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

For other debts, the production team leader can help collect them. Considering that some villagers are really struggling, the timeframe can be extended.

If the harvest is good in the future, please ask the team to deduct it.

Fearing that the other party would deny it again, Yang Dalin had the brigade leader write an IOU and had all the villagers who owed money write their names on it, and those who couldn't write put their fingerprints on it.

Three copies.

There was one copy each in the village, at the Huang family's house, and at the major's place.

Despite Huang Zhongshi's family's frequent borrowing of money, they actually had some wealth.

He took out fifty yuan without any pressure; it seems he's made quite a bit of money as a squad leader.

If you can't make money, can't you at least get some food?

This guy is a little parasite. Now that Yang Dalin and the others are gone, he'll probably get a good beating.

The two cars arrived at the nearby commune one after the other, and then went to get a household registration transfer certificate and a letter of introduction.

Then they went straight to the city.

Upon arriving in the city, we went to the military guesthouse, where the major directly helped us with our onboarding procedures.

After completing the formalities, I asked the comrade in charge of logistics and property management to help me lead the way to the first row of houses behind the military guesthouse.

There are two rows of single-story houses here. The second row is a dormitory for single people.

The rooms are well-separated, and each room is not large.

The first row consists of houses, each with a small courtyard, all made of red brick.

Each courtyard has no gate, because there are walls and gates in the distance.

Therefore, each household has a moon gate, so there is no need to install a main gate.

Each small courtyard also has a small vegetable garden.

They were taken to a courtyard on the far west side.

Upon entering the moon gate, there are two small houses on the west side near the wall, presumably used as a kitchen and storage room.

There was a fenced-off vegetable garden on the east side, which is now only overgrown with weeds.

There was even a covered chicken coop in the corner.

Huang Xiaoying, the youngest girl in Uncle Huang's family, immediately put the two thin old hens she had brought into the chicken coop.

This is an important piece of property for their family; how could it possibly be lost?

The logistics staff who brought them helped open the main house, which had a living room in the middle and bedrooms on the left and right sides.

The living room was rather empty with little furniture. The two bedrooms only had two kang (heated brick beds) made of red bricks and the kang mats that hadn't been taken away; there was nothing else there.

I guess someone lived here before. The house was pretty nice, but it lacked everything.

Yang Dalin first helped unload everything from the car.

Then he glanced at the kitchen storage room on the west side of the yard and found that there was still some firewood. Yang Dalin told Huang Weiguo to carry the firewood himself and burn it on both kang beds to see if there was any problem with the chimney.

He and the captain went to help with purchasing supplies.

Stove, furniture, cooking pots, etc. all need to be purchased.

The captain was often in the army, so he knew better than Yang Dalin what needed to be bought.

Yang Dalin took out some money and handed it to the logistics staff, asking him to help buy some coal and firewood.

After asking for directions, Yang Dalin and the captain drove out of the yard and went to a furniture store. Yang Dalin bought several cabinets, tables, chairs, etc., paid for them, and asked them to deliver them to the designated place.

Yang Dalin then went to the supply and marketing cooperative and made a large purchase of various daily necessities.

Yang Dalin bought everything he could find that he could use, and the captain even tried to pay for it.

Yang Dalin said they would calculate it together when they got back, and there was no rush now; they would talk about it later.

Now all I need to do is help carry things to the car.

The captain said, "That won't do. How can I let you pay for it? You're still too young."

Yang Dalin said, "Uncle, the last time I saw Uncle Zhongjun, we were like brothers who had been through thick and thin together."

I'm the driver, I don't lack money. You also need to help other comrades. How about this, if it really doesn't work out, we can split it in half, okay? Stop arguing, or it'll get dark before we know it.

Let's hurry up and make the purchases, then we'll settle the costs later. I'll cover the money and receipts first; you don't have some receipts either, right?

The captain thought Yang Dalin was right and decided to complete the purchase first.

And so, Yang Dalin was in charge of buying them, and the captain was in charge of loading them onto the truck one trip after another.

Yang Dalin took the opportunity to add some check-in items from his personal space.

They quickly finished shopping and drove back.

On the way, the captain asked him how much it had cost in total.

Yang Dalin made an excuse and said, "I haven't calculated the details yet. I'll calculate it when I get back tonight and tell you tomorrow."

The captain had no choice but to stop asking questions for the time being.

When Yang Dalin and his group returned to the courtyard, the furniture delivery people had already arrived, and several of the neighbors' children had come to play.

Several kind neighbors also helped clean up.

Most of the staff here are families of martyrs and military personnel, and they are all very enthusiastic.

When Huang Weiguo saw Yang Dalin return, he immediately pulled him aside and said, "Brother, why did you get so much meat? You even got a whole sheep."

I opened it, took a look, and then quickly tied the bag back up.

Yang Dalin said, "Don't worry, eat it. It's good for your family to have some nourishment."

Those are all things I brought back from a business trip to the grasslands, don't worry.

It's not expensive there.

Then Yang Dalin directed the people who were helping to unload everything, and soon all kinds of things and furniture were arranged, and the house was decorated anew.

The stove is lit, the exhaust pipe is installed, and the room isn't so cold anymore.

The heated kang (traditional heated bed) is already on, so it's not cold to sleep at night.

Yang Dalin also helped put the new quilt on the bed.

A new set of kitchen utensils has been installed, and all kinds of ingredients have been laid out.

A truckload of firewood and coal was also unloaded outside.

The storage room also contained cabbage, potatoes, and other items.

It was already dark when they finished cleaning up, but Liu Juhua insisted on cooking a meal to treat everyone.

The neighbors who came to help didn't stay for a meal, so how could I possibly stay for a meal at this time?

So Yang Dalin offered cigarettes to the men, gave candy to the women, and also gave candy to the children who came to play. He then helped Aunt Huang see everyone out the door.

The major and his men were also unwilling to stay for dinner, judging from Aunt Huang's attitude.

She was also a strong-willed person, so she said, "Since you've all left, I feel embarrassed to stay. You can all stay, and I'll take care of the cooking. You'll all be doing me a favor by keeping my aunt warm."

The major and the captain exchanged a glance before sitting down again.

Yang Dalin's space contained a lot of cooked food, and the two burlap sacks he had given to the Huang family remained unopened.

So he simply took out some cooked food from his spatial storage, chopped it up, and it was quick.

Then I made a lamb stew with cabbage and glass noodles.

I steamed a pot of two kinds of flour buns.

Aunt Huang wasn't allowed to do anything the whole time.

Yang Dalin quickly prepared four dishes and a soup, and then took out two bottles of Fenjiu liquor to entertain the two officers.

They stayed at the army guesthouse in front that night.

So having a drink is fine; you can walk there in the evening. There's a small gate between the two rows of bungalows and the hotel, making it convenient for everyone to walk to work.

When Yang Dalin asked Huang Weiguo and his younger brother Jianguo to help serve the dishes, the two children were extremely hungry.

Yang Dalin stuffed a piece of cooked beef into each of their mouths.

The two little ones happily finished their meal before they started serving the dishes.

Liu Juhua was a little dumbfounded when she saw the dishes. After Yang Dalin sat down, she was too embarrassed to ask, but she looked at Yang Dalin with a probing gaze.

Yang Dalin spoke up first: "Auntie, don't worry, eat with peace of mind. These are all brought from the Hulun Grassland. Meat isn't that expensive there, and vegetables are more expensive than meat in winter."

This fish is one I caught, the roe deer meat is one I hunted, and the mutton was a gift from a herdsman I helped hunt wolves.

It didn't cost much, don't worry.

I've left you plenty of food in the kitchen. Take good care of yourselves these next few days before going back to work.