An extraordinary life journey through old Beijing courtyard houses

He had already made quite a commotion before, and everyone in the yard except the children had been awakened.

And it didn't stop there; one by one, the lights in each house came on.

"Third brother, what are you doing in the middle of the night...?" It was Jiang Baowen who opened the door.

The Jiang Baobin of today is no longer the useless person he was when he first transmigrated into the original body.

With a golden touch, good food, and regular exercise, he's in great shape!

So when he reached out and grabbed him, Jiang Baowen stumbled and involuntarily dodged to the side.

"What are you doing? Don't you even respect me as your older brother?"

Caught off guard, Jiang Baowen nearly fell and began to shout in great dissatisfaction.

Jiang Baobin ignored him and went straight into the north room.

By now, Mr. and Mrs. Chiang had already gotten up.

To be honest, they felt a little embarrassed when faced with Jiang Baobin's accusations.

Therefore, the usual imposing manner was gone—Mother Jiang lowered her head and remained silent, while Jiang Mantang was only concerned with packing cigarettes.

Jiang Baobin, enraged, laughed mockingly, "I heard our family is experiencing a period of great fortune!"

"Are they going to marry off Da Ya'er to someone as a concubine?"

"How old is that person? Probably older than both of you?"

"What, you've climbed the social ladder? Bringed glory to your ancestors?"

"Third son, who are you trying to fool? Don't you even care about your parents?" Jiang's mother couldn't hold back and snapped.

"That's right," the eldest sister-in-law, who came in from outside, chimed in. "Jiang Laosan, it's not your place to interfere in this family's affairs."

"So it's your turn?" Jiang Baobin retorted instantly, "My surname is Jiang, what's yours?"

"I..." The sister-in-law was stunned for a moment, then said in a shrill voice, "I am Jiang Daishi, and the children I gave birth to also have the surname Jiang."

Jiang Baobin then realized that there was no such thing as divorce these days.

Once Dai Jingui married into the family, she was truly a member of the Chiang family from birth to death.

So, she's an outsider, she can't interfere, and she really has no standing on her own.

If that's the case, then they're even worse—they cheat their own family, what kind of scum are they?

But to catch the thief, you must first catch the king. Jiang Baobin didn't get entangled with his sister-in-law, but kept his eyes on Jiang Mantang.

"Did you agree to let Da Ya become that damn bureau chief's mistress?"

Jiang Mantang looked distressed, struggling with his pipe, sucking on the tobacco with a hissing sound.

Jiang Baowen proactively defended his father, saying, "What else can we do? We can't fight city hall!"

"He's the bureau chief, he's rich, powerful, and has guns. If we don't agree, not only will the second son's future be ruined."

"Our whole family will never have a good life from now on, and we can forget about doing business..."

Jiang Baobin couldn't take it anymore and roared, "Nonsense!"

How can there be such a spineless brother in the world? He cheated his own sister and even justified it? It's utterly shameless!

"Does he think he's some kind of emperor? Why can't you have a good time? Why can't you do business?"

"I want to see how he did it? No, wait, maybe he didn't do anything, and you guys are just being arrogant..."

If he can take things from others, then others will naturally do the same.

The eldest sister-in-law sneered, "Third brother, don't talk like that without understanding the situation."

"So you're so fearless, following foreigners around like a lackey? But can we do that?"

"You've only been here a few days, and you've already forgotten your roots? Do you think it's easy to run a secondhand clothes stall?"

"Thugs, hooligans, tax officials, stinky-footed inspectors—who doesn't bully you?"

"If you offend the bureau chief now, do you think you can keep your business going? You won't even have anywhere to set up shop!"

Jiang Baobin retorted, "If the East City doesn't work, then let's go to the South City or the West City. I refuse to believe he can control everything."

"Tch—" The older sister-in-law showed a disdainful expression.

"You're such a brat! Don't you even understand the concept of officials protecting each other? If he just puts his finger on it, someone will naturally step in and deal with us!"

Jiang Baobin glared at her angrily: "According to you, we don't need to do anything."

"Where are there no bad people? Ordinary people might as well all hang themselves!"

Unexpectedly, the sister-in-law nodded in agreement: "That's right, this world is inherently dog-eat-dog!"

"If we don't offend the powerful and influential, we're fine; but if we do, we ordinary folks are doomed!"

"Why do you think our family fled from beyond the Great Wall? We abandoned our house and land?"

"It's because we can't afford to offend them; if we don't run, we'll all be killed! That includes you!"

"You've only had a few days of peace, are you? Do you want to do it all over again?"

"You can afford to cause trouble, but we can't!"

"Besides, what's wrong with my younger sister marrying into that family? They're rich and powerful; she'll eat well, dress well, and live well!"

"If we have a son or daughter in the future, that would be amazing!"

"Isn't it much better than marrying an unlucky man and suffering poverty along with him?"

The quick-witted Dai Jingui launched into a long, eloquent speech, and after finishing, she subconsciously glared at Jiang Baowen.

This left the latter completely bewildered—"Why is he messing with me?"

Holy crap! Jiang Baobin couldn't help but glance at his sister-in-law a couple more times—

Is this the real hidden time traveler? Otherwise, how could her theory be so similar to that of materialistic women in later generations?

Jiang Baobin was still trying to argue his case, but Jiang Mantang was already banging his pipe.

This means the leader is about to give a concluding speech.

With an expression that left no room for doubt, Old Jiang said to Jiang Baobin:

"That's settled then. Your mother and I are getting old and can't take any more trouble."

"And your second brother, if he doesn't agree to Director Zhao's request, he won't be able to keep his job either."

"That's good too. With Da Ya's influence in the future, your second brother will get promoted soon, and our family will be able to..."

Jiang Baobin scoffed, "What's the point of a lowly police officer? He should just quit."

What he held back from saying was: "The more you do, the more mistakes you make, and you'll be held accountable in the future."

Jiang Mantang glared at him angrily, all the goodwill he had built up from seeking his advice on gold yuan notes had vanished.

Because Chiang Kai-shek had two sore spots that were absolutely inviolable—

One was that he had to buy property in Beiping before he died; the other was to cultivate Jiang Baowu, a public servant.

From the time his child started school, Jiang Mantang invested so much in his second child that he absolutely could not afford to let anything go wrong.

In Chiang Kai-shek's view, if the Chiang family wanted to prosper, hard work was indispensable.

But more importantly, we need to cultivate officials, just like the top scholar in the imperial examinations in ancient times.

One day, one's name will be known throughout the land upon passing the imperial examination!

From then on, the family's prosperity and success were just around the corner.

The concept of becoming a top scholar in the imperial examinations no longer exists, but Jiang Baowu is his greatest hope.

Since it was something Chiang Kai-shek had decided on.

Even if Jiang Baobin tries to fight, it will be in vain.

Jiang Mantang was like a turtle eating a weight—determined to sacrifice Jiang Daya to ensure the safety of his entire family.

What's even more infuriating is that, apart from Jiang's mother who tacitly approved, everyone else fully agreed and joined in denouncing him.

Clearly, these people were treating Jiang Daya like a blood donation card.

As for her future fate, that's up to her destiny; as for the immediate benefits, she should seize them first.

Seeing that he was wasting his breath, Jiang Baobin became really anxious:

"You senile old fool! You snob! I... I'm severing all ties with you!"