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

Sha Zhu has many flaws and is a chatterbox, but he also has his strengths.

That means being loyal and not getting involved in things you're not familiar with.

That's good; many people say that Xu Damao is more like a person from later times.

But this guy is into women and politics.

He was indeed more like people from later generations: selfish, lecherous, and ambitious.

But he is more practical, and he also tattles on others and betrays people.

Therefore, Yang Dalin felt that it was okay to have regular contact with Xu Damao, but he couldn't get too close to him.

This guy is too lecherous. I don't know about people from the countryside, but he played cards with Qin Jingru in 1965 while he was still married to Lou Xiao'e.

Then afterwards, he didn't want to admit it and wanted to marry Yu Haitang.

If this gets out, he might end up having to spend money to buy peanuts.

A man who is heartless and ungrateful to women should not be expected to treat his friends well.

He cheated the Yan family, the Liu family, and his parents' family.

Do people in later generations also think that it is right to cheat parents who have treated them well?

This was a traditional courtyard house, unlike the apartment buildings of later generations where neighbors across the street might not exchange a single word for half a year.

Being too individualistic and not uniting with certain people is definitely not a good thing.

This is different from the countryside, where every household still has its own yard.

With so many families living in this courtyard house, there have been far too many disagreements and conflicts.

Being too unconventional and only wanting to live one's own life, it's impossible for them to avoid contact with their neighbors.

He Yushui's eyes were swollen from crying.

Like two large peaches.

He Yushui sobbed as she asked Yang Dalin how she could make amends.

Yang Dalin told her, "I don't know. Just listen more, think more, and do less. Honest advice is hard to hear but beneficial, and good medicine tastes bitter but is good for the disease."

Whether you listen to me today or not, I'm only saying this once. How you do it is your business; I won't interfere.

When Aunt Qi saw that Yang Dalin had made He Yushui cry again, she was so angry that she hit Yang Dalin and was kicked out to clean up the honeycomb briquettes.

The honeycomb briquettes have been drying for a day, and although they're not completely dry, we still need to move them under the eaves.

What if it rains tonight?

Aunt Qi gave Yang Dalin a rather serious slap.

But she was still very satisfied.

Look how sensible my son Dalin is; he can see all these things clearly.

He's much better than Sha Shui, who's the same age.

Children who are orphans work together, but this silly girl, I don't know if she's really heartless or if she's deliberately trying to screw her brother over.

Outsiders call her "Silly Zhu," which is one thing, but she also calls him "Silly Brother."

Aren't you afraid of people asking about potential partners?

Once people hear that his sister calls him "Silly Brother," who would dare to introduce a girl to him?

They are a perfect example of someone who is more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything.

To appease He Yushui, Aunt Qi prepared dumplings for her to try that evening.

After all, we still have to clean up Dalinzi's mess.

He Yushui saw Aunt Qi take out flour to prepare a meal, and then she still knew to walk home.

Qi Yulan then stopped her: "Yushui, we're having a special meal today, dumplings. We'll eat here. It's your brother Dalin's fault for making you cry. Dalin bought the fried pork cracklings, so you should eat a good meal and make him jealous."

Yang Dalin knew his aunt was trying to get him out of a tight spot, so he smiled and said, "Yes, let's eat here today. I don't know when your brother will be back."

He Yushui insisted on leaving, but Aunt Qi stopped her. The girl was still emotionally unstable. She should tell her brother when she got back, so that her silly brother wouldn't think his sister was being bullied and start a fight with Dalinzi.

As the saying goes, "a beating followed by a sweet date," as long as you coax him back, Sha Zhu won't say anything even if he finds out.

"Rain, we all know your family has a long tradition of culinary skills. You've probably learned a little bit yourself. How about you help your aunt prepare the filling today? We'd like to try your family's cooking."

Seeing that Aunt Qi really wanted her to stay, He Yushui decided not to leave. She would just bring some flour home for them later.

"Okay, Auntie, I'll make the filling."

Qi Yulan took out her family's monthly ration of wheat flour, poured out two jin (1 kg), and said that her family's monthly ration of wheat flour was only a little over ten jin (2.5 kg).

The quota is purchased at the end of each month for the following month.

Ten pounds of flour isn't something you can buy all at once; they still have a little over four pounds of flour left.

Half of it was poured out at once.

Aunt Qi was still worried that there wouldn't be enough to eat, so she poured out a little more out of the purse.

Qi Xiaoning stacked the cabbages, and Qi Yanhua kneaded the dough.

Aunt and He Yushui are preparing the filling.

With everyone doing their own job, Yang Dalin had no choice but to stand aside and prepare to assist.

One pound of wheat flour can produce fifty or sixty wrappers by hand; later machines can produce more than seventy.

But the dumplings were very small.

Two pounds of flour yielded more than 130 dumpling wrappers.

The family sat together, chatting and laughing as they made dumplings.

Yang Dalin knew how to roll out dough and make dumplings in his previous life.

He's a single old man who can even steam buns.

But it's really not as good as He Yushui's filling.

The main problem is that we are so short of materials.

But to my surprise, He Yushui had actually learned a thing or two, and under these limited conditions, she did a better job than me.

The dumpling filling is made with cabbage and pork cracklings.

Preparing the filling, wrapping the dumplings, and boiling the dumplings were all done with the door closed, so that Old Man Yan across the street wouldn't see them.

They're here to freeload.

Nowadays, it's normal for people to eat something delicious quietly behind closed doors.

Yang Dalin ate forty dumplings in one meal, but to be honest, he wasn't full, so he gave away quite a few.

Aunt Qi and her daughter each ate twenty, while He Yushui ate more than thirty.

Everyone is already very satisfied with this.

Yang Dalin drank two more bowls of dumpling soup before he finally felt full.

There was nothing I could do; I ate more, but my aunt and the two sisters ate even less.

He Yushui only ate so much because Aunt Qi offered her food several times.

This little girl really has a big appetite.

In later generations, young women who were trying to lose weight would be lucky to eat twenty of these in one sitting.

After a delicious meal of dumplings, He Yushui felt much better.

After finishing their meal, the group was chatting idly.

He Yuzhu knocked on the door.

"Aunt Yulan, is the rainwater in your house?"

"Here comes the pillar, the rainwater is here."

After Yang Dalin opened the door, He Yuzhu lifted the curtain and came in. He Yushui saw that it was his brother.

Remembering what Yang Dalin had said that afternoon, she threw herself into Sha Zhu's arms and cried, "Brother..."

Sha Zhu was a little confused. He patted He Yushui, who had grown into a young woman, on the back and said, "What's wrong, Yushui? Who bullied you? Tell me, and I'll go teach them a lesson."

As Sha Zhu spoke, he glanced at Yang Dalin.

The questioning look in his eyes was a clear indication that he was telling the boy to watch out.

Yang Dalin shook his head with a wry smile.

Aunt Qi patted He Yushui on the shoulder.

"Alright, Yushui, you're all better now, stop crying. Go back with your brother. You and your siblings can go home and talk things out privately."

Aunt Qi had to say something, otherwise Sha Zhu, that simpleton, would think that the Qi family had bullied his sister.

He Yushui nodded: "Okay, Auntie. I'll go back now. I'll return the flour to your family later."

These words at least let Sha Zhu know that He Yushui had been eating fine food at someone else's place.

Sha Zhu wasn't in such a hurry.