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

Yang Dalin had a habit of drinking alcohol while simultaneously pouring himself a cup of tea, alternating between a sip of wine and a sip of tea.

This is a habit he brought from his hometown in his previous life.

It's okay to drink alcohol at a dinner party, but you'll definitely drink a lot of tea.

This way you get drunk more slowly and can drink more.

Of course, some people don't do that. There's a teacup on the table, but they don't drink much water after the drinking session ends.

Individuals have different physical constitutions and habits.

Anyway, in Yang Dalin's hometown, adults always have a habit of drinking a cup of jasmine tea with their drinks.

They chatted while drinking.

A drinking session can last for several hours.

Sha Zhu was about to slide down again when Yang Dalin pulled him back.

Ma San also brought over the water.

Fortunately, the water in the cup wasn't too hot. Yang Dalin said to Sha Zhu, "Brother Zhu, have some water and calm down before you talk."

When Sha Zhu heard that he was going to drink water, he finally stopped making a fuss about kneeling, picked up the teacup, and drank it all in one gulp.

Seeing this, Ma San refilled his bowl.

The usually drunken Sha Zhu finally stopped shouting about becoming sworn brothers.

Yang Dalin was about to change the subject when Ma San asked again, "Brother Dalin, shall we still become sworn brothers?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Sha Zhu was about to get up again, but Yang Dalin stopped Ma San from speaking and pressed Sha Zhu down, saying, "Brother Zhu, you two listen to me."

This thing is just a formality.

We don't need to learn this.

Sha Zhu's mind might have cleared up a little, but he still stammered as he said, "Da Linzi, how can it just be a formality?"

Look at the Oath of the Peach Garden.

The three brothers, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, were very loyal and righteous.

It has been sung to this day and praised for generations.

Yang Dalin thought to himself, "We think we can emulate the Oath of the Peach Garden?"

You're overthinking it. Besides, in Yang Dalin's mind, the Oath of the Peach Garden was mostly about Liu Bei using Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

If it weren't for his own path to hegemony, would the big-eared thief have become sworn brothers with those two?

Of course, this is just one perspective.

Everyone is willing to sing about the friendship between the three brothers.

But in this day and age, forming sworn brotherhoods is like thugs and gangsters; if you really want to support each other, there's absolutely no need to go through this formality.

In Yang Dalin's previous life, there was also a neighbor's son in his hometown who became sworn brothers with someone else.

As a result, he usually just drinks and eats meat, but he can't help when something happens.

Of course, it's not absolute; some people do have a good relationship with sworn brothers.

It's hard to say.

So Yang Dalin said, "Brother Zhu, San'er, listen to me."

In our area, we don't need to pay attention to that kind of behavior.

The Oath of the Peach Garden is indeed a timeless masterpiece.

However, for most people, becoming sworn brothers is not necessarily a good thing.

Let me tell you a few stories.

When Ma San and Sha Zhu heard that Yang Dalin was going to tell a story, they listened attentively.

Seeing that both of them were willing to listen, Yang Dalin said, "Let's talk about that guy, Er Tuzi, first."

He had more than a dozen sworn brothers.

For example, he and Zhang Xiaoliu from Northeast China were sworn brothers.

As a result, Zhang Xiaoliu was tricked several times.

In the end, Zhang Xiaoliu was placed under house arrest for many years.

He's still being held captive by Er Tuzi.

There's also Commander Feng from the Northwest, who was also Er Tuzi's sworn brother. Er Tuzi really screwed him over badly.

And then there's Song Jiang from Water Margin, right?

This guy had even more sworn brothers, but in order to become an official, Song Jiang killed even more of his brothers.

Of the 108 heroes, very few died peacefully; most perished, including 59 who died in the campaign against Fang La.

There are many such people in history, but the story of the Oath of the Peach Garden is more widely circulated because Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were known for their loyalty.

Both of them died in battle for their elder brother.

In fact, many of these sworn brotherhoods are unreliable.

So, if we truly want to support and help each other, we should just keep that in mind; whether we go through the formalities or not is meaningless.

Sha Zhu and Ma San probably only knew about sworn brothers being loyal to each other, and had never really heard of such an ending.

Both of them dropped out of school early and had low levels of education, so they only heard a lot of stories but never really studied them in depth.

Upon hearing this, Sha Zhu quickly asked, "Brother, is this really how the 108 heroes ended up?"

Seeing that Ma San was also looking at him curiously, Yang Dalin replied to the two of them, "Yes, why don't you find a copy of Water Margin to read?"

Both Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin are fictionalized versions, meaning they are novels that were rewritten and adapted by later generations.

It's not true history, but Song Jiang's final fate wasn't good either.

Therefore, we don't need to follow this approach at all; sincerity in return is enough.

Yang Dalin's words dampened the enthusiasm of both of them.

Ma San then asked Yang Dalin, "Brother Dalin, is it true that there's never a good ending for this kind of situation?"

Yang Dalin thought for a moment: "Yes, but not many. If you ask me to think of any, I really can't remember any right away."

Because at the beginning, when they became sworn brothers, they might have thought of each other, but as they got older, or as time went by, they had more personal thoughts.

Then the final outcome is hard to say.

Because later on, everyone might get married, have children, or have their own interests at stake; over time, their individual thoughts will evolve.

Yang Dalin's words likely greatly influenced the two men's desire to become sworn brothers.

The two men were so engrossed in talking about Yang Dalin that they stopped mentioning the sworn brotherhood.

In order not to discourage the two, Yang Dalin said, "Alright, these are all historical stories. Of course, there are actually many good examples of what people do in the folk."

It may not have spread.

There's a saying that goes, "The most ungrateful are often scholars, while the most righteous are often butchers."

Those are all big shots. We ordinary people don't have that many conflicts of interest, so it's often us ordinary people who are truly righteous.

Since neither of us is highly educated and we're not very shrewd, you two should remember this: some highly educated people are more cunning, so be careful when you interact with them in the future.

Of course, we don't come into contact with many people like that.

I just wanted to give you a heads-up.

Sha Zhu was willing to hang out with Yang Dalin because he felt he could learn a lot about how to handle things from Yang Dalin.

You can also hear many stories.

Who told Yang Dalin to spend his past life watching videos and reading novels, absorbing so much miscellaneous knowledge?

Hearing this, Sha Zhu said, "That's right, Da Linzi is right. Those are all big shots, all thinking about occupying territory and becoming kings. We are all small people, just trying to make a living. There's no need to think so much. Come on, brother, let's have another drink."

Yang Dalin and Sha Zhu clinked glasses again, saying, "That's right, why think so much? Come on, let's drink."

Ma San also raised his water glass and clinked it with the two men's.

After drinking for a while, seeing that Sha Zhu was really dizzy, Yang Dalin helped him onto the kang (a heated brick bed). The He family's kang had been prepared and heated for several days.

They covered him with a blanket and took Ma Sancai home.

After seeing Ma San off, Yang Dalin let out a long sigh of relief.

This silly Zhu really gets talkative when he drinks, rambling on and on.

She's pretty much like a gossipy woman.

Ma San gets drunk easily, so it seems we can't let him drink too much in the future.

After closing the gate, Yang Dalin returned home to rest.