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

This is truly an era where a coat can be passed down through three generations, remaining even after the person is gone.

In his previous life, Yang Dalin had seen a military overcoat that his father had collected at home.

At that time, Yang's father wanted to join the army. He had four brothers and three sisters.

Yang's father was the youngest. His eldest and third brothers had both joined the army, but Yang's father didn't go so that someone in the family could farm the land.

People from Shandong province especially aspire to become officials or soldiers.

Later, Yang's father exchanged some grain for a military overcoat, which he treasured for decades and it still looks brand new.

Yang Dalin had money on him, but only five jin of grain coupons.

Today, even the old man was considerate, so the price was lower.

It's foolish not to take advantage of a good deal.

He borrowed another pound of grain coupons from Grandpa Qi and bought two sets at once.

It's not enough to just make new clothes for yourself.

I'll also bring some cotton fabric home to see if I can make another set of new cotton-padded clothes for Aunt Qi and the others.

I've almost run out of money, I'll figure out how to earn more later.

Grandpa Duo didn't expect Yang Dalin to be so young yet so bold; he sold him two sets but lost more than ten yuan in profit.

I wanted to refuse, but I was also considering Grandpa Qi's feelings.

Yang Dalin then took out an unopened pack of Daqianmen cigarettes and handed it to Uncle Duo, who was somewhat hesitant to change his mind.

"Uncle, I know I took advantage of you today. I'll come more often in the future and make sure you make up for today's loss. Here, take this pack of cigarettes as a token of my respect for you."

If you've gotten a good deal, you should say something nice, otherwise it won't be easy to come back next time, since they also rely on this for their livelihood.

Old Duo glanced at Old Qi, who was smirking beside him, and reluctantly accepted the money.

"Okay, we'll do it your way. I can never get the better of Lao Qi when he comes to buy things."

"Fine, here you go. Hurry up and leave, or I'll change my mind."

Yang Dalin grabbed ten catties of cotton and thirty feet of cloth and ran away quickly.

Once outside, Grandpa Qi was sitting on the shuttle bus, still chuckling to himself.

Today was good; I got a good deal again.

These are all old acquaintances of Grandpa Qi.

Older people like to follow the rules. Today, I didn't make much money and I got humiliated, which is quite nice.

On his way home, Yang Dalin made a detour to the coal station and bought two thousand catties of firewood.

Last time, we only bought coal briquettes, which can only be used for cooking, but we need the heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove) for heating.

These two thousand catties of firewood include one thousand catties from Grandpa Qi and one thousand catties from our own family.

This amount of firewood wouldn't last many days. If the courtyard house weren't so small, Yang Dalin would have liked to buy more.

In the past, Aunt Qi's family only used one kang (heated brick bed), and they started using it late.

Now that Yang Dalin is making money, it's better to burn it earlier this year.

Forty kilograms of coal cost only 24 cents, which is relatively cheap, but you need a coupon.

Firewood is cheaper than coal.

The main issue is the higher shipping cost, and of course, you also need firewood coupons.

Yang Dalin didn't have any firewood coupons, so he spent more money than he should have.

Within a dozen miles outside the city walls of Beijing, there's no need to think about saving money by cutting firewood yourself, because there are no trees for you to cut.

If you want to gather firewood yourself, you'll have to go to the mountains dozens of miles away.

Yang Dalin doesn't have the time or the means to transport it back. The system isn't even open yet. It's not worth it to save that little bit of money.

Yang Dalin used a handcart to pull Grandpa Qi back, and all the firewood was brought back by someone.

When they got home, it wasn't dark yet, and Yang Dalin helped unload the firewood.

The Qi family's front yard has a west wing room, and there is also a side room on the south side. The south side room is usually filled with miscellaneous items, but the Qi family doesn't have many miscellaneous items.

Yang Dalin then piled the firewood there.

The Qi family used to keep everything piled up there.

Even if it snows, it won't get wet, and it won't prevent the kang (heated brick bed) from being heated.

Yang Dalin asked Sister Yan and Xiaoning to test the heat on their kang (heated brick bed).

Check if there is any smoke coming from the kang (heated brick bed), clean out the ash at the bottom of the kang, and also check the chimney on the roof.

If that doesn't work, you'll need to poke it.

Yang Dalin had the Qi sisters heat the two kang beds in their house.

I also took a look at it for Grandpa Qi.

Fortunately, there are no problems.

While Yang Dalin was walking back and forth between the two families, he also saw Yan Bugui looking like he wanted to say something but couldn't.

Whether he had something to say or wanted to take advantage of him again, Yang Dalin pretended not to see him as he walked past him several times.

I'm too lazy to talk to him today.

The people in the courtyard were envious when they saw that Yang Dalin had prepared so much firewood so early that he could start heating the kang (a heated brick bed) early that night.

Thanks to the reputation Yang Dalin has built up in the past few days, many young people have lent him a hand.

Naturally, Yang Dalin's cigarette smoke had spread quite a bit.

Yang Dalin and Grandpa Qi had finished moving all the firewood, and Yan Bugui sent Yan Jiecheng and Yan Jiefang to help.

Yang Dalin said to Yan Jiecheng, "Brother Jiecheng, everything's moved, so you don't need to do anything else, thanks."

Daqianmen didn't send them anything either. You didn't even help, why would I send you anything?

It's not that Yang Dalin is stingy; it's just that he genuinely finds Yan Bugui's scheming annoying.

Why didn't you do this sooner?

If Yan Jiecheng had helped carry the firewood in the first place, Yang Dalin wouldn't have hesitated to offer even a cigarette.

They live right across the street, it's not like we didn't see it. They just moved out here, and your two sons came out right away.

Yang Dalin has probably never met many people in his past and present lives who are so calculating in their actions.

Yan Jiacheng and Yan Jiefang saw that Yang Dalin didn't try to keep them and went straight back into the house. Several men smoking nearby watched them go in with smiles.

The two brothers were too embarrassed to stand there any longer, so they went back inside.

When Yan Jiecheng returned, he complained to Yan Laokou: "Dad, I've never seen anyone like you. I should have gone out to help earlier. It would have eased the tension. It wouldn't have mattered whether Yang Dalin gave me cigarettes or not."

You're forcing my brother and me to wait until everyone else has finished moving before we go. Who's stupid? They can tell at a glance we're just there to smoke cigarettes.

Now look what's happened! Several neighbors are laughing at us two brothers.

Yan Jiecheng is only twenty-one years old, and he really doesn't have that much scheming ability.

They still care about saving face.

To everyone's surprise, Yan Bugui said, "You've wasted your energy, so you shouldn't eat too much tonight. As long as you have the attitude, that's enough. It's just a pity about those two Daqianmen cigarettes."

Yan Jiefang was even more disgusted with his father's behavior at this point: "Dad, you're not the kind of person I'm talking to. I won't listen to you about these things anymore."

After saying that, Yan Jiefang, like Yan Jiecheng, went into the inner room.

As darkness fell, Yang Dalin was preparing to go to Uncle Qi's place to pick up the cotton and cotton cloth he had bought.

Just then, we saw Xu Damao returning from showing movies in the countryside, pushing his cart, right by the screen wall at the main gate.

Despite it being a special year, Xu Damao had several bags on his bicycle, on the handlebars, and on the back seat.

Yang Dalin noticed that Yang Dalin was having some difficulty pushing the cart up the steps, and he didn't know what was inside.

Turning his head and not seeing Yan Bugui, Yang Dalin went straight over and said, "Brother Da Mao, you're back from showing movies in the countryside. Let me help you lift the car."

Xu Damao is 23 years old this year. He graduated from high school at the age of 20 because he attended primary school for six years, namely four years of lower primary school and two years of upper primary school.

Three years of junior high school, three years of senior high school.

Keep in mind that when he went to school, it was still before Liberation, so it was already a miracle that he was able to finish his studies smoothly.

He Yushui is sixteen years old and hasn't started high school yet. She'll start high school next year, and in three years she'll be twenty.

This age is normal.

There aren't that many people who graduate from high school at sixteen or seventeen. Although there was a period when junior high school was two years and high school was two years, that was after the 1960s.

Moreover, the school system varies from place to place; in general, anyone who can graduate from high school is considered educated.

Xu Damao has now completed his three-year apprenticeship and has just become a full-fledged projectionist.

Yang Dalin reached into the back seat bag of Xu Damao's car and felt something that looked like sweet potatoes or potatoes.

If he goes to the countryside at this time, there probably won't be many good things there.

It will be several years before Brother Da Mao gets the old hen that someone gives him.

There's really nothing good to eat in the countryside these days.

Xu Damao said politely, "Thanks, Brother Dalin."

"Oh, don't mention it, Brother Da Mao, it was just a small favor."

When Yang Dalin helped Xu Damao lift the car through the hanging flower gate, which was the spot where Yan Bugui usually stood to take advantage of the situation.

Xu Damao politely said, "Brother Dalin, I brought back some sweet potatoes from my trip to the countryside. Let me give you a few to try."

Yang Dalin didn't care about Xu Damao's attempts to gain benefits in the countryside or Shazhu's bringing vegetables from the factory.

Because I also took advantage of the rules to buy things and food from outside.

The eldest brother doesn't laugh at the second brother.

As long as the two of them don't affect my interests, it's none of my business.

That's just how this era is; who can you control?

We can't change the world, we can only adapt to it.

"Brother Da Mao, really, it's no big deal. It's nothing. Go home quickly, it's getting cold tonight."

Yang Dalin was speaking behind Yan Jia's back and didn't see Yan Bugui quickly come out of Yan Jia's house.

It's likely that Xu Damao is currently in the countryside and is unaware of what happened in the courtyard.

Yan Bugui said with a fawning smile, "Oh, Da Mao is back. You didn't even call out to your third uncle when you were pushing such a heavy cart. Here, let me give you a hand."

Seeing that Yan Laokou, who was determined to take advantage even at the cost of his life, had come online, Yang Dalin greeted Xu Damao and left.

Yang Dalin was afraid that if he stayed here any longer, it would affect Yan Laokou's performance and also affect his own appetite tomorrow.

Yang Dalin wanted to see what Xu Damao's true colors would be once Xu Damao found out that Yan Bugui had been dismissed that evening or tomorrow.