I am Jia Dongjin in the Siheyuan (Courtyard House)

Chapter 3 Fitter

Amidst laughter and chatter, everyone finished washing up and went home to have breakfast.

Having ended his first "intimate" encounter with the beast, Jia Dongjin turned around and returned to the Jia family home.

The Jia family's breakfast was simple: cornmeal porridge with pickled vegetables, plus a plate of cornbread on the table—a standard breakfast in Beijing.

In those days, breakfast was pretty much the same for every household. Those who were better off had boiled eggs or replaced cornbread with steamed buns. Some families who were a little more extravagant could go to breakfast stalls outside to eat fried dough sticks, steamed buns, and the like.

To be fair, the Jia family's breakfast was not bad. Some poor families couldn't even afford cornbread in the morning and could only drink porridge to fill their stomachs.

Without hesitation, Jia Zhangshi picked up a cornbread, broke it in half, and handed one half to Xiaobanggeng. She then stuffed the other half into her own mouth, chewing and mumbling, "Eat up. Dongjin, how's your injury? We're all very worried about you and have been thinking of taking you to the hospital to get checked out. If you're alright, have one for breakfast and take two more cornbreads with you. Hurry up and get to work at the train station."

After saying that, Jia Zhangshi took a big gulp of porridge, swallowed the half-eaten cornbread in her mouth, picked up another cornbread, but didn't eat it right away. Instead, she picked up a small piece of pickled vegetable with her chopsticks and began to savor it slowly.

Qin Huairu sat to Jia Dongjin's left. She was 25 years old, the prime of a woman's life, but unfortunately, her husband had died, and she was three months pregnant. She had the lowest status in the Jia family and little say, so she usually didn't talk much, just silently drinking her porridge and occasionally taking a bite of the cornbread in her left hand.

"Bang Geng, eat more and grow up to teach that gossipy Xu Damao a lesson." Madam Jia Zhang put a big chopstick of pickled vegetables on Bang Geng's plate, and then, thinking of giving her daughter-in-law half a chopstick of pickled vegetables as well, solemnly said as if it were a great favor: "Huai Ru, you are pregnant, so you need to pay attention to nutrition."

Xiao Banggeng didn't even look up. He picked at the pickled vegetables, took a bite, and threw it back into the porridge bowl, muttering, "An old man said that Xu Damao is a bad seed. When I grow up, I will definitely teach him a lesson."

"Look at Banggeng, how fluent he is! He's truly Grandma's little golden grandson!" With her grandson's remarkable words, Madam Jia felt hopeful for the future and couldn't help but praise him.

Jia Dongjin frowned. Even though he was a bachelor in his previous life and had no children, he felt that children should not be educated in this way. Given the cowardly policy he had formulated last night, and since the Jia family would ultimately be the winner in the courtyard house, he decided to find an opportunity to move out and make a living on his own.

Because he had no feelings for the Jia family, Jia Dongjin didn't meddle in their affairs. He was so hungry that he was dizzy, so he lowered his head and focused on eating.

The cornbread was made from cornmeal. Jia Dongjin took a big bite, chewed it skillfully, and swallowed it.

Suddenly, a strange, burning pain surged up his throat, and Jia Dongjin realized something was wrong; he felt a strong urge to vomit.

The so-called cornmeal is not cornmeal, but cornmeal mixed with crushed corn cobs. Cornmeal is a refined grain, while cornmeal is a coarse grain.

In his previous life, Jia Dongjin had never eaten this stuff before. To prevent himself from vomiting, he quickly picked up the cornmeal porridge and drank three large mouthfuls before he could barely suppress his aversion.

The other three members of the Jia family were all puzzled. Jia Dongjin quickly explained, "We were starving and ate a bit too much just now. It's nothing."

Looking at the cornbread in his hand, Jia Dongjin really didn't have the courage to continue swallowing. After a while, he decided to go ahead with his plan and make up for his lost face.

There's nothing we can do about it. The sins the original owner committed will have to be repaid sooner or later. There's no way to get away with it. Jia Dongjin is in my own home, and I'll see him all the time. I can't just be shameless.

"Sister Qin, I drank too much yesterday and I still can't remember what happened. Please don't take offense."

Before Jia Dongjin could finish speaking, he was met with a stern rebuke from Jia Zhangshi: "You should call me sister-in-law! You ill-mannered brat! You call me Sister Qin? You're just picking up bad habits from those little bastards in the yard! If we weren't so poor that we couldn't afford to raise you, I would really regret giving you to Old Li. That old bastard Li Zaijing has raised my good second son into this state. Old Jia, Old Li hasn't raised Dongjin well. Come up here and take him away."

Hearing the familiar call to the spirits, Jia Dongjin, being a modern man with deeply ingrained atheism, wasn't afraid of Lao Jia coming up. Even if Lao Jia did come up, he was still one of his own. However, he was still frustrated by being mistakenly hurt.

He quickly glanced at the door and saw that it was closed tightly. Jia Zhangshi was also cursing in a low voice, but the cursing wasn't actually loud. Jia Dongjin explained in a low voice, "Mom, I'm not used to it yet. Please bear with me. I'll get used to it in a couple of days. Sister-in-law, calm down. I don't have much of an appetite today. One cornbread is enough for lunch. Could you eat one for me as an apology?"

Seeing Jia Dongjin take out precious cornbread as an apology, Jia Zhangshi finally breathed a sigh of relief. It was nothing for her youngest son to tease her fiancée. However, seeing her eldest daughter-in-law's strong reaction, she had to pretend to scold her in order to comfort Qin Huairu.

Madam Jia was afraid that Qin Huairu would cause trouble and make the Jia family lose face in the courtyard. In fact, deep down she didn't think it was a big deal. A woman's body wasn't that precious, not to mention that Qin Huairu was a widow.

With her eldest son, Jia Dongxu, already deceased, Jia Zhangshi shifted her focus to her younger son and eldest grandson, treating everything else as trivial matters. Qin Huairu and Jia Dongjin were both aware of this.

Jia Dongjin is now an adult and has a much higher status than Banggeng. The day before yesterday, Jia Zhangshi announced that Jia Dongjin would take over his brother Jia Dongxu's position, and Uncle Yi Zhonghai did not object.

Yesterday morning, Jia Dongjin made a lewd advance, and Qin Huairu seized the opportunity to retaliate. Although Jia Zhangshi didn't take it seriously, she also felt that her youngest son was a bit unreliable.

In the middle of the night, Qin Huairu threatened to kill herself and even "threatened" to go out and make a big scene. Jia Zhangshi had no choice but to give up the "brother succeeds brother" system and compromise by letting her eldest daughter-in-law, Qin Huairu, take over.

"Dongjin, I'm fine. My mother-in-law has already explained things to me. Our past is over, and we shouldn't mention it again."

Qin Huairu felt a pang of sorrow. She had only achieved a temporary victory, but the future lay shrouded in darkness, completely oblivious to what lay ahead. The younger brother-in-law before her was not bad-looking; initially, Jia Zhangshi had said he was an honest man who was only temporarily unemployed, which was why she reluctantly agreed to remarry him.

After getting to know him, Qin Huairu realized that Jia Dongjin was just a pretty face. He only dared to flirt with his own woman, but he was a coward outside. Even Sha Zhu, whom she didn't think much of, was far superior to her brother-in-law. He was not someone she could rely on to support the family.

"Huai Ru is right, Dong Jin, you need to act like a younger brother-in-law from now on."

Madam Jia didn't care what Qin Huairu thought. She looked at her youngest son across the table and earnestly instructed him, "Dongjin, what you said outside was right. I heard it all. That's how you have to talk back to those bastards. Don't be afraid, I'll take care of things. Also, be respectful to Uncle Yi. He's Dongxu's master, so he's practically family. If Uncle Yi takes a liking to you, our Jia family will have good days again."

"You've taken a liking to me?" Jia Dongjin's heart skipped a beat. He knew it was about retirement. He pretended to be serious and said, "Everyone says being a fitter is very tiring. I don't want to be a fitter."

For Jia Dongjin, having already dealt with the major incident of harassing Qin Huairu, everything else was trivial. He didn't care about it at all, nor did he intend to get involved in the messy affairs of the courtyard.

In his previous life, Jia Dongjin worked in a factory, doing lathe, milling, planing, and grinding. Fitter work was physically demanding, only slightly better than forging or casting.

In the original drama, Qin Huairu worked as a fitter. Because women are not strong, she could not be promoted in her fitter's job. Her wages were too low, so she could only leech off He Yuzhu, which eventually caused He Yuzhu to fall into the abyss.

The screenwriter understands factories, and Jia Dongjin had to admit it. Being a fitter is not a job that an ordinary woman can do. From the moment Qin Huairu took over as a fitter, her tragic fate was destined.

While talking to Jia Zhangshi, Jia Dongjin stole a glance at Qin Huairu, a problem he couldn't avoid.

Seeing that the woman was completely unaware, Jia Dongjin couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"We absolutely cannot let Qin Huairu fill in as a fitter; we must find a replacement."