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

Yang Dalin readily agreed, and the little ones were filled with anticipation.

Grandma Jin Hai couldn't refuse, so she had to put the candy aside and not give it to the children immediately.

Grandma Jin Hai and Yang Dalin chatted for a few more minutes, and soon there was a sound coming from outside the door.

It's probably Grandpa Jinjiang who's here.

Grandpa Jinjiang lives in front of Yang Jinhai; you can just call out from the back window of his house.

There's no need to go over to the gate and shout.

Yang Dalin had no choice but to tell Grandma Jinhai, then took the oil lamp and went out of the east room to the living room.

Jinjiang is an interesting guy; he likes to fix things and also likes to play the stringed instrument.

He learned it all from others. When he was a child, Yang Dalin often listened to Grandpa Jinjiang play the stringed instrument in front of his house.

Grandpa Jinjiang was very happy to see Yang Dalin, and soon Grandma Jinjiang arrived as well.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the group learned that Yang Dalin's grandmother had passed away, and they were all deeply saddened.

Yang Dalin also gave Jinjiang's grandmother a handful of candy. He has two children, a boy and a girl.

Grandma Jinjiang couldn't refuse, so she had to accept it.

Yang Dalin pointed to the bags of dried sweet potatoes on the ground and explained it to them.

The twenty catties of cornmeal inside were his gift to his second grandmother.

They traded the remaining dried sweet potatoes for pears and apples with the other two families.

Zhujiazhuang has many pear trees, but not many apple trees.

The pear trees were first planted during the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty. They were all large pear trees with a high yield.

There are apple trees in the village, but not many, and each family gets only a small share.

Moreover, it's an old variety, with low yield and small fruit size.

The good apples had already been taken by the commune, and the remaining apples were not much for each household.

Moreover, many of them had wormholes or were slightly damaged.

No one wanted to throw them away, so they cut up the bad ones, the children would gnaw on them, and the elderly would steam them to eat.

The elderly here not only steam apples, but also pears.

Because it's too cold in winter, eating cold food directly can easily cause diarrhea.

There is another type of pear with a long stem in Zhujiazhuang.

This kind of pear is not tasty if you eat it directly; the flesh is very coarse.

However, in winter, it was placed on the windowsill outside and froze solid.

The next day, I just ate it straight away; it was cool and sweet.

It's tough on your teeth because you can only bite off a tiny bit each time.

There are other varieties in my hometown, such as the fragrant pear.

These pears are delicious, but there aren't many trees in the whole village.

It's a bit like the fragrant pears from border provinces; the flesh is very sweet and fragrant, but the fruit is quite small.

The yield is low, and there aren't many varieties in the village.

There's also the bumpy pear, which, as the name suggests, is covered in bumps when it grows up.

It tastes alright once it's ripe, but it doesn't look appealing at all.

There are also sour pears. These pears are very sour when eaten raw, but when steamed, they are an excellent remedy for coughs.

There is another type of pear, which is brown and small, but can be stored for a while after being picked.

The flesh turns into a mealy texture, and eating a few will make you feel full.

It has a unique flavor.

Unfortunately, Yang Dalin only found pears and a few apples in Jin Haiye's cellar.

None of the other options were available.

Yang Dalin figured the brigade headquarters had some, so he planned to go there later and replace everything he could.

Neither Yang Jinhai nor Yang Jinjiang asked how to change it; they just wanted to pick out the best ones to pack for Yang Dalin.

Yang Dalin pulled the two young grandfathers aside and said, "Grandpas, let's just decorate it however we like."

No need to pack so much.

Yang Jinhai said, "Dalinzi, that won't do. You've given us so much grain."

I'm worried we won't have enough pears at home.

"What's the price of grain now? These pears aren't worth much."

Yang Dalin grabbed the arms of the two men and said, "That's not how it's calculated."

In Beijing, fruit is expensive, much more expensive than grain.

So just fill the bag halfway.

Yang Dalin deliberately blurred the concept.

Actually, the most expensive thing nowadays is indeed grain, and fruit is also expensive, but it doesn't keep you full.

Nowadays, fruit is scarce on the black market in Beijing, and fewer people buy it than grain.

Ordinary people wouldn't have money to buy fruit right now; they'd rather exchange it for grain.

Of course, it can't be said that no one in Beijing would spend a lot of money to buy fruit.

It's fair to say that it's far less profitable than grain.

Yang Dalin wanted to leave more food for his two grandfathers' families.

Stop putting all that on yourself, so you deliberately downplay the value of dried sweet potatoes and say that fruit is more expensive.

These two aren't fools; why would they believe Yang Dalin's words?

Besides, the fruit they received wasn't all good; some were small, some were ugly, some were a bit bad, and many were picked up by the wind from under the pear trees.

You're overthinking it. How much of the Good Fruit Commune can leave you?

Farmers grow good grains and fruits, but they can't eat much of it themselves; they give it all away.

Yang Jinhai also knew that Yang Dalin meant well.

In the end, Yang Dalin only took most of the bag.

He said, "We're on the same side. Two pounds of dried sweet potatoes can be exchanged for one pound of pears."

We'll go to the brigade leader's house later; the price will definitely be lower there. He'll exchange money and some grain coupons for it.

The price definitely won't be that high; let their two elders keep it a secret.

The two brothers were afraid that Yang Dalin would suffer a loss, so they pretended to be more careful, but in the end they still couldn't win against Yang Dalin.

Yang Dalin said, "Grandpas, I'll just accept this loss. You're in a worse situation than me right now. Once the disaster is over, I'll come back and you can give me more money."

Right? I've suffered a bit these past few years, but since we're family, I have to take care of my own family. Once these years are over, you guys should make up for it more. Or if I want to eat something and don't bring anything back, you can let me take whatever I want, okay?

"You can't refuse, is that alright?"

The two elders eventually agreed to Yang Dalin's proposal.

It was getting late, so the two of them took Yang Dalin and walked to the brigade leader's house.

The brigade leader's surname is Zhu. There's nothing we can do about it; his family has a lot of members. In this situation, he has a significant advantage in the village election.

It is generally difficult for those with less common surnames to be selected.

Unless you have real skills, you still have superiors and connections.

Captain Zhu, whose real name is Zhu Yuxiang, is not very old, but according to the seniority system in Yang Dalin Village, he should be called Grandpa.

I don't know how the generational rankings for different surnames in the village are calculated.

He was already asleep when he heard someone knocking on the door.

He opened the door and saw the Yang brothers, Jin Hai and Jin Jiang, and called out, "Uncle Jin Hai, Uncle Jin Jiang."

Although these two are young, they are quite senior in the village.

Upon entering the house, Zhu Yuxiang did not immediately recognize Yang Dalin.

Because most of the Zhu family lived at the east end of the village, while the Yang family lived at the west end.

Moreover, after Yang Dalin went to Beijing, his appearance changed and he grew taller, so he didn't dare to recognize him immediately.

Yang Dalin called out, "Uncle Yuxiang, I am Yang Dalin."

Captain Zhu then remembered.

Yang Dalin took out a pack of cigarettes from his satchel, opened it, distributed it to the three of them, and then placed the cigarettes on the table.

I'll leave it to Captain Zhu in a bit.

After all, we still need to ask him for a letter of introduction, and we might have to trouble him to go to the commune tomorrow.

Offering a pack of cigarettes is normal.