too common these days.

There are plenty of kids around the same age as you who have children running around everywhere.

Just as he was lost in thought, a soft sound came from outside: "Brother, Third Brother."

"You're not asleep yet? Come in."

Jiang Daya looked utterly helpless: "Third Brother, how come you don't even recognize Eldest Brother anymore, and you beat him up so badly?"

Jiang Baobin sat up and reached out his hand to her—he wanted to bribe her first.

The little girl leaned closer to take a look, then exclaimed in surprise, "Wow! Candy!"

While the little girl was feeling quite pleased with herself, this guy repeated his previous explanation.

In short, given the special circumstances of the power outage and Jiang Baowen's aggressive behavior, I have absolutely no blame for today's accidental injury.

Perhaps it was the precious fruit candy that worked, because the younger sister immediately accepted this reason.

Then Jiang Daya informed him about her elder brother's situation—

Although it looked bloody, it was all superficial wounds; not even a single tooth was lost.

We also consulted a doctor, who prescribed herbal medicine and said that I would recover in a few days.

The little girl then reminded him, "Third brother, be careful, second brother will definitely come looking for you tomorrow."

"Actually, Mom called him over today, but you left early and came back late, so you missed him both times."

What does he want with me? Is he here to interrogate me? Jiang Baobin wondered to himself.

His eyes darted around, and he probed indirectly, "So, what do you think... what can Second Brother do to me?"

Jiang Daya tilted her head and thought for a long time: "It seems there's nothing we can do. My second brother is highly educated, but he hates trouble the most."

"Our parents asked him to intervene, so he couldn't refuse. It's really not a big deal; they can't just arrest you, can they?"

"Then our family will become famous, and the whole East City will laugh at us."

It's just a few short sentences, but it's very rich in meaning.

"Third Brother!" Jiang Daya jumped from the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) to the ground.

"I have to go, or Mom will scold me again."

He spat the candy from his mouth onto the candy wrapper and carefully wrapped it up.

"Third brother, please save this for me, I'll eat it tomorrow."

Jiang Baobin scratched his head – Is it really that serious?

"You can have this one. I have more on hand. You can have them all. Besides, I can bring you more tomorrow."

"No, if Mom smells it, I'll get in trouble!"

"Okay, then I'll put it... I'll put it on the top shelf of the bookcase. You can use a chair to find it tomorrow."

"Hehe, okay." Jiang Daya said, then skipped away.

Jiang Baobin followed him out and locked the courtyard gate.

A thought suddenly popped into my head: this courtyard is supposed to be for rent, but two days have passed and none of the other tenants have been seen except for myself.

After returning, I locked the door and then activated the mechanism...

cellar.

Standing in the water, Jiang Baobin was a little stunned—Wow! Did the ancients already have such good waterproofing?

He thought that more than a day had passed and the water should have seeped down by now.

But I didn't expect that the amount that leaked yesterday is still the same now.

Jiang Baobin raised his hand and lightly slapped himself – "You studied civil engineering and construction, and you're already an engineering and civil service major? This is simply unforgivable!"

It's quite normal for ancient people to know how to waterproof, right? Take glutinous rice mortar for example, buildings treated with this technique.

Later tests showed that its waterproof performance could be maintained for more than 300 years.

Although the waterlogged cellar caused some inconvenience, this accidental result proved that I had found a treasure.

A cellar with excellent waterproof properties also means that moisture cannot rise back up.

You don't need to worry that things will easily mold and rot due to excessive moisture when placed inside.

Jiang Baobin took out all his money—he had exchanged a total of 221 silver dollars today.

I exchanged 171 yuan last night, and got 50 yuan from Liu Decai this morning, which was 7 US dollars yesterday.

Today, Tom and I spent about 8 yuan, and we'll set aside 83 yuan for tomorrow's activities.

Jiang Baobin carefully placed the heavy 130 coins into two jars.

Of those, 50 were his own, and 80 were funds Tom had advanced.

Even a fool knows you can't carry all your money on you; it's too unsafe.

However, silver dollars are inconvenient to use, not to mention the previous 170-plus dollars.

The current 83 yuan weighs about four and a half pounds...

Well, okay, compared to fiat currency, this is relatively easy.

One silver dollar is now equivalent to 6 million legal tender.

Damn it! 600 million x 83 = how many kilograms? It'll probably take a truck to haul it away.

The next day.

Jiang Baobin was standing in the courtyard practicing his stance when a young policeman dressed in yellow entered.

Without a doubt, it must be the original owner's second brother, Jiang Baowu.

This person looks quite like Jiang Mantang.

It has to be said that the Jiang family has excellent genes; starting with the handsome old man Jiang Mantang, they have been handsome all the way through.

This Jiang Baowu is only in his early twenties and about 1.7 meters tall.

He has a scholarly air about him, completely unlike the stereotypical image of a police officer in movies and TV dramas—either greasy and mercenary, or vicious and cunning.

"Second, second brother." Jiang Baobin sounded slightly uncomfortable.

It's still a bit awkward to address strangers like that.

Jiang Baowu twitched the corner of his mouth, which could be considered a smile: "What are you doing?"

"I'm exercising."

Jiang Baowu nodded slightly: "It's fine. I heard you were sick a few days ago, but I was busy with work and didn't know."

He held up a small paper bag (which looked like it could hold four cakes): "Take this and get some more."

Are you feeding the cat?

Jiang Baobin politely declined to accept the money.

Jiang Baowu didn't say much, and simply found a place to put the things.

Then, getting back to the main topic, he said, "I'm very busy right now and can't manage things here. What have you been up to lately?"

"Your parents have a lot of complaints about you, and they insist that I talk to them about it."

"Stop making a fuss and move back home right away. Don't let your parents worry about you."

After speaking, without waiting for Jiang Baobin's reply, the man turned to leave.

Jiang Baobin blinked – Damn! Is this some kind of ultimatum?

Hmph! Who do you think you are?

Then don't blame me for not spoiling you!

"Wait a minute!" Jiang Baobin shouted.

Jiang Baowu stopped and turned around, his brows furrowed.

He was clearly dissatisfied that Jiang Baobin dared to defy his decision...