An extraordinary life journey through old Beijing courtyard houses

Xu Fugui's wife said, "Now I know, he was enduring hardship and biding his time."

"Isn't that right? As you get older, you immediately start to stand up straight!"

Xu Fugui nodded in deep agreement: "This guy is ruthless. Who knows what great things he'll do in the future."

He glared at Xu Damao, who was listening intently, and said, "You should learn from him."

"Don't argue with the He family's kid all the time; he's just an uncultured hothead."

"You won't get away with anything great."

"Dad," Xu Damao said, feeling aggrieved, "it's not that I'm arguing with him, it's that he's always picking on me..."

Xu Fugui retorted, "Then why didn't he pick a fight with Liu Guangqi? Why didn't he pick a fight with Yan Jiecheng?"

"Because everyone else treats him like a mad dog and ignores him, but you keep arguing with him."

"If you really have skills, learn from Jiang Baobin. Endure him for now, ignore him, and you'll crush him in one fell swoop in the future!"

"Oh," Xu Damao responded weakly.

This kid is also a master of underhanded tricks. He was thinking about how he would get rid of He Yuzhu in one fell swoop, and he couldn't help but laugh.

Afterwards, he put down his rice bowl and went out to play.

However, less than fifteen minutes later, a scream came from the courtyard.

"Oh no!" Xu Fugui, who was drinking water, exclaimed and hurriedly ran outside.

Among the group of children, He Yuzhu was riding on Xu Damao's stomach.

She was choking him with one hand and slapping him across the face with the other.

Xu Damao struggled, gripping the kickboard with his hands and feet, his voice already trembling with tears.

That poor kid, all his talking was for nothing...

With delicious food, everyone was overjoyed, except for the Jiang family, who were furious!

The eldest sister-in-law was furious and said, "Don't try to hide it like that! What does Jiang Laosan mean by this?"

"They sent gifts to every household, but not to their own parents. Is that fair?"

Apart from the brat Jiang Hongsheng, no one in the family was not angry about this.

One reason is that they hate Jiang Baobin for being a scoundrel who doesn't respect his parents at all.

I also hate my sister-in-law, that troublemaker. If it weren't for her meddling, would the relationship between the two sides be so strained?

But the damage was too deep to be repaired, and resentment towards Jiang Baobin still lingered.

Under the constant instigation of the sister-in-law, someone finally snapped:

"No, I can't let that little bastard get away with this! I want to ask him if he even cares about his parents anymore..."

"Bang bang bang," before Jiang Ma could finish speaking, came the sound of Jiang Mantang banging his pipe.

Jiang's mother looked at her husband in surprise.

Jiang Mantang retorted, "You can't see the skill level at all!"

He then casually tossed the pipe aside and lay down.

Now that the entire hospital is against it, what's the point of making a fuss? They really have no sense of propriety at all; no wonder the third brother looks down on them!

Jiang's mother, sister-in-law, and Jiang Baowen looked at each other in bewilderment.

The homeowner has spoken, so they dare not act rashly.

Jiang Mantang was truly exhausted: When did this family start to spiral out of control?

Was it after the third son fell ill? Or was it even further back, when the eldest son's wife gave birth to their grandson?

Or is it that I'm really getting old and can't control the situation anymore?

Of course, what puzzled him the most was why his third son had suddenly become different.

Now he dresses impeccably and speaks eloquently; anyone who knew him before would hardly believe it's really him.

Some people even told them that they saw the third brother driving a foreign car ostentatiously through the streets.

Even now, Jiang Mantang doesn't believe this.

How could he not know what kind of person his own child is? When did that kid learn to drive a foreign car?

He couldn't help but wonder: Is meeting a benefactor really that important?

While the Chiang family members were each harboring their own secrets.

"Pull! Pull!" Jiang Hongsheng suddenly shouted, unwilling to be left out.

The older sister-in-law rolled her eyes, picked up the child, and left...

××××××

Recently, Jiang Baobin discovered that someone's behavior was very suspicious—Lyman.

He was one of the few white employees at Smith Corporation, working as an accountant.

Yes, it's another Jewish person. There are a lot of them in this line of work.

The reason Jiang Baobin became suspicious of him was quite simple: this man was overly concerned about the company's sale.

He's different from those flower growers; given his profession and ethnicity, he doesn't need to worry about finding a job.

Then his concern is abnormal.

After the information explosion of later generations, Jiang Baobin could recount the cutthroat competition and underhanded tactics of business warfare in great detail, even without experiencing them firsthand.

So, after get off work, he began to follow Lyman.

Sure enough, he caught him red-handed; he had secretly gone to see Weinberger.

Industrial espionage! The word immediately popped into Jiang Baobin's mind.

Then he thought: This Weinberger actually resorted to such underhanded tactics.

People who succeed in business are definitely not good people!

He didn't tell anyone about it, including Rose, because he had already decided to play along.

He simply instructed Rose not to tell anyone about hiring actors to set up the scheme.

Because Lyman rarely interacted with him; his main target was Rose…

Just as Jiang Baobin and Weinberger were competing in intelligence and tactics, a major event also occurred in China—

On August 19th, the "Golden Yuan Note" was officially issued (the Kuomintang were blind; this was the Ghost Festival, did they even want to have a good life?).

Its main contents are:

First, each gold yuan was legally equivalent to 0.22217 ounces of pure gold (meaning one tael of gold was equal to 200 gold yuan)...;

Second, 1 yuan is equivalent to 300 million yuan in legal tender (damn, the legal tender has been worth so much)...;

Third, private individuals are prohibited from possessing gold, silver, and foreign exchange. All gold, silver, and foreign currency certificates must be exchanged for gold yuan certificates before September 30th. Those who violate this rule and fail to exchange them within the deadline will have them confiscated. However, personal jewelry may be retained.

Fourth, prices across the country will be frozen as of August 19th to prevent unscrupulous merchants from hoarding and speculating.

……

Just as he didn't have much of a concept of "legal tender," Jiang Baobin also knew very little about the gold yuan.

What he remembered was that the Kuomintang suffered from severe inflation in its later stages, and in the end, real gold and silver were still the most useful.

Therefore, we must never listen to the KMT's lies.

However, with the issuance of the gold yuan, a rumor quickly spread throughout the city—

The Kuomintang imported highly advanced detection equipment from abroad!

This thing can sweep up gold and silver just by walking around each house.

Not only will they confiscate it, but they'll also have to stand in the fence!

The more three people spread a rumor, the more ferocious it becomes, eventually reaching a point where ordinary people are all in danger!

Those who have real gold and silver hidden in their homes are especially uneasy—the Chiang family is a prime example.

Chiang Kai-shek had indeed saved up a lot of money over the years and longed to buy a small courtyard house in Beiping (Beijing).

This concept is deeply rooted in Chinese culture and has remained unchanged for thousands of years—buying houses and land is a symbol of family prosperity!

Chiang Kai-shek was no exception and listed it as the ultimate goal of the head of the family.

This was actually one of the reasons why he refused to give Jiang Baobin a single penny when the family property was divided.

He absolutely cannot allow the money he has saved over the years to be diverted, thereby affecting his big plan to buy a house.