The Life of a Son-in-Law in a Courtyard House

Grandpa Qi wasn't very educated, but Yang Dalin understood after hearing a few sentences. It meant that the nail that sticks out gets hammered down, and a tree that stands out in the forest will surely be felled by the wind.

That means if Yang Dalin earns twenty yuan a day, he can earn six hundred yuan a month.

There are a lot of hooligans and shady characters at the station, so they're all eyeing Yang Dalin.

As the saying goes, poverty breeds cunning, while wealth breeds conscience.

Why don't Qi Yanhua and Qi Xiaoning come out much?

Because of the food shortage, many petty thugs have emerged in the market.

Robbers and thieves—I've heard that people are often injured or killed on the streets over a little food.

So Grandpa Qi doesn't do much work at night.

Some people at the train station work the night shift.

"Uncle Qi, I understand what you mean. Don't worry."

Throughout the afternoon, Yang Dalin frequently switched between Luxi dialect and Mandarin.

He planned that after about ten days of exposure, he would gradually speak less of his hometown dialect.

After all, we've come to Beijing. We may not be able to learn all the retroflex endings in Beijing, but we're pretty much in good Mandarin.

If asked, just say you learned it from the broadcaster.

Anyway, the train station often makes announcements.

They arrived home as soon as it got dark.

Grandpa Qi invited him to continue tomorrow, and Yang Dalin agreed.

Yang Dalin felt that he needed to prepare a protective item, since there would inevitably be some dangers on the street.

I'll go find Sha Zhu, that kind-hearted guy, later and see if he can help.

At the entrance of courtyard number 95, before it was completely dark, Yang Dalin spotted Aunt Yulan and Sister Yanhua standing there.

They must be waiting for me.

It feels so good to have someone waiting for you to have dinner. In his previous life, apart from his mother, he had never felt this way.

Yang Dalin quickly parked the car: "Auntie, Sister Yan."

After not seeing each other for an afternoon, Yang Dalin immediately adopted a more intimate way of addressing him.

Aunt Qi and Qi Yanhua quickly came up.

"You're back, Brother Baogen. Did today go well? Did Dalin cause you any trouble?"

Aunt Yulan greeted Grandpa Qi first.

This is also a matter of politeness.

Qi Baogen got out of the car the moment it stopped.

"It's alright, everything's fine, Sister Yulan. Don't worry, Dalin is a capable, honest, dutiful, and filial son. Let him go home and talk to you."

As he spoke, Qi Baogen lifted the wooden plank on the car and handed Yang Dalin his bag and the tattered coat he was wearing that day.

Yang Dalin helped Grandpa Qi push the car into the small courtyard behind the gatehouse.

After saying hello again, he followed Aunt Yulan and Qi Yanhua back to their home in the west wing of the front yard.

As soon as Yang Dalin entered the house, he found that the meal had already been prepared on the table.

Everyone just waited for him to eat.

Aunt Yulan quickly told him to wash his hands and eat, and asked Qi Xiaoning to serve him soup.

Yang Dalin entered the room, closed the door, and threw the dirty clothes onto a chair.

Place the fully filled handbag on one side of the dining table.

He washed his hands in the basin, picked up the towel that Aunt Yulan handed him, and dried his hands.

Then, picking up her overflowing handbag, she said, "Auntie, don't worry, I brought some good stuff!"

Qi Xiaoning, that clever girl, seemed to have already smelled something.

Its little nose kept sniffing, like a greedy little cat.

Yang Dalin glanced at Qi Yanhua and saw that she was also looking at him curiously.

Aunt Yulan remained composed and showed no surprise whatsoever.

She felt that with only one yuan of her own and without giving him meal tickets, Yang Dalin wouldn't be able to buy anything.

Qi Xiaoning, that little glutton, has a really good nose.

The steamed buns were wrapped in paper and were still in my bag.

She could tell just by the smell: "Is Yang Dalin a steamed bun?"

Qi Yulan and Qi Yanhua looked at her in surprise. This child was a bit disrespectful. They had taught her to call him Brother Dalin, but she called him by his full name directly.

Yang Dalin hadn't expected her nose to be so useful.

"How did you guess? I was planning to give you a surprise."

Yang Dalin took four paper packets out of the bag.

Qi Xiaoning was about to shout when Qi Yanhua covered her mouth.

The family of three stared wide-eyed as Yang Dalin opened the four bags of steamed buns.

Five per pack.

Aunt Yulan quickly released her mouth, which had almost cried out in surprise: "Dalin, what did you do? Didn't I give you food coupons? We can't do anything wrong!"

"Auntie, don't worry. Uncle Qi is with me. I've been with him all afternoon. What bad things could he have done? I'll tell you everything from beginning to end."

Before speaking, Yang Dalin took two bags of steamed buns and asked Qi Xiaoning to heat them up.

Actually, the steamed buns weren't that cold, but since it's late autumn, it's better to eat something warm.

Unexpectedly, Qi Xiaoning quickly grabbed one and stuffed it into her mouth.

Yang Dalin quickly grabbed her: "Eating steamed buns is fine, but can you call me 'brother' from now on? Otherwise, there won't be another steamed bun!"

With her mouth stuffed full of steamed buns, Qi Xiaoning had no backbone and nodded hastily.

He happily went to heat up the steamed buns.

Then Yang Dalin briefly recounted what had happened that afternoon.

He concealed the fact that he had taken the super-strength pill, only saying that he actually had superhuman strength, but he needed to eat his fill to have it. At noon, Grandpa Qi treated him to a hearty meal.

I was able to get so much work done in the afternoon.

He then took out all the remaining 14.4 yuan he had earned.

Aunt Qi works in the neighborhood's logistics department, and she also knows a little about the free meals at the train station.

Unexpectedly, Yang Dalin was so good at making money. Moreover, Yang Dalin did not mention that he ate forty-eight steamed buns in one meal, but only that he had a full meal and that he had invited Grandpa Qi to dinner that night.

Aunt Yulan looked at the 14.4 yuan in front of her and counted it several times with excitement.

They all silently shed tears; this was given to her by Dalinzi.

I was very happy and gratified to know that Yang Dalin was so good at making money and that he gave it all to me, which made me even more satisfied.

Tears streamed down her face. Before seeing Yang Dalin that evening, she had been worried about his food supply.

I never expected that this child could earn money on his own and even hand it over to his family.

I'm so happy.

Qi Yulan felt that it must be God's blessing that such a good child was sent to her.

It instantly lifted the immense pressure off her head.

I felt much more relaxed immediately.

Otherwise, with three women in the family, I really don't know how to solve the problem of Yang Dalin, this half-grown boy, eating his father's food.

Qi Yulan had indeed considered that if her eldest daughter got together with Yang Dalin, she would hand over her job to Yang Dalin.

I didn't expect the child to solve the problem of eating by himself so quickly.

After such a dramatic turn of events, how could Qi Yulan not weep?

Qi Yanhua and Qi Xiaoning hugged Qi Yulan and cried silently for a few minutes before Yang Dalin finally comforted Aunt Yulan without any hesitation.

After a while, the steamed buns were heated up, and Aunt Qi and the two maids finally stopped crying.

Yang Dalin gave each of them a hot bun, then drank a bowl of porridge himself.

Aunt Yulan knew he had already eaten braised pork noodles that evening, but she still wanted him to eat a few more steamed buns, afraid he hadn't eaten enough.

Yang Dalin picked up a steamed bun and said, "Auntie, there are twenty steamed buns in total. I'll eat one, Xiaoning ate one just now, and you can each have six left, so it won't be difficult to divide them if you fight."

One sentence made Aunt Yulan and Sister Yanhua laugh.