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

Seeing that Yi Zhonghai was starting to back down, Yang Dalin still didn't let up: "Come on, I've been to other courtyards too, and none of them have a rule that you have to call someone 'Grandpa' or 'Grandpa'."

People address their fathers according to their age, calling them "Grandpa" or "Uncle" as they would like.

Besides, my second uncle passed away from illness a long time ago. I used to call you uncles along with the other people in the courtyard. If you were truly fair and just, that would be fine. But since you come up here and accuse me without even knowing the facts, I'll be more polite if I call you Master Yi and him Liu Haizhong.

Does it mean that just because of two different names, it's an unforgivable crime?

"No, I'll go to the neighborhood committee and ask if there's a rule that we have to call him 'Grandpa One' or 'Grandpa Two'?"

Hearing this, Liu Haizhong became even more frightened. Yi Zhonghai quickly stopped Yang Dalin, who was about to leave, saying, "Dalinzi, there's no such thing, there's no such thing. Call him whatever you want. It's just a form of address. Since your second uncle has passed away, and you miss him, you can call him Uncle Liu from now on. Don't rush, don't rush."

Tell me what exactly happened?

Yang Dalin then stopped in his tracks, and Yi Zhonghai thought to himself.

How come Yang Dalin is so strong? I can't stop him.

I'm a level seven fitter, you know how strong I am.

If the other party hadn't stopped on his own initiative, Yi Zhonghai knew he definitely wouldn't have been able to stop this kid.

Moreover, his own apprentice, Jia Dongxu, even helped to stop it.

Yang Dalin stopped, took a few steps back, and said, "Now that almost everyone in the courtyard is here, I'll explain the whole story."

To avoid people thinking I'm a violent and aggressive person.

Today, I listened to my aunt and Uncle Qi and bought a few pounds of fruit candies to distribute to every household in our courtyard. After all, we received some gifts yesterday, and we wanted to give everyone a sweet treat.

As soon as I returned to the courtyard, Yan Bugui stopped me and told me to set up a few tables and invite the people in the courtyard to eat.

As everyone knows, I have no job, no household registration, and no fixed salary. My aunt's monthly salary is only twenty-three yuan. I work odd jobs with Uncle Qi to earn a living.

Nowadays, everyone knows what era it is: a sweet potato can save a life.

Yan Bugui kept telling me to treat everyone to a good meal.

How can I invite them? Can I afford it? Where am I supposed to get the food?

Are you suggesting we treat everyone to a meal and then let our whole family starve to death?

Asking someone with no fixed amount of food to treat someone with a fixed amount of food to a meal is something no normal person would say, right?

No one with principles or morals would say that, right?

So I got really angry and said a few things to Yan Bugui.

Remember, I only said a few words to him; I didn't physically hit Yan Bugui.

Then Yan Jiecheng picked up an iron shovel and was about to chop me up. Did all the uncles, grandpas, aunts, brothers, and sisters-in-law see that?

The iron shovel is raised upright; it's not for slapping, it's for chopping people down, it's for killing people!

So I defended myself and kicked Yan Jiecheng out. To prevent him from continuing to attack, I hit him a few times to disable his ability to chop people.

Unexpectedly, Yan Bugui's wife, Yang Ruihua, took advantage of being a woman and thought I dared not fight back, so she tried to hit me. My sister Yan, my sister Yushui, and my sister Xiaoning took the initiative to stop her.

From beginning to end, I didn't lay a finger on Yan Bugui or his wife. I was even kicked several times by Yan's wife for pulling them apart. Everyone saw that, but I didn't fight back, did I?

Yan Bugui also made his second and third sons beat up Yan Jie and the others.

If two boys were going to hit a girl, I could tolerate it, so I just kicked her once.

Seeing that he couldn't win the fight and couldn't gain any advantage, Yan Bugui wanted to call the police and say that he intended to kill someone. However, the neighbors couldn't stand it and listened to the liaison officer of the courtyard. They thought that the courtyard's affairs were the courtyard's affairs and that they should try not to bother the police. They felt that calling the police would make everyone lose their title of an excellent courtyard.

Another reason is that everyone couldn't stand the Yan family's behavior, so out of a desire to help others, they stopped the second and third sons of the Yan family from going to the police.

That's how it is. Come on, Uncle Yi, Uncle Liu, you two judge for me who's right and who's wrong.

Don't tell me that just because someone else wielded an iron shovel and chopped down, I fought back. Anyone who says that, I'll chop them down and see who gets the chance.

At this moment, Sha Zhu stood directly behind Yang Dalin. He had heard that Yan Bugui's wife, Yang Ruihua, had attacked He Yushui.

Now we are united in our hatred of the enemy.

Everyone also heard that Yang Dalin specially went out to buy fruit candies for everyone, so that everyone could have a sweet treat.

Everyone glared at Yan Bugui, Yi Zhonghai, and the others with hostility.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong exchanged a glance. What's wrong with Yan Bugui? Has he given up being the third master and lost all sense of decency?

Are they going to completely give up?

How come it's caused by his family trying to take advantage again?

Not to mention Yang Dalin hitting them, Yi and Liu both wanted to hit someone when they heard it.

How could someone with a ration of six, who has a fixed amount of food, ask someone with an unrestricted ration to treat them to a meal, especially when food is ridiculously precious?

Upon hearing this, Jia Dongxu and several others standing next to Yan Bugui moved a few steps away.

Stay away from Yan Bugui, who has no moral compass.

Yi Zhonghai glanced over and saw Jia Dongxu and the others making subtle moves.

I'm still relieved; Dongxu's ideas are correct.

Nobody wants to get involved in the Yan family's affairs.

But things always need to be resolved.

Yan Bugui certainly couldn't let Yang Dalin absolve himself of responsibility.

"No, no, that's not how it is."

Yang Dalin, I didn't say you had to invite the whole hospital. I meant well. You've just arrived at our hospital, and I'm helping you get to know everyone better.

What I mean is that you should ask someone to invite a representative from each household.

When did I tell you to invite the entire hospital?

Even if you don't agree, fine, just refuse. Why did you have to curse at me, especially an elder? My eldest son only retaliated because you disrespected me and cursed at me. Besides, why would he want to kill someone? He just wanted to scare you.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong didn't make a move for the time being, wanting to see what to say.

Yang Dalin lit a cigarette dismissively, then gave the rest to Sha Zhu next to him, asking Sha Zhu to distribute it to the smokers around them.

Seeing that one pack wasn't enough to distribute, Yang Dalin threw another pack to Sha Zhu.

Yang Dalin took a deep breath and exhaled a column of smoke.

Before anyone could answer Yan Bugui, everyone's sympathy for Yan Bugui was instantly overshadowed by Sha Zhu's act of offering him a cigarette.

Xu Damao was also hiding in the crowd. Sha Zhu was about to refuse him the cigarette, but Xu Damao said, "It's not your cigarette, Da Linzi gave it to me."

Sha Zhu glared at him a few times before handing Xu Damao a cigarette.

This action left Yan Bugui stunned.

Yang Dalin waited until both packs of cigarettes were gone before speaking: "Yan Bugui, there are 21 households in our compound, one representative from each household, right? So, one representative from each household means there are 21 people in total."

My family's ration is only about 50 jin (25 kg). If you ask me to treat you to a meal, I'll have to buy alcohol, vegetables, and cigarettes. One meal could consume a month's worth of our family's food rations.

How could you do that?

Why should I invite you? First, we are not related by blood. Second, I have never eaten a meal or drunk a drop of water from your family. Where do you get the confidence to ask me to invite you?

Third, I treated everyone to a meal to save face and get to know everyone, leaving my aunt and Sister Yan hungry. I have the nerve to do that, but do you think everyone is as shameless as you to come?

Do you think everyone's family is like yours?

I was being lenient by scolding you; I really wanted to hit you.