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

Moreover, wild animals are accustomed to attacking flocks of sheep or humans in the middle of the night.

Therefore, Yang Dalin can rest for a few hours first.

I have to get up around 2 a.m. and stay on duty until dawn.

Then Yang Dalin no longer needed to do other trivial things.

His only responsibility is to ensure safety.

Even though he sleeps a little less each day, Yang Dalin is in great spirits and doesn't mind.

He also didn't want to do some trivial things, such as collecting cow dung, packing up tents, boiling water, cooking, and other chores, so he didn't object to this arrangement.

Yang Dalin wrapped himself in a wolfskin coat given to him by a herdsman at night; it was much more practical than a military overcoat.

Yang Dalin also planned to keep the wolf pelt and have the herdsmen Urgen help him knead it.

Yang Dalin felt bad about letting the Wurigen family work for nothing and wanted to pay them more money. He suggested they take them on their way back.

As it turned out, Urgen and his group didn't want money; they just said that this stuff would take at least twenty days to knead.

They could help, but unfortunately Yang Dalin's return trip is too short, so they might not be able to get it done properly.

Yang Dalin then gave up on the idea and decided to take it back to Beijing and find someone to help him fix it.

During their chat that evening, Urigen's father learned that Yang Dalin and his colleagues had to work the night shift every night, so he gave Yang Dalin a wolfskin coat.

When Yang Dalin asked him to use it for his night shift, he returned several unprocessed wolf pelts.

Nothing happened that night. It was estimated that the two wolf packs in the vicinity had been crippled by Yang Dalin. They only heard wolf howls occasionally at night, and no wolves dared to attack them.

Before dawn the next day, Yang Dalin quietly woke everyone up.

Then everyone started tidying up quietly.

I'm not planning to have breakfast here anymore.

Because there are too many of them, they need at least two sheep to eat a meal at someone else's house.

Too extravagant.

So everyone decided to leave early, partly to make more time on the journey, and partly to save the other person a meal.

They had just gotten up to tidy up when they arrived.

The two herding families also woke up.

They politely prepared breakfast for Yang Dalin and the others.

I didn't eat mutton this morning, but I did eat traditional Mongolian dishes such as milk strips, milk skin, fried rice, cheese, and flatbread. I also drank the leftover mutton soup and mare's milk from last night.

The warm hospitality of the Mongolian villagers made it impossible for Yang Dalin and his companions to avoid it.

We said goodbye to the Urgen family.

While clearing the table, Duoduoqiqige discovered his friends from the caravan, who had left behind national food coupons and some money.

At the spot where Yang Dalin and his group dismantled their tents, Urgen found that they had left behind quite a few things.

Some of it is food, and some is things that the herders need but are hard to buy.

Yang Dalin also secretly left behind some pears, some refined grain flour, and a little tea.

He left it there quietly, and his colleagues couldn't see it.

It's about reciprocity, after all.

They've treated us so warmly, we can't just eat and drink for free.

Although the herders on the grasslands have no shortage of meat, they don't live a particularly good life.

Twenty people ate so much food over two meals, they must have left some money, food stamps, and other supplies.

Looking at the items placed together, Urgen's father and neighbor uncle sighed, "Friends still know how to be grateful."

When Urigen and his friends leave the grassland, be sure to stop them, invite them to stay as guests, and give them a couple of sheep to take back with them.

Urgen looked at these things and nodded heavily.

The convoy embarked on its journey once again.

The next few days were relatively peaceful, and we didn't encounter any large herds of wild animals.

Along the way, Yang Dalin also hunted two roe deer to satisfy everyone's cravings.

This roe deer meat is really good. It's mainly lean meat with a delicate and firm texture and low fat content, giving it a noticeably tender feel when you chew it.

Its flavor has a unique wild aroma, and Captain Xiao and Brother Tian both said that it tastes a bit like venison.

Yang Dalin had never eaten venison, but both of them had fought in Goryeo and had indeed eaten it.

Captain Xiao said that roe deer meat is the best for making dumplings, but unfortunately there is no flour.

No one else has it, but Yang Dalin does.

However, he couldn't bring it out, so he could only try the meat dumplings at the state-run restaurant in Hulun City.

Restaurants over there definitely sell them; not only roe deer dumplings, but you might even be able to get bear paws.

After five arduous days, Yang Dalin and his team finally arrived in Hulun City.

Unfortunately, the weather turned against them. On their very first day in the area, before they could even find a factory to hand over the goods, it started snowing heavily, and it soon got dark.

It was snowing heavily, like goose feathers.

Not only was visibility obstructed, but the road was also very slippery.

So everyone had to find a hotel to stay in for the time being.

I'll check the situation tomorrow and then deliver the goods to the factory.

After several days of hard work, everyone is planning to have an early breakfast today, enjoying some hot local specialties, and then get some rest.

I'll check the road conditions first thing tomorrow morning before delivering the goods.

Two security personnel remained on duty at the convoy's location, while the rest of the team ate at the state-run restaurant next to the hotel.

Exhausted from days of work, Yang Dalin was not assigned to one of the two on-duty shifts. Captain Xiao and Captain Wang both told him to go eat first.

The state-run restaurants here have excellent chefs and offer a wider variety of ingredients than those in Beijing.

There are many kinds of wild game.

They have all sorts of common dishes, like chicken stew with mushrooms, stewed pork with vermicelli, and pork stew with glass noodles.

What's even more unique are dishes like orchid bear paw, braised bear paw with monkey head, clear soup galangal, five-spice galangal, galangal and white mushroom soup, steamed deer tail, imperial deer tail, multi-flavored deer antler, green dumpling deer lips, pine nut deer tendon, Manchurian stewed deer knee, and poached husky membrane oil, etc.

Seeing so much delicious food, Yang Dalin asked around and found that most of it was out of stock.

I had no choice but to order a clear broth scallop soup and two servings of roe deer meat dumplings.

He really wanted to order one of each dish, but many of them required advance reservations and weren't available whenever he came.

However, there is no shortage of ordinary home-style dishes and roe deer meat.

Especially the lamb, which is plentiful here.

The other colleagues each ordered some delicious food.

When people go to a restaurant, they each order their own food. Some people have a smaller family burden, so they want to eat better, while others have a larger family burden, so they will order cheaper food.

There are also groups of close friends who get together to eat and split the cost of the meal.

This way, you can order more dishes and try different flavors.

Yang Dalin ate with Tian Xueyi, and they split the bill. Neither of them felt much pressure.

Moreover, Yang Dalin is genuinely wealthy, and Tian Xueyi also enjoys eating well.

Once the dishes were ready, I brought them to myself; this dragon soup was truly delicious.

No wonder they say dragon meat in the sky and donkey meat on the ground.

Yang Dalin took a delicious sip, then closed his eyes in blissful delight. It was so fresh!

This is the first time in my two lifetimes that I've tasted such delicious soup.

The roe deer meat dumplings were also good. Tian Xueyi also ordered half a jin of wine, which he shared with Yang Dalin. Dumplings and wine go well together, and the more they drink, the better they feel.