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

Before Yang Dalin arrived at Aunt Qi Yulan's house last night, he went to the bathhouse for a good shower.

Aunt Yulan also made him change into a clean set of clothes.

The clothes were a men's outfit, but they were a bit old and a bit too big.

However, it's already late autumn, so it doesn't matter if I have to wear other clothes underneath the larger size.

The clothes he wore when he fled the famine were taken apart and washed by Aunt Yulan last night.

He actually slept in his clothes last night.

Otherwise, the two girls would have been too embarrassed to come to his room. This room was probably originally where the two sisters slept.

Otherwise it wouldn't be so clean.

After finishing his meal, Yang Dalin felt embarrassed to continue lying down, so he got up to help tidy up.

Qi Xiaoning stopped him, saying that he didn't need to worry about washing the pot.

Little did Yang Dalin know that the little girl was planning to add some water to the pot herself.

He drank the water used to wash the pot.

Yang Dalin was still too embarrassed to continue lying down: "Um, I'm going out for a bit, to use the restroom. Sister Yanhua, could you give me directions?"

Qi Yanhua blushed at the mere mention of going to the toilet. She wondered why most girls blushed so easily these days.

Originally, it should be called "maozi" in the local dialect, but Yang Dalin actually changed the word.

Qi Yanhua whispered to him, "Go outside and walk a little east after you leave the main gate."

Yang Dalin put on the cloth shoes on the ground and walked from the bedroom to the living room where he had just cooked. It was cold today, and there was a honeycomb briquette stove on the right side behind the living room door, near the door of Yang Dalin's bedroom.

That's the stove where Qi Xiaoning was cooking. Next to the stove, above it, there's a metal pipe that vents smoke from a corner of a window above.

That corner had no glass; the area next to the chimney was covered by other small wooden planks.

Instead of using a glass cutter to draw a circle so that the chimney could extend out.

Some people probably cut a hole in the wall so that the chimney could just stick out.

Aunt Yulan's family doesn't have any.

On the other side behind the door was a washbasin stand with several towels draped over it and a washbasin.

In the middle of the living room is an eight-immortal table with four chairs on the side.

Next to the wall is a long table.

On the table were some other small items, and a memorial tablet, which had no words on it.

There was a small incense burner in front of the memorial tablet, but no incense was lit.

There is another cabinet on the other side, and next to the cabinet is the door to another bedroom.

There is also a curtain on the door.

It's the same room that Yang Dalin just came out of.

It appears to be symmetrical, with the living room in the middle and two bedrooms on either side of the living room.

To be honest, the living room is very simple. Apart from the dining table and the stove, there are hardly any large pieces of furniture.

Yang Dalin opened the living room door, and a ray of sunlight shone on his face.

From this angle, Yang Dalin could tell it was a west wing room.

Otherwise, it should be around eight or nine in the morning, so why is the sun still shining from the southeast?

The sky appeared even higher and wider, a deep blue with excellent visibility. The air was crisp and clear, with a hint of coolness.

Across the street, several middle-aged women were sitting at the entrance, chattering away.

The moment Yang Dalin opened the door, the conversation on the other side stopped.

Yang Dalin immediately recognized two of the more distinctive figures.

Yan Bugui's wife, Third Aunt, and Jia Zhangshi from a wealthy family.

Two of them were strangers, and the four older women were either holding shoe soles or picking up small stones from the grain.

At that moment, everyone stopped what they were doing.

Yang Dalin grinned and said in fluent Luxi dialect, "Hello, ladies."

Lu Xi called those of the same generation who were older than his father "Grandpa," and Grandpa's wife "Grandma."

The younger ones are called uncles, and the uncles' wives are called aunts.

Yang Dalin looked at these women and realized they were all older than his father, whom he barely remembered.

Yang Dalin spoke first, regardless of how beastly this beastly compound was.

We should have the proper manners.

Yang Ruihua was the first to react: "Hello young man, just call me 'Auntie' in our compound. What's your name?"

"Auntie, my name is Yang Dalin, you can just call me Dalinzi. You guys go ahead with your work, I'm going to the outhouse."

"Sigh, sigh, go ahead."

Yang Dalin glanced at the east wing across the street, and sure enough, there were several broken flowerpots at the entrance.

The money that was supposed to be used to raise things was moved inside.

There were still a lot of junk that Yan Bugui had collected at the corner of the wall near the entrance, including broken bottles and broken tiles.

This must be the front yard, Yang Dalin glanced around the yard. This was the first time he had ever lived in a courtyard house like this.

I'm a little curious. The south side of the courtyard should be the hanging flower gate, and outside the hanging flower gate is another small courtyard.

The courtyard is long and narrow, and opposite it should be a row of several rooms.

However, unlike in the TV series where the main gate is in the exact center, the main gate is in the southeast corner of the courtyard.

According to the rules, this place should be the first courtyard, or the front courtyard. What was the place I was staying in called, the second courtyard or something?

I'll figure it out later.

Opposite the gate is the screen wall.

Yang Dalin didn't have time to look closely; he was in a hurry to use the restroom. Once he stepped out of the gate, there was a road, and a public restroom was located on the southeast side of the road.

Yang Dalin also glanced at the west side of the road and did not see the Jiaodaokou Subdistrict Office or the Supply and Marketing Cooperative (in the drama, Sha Zhu once stood on the road outside the gate, and the west side of the road was Jiaodaokou Subdistrict and the Supply and Marketing Cooperative; that was because the TV series was set in a factory building, which had very little space).

Yang Dalin, who came from a rural background in his previous life, wasn't having any trouble adapting to the dry toilets these days. Besides, it was late autumn, so the smell wasn't as strong. It was just that he hadn't used one in a long time, so he had to be careful where he stepped.

Because with these toilets, some people inevitably have short legs and don't aim accurately, so they end up urinating outside.

And if a child poops or pees anywhere, just don't step on them.

In some places, several bricks have already been laid down.

It was designed to make it easier to step on, especially since bricks were placed on both sides of the squat toilet.

The problem was quickly resolved, and Yang Dalin came out to look around.

There were pedestrians on the road, most of whom were wearing clothes in colors such as gray, black, and green.

Occasionally, girls dressed in brightly colored clothes would walk by, but it was rare.

The people are generally thin, but most of them have good body hair.

This refers to hair volume, not hair quality.

There aren't that many bald people or people losing their hair.

Yang Dalin hadn't washed his hands yet, but he touched his hair as well.

Although my hair is a bit stiff, at least the bald patch from my previous life is gone.

That's great. I'm twenty-one years younger and I've even traveled back to this revolutionary era. Although I don't have the abundant goods, stable life, and plentiful resources of my previous life, no amount of money can buy back twenty years of youth, right?

Just as Yang Dalin was about to go for a walk around the neighborhood, Qi Xiaoning, Aunt Yulan's daughter, appeared at the door.

It turned out that Qi Yanhua, the older sister, was afraid that Yang Dalin would get lost, so she sent the little girl Qi Xiaoning out to call him.

There was no rush, so Yang Dalin went back with the girl.

According to the young girl Qi Xiaoning, all the rooms in the back row are full.

There is another gatehouse on the east side of the main gate, so there should be seven gatehouses in total, including the one in front of the main gate.

The innermost room was occupied by Yan Bugui's eldest son, Yan Jiecheng.

She is unmarried, lives alone, is currently 21 years old, and was born in 1939.

From the westernmost side eastward to the main gate, the other four rooms were also full of people.

Even the gatekeeper was an old man living alone, also surnamed Qi, who would occasionally speak up for their family, but he had no kinship with them.

Looking at the beautiful gate, with its drum-shaped stone, exquisitely carved mounting stones, and hitching posts, Yang Dalin suspected that this courtyard was not as simple as he had imagined.

Because the original garden was located on the east side of this courtyard.

Unfortunately, the entrance was later blocked.

You can't see anything inside.