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

At this time, Grandma Jinhai from the East House also offered Yang Dalin a few words of advice.

Yang Dalin recounted his experience of fleeing famine to the city, being taken in by a kind family, and even finding a job there.

Yang Jinhai was an honest and kind man, and he patted him on the shoulder: "Good boy, you're lucky to have made a name for yourself over there. Just work hard and treat your aunt well."

If I miss home in the future, I'll come back to visit whenever I have time.

"When it's convenient, we'll move your grandmother's grave back to our hometown."

Yang Dalin nodded.

Then Grandma asked again, "Child, are you hungry? Haven't you eaten? I'll go and cook you something to eat."

Yang Dalin stopped her and said, "Second Grandma, I ate at the commune. Don't worry, I won't go hungry. There's grain to eat."

Yang Dalin didn't dare to waste too much time. He stood the sack on the ground upright, untied it, and whispered, "Second Grandma, Grandpa Jinhai, I came in a hurry this time. I brought you a bag of dried sweet potatoes and twenty catties of cornmeal. Please keep them safe."

If you encounter any difficulties in the future, please write to me again.

Yang Jinhai and his second grandmother were somewhat shocked by the amount of food.

Even though dried sweet potatoes don't taste good, they're still better than elm bark.

Their family was better off because they had two strong able-bodied men, unlike Yang Dalin whose parents died early.

Yang Dalin was raised by his grandmother alone.

However, Yang Jinhai also has three children, two daughters and one son, plus an elderly person, so life is very difficult for him.

None of the three children came out of the house, probably because they didn't have any cotton-padded clothes.

Yang Jinhai's younger brother, Yang Jinjiang, has a son and a daughter. He is considered filial and often brings food to his second grandmother.

But none of them have that much food left now.

This bag of food was a huge help to their family.

If you eat it sparingly, it can last for several months.

Add more other grains and wild vegetables to the pot then; it will last much longer.

Looking at all this food, Yang Jinhai wanted it, but he still said something heartwarming: "Dalinzi, this is too much, we can't take it. You take it back and eat it with your aunt and her family."

We still have food; we can manage.

Yang Dalin pressed down on Yang Jinhai's hand as he was about to re-tie the bag and said, "Uncle Jinhai, don't refuse."

I got this from someone in our commune. My colleagues all helped me collect it; they all get their own grain rations, so don't worry.

Take this as a precaution; I know the situation in the village.

"How about you trade some pears from your home for them?"

Yang Jinhai didn't expect Yang Dalin to have such a strong grip; he couldn't pull his hand away even if he tried.

He said helplessly, "Want to eat pears? That's easy. I'll go to the cellar and get you some. There are apples too."

"You can have as much as you want, why don't you change it? We're all family."

Yang Dalin explained, "Uncle Jin Hai, I'm not exchanging a little bit; I'm exchanging it for my unit. They're short of fruit there, and the fruit is very expensive."

So you can take it without worry. Go and call me, Uncle Jinjiang. These dried sweet potatoes are for both of your families, and the cornmeal is for my second grandmother.

You'll have to take me to the brigade leader's house later; I need to exchange a lot of things with him.

Our workplace has a lot of people, and we need as many pears and apples as you can get.

Yang Jinhai asked seriously, "Dalinzi, are you telling the truth?"

"We have plenty of pears and apples here. How many people are in your unit to need so many?"

Yang Dalin smiled and said, "Uncle Jin Hai, we are a railway construction unit with hundreds of thousands of employees nationwide. How many do you think we need?"

Not just our village, we could eat up the entire commune.

However, this time my colleagues and I were driving along the same route, so we couldn't bring back that many people. Besides, those hundreds of thousands of people are scattered all over the country. If there's something good, I'll definitely think of our village first.

When Yang Jinhai was young, he went to Hebei Province to exchange coal with another capable person from the Yang family, and he had seen railways.

I've also seen people building railways.

Unlike many rural people, he has never even been to the county town.

Their county only has a railway line a few dozen miles to the south, and many people basically don't go there or have ever seen it.

Yang Jinhai's expression improved considerably after Yang Dalin said that.

There are still several hundred kilograms of pears and a hundred kilograms of apples in the cellar at home.

This stuff doesn't keep you full, but it's better than nothing.

Moreover, pears are practically worthless in my hometown.

Because every village within a radius of several miles has one.

Unless you have the ability to safely transport it more than ten miles away, which is very difficult.

Not to mention the militia patrols during the day, this road is so bad that if you take too many people, you simply can't get through.

We don't know how many things will get damaged along the way.

There was a family on the east side of the village, two brothers, who would take some pears to exchange for grain dozens of miles to the north at night.

As a result, the leader got hit with a rifle butt and became an idiot.

At that time, everyone was timid and had no reliable way to move around, let alone transport the pears.

That could very well get you killed.

This resulted in many fruits either being eaten by oneself or spoiling.

Things might get a little better in the 1980s and 90s.

Because back then, you could travel more than ten miles to the market to sell your goods, or someone would come and buy them.

Yang Jinhai was overjoyed when he heard Yang Dalin's explanation: "Okay, I'll go and call your Uncle Jinjiang right now."

Then I'll take you to the brigade leader's house.

Yang Jinhai went to call for help, and Yang Dalin took out another five yuan and handed it to his second grandmother.

"Second Grandma, take this. Use it to buy some good food later."

Grandma Er tried her best to refuse, her eyes reddening as she said, "Child, you are so young, it's hard for you too. Grandma doesn't want it, it's good that you have this intention."

"It's a pity your grandmother didn't get to enjoy the blessings you've given her."

Yang Dalin then stuffed it into her hand: "Second Grandma, you keep it. I have some more, so take it in case of emergency."

I'll go to the inner room to check on Grandma Jinhai and my uncle and aunt.

Yang Jinhai's children, Yang Dalin, should call them uncle and aunt.

Yang Dalin called out to the inside, "Grandma Jinhai, I'm coming in."

Grandma Jinhai, who usually stays huddled under the covers in winter, is now wearing only a thin top and leaning against the wall.

The clothes weren't thick enough, making it inconvenient to get off the kang (heated brick bed).

If you catch a cold at this time and don't have money for treatment, it could be a matter of life and death.

Besides, they are elders; you can't just refuse to see them when they come.

A voice quickly came from inside: "Come in, Dalinzi."

As soon as Yang Dalin came in with the oil lamp, sure enough, Grandma Jinhai was wearing a thin jacket covered in patches, leaning against the headboard.

The other children also poked their heads out from under the covers.

Yang Dalin then called out to several children younger than himself: "Pinggu, Xiangshu, Jugu."

Several people exclaimed in surprise.

Then Yang Dalin took out a handful of candy from his pocket and handed it to Grandma Jinhai.

Let Grandma Jinhai distribute them: "Grandma Jinhai, sweeten your mouths."

Uncle Xiang is younger than Yang Dalin, but he is a generation older.

When they were children, Yang Daxiang often followed Yang Dalin around playing.

However, if Yang Dalin wasn't in front of Jin Haiye, he would directly call Yang Daxiang by his name when he was out having fun.

Uncle Xiang was delighted to see his childhood friend and asked, "Dalinzi, is Beijing fun? Are there tall buildings everywhere? Can I come visit you in Beijing sometime?"

Yang Dalin replied with a smile, "Of course you can. Aunt Ping and Aunt Ju can go too."