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

The master and apprentice laughed heartily for a while.

Yang Dalin suggested, "Such a happy occasion, Brother Tian should go find the other party tonight and have some fun."

"An acquaintance in Pigeon City has good wine and lamb chops."

Tian Xueyi immediately understood. He pulled out twenty yuan from his pants. This was Qi Desheng's secret stash, which Tian Xueyi had stolen last time.

This exists in Tian Xueyi's case.

Tian Xueyi handed it to Yang Dalin: "Okay, take this and buy it for me. Just give it to me after get off work this afternoon."

Yang Dalin happily took the money and stuffed it into his pocket: "Don't worry, Brother Tian, ​​I'll give it to you right after get off work."

Actually, all the good wine and food that Yang Dalin mentioned were things he checked in on his social media platform.

Yang Dalin occasionally shows a little bit of his true colors.

The main trading partners were Brother Tian and Qi Desheng.

Besides, Yang Dalin sold them very cheaply.

With twenty yuan these days, without a ration coupon, you could only buy three jin (1.5 kg) of meat at most on the black market, and you might not even be able to get fatty meat.

Yang Dalin, on the contrary, gave the other party more than three pounds of braised meat.

Not to mention they also gave us two bottles of good wine.

Tian Xueyi knew the value was mismatched, but he just assumed Yang Dalin had connections and never asked any further questions.

They won't need a lot of it.

If a large quantity is required, Tian Xueyi fears that Yang Dalin might not have that much influence.

It's one thing if someone gives you a discount of two or three pounds of meat at a time, but you still have the nerve to ask for large quantities?

That's obviously a real idiot.

I worked hard all afternoon.

Yang Dalin took a short walk outside and handed a bag to Tian Xueyi.

Tian Xueyi received it but didn't open it.

I rode my bike straight home first, left some lamb chops for my wife and kids, and then went to find Qi Gou Xiong for drinks.

Qi Desheng had just arrived home when Tian Xueyi came to his door with a shoulder bag.

I thought Mr. Tian had a change of heart.

We welcomed Tian Xueyi in with pleasure.

"What's up? You want to drink with me again?"

Qi Desheng asked.

"Yeah, I just wanted to have a drink with you. What, you're not welcome? If you're not welcome, then I'll leave!"

Tian Xueyi didn't tolerate Qi Desheng at all, nor did he give him a kind look.

Qi Desheng quickly grabbed Tian Xueyi: "Hey, Lao Tian, ​​Lao Tian, ​​how could we not welcome you?"

"Come sit down, I'll get you a chair."

Gong Xuemei was busy cooking and didn't care about the two of them fooling around.

These two are comrades-in-arms, so it's okay if they fight.

So I poured Tian Xueyi a cup of tea and then busied myself cooking.

Tian Xueyi first took out two bottles of wine and placed them on the table. Then he handed two oil paper packages from his satchel to Qi Desheng, asking him to take them to his sister-in-law and help chop up the lamb chops later. He also asked Qi Desheng to put the other oil paper package on a plate.

Tian Xueyi hugged Qi Desheng's children and played with the little ones.

The two of them didn't rush to drink. They waited until Gong Xuemei had set the food on the table before eating with everyone.

Qi Desheng's children ate quite a few of the lamb chops.

Gong Xuemei also ate some.

The two of them each ate a few bites.

They both knew how to cherish women and children.

It's okay to eat a little meat; we can slowly drink it with peanuts. Yang Dalin even gave us the peanuts.

Otherwise, that little bit of lamb chops wouldn't be enough to eat.

Gong Xuemei wanted to prepare another snack for them to go with their drinks, but Tian Xueyi stopped her.

Two people can have some peanuts to go with their drinks.

This is already very good. Even if there were only a few pickled vegetable strips, let alone peanuts, the two of us would still drink it without any problem.

Back in the day, they were still on the battlefield, drinking foreign liquor with iron nails.

Those were captured by our comrades on the front lines; the canned food and other groceries were given to the wounded.

Their comrade gave them a bottle of foreign liquor, but they had no snacks to go with it.

Qi Desheng found two iron nails, one for each of them.

With a sip of liquor and a lick of an iron nail, these two finished off a whole bottle of foreign liquor.

If it were a bottle of liquor, neither of them would get to drink it, because liquor is used to clean wounds.

This is a bottle of imported liquor, not very strong.

Only then did the two of them have the chance to consume everything in one go.

Gong Xuemei knew about this; the two of them had brought it up many times.

As the two men drank, they were about to bring up the past of so many comrades who had already sacrificed their lives.

Gong Xuemei was afraid that they would be upset, so she took the initiative to tell them about the house in Dalinzi to change the subject.

Gong Xuemei said, "I asked around and found out that there is a technician from our department in the next alley, not far from my house."

He was a native of old Beijing, and his family lived in a very large house.

It consists of a main house and an east wing room in a courtyard.

The west wing and the rear building were allocated to people from our unit.

The main house has three rooms plus two side rooms, and the east wing has three rooms.

There is another toilet in the northwest corner.

Two families lived in the back room and the west wing.

He only has his wife and himself left.

They only have one child who works in another city, is married there, owns a house, and rarely comes back.

His wife's health isn't very good either, so they want to move to a smaller house, which would be easier to clean.

"I can still afford to add some money and get some good medicine for my wife."

Qi Desheng thought, "That's a good idea."

The main house plus the east wing has six large rooms, plus two small side rooms, so Yang Dalin can now live much more comfortably.

If we get married and have three or five children in the future, we'll still have enough space to live together.

Qi Desheng took a sip of wine and put down his glass, saying, "The three main rooms plus the east wing are about 60 or 70 square meters, plus two side rooms, so it's at least 80 or 90 square meters."

"Dalinzi's apartment is only 42 square meters. That's almost the price of three additional rooms?"

Gong Xuemei chimed in: "You can't really count it that way. After all, it's a new house for an old one. Besides, his east wing was meant for his son, but his son went to study in another city and hasn't lived there much for many years. It probably needs some repairs."

I estimate the cost would be about the same as replacing two rooms.

I only made a brief inquiry today. Tomorrow I'll find some time to go with Meimei (Tian Xueyi's wife) to take a look and discuss the price.

It shouldn't cost much to replace; the main thing is to do some repairs, add some furniture, and that will cost some more money.

Let's say 400 yuan for one room, 800 yuan for two rooms, plus repairs and some other things, it will probably cost more than 1,000 yuan.

We'll give Dalinzi 1,000 yuan first, and Xueyi will pay the rest.

That's more than enough.

It's close to our house, so you three brothers will have someone to drink with now.

After hearing this, Tian Xueyi said, "Sister-in-law, you don't need to contribute so much. You can contribute eight hundred, and I'll cover the rest."

I'll tell Meimei when I get back.

Tell her to wait for you tomorrow, and you can go ask her together.

Qi Desheng didn't dare say a word; his wife made the decision herself and even offered to contribute a thousand yuan.

It's pitiful that I have a hard time getting ten yuan of pocket money, and I have to explain what I'm going to do with it.

What a terrible thing to do.

The two of them finished both bottles of wine. The wine was quite good today; it didn't make them feel drunk at all. They each had a bottle, and neither of them had a headache, except for feeling a little dizzy.

As Qi Desheng saw Tian Xueyi off, he kept saying, "Xueyi, this wine is good today, it doesn't make you feel drunk at all. Buy this wine again next time."

You've treated me today, I'll treat you next time.

As Tian Xueyi walked to the door, he turned back and said with a smile, "No need for next time, this time it's your treat."

Qi Desheng instantly sobered up: "Damn it, you spent my money again, didn't you?"

Tian Xueyi whispered to him, "Keep your voice down, or your sister-in-law behind you will hear."

After saying that, Tian Xueyi took off running.

Qi Desheng was left behind, feeling dejected, and looked back to find nothing there.