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

He Yushui pointed to the pile of prey on the ground and said, "Brother Dalin, did you hunt all of these?"

Yang Dalin nodded: "Yes, I went to Shuncheng to deliver goods today. There happened to be a large forest across from that factory. I used the slingshot that Brother Zhuzi helped me make last time. The projectiles were made by Xiaoning and you."

I'm treating you and Brother Zhu to dinner today. Brother Zhu treated me a few times before, so I'm returning the favor today. But I'll have to trouble Brother Zhu to cook, because I'm not very good at it.

Let me clarify first: I'm only providing the ingredients; Brother Zhu will show off his cooking skills.

Sister Yan and the others, please help out. Auntie, I've also invited Uncle Qi; he'll be coming to visit later.

We need to steam extra steamed buns tonight.

Today I'm also treating my sworn brothers, Ma Qiang and Ma San. Ma San is being discharged from the hospital today, so I'll give him a little treat too.

Seeing so much food, Sha Zhu was overjoyed and quickly agreed: "Brother, you're really amazing. No problem, I'll go home and get the seasonings right away. I guarantee everyone will have a good meal."

"Rain, come home with me first to boil two kettles of water, then bring them over in a bit. Auntie, you also need to boil some water, otherwise it'll be quite troublesome to remove and clean these things."

Upon hearing this, Qi Yulan quickly nodded: "Okay, I'll get some water right away."

Yang Dalin then said, "Auntie, Brother Zhu, Sister Yan, Yushui, Xiaoning, then I'll trouble you all. I'll take Ma San home to tidy up first. No one has lived in his house for several days. I'll go and light the stove first, and I'll come back in a bit. I'll just wait to eat what's ready."

Qi Yulan and Sha Zhu understood immediately and told him to take Ma San home to pack up. Qi Yulan added, "If Sanqiang needs anything, just come back and get it. Oh, and I have a new pair of shoes that I made. They might be a bit big. They were originally for you, but Sanqiang can wear them first."

As she spoke, Qi Yulan returned to her bedroom, took out a pair of new cotton shoes, and handed them to Ma San.

Ma San initially refused, but Yang Dalin shoved the shoe into his hand and said, "Take it if I tell you to. Come on, let me go to your house first."

After saying that, he led Ma San out of the house.

Ma San held the cotton shoes tightly in his arms, feeling very warm inside.

Upon arriving at courtyard number 94, Yang Dalin discovered that its layout was similar to that of courtyard number 95.

However, many people in the courtyard were at home cooking and eating at this time, and it was getting dark, so there weren't many people outside the courtyard.

Occasionally, I would see Ma San and say hello.

Ma San lives in the south side room of the east wing of the backyard of No. 94 courtyard.

That's right, he only has one small side room. The three main rooms in the east wing used to belong to his family, but when his eldest and second eldest brothers got married, they exchanged them for other houses.

They changed four rooms, two for each of their two families, and left one side room for the younger brother, Ma San.

The two families moved a little further away, and then the famine struck, so the two older brothers rarely took care of Ma San anymore.

Even when Ma San was hospitalized, Yang Dalin heard that his two older brothers and two sisters-in-law did not show up.

These two are really great "brother and sister-in-law".

Opening the door to the side room, although there was no musty smell, the furnishings inside were very simple.

Ma Sanqiang lit an oil lamp, not because he didn't want to turn on the electric light, but because his house didn't have an electric light.

Yang Dalin glanced at Ma Qiang's room and noticed a strange smell.

This side room is a bit bigger because it's part of a large courtyard; otherwise, it would be even smaller.

The room is only eleven or twelve square meters.

At the very back was a kang (a heated brick bed), and the quilt on it was covered in blackened fabric. There were also some tattered clothes on the kang.

There was also a small cabinet on the kang (a heated brick bed), and the cabinet looked quite dilapidated.

There was a pile of junk on the ground next to the kang (heated brick bed), probably picked up by Ma San. To be honest, there was no way to put your feet down in this room.

There was a small stove on the right side of the entrance, which could be used to burn honeycomb briquettes, but it wasn't lit at the moment, so the room had a chilly feel.

Next to the small stove by the window was a small table propped up with bricks. On the table was a set of bowls and chopsticks, the bowls were broken, and there was a small earthenware jar. There wasn't even a decent pot. There was no kitchen knife in sight, but there was a small knife that had been modified into a kitchen knife.

There were also some other bottles and jars, probably containing salt or something similar.

Even worse off than Xu Lingjun, who at least had a small aluminum pot for cooking porridge, Ma San didn't even have a pot and could only cook with an earthenware pot.

In those days, the Great Leap Forward had just passed, and people had also experienced the era of eating communal meals. Many families donated their pots and pans.

There are many more people like Ma San in rural areas who can't afford a new pot.

Yang Dalin stood at the door and told Ma San to go find a neighbor to exchange some coal briquettes so that he could start a fire in the house.

Unfortunately, Yang Dalin didn't see his honeycomb briquettes, so Yang Dalin took out ten yuan and gave it to him: "Go find your neighbor and buy a few."

Ma San declined, saying, "Brother, no need. I have money. I'll heat the kang (heated brick bed) tonight, that'll do. When cooking, I'll just burn some firewood."

Yang Dalin glanced at the roof again. Well, the roof was already blackened by soot.

Yang Dalin wouldn't let him refuse: "Alright, take it if you want. Don't light firewood indoors anymore. Buy some honeycomb briquettes from the neighbors first, then borrow Grandpa Qi's tricycle tomorrow and buy some coal briquettes."

It's not legal for one person to make do with living alone.

What if you get carbon monoxide poisoning if the fireworks haven't completely cleared by night? Go quickly!

Ma San took the money Yang Dalin gave him and went to find his neighbor.

Yang Dalin didn't mind the mess in the house and started to tidy it up for him.

The room wasn't big, and there was a lot of junk that Ma San had collected, such as coal nuggets, piled up in the middle.

This kid is really not afraid of starting a fire.

If it really catches fire, this kid is finished.

Yang Dalin helped him clear a lot of things to the eaves at the door.

They also opened the other party's grain jar, which contained only some dark, gooey substance, estimated to weigh about four or five pounds.

It seems this child used to rely on cooking this for food.

A short while later, Yang Dalin saw him return with an old man.

The old man behind him was holding a half-burnt coal ball with fire tongs.

Behind him, Ma San carried ten intact honeycomb briquettes and piled them on a wooden board.

Ma San introduced Yang Dalin to Grandpa Wang, who lived in the west wing across from his house and usually took good care of him.

Yang Dalin greeted Grandpa Wang.

Grandpa Wang explained, "It's Sanqiang's good fortune to have found such a good older brother like you. We who live across the street have heard about your character, Dalinzi. Please take care of him more often. Although we in the neighborhood can occasionally help Ma San, we are all struggling financially, so please don't blame us for not being able to help much."

After saying that, he even tried to return the ten yuan to Yang Dalin intact.

It seems the other party doesn't want the money, but he can only provide ten briquettes.

Yang Dalin knew that everyone was struggling; they were all large families, and everyone was facing difficulties.

Yang Dalin told the other party to accept the money no matter what, no matter how much it was.

I can't just take it for free, otherwise I'll feel bad if Ma San asks me for help again in the future.

Grandpa Wang didn't say anything to Yang Dalin, but in the end he still took the money and went home to get change.

Yang Dalin continued to help Ma San clean up the garbage in the house and told him, "Take all the junk in the house outside. Sell what you can sell, and burn what you can't. Don't pile it up inside the house, or it will cause trouble if it starts a fire."

Ma San was very obedient. He put the coal briquettes in the stove and nodded in agreement, "I know, brother."

There wasn't much usable stuff in the pile of junk. Picking up junk back then was different from how it is in later generations; many people didn't litter. However, while tidying up, Yang Dalin found a broken table leg that looked pretty good.

It felt heavy in his hand, and Yang examined it under the oil lamp.

The wood was painted with a layer of red paint, so you couldn't tell it was wood at all.

Although I don't know what kind of wood it is, this table leg must be made of good wood.

This amount is clearly incorrect.

It's much heavier than normal wood.

Yang Dalin placed the table legs on the kang (a heated brick bed) and set them aside, intending to take them back later to study them.