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

Yang Dalin carried a satchel and headed to Xu Damao's house.

Upon arriving at the backyard, Yang Dalin glanced at Liu Haizhong's house in the east wing and the deaf old lady's house in the main house of the backyard.

The main house in the backyard doesn't look like a rear building.

The layout is similar to that of the Intermediate People's Court.

There's no path leading from the backyard to the back building; it's probably blocked off.

It was obviously renovated after liberation, and it no longer looks like a complete courtyard house. If there were another row of rear rooms, it would not be a three-courtyard house, but at least a five-courtyard house.

Both the deaf old lady and Liu Haizhong's houses had curtains hanging on their doors, and there were several other neighbors in the backyard.

There wasn't much of a person outside in the yard at that time. After glancing around, Yang Dalin knocked on the door and entered Xu Damao's house.

Xu Damao's house also has two rooms. The living room is right inside the entrance, and the room on the south side is a bedroom.

The room next door and the side room belong to another family.

Upon entering, I saw Xu Damao frying eggs.

Two dishes were already on the table: fried peanuts and sliced ​​red sausage.

Yang Dalin handed him the pig's head meat and salted duck eggs and asked him to cut them.

Xu Damao said politely, "Brother, look, you even brought something with you."

Yang Dalin also said politely, "Brother Da Mao, what are you saying? There's no reason to come empty-handed. But don't mind that I don't have anything nice to bring since I'm only starting work tomorrow."

We've chopped up the pig's head meat, and we'll just cut up two salted duck eggs. You can keep the rest. Just fry the eggs; there's no need to prepare anything else, otherwise we won't be able to eat too much.

Xu Damao glanced at the table and said, "That won't do, brother. We can't have five dishes. It has to be an even number. I'll go get a can of food."

Xu Damao had just ladled out the scrambled eggs with scallions and placed them on the table when he slapped his forehead and said, "Six dishes doesn't sound good either."

Yang Dalin said, "That's easy. Don't cut the salted duck eggs. There are only two of us, so four dishes will do. Any more would be a waste."

After a brief argument, Xu Damao ultimately listened to Yang Dalin's advice.

In some places, odd numbers are considered the number of dishes served at funerals, and the number six is ​​also considered unlucky.

So four dishes are just right for two people.

After cutting up the pig's head meat, Xu Damao also heated up a pot of white steamed buns.

This is already very good for this era.

Xu Damao took out two bottles of Fenjiu liquor, and Yang Dalin helped pour them for him. The two of them started drinking.

As for the Yan family, Yan Bugui finished his meal quickly, because his family's dinner was very simple: one sweet potato per person and a bowl of rice soup with every grain counted.

After finishing his meal, Yan Bugui felt increasingly uneasy. He picked up the wine bottle that had been filled with water countless times and went out.

He planned to go and have a chat with Jia Dongxu, but then he thought about going to his house, where there was a formidable shrew, so he changed his mind and went to Yi Zhonghai's house instead.

Although Yi Zhonghai also disliked Yan Bugui, he had to maintain appearances.

Yi Zhonghai also saw the bottle of wine Yan Bugui was holding. He understood what was going on, but still gave Yan Bugui face: "Old Yan, want to have a drink with me?"

Yan Bugui adjusted his glasses and said, "Yeah, it's been a long time since we drank together. That's why I invited you for a drink."

There was only one stir-fried cabbage and one pickled vegetable on Yi Zhonghai's table. When Yan Bugui came in, he sat down directly, so Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to ask Wen Xiumei to prepare two more dishes.

Yan Bugui came today with a purpose, and after only a few words, the conversation turned to the matter of Yang Dalin wanting to hit him with a stick.

In fact, as soon as Yi Zhonghai got home, Wen Xiumei brought up the matter at the dinner table, but before she could finish speaking, Yan Bugui arrived.

Since his apprentice's son was involved, Yi Zhonghai had Wen Xiumei call over Jia Dongxu from across the street.

When Jia Dongxu returned home, Qin Huairu didn't bring up what happened that day, so Jia Dongxu knew nothing about it.

When his teacher's wife called him over, and after hearing Yan Bugui's embellished account, both Yi and Jia were very dissatisfied with Yang Dalin.

Wen Xiumei wanted to speak up and explain the truth, but she was afraid of embarrassing Yan Bugui.

So Wen Xiumei kept quiet and didn't say anything.

But when she heard Yan Bugui's implied meaning, telling Jia Dongxu to report Yang Dalin for having an irregular bicycle ticket source, she was shocked.

Wen Xiumei finally understood that Yan Bugui was planning to use her husband and Jia Dongxu as pawns.

Wen Xiumei didn't intend to give Yan Bugui any face, but in the end, she didn't completely break ties with him.

In the kitchen, Wen Xiumei kept making noises here and there, interrupting Yan Bugui's conversation several times.

Yi Zhonghai found his wife's behavior today very strange, but since there were outsiders present, he couldn't directly express his anger.

Moreover, seeing that Yan Bugui was still not leaving, Wen Xiumei would go up to him every now and then to refill his water.

This made Yan Bugui very embarrassed. Even though the water had just been refilled, and Yan Bugui hadn't even drunk any water yet, Wen Xiumei stood to the side smiling and said, "Teacher Yan, have some water."

Although Yan Bugui wasn't thirsty, he had no choice but to take a sip. Wen Xiumei then refilled his glass and said with a smile, "Teacher Yan, have some water."

After this continued, Yan Bugui finally couldn't take it anymore. He took the bottle of wine that Yi Zhonghai had forced into his arms and went home.

Seeing that his master's wife was acting strangely and his master looked angry, Jia Dongxu was about to slip away when Wen Xiumei stopped him.

Then he went outside to take another look. Seeing that Yan Bugui wasn't eavesdropping, he sat down under Yi Zhonghai's puzzled gaze and said, "Old Yi, don't be anxious. I did this on purpose, otherwise you two would have fallen for Yan Bugui's trick."

Yi Zhonghai understood. His wife usually didn't behave like this, so there must be a reason for it. He immediately calmed down and said, "Old woman, please explain what happened!"

Seeing that Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu were looking at her curiously, Wen Xiumei stopped being angry and slowly recounted what had happened that day.

Then Wen Xiumei added her own analysis: "Lao Yi, Dongxu, and Dalinzi only scared Banggeng today, they didn't hit Banggeng at all. You'll know the answer when you get back."

Yan Bugui's visit today is clearly intended to stir up trouble, hoping to get Dongxu to report Dalinzi. But who were those people who came to repay Dalinzi's kindness a few days ago? You all saw them. There were two high-ranking officials in a jeep. I heard Director Wang from the street office call one of them "Director Wang."

It's not difficult for a bureau chief to give Dalin a bicycle ticket, is it?

If you actually report it, Yang Dalin will be fine, but he'll come back and cause trouble for you, Jia Dongxu. Your master will have to side with you, and if he does, he'll have to cause a scene with their family.

Then Yan Bugui watched the commotion from behind!

Do you think this makes sense?

Old Yi, don't forget what the old lady said: that Dongxu should get along well with the young people in the courtyard, especially Shazhu and Yang Dalin.

One of them is a chef, and the other is very capable. Dongxu will surely benefit from their success in the future.

But if Dongxu starts clashing with Yang Dalin this time, Shazhu will also become estranged from Dongxu.

Think about it, if I don't get Yan Bugui away quickly, and you two start to have preconceived notions, it will be too late for anything I say.

Yi Zhonghai finally understood why his wife couldn't wait for Yan Bugui to leave and had started causing trouble.

He slammed his hand on the table: "What a cunning and treacherous old fox, Yan Bugui!"