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

After saying goodbye to Uncle Wang, Yang Dalin and Wang Xiaohai went to Liu Haiyang's house.

These kids have started playing Gouji again.

This is what Yang Dalin taught us last time.

At the card table, it was as if there were no fathers or sons playing against each other; the game was incredibly intense.

Yang Dalin told them that he had something to do later and had to leave first.

He took out the meat from the kitchen and helped divide it equally.

Tell all the underlings to take a portion home with them when they get back.

When Ma San saw that Yang Dalin was about to leave, he didn't want to stay and play anymore, and insisted on going with him.

Let's go together then.

A bunch of underlings were disappointed to see their boss leaving early.

We can only arrange to play together next time.

They're all on winter break, they have plenty of time.

The underlings were playing cards and showed no intention of getting up to see their boss off.

Zhao Yumin, who had lost particularly badly, threw his newly dealt hand of bad cards onto the table: "A bunch of heartless bastards, come back and start over. Let's go see our boss off first."

Liu Haiyang put his cards into his pocket and said, "It's only right to give them to the boss. Everyone put their cards in their pockets and come back to continue."

Zhao Yumin, don't be a sore loser.

The other two members of Liu Haiyang's federation also chimed in, "That's right, pack it up first. Nobody else has touched what you left on your desk. You can put it away yourself and continue when you get back."

Don't even think about reopening.

"Let's go, let's see the boss off first."

Yang Dalin smiled and looked at the group of hypocritical underlings, saying, "Alright, stop pretending. It's so cold outside, don't bother seeing me off. You won't even accept my offer, what's the point of seeing me off? You guys keep playing around. Yumin, stop trying to cheat, you're being too obvious."

I'm leaving now. Let's meet again next week.

After saying that, Yang Dalin picked up his several sacks and satchel and went out the door.

As it turned out, his playful underlings really only saw him to the door before going back to continue playing cards.

As for them refusing to give him gifts because they liked to play around, Yang Dalin wasn't angry at all.

Let alone giving them away, Yang Dalin used to eat his meals right on the card table when he played Gouji in his previous life.

Sometimes they would even skip meals to keep fighting.

It's normal to enjoy playing even though you don't win money.

He used to play cards all night long in the winter, and since there wasn't much to do during the Chinese New Year, it's normal for him to like playing.

Yang Dalin understands them; he's been through that age too.

After leaving the naval compound, Yang Dalin told Ma San to ride his tricycle home first.

He's going to buy alcohol, and he'll load his bicycle onto it later for convenience.

Ma San's tricycle is no longer convenient.

You could have Ma San go and talk to the original owner of his new home, Grandpa Wang Tonglin.

See if there's any space in the cellar. If there isn't, just put the wine in an east wing room.

The east wing must be all tidied up, but I haven't gone to see it yet.

There are three east wing rooms. You can live in one room and use the other room to store wine.

As for putting it in a spatial dimension, that's impossible.

If you put it in, it won't ferment, so it's useless.

The infused liquor can be stored in a space for a long time.

Ma San agreed to go over there and help tidy up.

He left on his tricycle first.

Not long after Ma San left, two military trucks arrived.

A second lieutenant got off the plane, saw Yang Dalin waiting by the roadside, asked about Yang Dalin's identity, and looked at the letter of introduction that Yang Dalin was holding.

Please help load Yang Dalin's bicycle onto the back of the truck.

Yang Dalin took out four packs of Daqianmen cigarettes and put two packs in the back of the car.

Yang Dalin got into the cab of the first truck and handed out two packs of cigarettes.

Even though he was helping out for free, Yang Dalin still felt he should be polite.

The two cars drove one after the other towards Daxing County in the south of the city.

Yang Dalin and the lieutenant chatted a lot on the way.

When the lieutenant learned that Yang Dalin was still a driver, he became quite interested in him.

The two talked a lot about vehicles.

They had a very pleasant conversation.

More than an hour later, the two cars arrived at the gate of the Daxing County Erguotou State-owned Distillery.

The lieutenant presented a letter of introduction, and the vehicle entered the factory.

We drove straight to the factory's office building.

The lieutenant had clearly been here more than once.

Moreover, several people were already waiting in front of the office building as soon as the vehicle arrived.

As soon as the lieutenant got out of the car, a middle-aged man came up and shook his hand: "Comrade Lan, here to get more liquor? Same as before?"

Lieutenant Lan shook hands firmly with the other party and said, "Yes, Section Chief Hou, we're here to get some wine again, but this time we're helping Comrade Yang Dalin. You can ask him for the specific requirements."

"Dalin, this is Section Chief Hou from the winery's sales department."

Section Chief Hou had just seen Yang Dalin in his military overcoat and assumed he was Lieutenant Lan's colleague, so he didn't pay much attention. He never expected that the young man in the military overcoat and cap was the customer this time.

Section Chief Hou realized that Yang Dalin must have a connection to get the military vehicle to come along.

They wouldn't put on airs just because Yang Dalin looks young.

He warmly stepped forward and shook Yang Dalin's hands with both of his: "Welcome, Comrade Yang."

Yang Dalin politely shook Section Chief Hou's hands with both of his own, saying, "Hello, Section Chief Hou."

After exchanging pleasantries, they entered the sales department.

Section Chief Hou instructed his subordinates to pour tea.

Yang Dalin didn't want to waste time, since it was almost eleven o'clock and he wanted to hurry up and pack the wine.

Otherwise, when it's lunchtime, they'll ask them to stay and we'll have to treat them to a warm meal.

Wineries don't necessarily have good products.

We'll have to trouble Section Chief Hou and the others again.

Yang Dalin got straight to the point: "Section Chief Hou, no need for all that, let's get straight to the point."

I'd like to buy 3,000 jin (1,500 kg) of five-year-aged Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor), but I don't know if that's possible.

Upon hearing this, Section Chief Hou immediately sat back down, looking troubled.

"Comrade Yang, the wine from the year before last and last year is fine, but we don't have much aged wine left in our factory these five years."

After all, our liquor is a light-aroma type, which is different from a sauce-aroma type.

Our Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) doesn't get better the longer it's stored.

Three thousand catties of five-year-aged wine, I can't make that decision.

Yang Dalin understood what Section Chief Hou meant: there was wine; before the disaster, the distillery must have brewed a lot of wine.

However, since my rank is too low, I would definitely use those good wines to send to higher-ups or to cultivate relationships.

Section Chief Hou dared not sell so many to himself, for fear of being implicated.

That's understandable.

Everyone has their own struggles. If you're not familiar with the seller, they certainly won't sell directly to you.

Yang Dalin immediately changed the subject and asked, "Section Chief Hou, I have a question. How do you usually process the distiller's grains?"

On his way there, Yang Dalin saw a lot of lees drying in the open space of the distillery.

It took up a large area.

I don't know how they handled it.

However, with so many disaster victims, there shouldn't be so many fermentation vats left. After all, people are so hungry that they would even eat clay. How could this distillery have so many fermentation vats?

However, if the fermented grains become moldy, it can be dangerous for people to eat them.

In addition, children shouldn't eat too much of it, since it contains alcohol.

However, Yang Dalin knew that the lees from the wine were used very well in later generations, either to raise pigs, to fertilize fields, or to generate electricity.

These can all create greater value.

Yang Dalin wondered if he should come up with an idea to have Section Chief Hou report it up, and then buy more wine.