I am Jia Dongjin in the Siheyuan (Courtyard House)

Chapter 4 Electrical Engineering

"You idiot, what job isn't tiring? Your mother just wants you to have a job; it's better than carrying heavy loads and doing manual labor. Fitters earn a lot. This old man is a level seven fitter, and with subsidies, he can earn over eighty yuan a month, more than cadres. He can eat meat every day and still not spend it all. If you're not destined to be a cadre, being a worker is the best way out for ordinary people."

After Jia Zhangshi finished speaking, seeing Xiaobanggeng go out to play, she lowered her voice and continued, "Don't be fooled by how simple Uncle's clothes and food are. He's actually saving a lot of money. He has no children and just wants to find someone to take care of him in his old age. He took a liking to Dongxu before, which is why he helped our Jia family in the village. He has saved at least four thousand yuan. If Dongjin is also chosen, he'll be all ours in the future."

"I don't have a job, how could an old man like me? If he were to choose, he would choose Sha Zhu. Sha Zhu is a great cook, at least the old man won't go hungry in the future." Jia Dongjin spread his hands. He knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch. If something really did fall from the sky, it would probably be a discus.

Four thousand yuan was a huge sum of money in those days, and Qin Huairu was very interested. She was munching on a cornbread bun, but her ears were perked up.

"You don't know anything. Sha Zhu has his own father, and He Daqing is alive and kicking in Baoding. No old man would choose him. He only wants to find someone filial and obedient. He doesn't trust people who are truly capable. It's just a pity that Dongxu is not lucky. Whether Mom can live a good life in the future depends entirely on you, Dongjin."

Yi Zhonghai is currently a level seven fitter, and in two years he will be promoted to level eight. At that time, his salary and prestige will reach the pinnacle of his life, and that will be the time when Yi Zhonghai will unify the Siheyuan (courtyard house) empire. Jia Dongjin continued to frown.

But Yi Zhonghai's unification of the courtyard houses has nothing to do with Jia Dongjin. He is only concerned about two important things now: first, finding a job, and second, dealing with the three years of hardship that will begin next year.

No matter how much money Yi Zhonghai accumulates, it will only amount to tens of thousands of yuan in his lifetime, which will be nothing more than a drop in the ocean decades later.

Jia Dongjin has three elderly parents—his adoptive parents and Jia Zhangshi—to arrange for him to marry Yi Zhonghai and his wife for such a small amount of money. He's not crazy; he wouldn't get involved in such karma.

After swallowing the cornbread in his hand and gulping down the cornmeal porridge, Jia Dongjin finally said, "What belongs to others will always belong to others. It's important to take care of our own lives. I'm going out to do some work now, and we'll talk again when I get back tonight."

"It's best if you think that way. This old man is very thoughtful, and being too hasty will only make things worse. That's how Dongxu was back then. I made him pretend to be very filial to me so that he could successfully become my disciple." Seeing that Jia Dongjin was different from before, and seemed to be much smarter after being kowtowing, speaking calmly and methodically, Jia Zhangshi clapped her hands in delight and gave him a thumbs up. Even Qin Huairu looked up and glanced at Jia Dongjin.

Seeing that Madam Jia had given her a thumbs up, Jia Dongjin found it amusing and couldn't help but ask, "Could it be that you're just pretending to be filial, brother? You can't imitate that; I'm truly filial to you."

"You little brat! How dare you tease me!" Jia Zhangshi was exhausted. Seeing her eldest daughter-in-law Qin Huairu's lips curl up in a smile, she couldn't help but grab a feather duster and prepare to stir-fry her youngest son.

"Mom, I'm going to work!" Sensing something was wrong, Jia Dongjin grabbed a cornbread and ran out the door.

"Wait, you haven't taken the water bottle yet. Huai Ru, hurry up and take it to him." Madam Jia Zhang was already over fifty years old and couldn't keep up with the young and strong Jia Dongjin at all, so she could only instruct her eldest daughter-in-law to take the water.

After grabbing his water bottle, Jia Dongjin didn't go to the train station. Instead, he explained to Yan Jiecheng, who was waiting in the front yard, "Jiecheng, my injury hasn't fully healed yet. I have some things to do today, so you can go ahead by yourself. I'm sorry to have troubled you to wait for so long."

Yan Jiecheng was about the same height as Jia Dongjin. Although the young man was thin, he was not bad-looking and spoke with a cultured air. "Brother Dongjin, if you have time, try to go to the train station. Brother Yang said there's a good job today that can earn you 8 cents."

"Thank you, Brother Jiecheng. Health is the foundation of everything. I'm not in a hurry to make money, so I'm not in a good position." Jia Dongjin waved his hand and casually said goodbye.

After the two parted ways, Jia Dongjin first walked north for a while, and seeing that no one was paying attention, he turned west and went around in a big circle until he arrived at a large courtyard.

"Uncle, I'm from courtyard house number 95. I'm here to see Director Wang about something." After greeting the gatekeeper, Jia Dong entered the courtyard. He went to the door of a room and knocked gently.

"Please come in," a middle-aged woman's voice rang out.

The middle-aged woman was Director Wang from the neighborhood office. She was about forty-five years old, with a thin face and a simple, honest tan. Her brows revealed a capable and composed demeanor. Her eyes were bright and sharp, and although there were deep lines at the corners of her eyes, they could not hide her spirit.

"Hello Director Wang, I am Jia Dongjin. I just transferred my household registration to your office a few days ago. Uncle Yi Zhonghai brought me here."

After Jia Dongjin introduced himself, Director Wang of the neighborhood committee, who was behind the desk, nodded and said, "Oh, I remember you. Your mother has had a really tough time finding you after all these years. Your brother is in trouble now, so you'd better take good care of your mother from now on, or I won't forgive you."

"Director Wang, you can't be so disrespectful. I've been sensible and obedient since I was a child. Everyone I know praises me for being filial."

After posing as a dutiful and filial person, Jia Dongjin began to complain, "Director Wang, my mother has suffered her whole life. My brother is gone, and she hasn't been able to eat or sleep these past few days. It's no use just watching her worry. I'm a man of Beijing, and I have to bear my own hardships. It was too difficult to see my sister-in-law yesterday, so I asked her to take over my brother's workstation."

The leaders were naturally busy, and Director Wang certainly didn't have time for idle chatter. After finishing his complaints, Jia Dongjin got straight to the point and stated the purpose of his trip.

"Director Wang, I have a skill—I'm an electrician. Do you have any jobs in that field?"

"Talk is no use. Show me your electrician's certificate. If you have it, you can start work this afternoon." Most of the people looking for work are from impoverished backgrounds. Director Wang has seen too much suffering and is already numb to pain, or rather, used to it.

Yan Jiecheng and Liu Guangtian, who lived in the same courtyard as Jia Dongjin, had visited Director Wang many times. Unfortunately, there were many people who were more distressed than them. Director Wang was just the director of the street office, not a god. He couldn't conjure up work, so he could only offer comfort and encouragement.

But for those with skills, the situation is quite different, regardless of the dynasty.

"I don't have an electrician's certificate yet, but as long as I take the exam, I'm sure I'll get it." In his previous life, Jia Dongjin was down on his luck and worked as an electrician for more than ten years. His level was electrician level five, which he estimated was equivalent to a level six or seven electrician now.

After getting a general understanding of the electrician's situation from Director Wang, Jia Dongjin felt much more at ease. He never expected that the electrician would be considered a talent at this time.

For him, the benefits of time travel, besides foreseeing major events, were electrical engineering skills, which was also part of last night's planned strategy.

Jia Dongjin suddenly realized that he seemed to have been rescued and would become a glorious senior worker, no longer a spineless coward who looked up to high-tech talents and bosses.

"Really?" Director Wang took out his notebook, flipped through it, pointed to a page of records, and laughed: "The electrician's license exam is at the end of June. The exam is free; you just need to register to participate. Let's make it clear beforehand: if you have an electrician's license, you'll get a job. If you don't have a license, don't come looking for me; it's no use. Even temporary workers are hard to find these days."

"Just you wait and see! I promise I keep my word, it's as true as pearls." Jia Dongjin quickly filled out the registration form, checked it carefully several times, and only handed it to Director Wang after confirming there were no problems.

Jia Dongjin appears carefree, but he is exceptionally meticulous in his work, a habit he developed over many years as an electrician.

Director Wang nodded secretly. She picked up the application form and saw that it was written in beautiful small regular script. She couldn't help but gasp. In this day and age, there are plenty of people with two legs, but it's not easy to find educated workers.

After carefully reviewing the information, Director Wang sighed again. Although the handwriting was beautiful, the person only had a primary school education. Otherwise, even if the person had only graduated from junior high school, she would have wanted to hire them for a job at the street office, at least to have them write work reports.

With initial success in his work, Jia Dongjin was overjoyed and began to wander aimlessly. After walking for a while, he realized that he had wandered into the vicinity of his adoptive parents' house.

"A caged bird longs for its old forest, and a fish in a pond yearns for its old pool. The original owner of this body was a street hustler for six or seven years, and his physical body had become accustomed to wandering the streets!" Jia Dongjin sighed. No matter how badly he fared in his previous life, he still had a college diploma and had read quite a few miscellaneous books. He had a bit of an artsy and pretentious streak in his bones.

To be fair, Jia Dongjin's adoptive parents treated him very well. Although he had younger siblings, they supported him through elementary school. He shouldn't blame them for the job issue. Jia Dongjin should be aware of the differences between his adoptive parents and not be an ingrate.

Even if we take a step back and say that Jia Zhangshi brought him back to the Jia family, his adoptive parents didn't ask for a single penny. Just from this, Jia Dongjin knew that his adoptive parents were good people, and as an adopted son, he couldn't forget their kindness.

As Jia Dongjin approached the Xidan vegetable market, he saw the No. 5 trolleybus heading north and discovered that it was actually a Czech Skoda. When it started moving, thick smoke billowed from its rear, and the engine was terrifyingly loud, but the passengers on board looked like they were enjoying themselves, and the driver was full of pride.

Most of the people buying vegetables at the market were middle-aged women. They carried their groceries but were reluctant to spend money on transportation, so they hurried home. Jia Dongjin noticed that most of them were wearing black and blue clothes with patches on them.

Looking at his own clothes patched upon patched, and thinking of Yan Fugui's broken glasses and tattered clothes, Jia Dongjin instantly understood the hardships of the late 1950s.

"This is so hard for me!"

Just as he was filled with emotion, Jia Dongjin was suddenly punched in the shoulder.