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

I woke up the next day to another beautiful day.

It's getting colder and colder. Although it hasn't snowed yet, the temperature keeps dropping.

The Qi family had two bedrooms, one on the north side and one on the south side, both of which had kang beds built on them, and these kang beds could be heated.

After all, if there's only one stove in the living room during winter, keeping warm can be quite difficult.

Therefore, Yang Dalin felt he should buy some firewood for his family as soon as possible.

Otherwise, winter would be very cold at this time of year. I only took some strong medicine, not any heat-avoiding or cold-avoiding medicine.

And the blanket he wears—Yang Dalin has to cover himself with a thin cotton-padded jacket when he sleeps at night.

It's too cold at night.

If it gets even colder, Yang Dalin wonders if he has any cotton at home to make himself a thick cotton-padded coat.

So Yang Dalin needs to prepare to buy some firewood and cotton for the winter.

Having decades of life experience from her previous life, and not just being sixteen years old, she should be able to think things through herself.

Yang Dalin had previously asked Grandpa Qi if he could buy cotton even if he only spent money.

It would be best to exchange for grain coupons; I received some as a reward last night.

With food coupons and money, it's easier to buy things.

Because people from the countryside who come to the black market or pigeon market to sell things want grain or grain coupons the most.

Last night, Yang Dalin gave Aunt Qi three jin of meat coupons and fifteen jin of flour coupons.

He kept five jin of flour coupons for himself and carried them with him.

Then see what's appropriate to buy.

Before dawn today, Aunt Qi and Qi Yanhua went out.

The two of them got up early to queue up to buy meat.

Yang Dalin was going to go with them, but Aunt Qi told him that many neighbors went to buy vegetables and meat early in the morning, so it was fine.

Just let him go and do his work in peace, and he can have meat when he comes back in the evening.

There's no way around it; you have to go very early to buy meat at this time of year. Otherwise, if you get up and the sun is high in the sky, there probably won't be any pig hair left.

If you wait until midday to buy meat, or go in the afternoon, you might not be able to buy a decent amount.

I really didn't know how scarce supplies were right now.

Let's not talk about the present. In his previous life, Yang Dalin studied at a rural middle school in 2003.

He didn't even dare to say that he could eat meat every meal; back then, he craved meat terribly.

I can usually eat three or four 100-ounce steamed buns with a bowl of chicken soup and tofu pudding with my classmates.

There's a local custom when drinking tofu pudding: you can get unlimited refills of soup, as long as you can drink it all.

Yang Dalin's previous life's lack of craving for meat likely occurred after 2010.

Therefore, it hasn't been many years since ordinary people like us have truly had enough to eat.

In rural areas, people were probably able to have enough to eat after the taxes and grain levies were abolished.

In his previous life, when Yang Dalin was a child, he had seen his family deliver grain to the state. Before delivering the wheat, they had to pick out the small clods of dirt and pebbles from the grain.

Wipe the grain with a damp towel, let it dry, then bag it and send it to the township.

This shows the hardships faced by ordinary people in rural areas.

Don't underestimate the allure of a meat meal at this time.

Many families only eat meat a few times a year.

Many families also try to buy fatty meat to render oil.

Otherwise, why would people eat so much at that time? Because there was a lack of oil and food, and resources were scarce.

Yang Dalin went out with Grandpa Qi in the morning and told Grandpa Qi that he wanted to buy some firewood and cotton today.

Grandpa Qi said no problem, he would take Yang Dalin to buy it.

Indeed, having an elder in the courtyard is like having a treasure.

Old Qi is awesome.

There's a pigeon market near the train station, and Grandpa Qi knows two elderly people who sell things there year-round.

Even if they go to Pigeon City now, and there's no one there, he can still find their home.

The problem is not big.

However, Yang Dalin might need to pay some food coupons, otherwise it would be difficult to buy them with just money.

Yang Dalin patted his chest and told Grandpa Qi, "Don't worry, Grandpa, I brought the grain coupons. I brought five jin of fine grain coupons that were issued last night, but I don't know if it will be enough."

Grandpa Qi replied, "That should be enough. I brought some with me too. We'll see when we get there. I haven't bought anything in a long time, so I don't know the prices."

In the morning, I would first find a restaurant to eat, and after eating, I would go to work.

After finishing their work early in the afternoon, Yang Dalin and Grandpa Qi rode their carts to a nearby alley.

This is a secluded little courtyard.

Grandpa Qi knocked on the door, and soon an old man who looked to be in his fifties or sixties came to open it.

"Old Qi, what's up?"

"I brought a neighbor to ask you to exchange some things."

The old man craned his neck and looked around. "Alright, come in."

Yang Dalin then locked up Grandpa Qi's cart and went into the small courtyard with Grandpa Qi.

There should still be people inside, but they didn't come out. The three of them were talking inside the doorway.

Yang Dalin, being sensible, quickly lit a cigarette for the other person.

Grandpa Qi introduced this man, whose surname was Duo. From now on, you can just call him Grandpa Duo.

I wonder if Grandpa Duo is related to Duolong.

However, Yang Dalin had a classmate with multiple surnames in his previous life, and the two had a good relationship, but according to him, the relationship didn't seem to be very close.

This surname seems to have existed since ancient times, but there are very few people with it.

Seeing that young Yang was quite accommodating, Uncle Duo waited until Yang Dalin finished lighting his cigarette and asked, "What would you like to change to, buddy?"

"Uncle, I need some cotton to make a big cotton-padded coat, like a military overcoat, that can also be used as legs. I also need some fabric to make the coat."

Yang Dalin originally wanted to exchange some cloth coupons, but then he thought that if he could buy cloth here, he might as well do it all at once.

Grandpa Duo asked him, "Okay, no problem. How much do you want? Let me ask you a question: do you know how much cotton and fabric is needed to make a big cotton-padded coat?"

Yang Dalin shook his head, indicating that he really didn't know.

However, he remembered that the cotton quilts made at home were usually weighed six, eight, or ten jin (approximately 3 kg).

That kind of military overcoat, the one I wore in my previous life, probably weighed at most five or six pounds of cotton.

Making a big cotton-padded coat yourself would probably take about four or five pounds of cotton, but I really don't know how much cotton fabric I would need.

The two old men exchanged a glance and chuckled.

Uncle Duo took a puff of his cigarette and said, "What a silly boy. If it weren't for Lao Qi bringing you here today, you would have really been screwed over."

Yang Dalin knew the other person was joking: "I can't be that arrogant. Your home is right here, and you even know me, Uncle Qi. How could you possibly cheat a young man like me?"

Lao Duo understood what Yang Dalin meant. "Look, your home is right here, and you were even brought here by an acquaintance. You dare to cheat me? Do you really think I wouldn't dare to come looking for you?"

Upon hearing this, Grandpa Duo said, "Alright, the kid is quite clever and quick-witted, he even knows how to use words to shut me up."

Let me tell you, a typical military overcoat is made of 4.5 kilograms of coarse cotton.

The flour sold by our supply and marketing cooperative isn't as good as that.

If you're only making one cotton-padded coat and not a padded jacket or trousers, it would weigh about four kilograms at most.

But it's fine if you make it bigger, because you might grow taller later.

That way, you'll have more than enough to buy five kilograms of cotton.

The supply and marketing cooperative charges 1.4 yuan per jin for cotton wadding, and you also need cotton wadding coupons.

I'll charge you 1.8 yuan for this cotton, and 2 yuan per jin for the cotton wadding coupon, that's 19 yuan.

Next, let's talk about cloth coupons.

A cloth ration coupon requires about seven or eight feet of fabric for a coat.

But you need two layers, inside and out, right?

Therefore, at least fifteen feet of fabric are needed.

The supply and marketing cooperative charges 28 cents per foot of cloth, but cloth coupons are required.

Cloth ration coupons can now be sold for 50 cents a foot on the black market.

So the fabric here costs 75 cents per foot.

I'll charge you 11.2 yuan for 15 feet of fabric, plus 19 yuan, that's 30.2 yuan in total, and I'll waive the 20.2 yuan for you.

It costs thirty yuan in total.

But I need three jin of fine grain coupons from Beijing. I'll charge you three yuan per jin.

So just give me twenty-one yuan and three jin of refined grain coupons.

When Yang Dalin heard the price, he thought it was really expensive. It might have been even more expensive today since Uncle Qi hadn't brought him.

No wonder nowadays many children wear the clothes of the eldest child when they are the second child, and the clothes of the second child when they are the youngest.

A cotton-padded coat is so expensive, it costs as much as a month's salary.

This only includes raw materials, not labor costs.

The price of fine grain coupons has increased again as the year draws to a close, and they will be even more expensive next year.

If it weren't for the reward from the neighborhood committee yesterday, Yang Dalin wouldn't have been able to afford it.

Because the Qi family of three each had a ration of grain, they only received about ten jin of refined grain per month.

You can't buy all ten pounds at once; you need to buy them in batches.