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

Aunt Qi returned after hiding the candy, and told her two daughters to cook or clean the table, while she herself packed up the gifts.

Before collecting anything, Aunt Qi would always ask Yang Dalin, "Dalin, do you want to eat this apple? I'll save one for you tonight."

A moment later she asked, "Dalin, I've saved these canned oranges for you. Just let me know whenever you want some."

Without saying a word, Yang Dalin raised an eyebrow and glanced at Qi Xiaoning.

Qi Xiaoning was so angry that she could only ignore him.

Qi Xiaoning knew that Brother Dalin was just teasing her, and that she would get to eat the good stuff in the end anyway.

Qi Xiaoning was annoyed that her mother always thought of her adopted brother first, while she, the biological daughter, was not favored.

However, when dinner was served, Yang Dalin took out a bag of braised beef from his satchel in the inner room.

Qi Xiaoning was very happy again.

She loved to joke around with Yang Dalin, and she never really got angry; her little face could change expressions at any time.

Yang Dalin also felt it was a pity; if this girl had been born in the future, she could definitely have become a movie queen.

Aunt Qi asked him, "Dalin, this beef must be very expensive, right?"

Yang Dalin told Aunt Qi, "It wasn't as expensive as I thought. It was just a coincidence. I bought some and also gave half a jin to Uncle Qi. We kept one and a half jin for ourselves."

"It's okay, there will be more later, hurry up and try it."

Yang Dalin actually had five jin (2.5 kg) left in his storage space, but he didn't dare to take it out.

From now on, I can only bring some food home every day, like an ant carrying food.

Aunt Qi's frugal lifestyle kicked in again. She took a plate, emptied two-thirds of it, and put it in the cupboard.

She then took out the meat and vegetables she had left for Yang Dalin the night before.

He said, "Eat this first, and save the rest for later. Dalinzi, here's some meat and vegetables I left for you last night. Let me heat it up for you; it's getting cold, so it won't spoil."

Yang Dalin didn't stop Aunt Qi from doing what she did.

There's nothing we can do; she's used to being frugal and can't be generous. We can only try to change her gradually.

Last night I went to Shazhu's house for dinner, and I even thought about saving some meat and vegetables for myself, always thinking of myself.

That's good enough.

Yang Dalin barely ate any meat himself, but he piled a lot of it onto the three of them's plates.

He also said that he had already eaten beef.

That's right, he secretly ate a pound of it before delivering it to Wu Tiejun during the day.

During the meal, Yang Dalin mentioned that the railway public security bureau would reward him with a coat.

This way, Aunt Qi wouldn't have to make a coat for herself first.

Aunt Qi was delighted to hear another piece of good news. However, she said that she was afraid the coat wouldn't be made well, so she had already found someone to make it. Now she probably couldn't alter it. Well, it's fine if it's made, it's good to have an extra one to replace it with.

There's no need to measure your body when making a coat; it's fine to make it a little bigger, since Yang Dalin can still grow taller in the future.

That's fine too. Anyway, I still have cotton and fabric in my own space. I can take them out another day and make some more clothes for Aunt Qi and the others.

Everyone had a happy meal, but I don't know why He Yushui didn't come today.

Perhaps they saw that the Qi family had too many good things and felt embarrassed to come today.

Otherwise, people in the courtyard wouldn't know what to say about her.

Aunt Qi also suggested that she bring back some fruit candies tomorrow to give to the children in the yard.

With so many nice things in our house, even though I'm not afraid of what others might say, it wouldn't hurt to give some to the kids in the yard as a treat.

After thinking about it, Yang Dalin agreed: "Okay, I'll buy it, Auntie, you don't need to worry about it."

While the Qi family was happily eating, Yi Zhonghai and Yi Wenshi were also discussing things at the dinner table at Yi Zhonghai's house.

Yi Wenshi said, "Old Yi, if you don't agree, you should go to Dalinzi as soon as possible."

Tell him that you want to find him a job.

I noticed that two of the people who came to thank him today arrived in jeeps. I guess they just wanted to help Dalinzi find a job—it would have been a simple matter of a word. If you've been late, you might have missed your chance to do your good deed.

Yi Zhonghai nodded and said, "Yes, I was thinking about that when I got home just now."

I'm worried he'll find a job first, since my factory hasn't even mentioned it yet.

Wen Xiumei said, "That's alright. You can tell him you want to help him find a job first. Let him know that you, his uncle, are trying to help him. Let him appreciate your kindness first."

"You can find him a job later. Everyone knows how hard it is to find a job these days. Even if you can't find one for him later, he can't blame you."

Yi Zhonghai thought it made sense; his wife had spoken to his heart.

Then he said, "Okay, I'll go find him in a bit."

Say it in front of Qi Yulan, so she'll be grateful to our family.

Yi Zhonghai had high hopes, but little did he know that Yang Dalin had no intention of going to the steel rolling mill at all.

She would never follow him to do any kind of fitter work.

He didn't like that kind of job because it was slow to upgrade, didn't pay much, and required working in a factory every day.

Yang Dalin prefers a more flexible career.

He doesn't like the kind of job where you just go to work in a regular, structured way.

Just like the job that Grandpa Wang from the grain bureau introduced today, he didn't readily agree. He wanted to see if there was a more flexible job that would allow him to earn more money.

The Qi family had finished their meal and were sitting together chatting.

There was a knock on the door. Yi Zhonghai was unaware that Yan Laokou across the street had been watching him closely as he knocked.

Old Yan was focused on who would come to Qi's house first and take advantage of the situation.

Unexpectedly, Yi Zhonghai was the first to arrive.

Yi Zhonghai isn't the type of person who likes to take advantage of others.

Why did he arrive first?

Yan Bugui was completely baffled.

Qi Yulan was surprised that Yi Zhonghai would come, so she quickly asked Qi Xiaoning to make tea and move seats for her.

Yang Dalin took out a cigarette and offered one to Yi Zhonghai. He didn't smoke it himself, but just chatted with Yi Zhonghai, wanting to see what Yi Zhonghai had come for.

As it turned out, Yi Zhonghai's preparations were incredibly long.

After rambling on for a while, he finally got to his point.

The gist of it is that he had been concerned about the Qi family's difficulties, but he couldn't speak up for Qi Yulan because of her job on the street. Then Da Lin came along, and he thought Da Lin was a good kid, so he wanted to find him a job at the steel rolling mill.

Upon hearing this, Yang Dalin refused Yi Zhonghai's offer, disregarding Aunt Qi's happiness.

"Uncle Yi, thank you so much for thinking of me. I really appreciate your concern. But I've already found a job, so I won't be going to the steel mill."

Yang Dalin knew that once Zhen went to the steel rolling mill, he would most likely become an apprentice under him, and he would very likely be tied to him for retirement.

Even if it weren't for Grandpa Wang and others introducing him to a job today, Yang Dalin wouldn't have agreed.

Most of the jobs in the steel rolling mill are physically demanding, and I definitely wouldn't go there because I wouldn't be able to get enough to eat.

Yi Zhonghai thought to himself, "Is it really too late?" But he asked somewhat unwillingly, "Really? Dalinzi, what kind of job did you find? Is it as good as the steel rolling mill? Let me tell you, Dalinzi, the steel rolling mill is a huge factory with tens of thousands of employees, the pay is..."

Blah blah blah, Yi Zhonghai went on and on.

Yang Dalin had no choice but to interrupt him: "Uncle Yi, thank you so much, but you really don't need to trouble yourself. This job was introduced to me by the street office and the branch office. It may not be as good as the steel rolling mill, but it will be enough to feed and clothe me and support my family."

"Let's not trouble you any further, Uncle Yi. Here, Uncle Yi, have some tea."

Seeing that he was still persistent, Yang Dalin had no choice but to bring up the street and railway police departments to pressure him.

I definitely won't reveal what Grandpa Wang and Grandpa Gong said. Firstly, the matter hasn't been settled yet, and secondly, I don't want to cause trouble for others.

Therefore, Yi Zhonghai dared not inquire with the local street office or the public security bureau.

Kill two birds with one stone.