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

Seeing that Aunt Qi had accepted the money, Yang Dalin took out another red envelope and gave it to Sister Yan: "Sister Yan, this is for you."

Qi Yanhua was a little embarrassed to accept it, since she was a year older than Yang Dalin.

How could I possibly accept his red envelope?

Before she could refuse, Yang Dalin stuffed it into her hand: "Auntie has already taken it, Sister Yan, don't be shy. You're not working yet. When you start working and have a salary, don't forget to give me a red envelope for Chinese New Year."

Qi Yanhua nodded and said, "Okay, I'll give you a red envelope for Chinese New Year when I go back to work."

Yang Dalin gave Ma San another red envelope.

When it was Qi Xiaoning's turn, Yang Dalin teased her again.

Qi Xiaoning had her hand outstretched for a long time, but no red envelope appeared in her hand.

Qi Xiaoning, enraged and embarrassed, asked, "What about mine, Yang Dalin?"

In her haste, the little girl called Yang Dalin by his full name instead of calling him "brother".

"What's yours?"

"My red envelope!"

"What kind of red envelope?"

"It's just New Year's money."

"Oh, you wished me a Happy New Year, so you're asking for lucky money?"

"Okay, you're very good, Brother Dalin, Happy New Year." Qi Xiaoning said through gritted teeth.

"Insincere."

"What do you mean by not being sincere?"

"People usually kowtow when they wish each other a Happy New Year. Although we are of the same generation, I am older than you. In my hometown, it is acceptable for a younger person to kowtow to an older person of the same generation."

"You, you, Yang Dalin, don't go too far."

"That's excessive! Isn't this normal?"

"Then why doesn't my sister have to kowtow to get it?"

"She's a year older than me, how can I let Sister Yan kowtow to me?"

"What about Third Brother? Third Brother Ma is younger than you, and he didn't kowtow either."

"Oh, your Brother Ma is my brother, so you don't need to kowtow."

"Yang Dalin, are you just bullying me?"

"Yes, congratulations, you're right. But I have some good news for you: one head costs one dollar."

"One yuan each, you said it, do you mean it?"

A gentleman's word is as good as his bond.

"Okay, I'll make you broke. I can make you earn three years' worth of your salary."

After saying that, Qi Xiaoning, gritting her teeth, immediately knelt down and kept kowtowing.

He was counting to himself: "1, 2, 3, 4..."

Yang Dalin wasn't afraid of her kowtowing at all; he had already planned to find a reason for Aunt Qi to give him some money.

Aunt Qi initially watched the commotion, but after a while, she shook her head, smiled, and went to cook. The food was already cooked, and the little girl had already counted to nine hundred and ninety-eight; if she counted any further, she would reach a thousand.

Qi Yulan reached out and pulled Qi Xiaoning up, saying, "Alright, if you keep kowtowing, your brother Lin will lose several years' worth of salary."

What if he can't come up with that much money? Wouldn't you have wasted your time and effort?

Qi Xiaoning struggled and kowtowed twice more.

He stood up, rubbed his knees, stretched out his hand, and said through gritted teeth, "One thousand, Yang Dalin will pay."

Yang Dalin grinned and pulled out a wad of banknotes from his pocket.

He placed a full thousand yuan in her hand: "Here you go, don't say your brother didn't keep his word."

Qi Xiaoning had never seen so much money before, and she was surprised that Yang Dalin gave it to her so readily.

Just as he was about to shout excitedly, Aunt Qi covered his mouth.

"Keep your voice down, or you'll attract attention."

"Dalinzi, where did you get so much money?"

Yang Dalin explained, "Auntie, this is something I did on my trip to Northeast China. By chance, I saved a few old hunters, and they gave me a tiger skin. I originally wanted to keep it and bring it home for you, but then I thought it was too conspicuous, so I sold it locally for a thousand yuan."

This was a reason that Yang Dalin came up with on the spot.

You can't tell her that you hunted a tiger skin, otherwise your aunt will find out you went tiger hunting and worry about you.

They said they saved someone, but the other party insisted on giving it to them, even as a joint effort, so it would seem like they shared the burden. It wouldn't be appropriate to bring it back, since only those with power and influence would dare to use it; selling it and turning it into money is the real goal.

Aunt Qi breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, seeing that Qi Xiaoning was still clutching the money tightly and didn't want to let go.

Unfortunately, he said, "Kids shouldn't take so much money. I'll save it for your brother Da Lin," and it was snatched away.

I only left her a five-yuan note.

This is only because the family is now wealthy. In the past, Qi Xiaoning and her sister only received one cent in New Year's money, but this year, Aunt Qi gave each of them one cent on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

It was because Yang Dalin brought them more income and improved their living conditions.

Seeing that the little girl was very disappointed and almost in tears, Yang Dalin quietly handed her a large black ten.

Qi Xiaoning saw that her biological mother had gone to hide the money and didn't see it.

He immediately and happily hid the ten yuan on his person, then perked up and asked, "Brother, can we continue? Can I kowtow another hundred yuan?"

Yang Dalin has plenty of money, but it's really not good for him to take any more out.

"Ahem," he said, "that won't do. Time's up. We'll continue next year."

"Tch, if you're broke, just say you're broke, don't make up excuses."

"Next year, I'm determined to become a millionaire."

Yang Dalin quickly said, "That won't do. The rules will change next year. The time limit will be only ten minutes. We'll need an extra basin next year."

It only counts if you knock a dent into the basin.

Upon hearing this, Qi Xiaoning realized that the difficulty had increased.

However, confident in her own tough head, she asked with a grin, "What basin?"

Yang Dalin glanced at the furniture in the house and pointed to the washbasin, saying, "That, the washbasin."

"Ah, this pot is so hard."

The ceramic washbasins we make now are not the aluminum basins that children use to visit relatives for the New Year, as seen in videos from later generations.

That thing is easy to bump into, it can leave a big dent.

This pot is of such high quality now.

It's something that's been used for decades.

Normally, at most, it will only chip some paint; it's hard to even get a dent from a fall.

Qi Xiaoning was dejected, but she quickly came up with an idea.

At worst, we can just wear a hat and kowtow next year, with a stone tied inside the hat. That would be simple.

It's a bit dangerous, the danger is that you might break the basin, and even if you get the money, you might still get a beating from your own mother.

You should ask your mother about this beforehand.

Otherwise, the losses would outweigh the gains.

Qi Xiaoning is a very clever girl.

Yang Dalin gestured for her to hide the money.

Unexpectedly, Ma San, seeing Yang Dalin's behavior, also wanted to give out red envelopes.

Ma San pulled Yang Dalin aside and whispered, "Brother, I also want to give out red envelopes, but unfortunately I just handed over all the money I got to my aunt for safekeeping. Besides the red envelope you gave me, I only have a few cents left. Why don't you lend me some?"

I'll use it first.

Yang Dalin realized that Ma San wanted to learn from him.

But he's different from me; he didn't die.

You won't make much money.

We can't let him learn from me while burdened with debt.

So Yang Dalin patted Ma San on the back and said loudly, "It's enough that you have the intention; don't follow my example!"

Aunt Qi, who had hidden the money, just came out of the inner room. Seeing Yang Dalin patting Ma San, she asked, "What's wrong, Dalin? Why are you hitting that San'er?"

Yang Dalin explained, "It's alright, Auntie. San'er just feels he can earn money on his own and wants to give you guys red envelopes, so I'm stopping him."