I am Jia Dongjin in the Siheyuan (Courtyard House)

Chapter 8 Forced Purchase

Uncle Liu Haizhong was obese, a rare example of a comical physique. His head resembled a soaked braised egg, his bald head gleaming with oil, his hairline receding high, leaving only a few sparse, yellowish strands of hair hanging loosely on either side. The flesh on his cheeks sagged, squeezing his originally single eyelids into narrow slits. When he smiled, his eyes almost completely sunken into his flesh, revealing only two glimmering beams of light.

Jia Dongjin was delighted to see the fat man and began to think to himself, "Another fat guy. Perhaps things aren't as bad as I imagine these days; perhaps I can live a life of luxury with my skills; perhaps I can be a little bolder?!"

"Transmigrators are all invincible, always dominating. Everyone only has one head to carry, so I'm no different. As long as there's no danger of being eaten alive, maybe I could consider a harem. You can't know the taste of a pear without trying it. And then there's this and that... opportunities are everywhere, it's almost unbearable. The Yu sisters, Yu Shui Lou Zi, and Qin Jing Ru—the beauties are mine, the courtyard house is mine, everything is mine! Such a happy problem! I need to get a kidney transplant sometime!"

As Jia Dongjin was lost in thought, Xu Damao nudged him and whispered a reminder, pointing to the corner of his mouth, "Brother Dongjin, you're drooling."

Xu Damao's face was full of curiosity. Even though the enemy was already at the city gates, Jia Dongjin still had the mind to think about good things.

"Thank you, Brother Damao. I caught a chill today and my tooth hurts a bit." Jia Dongjin blushed, wiped his drool, and quickly sat up straight, trying to clear his mind of Lou Zi and Yu Li and other beauties, throwing all temptations to the wind.

Just like his image on TV, Liu Haizhong had a face full of fat but exuded an air of officialdom. He picked up a large tea mug and slammed it down on the octagonal table. "Quiet down, everyone quiet down. The general meeting of the entire institute is now officially starting."

The crowd fell silent immediately. Driven by herd mentality, no one dared to speak at that moment, and even the children dared not cause trouble.

Liu Haizhong spoke first, conveying some policies and guidelines, but as he spoke, he began to veer off-topic, shifting from discussing hygiene in courtyard houses to establishing a dual urban-rural household registration system.

Jia Dongjin had recovered and began to carefully observe Liu Haizhong's facial expressions. Combining this with the plot of the TV series, he realized that Liu Haizhong was very engaged in speaking, and that he genuinely enjoyed the feeling of speaking in public. He was extremely eager to gain the recognition and respect of others and was willing to dedicate himself to it.

These past two days, Liu Haizhong has been beating his son for no reason, and Jia Dongjin has also heard the screams. This shows that Liu Haizhong may not be willing to sacrifice himself, but he is willing to sacrifice his son or someone else.

Jia Dongjin curled his lip, thinking to himself, "This fat guy is no good."

Fortunately, the conference had its own rules. Yan Fugui glanced sideways and saw that the eldest uncle, Yi Zhonghai, looked impatient. He quickly coughed lightly, stood up slightly, and interrupted, "The second uncle spoke very well. Everyone should carefully study and learn from his words. Now, please welcome our respected eldest uncle from the courtyard to say a few words. Everyone, please give him a round of applause."

Liu Haizhong was stunned for a moment, then he quickly stepped on the brakes and led everyone in applause.

After a flurry of chatter, an elderly man named Yi Zhonghai cleared his throat and began to speak.

Jia Dongjin noticed that Yi Zhonghai was sitting in the main seat at the back, while Liu Haizhong and Yan Fugui were sitting on either side, with the three stewards clearly distinguishing between the main and secondary positions.

"Be serious about shitty things, and shit about serious things." Jia Dongjin thought to himself, and couldn't help but drift off again until Xu Damao next to him tugged at his clothes again, and he realized that Yi Zhonghai had mentioned him.

"Comrade Jia Dongjin has just arrived at our courtyard house, and some of us don't know him yet. Now, please let Comrade Jia Dongjin stand up and introduce himself to everyone. Let's give him a round of applause!"

After another round of chatter, Jia Dongjin stood up speechlessly. Just as he was about to introduce himself, Yi Zhonghai said gently, "Jia Dongjin, young man, you need to be bolder. Come to the octagonal table and introduce yourself facing everyone, so that no one can't see you clearly. You got a bicycle as soon as you arrived, which shows you're quite capable. We three old men think highly of you."

Feeling a strange sense of being on trial, Jia Dongjin refrained from objecting and obediently walked to the front of the stage.

He first scanned the people in the courtyard to make sure everyone could see him, then bowed and said sincerely, "Hello everyone, my name is Jia Dongjin, I'm half a year older than Shazhu, and I'm preparing to find a job, get married, and have children, while also taking care of my mother. Please feel free to criticize and supervise me."

"Jia Dongjin is right. Filial piety and respect for elders are traditions of our courtyard. Now, please sit next to your wife, Jia Dongjin, and we will begin to talk about the bicycle."

Yi Zhonghai was very careful to control the pace of the meeting, but Jia Dongjin always felt like he was being put on a show of force. Yi Zhonghai implied in his words that Jia Dongjin was timid and that he didn't sit with his mother, Jia Zhangshi, during the meeting, which was a subtle way of implying that Jia Dongjin was unfilial.

"Don't panic, Dongjin. I'm here. I'll deal with anyone who dares to cause trouble." Madam Jia Zhang understood what Yi Zhonghai meant, but she didn't take it seriously. She was a veteran of many battles and didn't care about the unfavorable situation. She still relied on her old "reckless" tactics to deal with the new problem, completely unaware that her biggest backer, Yi Zhonghai, was at risk of betraying her.

"...Jia Dongjin is capable; he can assemble bicycles. Lao Liu and Lao Yan both praise him. Lao Yan suggested that Dongjin help assemble a few bicycles for the neighbors in our courtyard who need them. I think this is a good idea; it reflects the spirit of mutual help, unity, and friendship in our courtyard."

At this point, Yi Zhonghai turned his gaze to Jia Zhangshi and said meaningfully, "Sister-in-law, you're lucky. We've helped your family a lot in the past; Old Yan has it all recorded. One shouldn't be too selfish, always thinking only of oneself. Now is a good opportunity to repay our neighbors. Sister-in-law Jia Dongjin, what do you think? Should we help?"

Jia Zhangshi's specialties are playing the victim and moral blackmail, as well as being unreasonable and sophistry. She is always followed by Yi Zhonghai's favoritism and even assistance. Speaking of grand principles is her weakness.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, facing the smiling old man, Jia Zhangshi opened her mouth three times but couldn't bring herself to refuse; she simply couldn't say she wouldn't help.

When his mother was put in her place, Jia Dongjin had no choice but to step in. He said loudly, "Uncle, my mother always remembers everyone's kindness. Helping her carpool is no problem. I, Jia Dongjin, will do my duty. I'll charge 15 yuan for assembling a car, but people in our compound only need to pay 12 yuan. Just don't tell anyone, or you'll make things difficult for me."

Jia Dongjin's words sounded nice, but they lacked substance. Collecting bicycle wreckage was not easy. With professional scrap collectors stepping in beforehand, the people in the courtyard simply couldn't gather enough parts.

If too many new parts are purchased, the assembled vehicle will be more expensive than a new car, and no one would be so foolish as to do that.

Even if we assume the parts are useless, it's up to Jia Dongjin to decide, which is the advantage of having the final say. Even if everything goes smoothly and he earns 12 yuan, it's still a good thing. At least Jia Zhangshi will look forward to assembling bicycles every day, and Jia Dongjin will also welcome the opportunity to make money.

To paraphrase a famous saying from a past life, it's "This is possible."

When the topic of assembled vehicles came up, Yan Fugui chimed in, "Does your friend have any more assembled vehicles? Could you sell a few to the yard at a discount?"

He clearly understood the key point and focused on buying ready-made assembled vehicles.

In his briefing with Yan Fugui before the conference, Yi Zhonghai also mentioned this point. The level seven fitter has a sharp eye; he only needed to look at Jia Dongjin's old car to know that the key to this matter was finding parts.

There are quite a few bicycles in Beijing, but every household treats them like treasures and is reluctant to scrap them. Without enough scrap bicycles, assembling a bicycle is just a pipe dream.

"Uncle, we really don't have this. The three of us went through a lot of trouble to get this one out today." Jia Dongjin said sincerely, but spread his hands as if he was powerless to help.

"Dongjin, you're not working yet, so the bicycle isn't very useful. How about I sell it to you cheaply? I won't let you lose out. I'll give you sixty yuan, plus teach you how to fish. That way you can have some meat on the table to supplement Qin Huairu and Banggeng's nutrition. What do you say?"

Despite Jia Zhangshi's murderous glare, Yan Fugui couldn't control his greed. He stopped talking about the courtyard and started openly demanding to buy it.

As soon as Yan Fugui finished speaking, the meeting room fell silent. Everyone knew that the main event was about to begin, and they held their breath, waiting for Jia Dongjin's response.

Yan Fugui is the head of the household, while the Jia family is just a weak and struggling household. Everyone wants to know if the Jia family will back down. If they are unwilling to sell at a low price, how will they face Yan Fugui's series of attacks in the future?

Xu Damao was even more excited, his eyes darting back and forth between Jia Dongjin and Jia Zhangshi.

"Uncle, I really want to sell it to you, but I spent twenty yuan today, borrowed seventy yuan from others, and even had to pay two yuan for treating people to dinner. In total, I spent ninety-two yuan on this car. How much do you think it should cost?"

Not wanting her youngest son to fight alone, Jia Zhangshi also stood up and chimed in, "My son Dongjin is still looking for work by bicycle these days. Uncle, if you really want to buy it, I won't ask for more than 120 yuan. We'll exchange the money for the bicycle."

In stark contrast to before, as soon as Jia Zhangshi finished speaking, the meeting room was no longer silent; a buzzing sound resounded throughout the entire academy.