An extraordinary life journey through old Beijing courtyard houses

After being slapped by Jiang Baobin, the deaf old lady immediately declared: "Starting tomorrow, I'm sticking with your sister-in-law."

Wherever she goes, this old woman will follow. I won't rest until I've taught her a lesson!

Jiang Baobin then took out the half sausage he had been hiding.

The old lady had smelled the aroma long ago, and after taking it, she quickly cut two slices to satisfy her craving.

Jiang Baobin couldn't help but laugh—"Old man, old man, that's absolutely right."

With such a love and dedication to meat, it's no wonder the old man lived to be over eighty.

She doesn't compromise herself at all; she's really open-minded about that.

Seizing the opportunity, he promised the old lady a generous reward after the deed was done.

A generous reward will surely attract brave men, especially when it comes to the food that the old lady has been longing for.

Seeing the fierce glint in the old man's eyes, Jiang Baobin knew—this time, the game was in the bag.

I said goodbye and left.

Jiang Baobin couldn't help but sigh to himself: Being a leader is not as easy as it seems!

The saying goes, "The wise labor with their minds, the capable labor with their bodies; those who labor with their minds govern others, those who labor with their bodies are governed by others."

Take this matter for example, if I don't keep a close eye on them, these people will definitely fall apart.

Well, we'll just have to wait and see; the mission might not be completed for ages.

By stirring things up myself, I believe the problem can be solved quickly; after all, a generous reward will surely attract brave men.

The next day, I got up early.

I train my body without fail.

The fourteen stances and footwork techniques, along with the five-step fist technique, are continuously repeated.

With diligent study and practice, Jiang Baobin felt that his body was different from before.

Especially when he throws a punch, it's incredibly powerful, giving the impression that he could kill a bull with a single punch!

Am I imagining things again?

Upon opening the "Panel," a change was indeed observed.

"...Physical attributes:"

"Wisdom: 13"

"Explosiveness: 14"

Endurance: 12

Agility: 11

"Five senses: 14..."

The two ends remain unchanged, while the explosive power, endurance, and agility in the middle have all been increased by 1 point.

This delighted Jiang Baobin. It seemed that the system hadn't lied to him this time; as long as he practiced diligently, he would reap the rewards.

But the thought of Liu Ling'er immediately deflated his spirits.

I don't know how many more years I'll have to train so that I can stop being bullied by her.

Speaking of Liu Ling'er, we should go see my Uncle Liu.

I've been so busy with other things these past few days that I've neglected him.

If I want to develop a relationship with Ling'er, my Uncle Liu is a key figure, so I must maintain a good relationship with him.

As for Ling'er herself...

Sigh, sincerity can move mountains, let's take it slow.

××××××

I've had breakfast.

She left all the work to Jiang Daya, and then, as usual, she took Jiang Hongsheng out for a stroll.

However, she didn't notice that a dark figure had already caught up with her.

"Second Aunt, where are you going?" She greeted someone she met on the road.

The woman scrutinized her for a long time before asking helplessly, "Who are you?"

"I am the eldest daughter-in-law of the Jiang family, who run a second-hand clothing business in Mao'er Hutong. You really have a bad memory."

Auntie Er suddenly realized: "Oh—it's Jiang's wife!"

Meanwhile, I was thinking to myself: I only went to your house once to sell secondhand clothes, does that make us seem like we're old friends?

Seeing that she seemed a bit busy, the sister-in-law quickly got back to the main topic:

"Second Aunt, have you heard? Our third son beat up his eldest brother, and he's been bedridden for days!"

"Ah!" The woman exclaimed in shock, pulling her foot back from where she had already stepped out.

"What's going on? How can brothers be so ruthless?"

"Ugh! My third brother-in-law is a real scoundrel!"

"Not only did he beat his older brother, but he also forced our parents to separate the family property. It's utterly disobedient!"

"Is that so? That's outrageous! Aren't you going to do anything about it? If not, ask the neighbors for their opinions, or even the village head..."

It's human nature to pry into other people's privacy, and this second aunt was no exception.

After agreeing with my sister-in-law, I was just waiting to see what happened.

Suddenly, a rude voice interrupted: "You're talking nonsense!"

The deaf old woman glared angrily and strode over, berating her sister-in-law: "Spreading rumors! Unfaithful to your wife!"

Turning to his second aunt, who was trying to slip away when she sensed the situation was turning bad, he shouted:

"You stay right there and let me finish what I have to say before you leave."

"Hey, hey, old lady, I haven't left yet. Please tell me, please tell me."

Even the second aunt didn't dare to leave, so the eldest sister-in-law was even less likely to.

If the old lady gets angry, she can really drive her family out of the yard.

Then she would be in deep trouble, and no matter how much she gained status because of her son, she would still get a beating.

Even if the husband refuses to do it, his parents-in-law will force him to.

A wise man doesn't suffer a loss when he's already at a disadvantage. It's just some unpleasant talk, but he's willing to risk his ears.

The deaf old woman glared at her sister-in-law and angrily retorted, "I've lived this long!"

"I've seen people bring wealth and good fortune to their homes, but I've never seen anyone bring misfortune?"

"Was this how your family taught you the 'Three Obediences and Four Virtues' from childhood?"

"I'm asking you, what did your brother-in-law do to offend you? Why are you spreading rumors like this?"

"They've even abandoned the Chiang family's reputation, just to ruin it?"

"What good will that do you? Huh? Tell me why! Let this old woman broaden her horizons!"

How could the sister-in-law dare to reveal her petty scheme of wanting to leech off Jiang Baobin now that he's capable?

So all I can do is tuck my head in and pretend to be a turtle.

The deaf old woman, however, showed no mercy in exposing her flaws:

"Eldest daughter-in-law of the Jiang family, don't think others don't know your little schemes."

"Aren't you just bullying honest people and trying to take advantage of the third brother?"

"Since you didn't get what you wanted, you're shameless, resorting to despicable tactics, and ruining Lao San's reputation!"

"But don't forget, the neighbors are all watching."

"Because you're lazy and always stirring up trouble."

"Everyone saw through you a long time ago."

"I'm telling you right now, if you keep going like this, you're going to get what's coming to you!"

After saying that, he glared at his second aunt, as if to say: What are you doing meddling in this? What good will it do you?

The woman was sensible and quickly said, "Well, ma'am."

"You can continue scolding her. I have some things to attend to, so I'll be leaving now."

As he spoke, he spat in his sister-in-law's direction—

A country bumpkin who fled here dares to go against a local deaf old woman; he really doesn't know his place.

The sister-in-law was furious, but she could only suppress it.

Only two people remained (Jiang Hongsheng is not counted as a person for now), and the deaf old lady's tone softened slightly:

"Jiang family daughter-in-law, you'd better shut up and leave yourself a way out."

"I haven't misjudged anyone in my sixty years. You're no match for Third Young Master."

"Besides, I'm determined to help him with this, so don't make me go and argue with your in-laws."

"You'll regret this! Just you wait and see!"