An extraordinary life journey through old Beijing courtyard houses

Li Si, always eager for a good show, shouted: "Good job! Smash it on the head, crack it open and teach me a lesson!"

Wang Wu, ever the curious type, asked, "Isn't this Master Yu's territory? Why are their own people fighting?"

Li Sixian boasted, "You don't know this, it's definitely Yu Deshun's territory."

"Not just here, but half of Beiping's 'sewage tunnels' belong to him, precisely because his territory is large and he has many subordinates."

"That's why they couldn't divide the spoils properly, and that's why they started fighting, like dogs biting each other... Ugh! Ugh—"

Just as the guy was getting into his rant, a piece of poop flew over and landed squarely on his cheek.

This disgusted him so much that after wiping it off, he leaned on the bell-shaped lid with both hands and bent over, dry heaving.

Jiang Baobin quickly moved away from the man, worried that he might vomit on his shoes.

A wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall. Because someone was blocking the road and fighting, Jiang Baobin simply changed his route.

This area is well-connected and is the first place Jiang Baobin wants to familiarize himself with after crossing over.

You can simply walk south along one road, from "Houyuanensi Hutong" to "Nanluoguxiang", and then go home; it's the same.

There happened to be a used bookstore on the side of the road, so he went over to it.

Nothing else is a problem, but what if you happen to come across one of those well-known books like "The Plum in a Vase" or "The So-and-So Group"?

If the price is cheap, he'd be quite willing to offer some "criticism".

After all, it won't be available in later generations, so this is just to satisfy my curiosity.

However, I was clearly overthinking it. How could such a sought-after item be available here?

Then he discovered a book—"A Student's Four-in-One Dictionary".

This tool can not only look up characters, but also has functions such as simplified and traditional Chinese character comparison, definition of rare characters, and grammar explanation.

That's why it was named "Four Uses".

That's right, the Republic of China also promoted simplified Chinese characters (implemented in August 1935, more than 300 traditional characters were simplified).

However, due to strong opposition from Dai Jitao, who believed it "damaged traditional culture," it was suspended the following year, and the implementation process took six months.

However, Jiang Baobin was overjoyed, thinking he could work backwards because he knew most simplified Chinese characters.

For example, the character “体” can be found in its traditional form by consulting a dictionary.

And so on: sound → sound; stern → stern; pressure → pressure...

This was a treasure to him, and he couldn't stop looking at it.

Therefore, I could only apologize to the stall owner in my heart. I was short of money, and even if it was a precious item, I couldn't easily spend money on it.

Moreover, in those days, due to the backward printing technology, books were very expensive, and even old books were quite valuable.

However, there was one thing he absolutely had to buy, and that was this:

It's unbelievable that they sell these things here.

The bookseller sells a silver coin for 15 copper coins (1 silver coin equals 30 copper coins).

After some haggling, the final price was 13.

Jiang Baobin also took the opportunity to ask the boss how they repel mosquitoes.

The shopkeeper, unsuspecting and in a good mood after just closing a deal, launched into a long and detailed explanation.

It turns out that ordinary people these days think the same way as Jiang Baobin – they can't bear to buy mosquito coils, those things are too expensive.

They all lit the "fire ropes".

Jiang Baobin asked what kind of fire rope, and the stall owner looked at him with a puzzled expression.

The explanation is that it's something made of wormwood or mugwort twisted into a rope shape.

Because these two things produce a special smell when burned, mosquitoes will flee from the smell.

The stall owner also told him that once the sixth month of the lunar calendar arrives, there are people selling fire ropes in the streets and alleys.

Most of them are farmers from the suburbs who come to the city to make money.

If you want to buy, just wait for them to pass by at the entrance of the alley.

"Oh, I see," Jiang Baobin suddenly realized.

He had indeed heard the shouts before, but he never imagined that such a fierce-sounding name as "fire rope" actually referred to this kind of business.

After thanking them, I quickened my pace home; I was hungry.

After walking two or three hundred meters forward, a very impressive storefront suddenly appeared, with soldiers armed with guns standing guard.

No. 7 Houyuanensi Hutong was the location of Chiang Kai-shek's headquarters.

Formerly known as "Enyuan", it is a large courtyard house that combines Chinese and Western styles, and it is said to be very beautiful inside (needless to say).

As he neared home, Jiang Baobin had to come up with a plan; he couldn't just casually hold the map and newspaper he'd bought in his hands.

Otherwise, the persona of being illiterate would be exposed.

So he carefully folded it into a small piece and then stuffed it between his pants and his stomach.

Then cover it with the front of your clothes so no one can see it.

At the entrance of the compound, I ran into He Yushui, who was squatting on the ground watching ants fight.

The little girl looked about four or five years old, dark-skinned and thin.

Jiang Baobin couldn't help but ask, "Little Rain, what are you doing?"

He Yushui glanced at him; after all, they lived in the same courtyard and would see each other all the time, so she replied:

"I'm waiting for my brother."

Jiang Baobin kindly said, "Then wait in the courtyard, be careful not to get harassed."

He wasn't really sure either—there should be a "flower shop" at this point, right?

I don't know if the "threat" worked, but the little girl was admitted to the hospital anyway.

Just as Jiang Baobin took the things he bought off his body, his younger sister brought over the food.

It's still the same three things: cornbread, cornmeal porridge, and pickled vegetables.

"Third Brother, where did you go just now?"

Jiang Baobin thought for a moment, realizing he couldn't stay silent about his family forever, so he tried answering, "Just wandering around."

The younger sister didn't suspect anything, but instead advised:

"You might as well just stay home and lie down. Otherwise, once your parents find out you can move around, they'll make you go out to work again."

Jiang Baobin wanted to say that he could hide for a while but not forever, but since his younger sister meant well, he let it go.

The younger sister wasn't in a hurry to leave, but instead started chatting with him: "Third brother, don't upset Mom lately."

Hmm! There's a hidden meaning in that statement.

Jiang Baobin stopped slurping his porridge and looked at his younger sister.

The younger sister pouted and said, "Mom wants to send you to be an apprentice, but that's such a hardship!"

Should I study with Sha Zhu'er? This thought inexplicably popped into Jiang Baobin's head.

The girl's indignation must have come from nowhere.

But it didn't matter, since he didn't really want to be anyone's apprentice anyway, so he didn't take it to heart.

Ever since he heard the famous saying, "Three years of apprenticeship, two years of service," he knew roughly what it meant.

That was back in the new century; things are definitely much better now, so let's forget about it.

However, if you think that's all, you're wrong!

The younger sister continued to reveal: "Dad's idea is to ask my second brother to help you find a job through him."

"I think 'stinky-footed patrolmen' are worse off than those with real skills; they just do despicable things and get paid so little..."

The young woman rattled off a whole bunch of things, which helped Jiang Baobin learn about another industry.

Nothing else really happened, but this elusive second son of the Jiang family piqued his interest.

Through the younger sister's narration, I learned that he was a legitimate "police officer," and his income was three or four times that of the so-called "stinky-footed patrolmen."

It's a job that gives you both rights and good benefits.