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

Hearing the commotion from Yang Dalin's side, Master Zhang came over and asked from behind, "What's wrong, Dalin? What happened?"

Yang Dalin turned his head and said, "It's nothing, Brother Zhang, they're just two kids."

Master Zhang also jumped up, climbed onto the wall, and took a look.

Yang Dalin and Master Zhang jumped down the wall together. Yang Dalin asked him, "Master Zhang, I have some steamed buns that my family made. Could you give them two?"

Yang Dalin was still very cautious and asked Master Zhang first.

Master Zhang is experienced after all.

It's not that people don't have a kind heart, but Brother Tian told him that sometimes, if you see someone in a pitiful situation and give them some food, it might attract a lot of disaster victims in a short time.

They had previously encountered situations where they were surrounded by disaster victims and unable to move.

Another possibility is that food was given out, but it was then snatched away by other disaster victims, leading to fights.

Therefore, it was reasonable for Yang Dalin to ask Master Zhang first.

Master Zhang glanced at the two poor children again through the cross-view window.

He whispered, "I have some steamed buns too. We can give them to them later, after we finish eating. When they leave, we can give them to them quietly, but not too many. We can let them finish eating in front of us before they leave. That should be fine."

Yang Dalin thought to himself that the veteran workers were the ones with the most experience.

Then Yang Dalin said to the two children who were still looking at his truck with curiosity, "You two can play here, it's okay. I have some candy here, I'll give you each a piece."

Then Yang Dalin took out two pieces of fruit candy from his pocket, peeled them for them, and put one in each person's mouth through the cross window.

Those two little guys had too dirty hands, so I didn't let them take over.

Perhaps the sweetness stimulated them, because the two children, who were initially a little scared, started smiling.

After glancing at the vehicle and finding nothing amiss, Mr. Zhang returned to his car.

Yang Dalin stood against the wall and asked the two children, "Where are you from?"

Where is home?

Where are the adults?

The older of the two children, presumably the older sister, replied, "We're from Sanlipu in the north. My grandpa's lying at home."

"We came here for fun, and sometimes Uncle Bai from the restaurant would bring us some food."

Hearing that only his grandfather was there and was still lying at home, lying there in broad daylight, Yang Dalin was a little alarmed.

He quickly asked the little girl, "How long has your grandpa been lying down? Why is he lying at home in broad daylight?"

The little girl said, "My grandpa said that lying down saves food and you won't get hungry if you don't move. He even went to the outhouse when we went out."

Yang Dalin was relieved to hear this, thinking that the child's grandfather should be alright.

The two children were just hungry and ran out.

Yang Dalin didn't ask where their parents had gone; perhaps they had fled famine, perhaps...

As long as they have a grandfather to take care of them, that's enough.

The little girl, with candy in her mouth, saw that Yang Dalin didn't speak, so she cautiously asked him, "Big brother, can you give me the candy wrapper? I want to wrap the candy in my mouth and take it to my grandpa."

When Yang Dalin was peeling the candy for them, he simply threw the candy wrappers under the corner of the wall on his side.

To prevent them from getting their hands dirty, I didn't let them take the candy directly; I just peeled it and stuffed it into their mouths.

Hearing this, Yang Dalin couldn't help but feel sad. He had never seen such scenes in his previous life.

He took a deep breath, then took another piece out of his pocket and handed it to her: "You can eat the one in your mouth. Here's another one for you. Hide it well and don't tell anyone, okay?"

The little girl is very sensible and filial, but it's heartbreaking.

She carefully took it and hid it in her sleeve.

She patted it with her little hands, bent her arms, and said with a smile, "This way it won't fall."

Seeing that she had hidden it in her sleeve instead of her pocket, Yang Dalin said, "Okay, as long as you've hidden it well."

Because Yang Dalin had already noticed that the child's pocket was leaking, he wisely didn't ask any questions.

Yang Dalin then asked her, "Who is this 'Grandpa Bai' you're talking about?"

The little girl said, "Grandpa Bai is the head chef here. He can cook very well, and the food is delicious. Sometimes when we are so hungry that we can't stand it, we come here to wait for him. Sometimes he will give us half a cornbread, a bite of steamed bun, a sweet potato, a potato, or something like that. Once, he even gave us a piece of meat."

That meat smelled so good.

I will never forget it.

After she finished speaking, the little boy next to the little girl kept nodding.

Yang Dalin was a little saddened to hear the joke about how the two siblings remembered it for so long, but he still forced a smile and said, "How old are you? 'A lifetime'? How old are you? Is this your brother?"

The little girl said, "I'm seven years old, and this is my brother, he's six."

Yang Dalin chatted casually with his two siblings.

Soon, Brother Tian and the others finished eating and came to relieve Yang Dalin, letting him go in for a meal.

Of course, Brother Tian also spotted the two children immediately.

Yang Dalin explained the situation to him and also mentioned Master Zhang's suggestion.

Brother Tian said, "Okay, let's do it the way you've discussed."

"Go eat first, then get them some dry rations."

Yang Dalin also told the two children to wait for him, and then went to eat.

Eating in this place requires national food coupons, which Yang Dalin has plenty of in his space.

Unfortunately, I dare not take out too much.

The meals were simple: one person got a bowl of stir-fried cabbage with pork cracklings, and the steamed buns were made from a mixture of wheat and pork.

Even the two kids outside can't get any food.

Yang Dalin finished eating quickly and asked the restaurant staff where Chef Bai was.

Master Bai wasn't very busy; he heard someone was looking for him.

He quickly came out of the kitchen and met a young man he didn't recognize.

Master Bai wiped one hand with his apron and asked him, "Who are you?"

Yang Dalin briefly introduced himself, handed him a cigarette, and asked about the two children outside.

Master Bai said, "Those two children are from my wife's village. Their parents died of illness. Their older brother took his younger sister and his second uncle's family to the Northeast to escape famine. They were too young, so their older brother didn't take them with him. Only the two younger ones were left to live with their grandfather."

Their grandmother passed away long ago.

The first time I met them, the two of them were outside the wall smelling the aroma from the kitchen.

I felt sorry for the two children.

I would occasionally help them out, but the food in the canteen was limited, so I could only occasionally share some of it with them from my own meals.

My family has many children, so it's like a drop in the ocean; we can't spare much more.

Yang Dalin looked at the lean man in front of him and thought, "Aren't chefs supposed to be fat?"

The chef in front of you is not fat at all.

She is also a kind-hearted person.

Moreover, Master Bai seems to walk with a slight limp.

Yang Dalin didn't ask him what happened to his foot.

Once you've found out the situation of the two children, that's good.

Yang Dalin thought to himself that he had a lot of national grain coupons in his space, and it would be good to leave some for Master Bai to help them out occasionally.

Master Bai is also facing difficulties.

The tickets were obtained through scrambling, so it's good to use them for charity.

But I didn't dare take too much.

Yang Dalin also asked Master Bai to call a colleague to be a witness.

Otherwise, let alone saying he didn't understand, he took out five jin of national grain coupons and five yuan.

It's not that I don't have the money, it's that I don't dare to spend too much.