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

Yang Dalin tapped Zhao Yumin again: "You get out of here too, Zhao Yu'e. I only do it once every two weeks, and I'm not tired anymore."

At most once a month, look how much you can eat.

In one meal, they devoured eight wild rabbits, five pheasants, and so many sea fish and freshwater fish.

I'll treat you to this once a month, you should be content.

Zhao Yumin thought about it and realized that having his boss prepare so many things would indeed bring in a lot of money if sold on the black market.

Zhao Yumin's eyes lit up: "Boss, I didn't expect we ate so much in one meal. How about this, next time we each pay for our meals and split the cost?"

Otherwise, you could treat everyone; these things would fetch at least a hundred dollars on the black market.

Liu Haiyang and his group weren't just people who wanted to take advantage of others. Besides, none of them were short of money; they all came from military officer families, so none of them were short of money.

They quickly chimed in, "That's right, we should pay for it. We can't let the boss spend all the money."

I think we shouldn't do it next time. Let's just pay for it this time and split the cost among ourselves.

We can't let the boss suffer such a huge loss.

Seeing that these young men still had some conscience, Yang Dalin quickly stood up, waved his hand, and said, "Alright, it's enough that you have the intention."

Let's let it go this time.

Next time we have a get-together, everyone should contribute something. It doesn't have to be fancy, just bring whatever you have.

Don't take too much; you all have older brothers, older sisters, younger brothers, and younger sisters in your families.

Once a month is enough for us.

But I might not be able to catch any rabbits or pheasants next time, I'll see what I can get and take it.

Yang Dalin certainly wouldn't just keep giving, even though he could get a lot of things and could easily afford to feed these dozen or so little monkeys.

But he doesn't quite understand the principle of "a small favor is appreciated, but a large favor is resented."

If you're only contributing when everyone's having fun, then you'll just be a sucker from now on.

True friendship requires mutual effort, not one-sided giving.

Zhao Yumin finally finished eating and let out a burp full of meat flavor, saying, "Boss, we brought quite a lot of stuff this time."

After saying that, he grabbed a handful of cooled ashes from the ground, wiped his hands, took his schoolbag off his bicycle, and, ignoring his dirty hands, opened it to show Yang Dalin: "Look, boss, I brought all the meat I bought at home, and some canned goods too. Please accept them, boss."

The others, without even wiping their hands, held up their bags and backpacks and said in unison, "Boss, we brought these too, please accept them."

Yang Dalin was quite satisfied with this scene.

He continued to refuse, saying, "Alright, you might have been stealing ingredients from your home this time. Take them all back today."

Next time, tell your family in advance so they won't take it secretly.

Zhao Yu'e is saying to you, "The meat your family bought was meant for the whole family, and you stole it all. Your mother must be worried sick right now."

You'll be eating bamboo shoots stir-fried with pork when you get back.

And Liu Haiyan, what are you carrying? Moutai liquor? Did you steal your dad's treasured collection? Be careful, you'll get a beating when you get back.

And you…

What is this? An egg? Wow, aren't you afraid of breaking it?

And you…

you……

Everyone take these home with you. I'm happy to treat you all this time, since we're all good buddies. Next time, tell your families in advance so your aunt can prepare things for you. Don't do this sneaky thing.

Otherwise, when you go home, your uncles and aunts will definitely not let you play with me anymore.

"Put them all away."

Liu Haiyang and Zhao Yumin tried to persuade Yang Dalin to accept the gift, but Yang Dalin kicked them twice each before they gave up.

After finishing his meal, Yang Dalin boiled another kettle of water.

I made a bowl of tea for everyone.

There were no cups, of course, but Yang Dalin brought a set of pots, pans, and utensils.

He specially prepared twenty bowls, which can now be used as teacups.

I grabbed a handful of tea leaves and put them directly into the kettle.

First, have everyone wash their hands thoroughly.

Each person had a bowl of hot tea behind them, looking incredibly content.

Wang Xiaohai's father loved drinking tea. He squeezed over with his bowl and asked, "Brother, what kind of tea is this? It's even better than my dad's."

Yang Dalin has signed up for these top-quality teas; they're definitely better than what his father drinks.

Many cadres may be able to eat their fill, but they lack tea, cigarettes, alcohol, and other necessities.

Tea was also in short supply.

In addition, the severe drought killed many tea trees, some of which were then exported to earn foreign exchange.

Many officials don't even have access to good tea.

Yang Dalin explained, "I don't know either. I helped someone while driving, and he insisted on giving it to me."

Looking at Wang Xiaohai, I thought I'd get some for his dad.

Whether the young man was genuinely filial or had ulterior motives, he asked in a low voice, "Boss, do you have any more tea leaves? I'll trade you something for some so I can give some to my dad later."

"Let's try to avoid getting beaten up next time."

Yang Dalin knew from his expression that the boy wanted something, and sure enough, he did.

Yang Dalin asked him, "What did you do wrong just because you came to the dinner party?"

Wang Xiaohai said with a bitter face, "No, boss, I brought his precious tea canister before I came here today."

I was even planning to brew his tea after dinner.

I didn't expect your tea to be so much better than his.

I'm just afraid of getting caught when I go back and getting beaten up.

Yang Dalin laughed heartily. These kids are really naughty. Some stole the meat that his family had just bought that morning, some took the wine that his father had hidden, some took canned food, some took cigarettes, and Wang Xiaohai stole his father's tea leaves.

They are all truly talented individuals.

After laughing, Yang Dalin said, "Okay, I'll get you some later. I don't have much, so your dad can drink less."

And don't hoard anything on the way.

Wang Xiaohai downed the tea in his bowl in one gulp and said, "Don't worry, boss, I won't hold back. Thank you, boss."

"I'll get you my dad's tea right now and we can exchange it."

Yang Dalin stopped him: "No need to exchange it, it'll be given to you in a bit. You said it yourself, your dad's tea isn't good, not as good as mine, why would I exchange it?"

Wang Xiaohai said awkwardly, "Then how can this be appropriate, boss?"

Yang Dalin could tell he was just pretending, and even felt embarrassed, so he kicked him in the butt: "Alright, stop pretending. Do you have any tissues in your bag? I'll wrap some up for you."

Wang Xiaohai said cheerfully, "Yes, yes, the boss is coming right away."

After speaking, he ran away.

As soon as Wang Xiaohai ran away, Liu Haiyang and the others stared longingly at Yang Dalin.

One should not show favoritism, so in the end Yang Dalin gave each of them two ounces of tea to take back with them.

This time, they bought more than two kilograms of top-quality tea.

Yang Dalin finally cursed angrily: "You bunch of bastards, you ended up taking advantage of everyone, didn't you?"

I truly regret knowing you guys. Now that you've eaten and drunk your fill, hurry up and pack your bags and go home.

Everyone put away the tea leaves and one extra fish each.

They helped Yang Dalin clean up the mess on the ground.

The fire was extinguished with the remaining warm water.

One by one, they happily went home.