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

Zhao Yumin took the things and said, "Boss, let's go home for lunch."

Also, why is the boss being so polite, bringing gifts?

You're too kind. Let me see what you have.

Liu Haiyang nudged Zhao Yumin and looked at Yang Dalin in a fawning manner, saying, "The boss came to your house as a guest, and you went through his bag directly. That's really outrageous."

"Let's welcome the eldest brother inside first; it's so cold outside."

The shameless Zhao Yumin stopped what he was doing, no longer rummaging through Yang Dalin's bag. He picked it up, grabbed Yang Dalin, and pulled him into the house, saying as they walked, "Yes, yes, boss, it's all my fault. Let's go inside, let's talk inside."

Yang Dalin was welcomed into the house by Liu Haiyang and Zhao Yumin.

Lieutenant Hu followed behind.

As soon as we entered Zhao Yumin's house, several people stood up simultaneously in the living room.

Officer Hu called out from behind, "Sir, I've brought Comrade Yang Dalin over."

One of the men, a dignified middle-aged man with a square face, said, "Okay, you can go back first. I'll call you later, and then you can come pick me up."

Lieutenant Hu shouted, "Yes, sir!"

Then he turned and left.

Two middle-aged men, both major generals, stood opposite Yang Dalin in the living room.

There was also a middle-aged woman wearing a sweater and military pants next to her.

There was also a girl and a boy looking at Yang Dalin together.

Yang Dalin spoke first, saying, "Hello, uncles, aunt, sister, and brother."

Yang Dalin kicked Zhao Yumin, as if to say, "Hurry up and introduce yourself to me."

Zhao Yumin then realized what was happening and pointed to the square-faced middle-aged man, saying, "Boss, let me introduce you. This is my dad, and this man next to him is Liu Haiyang's father."

Yang Dalin greeted Uncle Zhao and Uncle Liu respectively.

Zhao Yumin then pointed to the middle-aged woman and introduced her, saying, "This is my mother."

Yang Dalin greeted the smiling Zhao Ma with a "Hello, Auntie".

Zhao Yumin then pointed to the girl next to him and the boy who was looking at him curiously, and said, "This is my sister Zhao Yuqin, and the other one is my brother Zhao Yuming."

Yang Dalin also said hello, Sister Yuqin said hello, and Brother Yuming said hello.

Aunt Zhao reacted quickly, stepping forward to take Yang Dalin's hand and saying, "Dalin, right? Okay, okay, come and sit down. Welcome to our home."

"Look how polite you are, you even brought a gift?"

Yang Dalin snatched the bag from Zhao Yumin's hand and took out two bottles of Fenjiu liquor, placing them on the living room table: "Uncle Zhao, this is my first time visiting, so I brought you two bottles of Fenjiu liquor."

I didn't know Uncle Liu was here too. I'll add Uncle Liu's information next time.

Mr. Zhao, with his square face, glanced at the wine and said politely, "Thank you very much, Dalin."

Meanwhile, Liu's father, who had a long face, said, "No need to be so polite, Dalin. You just started working and aren't well-off. It's enough that you can drink the wine you brought."

Yang Dalin took out another paper package wrapped in oil paper from his satchel and placed it on the table, saying, "Auntie, I was in a rush and didn't know what to bring you, so I brought two catties of pig's head meat as a snack with drinks. I'll make up for the gifts for you, your sister, and your brother next time."

Zhao Yumin and Liu Haiyang shouted from the side, "Boss, there are still the two of us!"

Zhao Ma didn't waste any time disciplining the two boys, giving each of them a shove: "What are you two making such a fuss about? Who asks for gifts on their own initiative?"

Get out of my way.

He then called out to Yang Dalin, "Dalin, sit down quickly, Yuming, make some tea for your brother Dalin."

Yang Dalin then sat down, wondering if he was mistaken, but he felt that Zhao Yumin's sister and brother were looking at him rather strangely.

Mr. Zhao and Mr. Liu sat down one after the other. Mr. Zhao took out a cigarette and asked Yang Dalin, "Dalin, want one?"

In this life, Yang Dalin rarely smokes anymore.

I only light one occasionally.

But if a general asks you if you want to smoke, especially in front of his wife and daughter, should I smoke or not?

If I don't smoke, I might have to keep smelling secondhand smoke for a while.

Besides, in this day and age, there doesn't seem to be any such rule about not smoking in front of women.

"Stop pretending," Yang Dalin quickly pulled out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from his bag, tore it open, and popped out a few: "Uncle Zhao, smoke one of these."

Zhao's father stopped him and pressed his hand down: "It's okay, just hit me with this, come on."

Upon seeing that it was a special supply for white people, Yang Dalin decided to put down his own Daqianmen.

These two are not comparable.

Yang Dalin quickly stood up, took the cigarette, and then used his own lighter to light it for his two uncles.

The two generals are probably not good at chatting about everyday things.

The three men smoked, the two generals remained silent, and Yang Dalin was at a loss for words.

Yang Dalin was quite embarrassed at this moment.

Seeing that the three of them were silent, Zhao Ma took the water that Zhao Yuming had poured and was about to place it in front of Yang Dalin.

Yang Dalin stood up and took it, saying, "Thank you, Auntie."

Aunt Zhao then pulled him down to sit: "No need to be so polite. You, Yumin, and Haiyang are good friends. When you come to Auntie's house, just make yourself at home."

Just be natural and open.

Yang Dalin thought to himself, "I want to be open and honest, but the two generals are staring at me the whole time. They're both corpses from the fire, and their eyes are terrifying. How can I be open and honest?"

Yang Dalin replied to Zhao Ma, "Okay, I understand, Auntie."

Then a brief silence fell again.

Seeing that the atmosphere was getting a bit awkward, Aunt Zhao tried to start a conversation again, saying, "Dalin, I heard you're already working at your age, not in school anymore?"

Yang Dalin nodded: "Yes, Auntie. I didn't finish junior high school back home. I came to Beijing and stayed at my Aunt Qi's house. Her family was under a lot of pressure, so I went out to earn money."

Otherwise, it would be too difficult for Aunt Qi to support the three of us by herself.

Yang Dalin wasn't sure if they knew about his family's situation, but he still gave a brief explanation.

Actually, Zhao Ma knew a little about Yang Dalin's family situation.

It was Zhao's father who told me this last night.

Aunt Zhao agreed, saying, "That's right, your aunt is under a lot of pressure, but you're a very sensible child. You're not going to school at this age, but instead helping your aunt. You're a good child."

Yang Dalin didn't know how much the two families knew about his situation, but he still took the initiative to tell them.

"It's all as it should be. My aunt Qi is my savior. We people from Shandong Province believe in repaying kindness, so I must repay the kindness of my aunt's family."

Besides, I'm not a good student, so it doesn't really matter whether I go to school or not. It's good to be able to start working and earning money as soon as possible to ease my aunt's burden.

When Yang Dalin took the initiative to talk about the characteristics of people from Shandong Province, Liu's father chimed in, "Indeed, people from Shandong Province are quite particular and value relationships. I know quite a few people from Shandong Province, and many of my comrades-in-arms are also from your province. They are cheerful, hospitable, and incredibly loyal to their friends. After all, it is the hometown of Confucius and Mencius."

When Yang Dalin heard Liu's father mention the hometown of Confucius and Mencius, he frowned slightly.

As a native of Shandong Province, Confucius is the pride of Shandong. But after reading so many novels from the late Ming Dynasty, Yang Dalin knows all too well what kind of people Confucius's descendants are.