An extraordinary life journey through old Beijing courtyard houses

Fortunately, the beggars who knew he was the instigator had all run away with the bread.

The people who came later had blue eyes and were staring intently at the pot.

They had only one thought—the pancakes were free, and once they were cooked, they could take them.

The guy leaned close to the pancake stall owner's ear and whispered, "Don't worry, I'll take all the blame for today's losses."

Before the stall owner could react, they chose the wisest course of action—to make a quick getaway.

As for how the pancake seller will end up?

"Better to die for my fellow Daoist than for myself," he thought, not caring about anything else at a time like this.

Fortunately, he escaped in time. Not long after, he heard shouts from inside:

"We're out, we can't make them all..."

"Hurry and grab it!"

"Don't steal it! Don't steal it! We haven't paid for these yet!"

Then came a "clang!" and a "crash!" sound.

Some people were even crying out in pain.

Jiang Baobin ran even faster, afraid of being caught by the beggars and being chased endlessly.

Losing some money isn't a big deal, what I'm afraid of is them swallowing me whole...

He did manage to escape, but he ended up ripping off the pancake vendor.

The first batch was bought by Jiang Baobin, and the rest were immediately snapped up.

Not even the dough was left; the beggars grabbed handfuls of it.

The stall, well, it's completely broken up by now.

Fortunately, the neighboring vendors selling baked buns and wontons were quick-witted—

If things get bad, pack up and run! Otherwise, you'll be caught in the crossfire.

Jiang Baobin ran into the hospital gate before daring to look back—all he saw was crying and screaming, a scene of utter chaos!

Several beggars were fighting fiercely over a lump of dough!

Fortunately, there was a patrol nearby, and they immediately sounded the siren.

Before long, people in yellow uniforms were gathering from all directions...

Jiang Baobin wiped the cold sweat from his brow:

Wow! That was close! No wonder they say that doing good deeds requires professionals.

Someone as clueless as myself might end up doing more harm than good!

When Jiang Baobin, still shaken, returned to the ward, Rose's expression was also grim.

Apparently, the doctor's visit brought bad news.

Two people, feeling down, looked at each other and then went about their own thoughts.

"Jiang." After a moment of silence, Rose spoke up first.

"Do you think I should go back to China? If I take Mike back for treatment, the military should agree to send a plane to take us."

Jiang Baobin hesitated for a moment, then spoke the truth: "I don't know what your thoughts are."

"But my advice is that if you can go back, then go back, however..."

"But what?" Rose pressed.

Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying.

Rose didn't say anything, she just looked at him curiously.

"Okay, what I actually wanted to tell you is that now might be the best opportunity."

"I heard Tom say before that Mr. Smith was determined to stay and continue doing business in the flower industry."

"In his view, no matter who is in charge, the business is eternal."

"But I think the opposite; this may be the best time for you to leave."

"Because whether it's the factory buildings, machinery, or products, they still have value now, but the future is uncertain..."

Then Jiang Baobin explained in detail to her the clashes between the Chinese Communist Party and the outside world regarding war, historical hatred, and institutional concepts.

He concluded, "While the opportunity was still good, I sold everything I could."

"Then take whatever money you can carry with you! Go back to America as soon as possible."

"Will it really be that bad?"

Rose, sitting in the chair, stared at Jiang Baobin with her innocent, wide eyes.

Jiang Baobin was speechless. What have you been doing for the past hundred years? Don't you have any self-awareness?

He tried to be as blunt as possible: "I can only tell you that you don't belong here, and you won't be welcome here for the time being."

Rose nodded slowly, seemingly understanding, clearly having taken Jiang Baobin's words to heart.

Or perhaps she had been thinking this way all along, and someone just happened to say it for her.

Rose gave Jiang Baobin a deep look: "Thank you very much, Jiang. Tom is right."

"You are truly trustworthy; no one else would tell me these things but you."

"I think if it were any other flower grower, they would definitely advise me to keep running the business."

"Because that way, he can reap the benefits, while once I sell the company, I won't have such a good opportunity."

Jiang Baobin responded with a forced, profound smile.

But in my heart I was thinking: Even if you stubbornly refuse to sell, you won't last more than a few months.

"So, Jiang, are you willing to help me achieve what you said you would do? After all, I'm just a housewife."

"Don't worry, as long as you do an excellent job, I will pay you a commission as usual."

Wow! Commission! That's equivalent to a percentage of profits, and it's incomparable to the previous minimum wage!

To my surprise, Rose was persuaded so easily and was so generous.

Jiang Baobin seemed to see piles of lush green coins beckoning to him.

The previous decision was to no longer have contact with foreigners, especially not to have any financial dealings with them.

At that moment, he forgot all about it.

The man grinned broadly, "Of course, Mrs. Smith, I'd be happy to serve you!"

"And I will do my best and never let you down."

Rose smiled and extended her hand: "Then, it'll be a pleasure doing business with you."

Jiang Baobin shook hands with her gently and felt that Mrs. Smith was much more lovable than Smith himself; at least her attitude was like a gentle breeze.

At the hospital entrance, Jiang Baobin looked towards the spot where the accident had occurred.

At this time, people went about their business as usual, and beggars went about their begging as usual, as if nothing had happened.

The only thing missing is the pancake.

There were also more beggars than usual, presumably waiting for good things to happen.

Jiang Baobin, however, dared not approach.

The psychological trauma it caused him was considerable.

Then he went to the coal yard, but since he was going to work again, he didn't have time to make coal briquettes.

So he told the boss he had changed his mind and asked him to process the remaining coal into coal briquettes for him.

The boss naturally agreed, as it would bring in another source of income, so why not?

When Jiang Baobin got home, he found new faces in the yard—

A boy in his teens who was clearly in poor health.

In medical terms, it's called "cerebral palsy," but people these days don't know much about it and generally call these kinds of people "idiots."

The other was a woman who still retained her charm, wearing a cheongsam made of "Xiangyun yarn" on the outside and "chiffon" on the inside.

Her snow-white arms, jade-like legs, and exquisitely curvaceous figure were clearly visible!

That's really impressive! "See-through clothing" is nothing special in later generations.

(A see-through outfit from the Republican era. Lü Bicheng (1883-1943), one of the pioneers of modern Chinese women's rights, a poet and capitalist from Shanghai.)

But now it's incredibly awesome!