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

A pack of Daqianmen cigarettes costs 35 cents, which is not cheap. Most workers wouldn't be willing to smoke this kind of cigarette, and I don't know who bought it.

Aunt Yulan either bought it before, keeping it at home in case someone comes over, or it was a gift from someone else.

She works in the neighborhood's logistics department; perhaps someone gave her a ride.

Aunt Yulan introduced Uncle Qi's situation to Yang Dalin. Although he also had the surname Qi, he was not related to her family.

Before the liberation, his family worked as laborers. They were honest people all their lives. They originally had two sons, but before the liberation, they were both taken away by the bald man to work and never came back.

Grandpa Qi's wife cried all day long, ruining her health, and passed away not long after liberation.

Grandpa Qi used to live in the front yard, but later he exchanged houses with others and now lives alone in the gatehouse, waiting for his two sons to come back.

Here you can see your two sons immediately.

After staying at home for a while, Aunt Yulan brought Yang Dalin to Grandpa Qi's door.

The door on the east wall inside the main gate was open, and Aunt Yulan called out, "Brother Baogen, are you home?"

Is Grandpa Qi's real name Qi Baogen?

A voice came from inside the house: "You must be Yulan, right? What can I do for you?"

Grandpa Qi was particular and didn't let anyone in directly to talk, even though the door wasn't closed.

After all, they are a widow and a widower, so they should be careful.

Grandpa Qi walked out by himself and stood at the door.

"Hello, Uncle Qi," Yang Dalin quickly greeted him.

Aunt Yulan quickly introduced, "Brother Baogen, this is my son Dalin, Yang Dalin. He just arrived in Beijing. He's a sensible child and wants to find some light work. I was thinking of letting him stay for a few days, but he said he doesn't want to work and just wants to go out and explore so he can get familiar with the place. That's why I'm troubling you to take care of him and lend you a hand!"

As she spoke, Aunt Yulan gave Yang Dalin a wink.

Yang Dalin acknowledged receipt, quickly tore open a cigarette and lit one for Grandpa Qi, then tried to stuff another cigarette into Grandpa Qi's hand.

Grandpa Qi declined, saying that it was fine for a neighbor to smoke one cigarette for a small matter.

"Okay, it's no big deal. I'll have Dalin come with me for a walk in a bit. I'll keep an eye on him, don't worry, little sister."

"Then thank you very much, Brother Baogen."

"Don't mention it!"

Before leaving for work, Aunt Yulan instructed Yang Dalin to listen to Uncle Qi and not to wander off, and to bring his temporary identification.

Yang Dalin has a temporary identity document, similar to a temporary residence permit.

This certificate serves as a letter of introduction; it was issued by the neighborhood committee at Aunt Yulan's request.

Otherwise, if they find out, he might be deported directly.

So it's better to bring it.

Aunt Yulan went to work. Yang Dalin secretly vowed to work hard and earn a proper job as soon as possible, thanks to Aunt Yulan and Sister Yanhua for saving their lunch for him.

Otherwise, their food supply might really face a major crisis.

Especially in terms of employment, factories and enterprises will begin large-scale staff reductions next year, making it extremely difficult to find a formal job at this time.

If I can't find a permanent job, a temporary job will do.

Let's take it one step at a time, progressing from temporary worker to apprentice to permanent employee.

Grandpa Qi glanced at Yang Dalin and saw that he was 1.63 meters tall and as thin as a skeleton.

Aside from his handsome face, he's probably not very good at his job.

The child was a refugee, so how healthy could he be? But the very next day, he was already thinking about earning his own food, which showed he had a good heart.

"Dalin, right?"

"Yes, sir, you can call me Dalinzi. Don't worry about my health, sir. I'm much better now. Even if I can't do heavy work, I can help you out and learn the way with you for a few days."

"Okay, go home and find a worn-out coat so you don't get all dirty. Also, take a water bottle and a pair of gloves if you have any at home. If not, I have some here."

"Okay, I'll be right there, sir, please wait for me a moment."

Yang Dalin turned around and ran home, asking Sister Yanhua for a patched blue coat that Aunt Yulan had worn before.

Regardless of whether it was a woman's or not, it was actually quite normal for many boys to wear clothes left behind by their older sisters or brothers at that time.

Before Yang Dalin went to junior high school in his previous life, he often wore clothes passed down from his older brother, which was at the beginning of the new century.

Besides, clothes weren't categorized that finely back then.

Qi Yanhua then took out a PLA-style military water bottle and filled it with hot water for him.

The canteen also had a thermal cover sewn from rags.

They gave me another handbag.

Yang Dalin put the clothes and water bottle into his satchel.

Then I went out with Grandpa Qi.

Grandpa Qi was riding a large flatbed cart, which was actually a tricycle with a large board laid on the back to make it easier to carry more goods.

Unlike the tricycles that only carry passengers, Yang Dalin now sits on the side of the board, with a cloth pad under his buttocks to prevent his pants from getting dirty.

This cloth mat was brought out by Grandpa Qi. He often brings his goods and people along with the mat, and he has someone else sew it for him.

Yang Dalin originally wanted to ride it, but Grandpa Qi wouldn't let him.

Along the way, Grandpa Qi and Yang Dalin talked a lot about things in Beijing.

For example, this road, that street, that alley.

Grandpa Qi probably hadn't talked to anyone this much in a long time, and he pulled Yang Dalin aside and talked quite a bit.

I didn't feel tired at all.

Yang Dalin offered to ride for a while several times, but Grandpa Qi refused.

Through chatting, I learned that Grandpa Qi was only 49 years old, not yet 50.

Years of hard work have taken their toll, making him look quite weathered.

He registered with the local authorities for all his work hauling goods for others.

In the afternoon, he was going to take him to work at the newly built train station in Beijing.

Grandpa Qi also told him a secret.

Those were a group of people who often worked at the train station. They could eat at the state-run restaurants in front of the train station without tickets, just by paying.

Goodness, this reminded Yang Dalin of a novel he had read before.

It has been said that meals at train stations, including on trains, do not require tickets, because many food coupons have designated areas of use.

Not everyone can get national food coupons.

Therefore, some state-run restaurants at certain train stations only charge a fee, but the fee is higher.

Grandpa Qi told Yang Dalin that before August this year, many restaurants in Beijing did not require local food coupons to eat; money was all you needed. However, in Tianjin, Baoding, and Shijiazhuang, a food coupon system was implemented at the end of last year.

Therefore, many people take a special trip to Beijing on weekends to eat.

We queued up for food Saturday night and ate until the next day, then took a bus back in the afternoon.

This created a strange phenomenon. Before August 1st this year, apart from 18 high-end restaurants (including Donglaishun in Dong'an Market, Cuihualou Restaurant on the east side of Wangfujing Street, Quyuan Restaurant on Xidan North Street, and Datong Restaurant in the Overseas Chinese Building on the east side of the north entrance of Wangfujing Street, which were expensive and required reservations and a "number" for the next day, all other restaurants, big and small, required food coupons.

(Of course, the number of license plates is also limited, so you can't eat as much as you want.)

At the Beijing Railway Station, there were several state-run restaurants where "acquaintances" could eat without ration coupons.

Grandpa Qi knew that Yang Dalin probably hadn't eaten enough, so he planned to take him out for a good meal first, and then take him to work.