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

When they have free time, these two neighbors often help take care of their houses.

I come to stay whenever I have free time or during my lunch break at work.

Every morning, I just ask my two neighbors to help me carry water up to the house.

That's fine.

I don't have to carry water every day, and my neighbors can use it when they have free time.

Thinking of this, Yang Dalin immediately went to find someone.

There are things in Yang Dalin's space about timber.

It's very simple to fight.

Yang Dalin went to the nearby street office and then to the construction team that had repaired his house last time.

I shared my thoughts with them.

The team leader said this was a very simple task, and any two people could easily finish it.

It's not like we're building a house; it's just building a wooden frame so we can put one or two iron buckets on it.

As long as it's sturdy, that's fine.

There are two models: one is a turnkey project (including both labor and materials), and the other is a turnkey project (excluding labor).

Yang Dalin thought that since the labor and materials could be provided, he wouldn't need to take out the good wood from his space.

It just costs a little more money.

Yang Dalin felt that this job should ideally be finished before one or two o'clock in the afternoon.

I'll try it out tonight.

The team leader said, "That's easy, just add two more people."

It just requires spending a little more money.

Yang Dalin whispered to the team leader, "Team leader, please make it sturdier. We might put one or two more buckets on top later, so I'll add another ten jin of cornmeal for everyone."

"That would be even better. I guarantee you won't have any problems. I'll personally lead a team of four, and we'll get it done for you in a few hours."

With professionals helping him with the work, Yang Dalin felt relieved.

He instructed the construction team to bring the materials and get to work directly.

He continued to go to Uncle Duo to buy things, as Uncle Duo could get many things all at once, saving Yang Dalin from running around unnecessarily.

When I have time later, I'll dress up and do some meat trading with Uncle Duo in my own space.

Grandpa Duo never knew that the person he was secretly dealing with was him.

Because Yang Dalin would always change his appearance, cover his face, wear sunglasses, and change his voice when he spoke.

He would also wear a hat, so the other person couldn't see Yang Dalin's hairstyle, so how would they know it was Yang Dalin?

After buying a lot of things, Yang Dalin went out again and brought back two oil drums.

They were all painted black to facilitate heat absorption.

It's not that the engineering team didn't provide them; it's that they didn't have these oil drums. These things aren't easy for everyone to get these days.

Waste oil drums are valuable items, and most companies won't let you take them away casually.

Yang Dalin had many oil drums in his space, but it was the black paint that made him wander around for a long time before he finally bought it.

He hid in a secluded spot, finished painting, and let it dry before returning.

For lunch, I just grabbed a bite while sitting next to the two black buckets drying in the sun.

When Yang Dalin returned the iron bucket, the wooden frame was almost finished. For safety, the team leader had added four legs to the wooden frame.

Three more load-bearing timbers were buried under the iron drum.

This makes it more secure.

After placing the two iron buckets, several workers helped carry them and fill them with water.

Yang Dalin paid the workers' wages and gave them the ten jin of cornmeal he had promised.

The workers then happily left.

They could actually think of such a simple way to get hot water, but the iron bucket was a bit difficult to handle.

Yang Dalin even gave them advice: if iron buckets were hard to get, they could use water tanks or large ceramic jars, which could be painted black and used just the same.

However, its thermal conductivity is definitely not as good as that of an iron bucket.

But as long as it's convenient for sun-drying water and bathing, that's fine.

Also good.

When the workers heard this, they said they would go back and give it a try, and then they left. The children in the yard looked at the wooden frame with great joy.

Yang Dalin let them play as they pleased, but he instructed the two neighboring families that when he was away, they could use this to dry water and collect water for bathing without any problem.

Just make sure the children don't climb high or low and fall down.

After giving his instructions, Yang Dalin went to tell Ma San to inform his aunt's family to come over for a hot pot dinner that evening and stay overnight.

Yang Dalin then went to inform Grandpa Wang's family, as well as Qi Desheng and Tian Xueyi's families.

Everyone came over in the evening to celebrate Yang Dalin moving to his new house and have a hot pot dinner.

Considering there will be many people in the evening, and that we also need to invite the two neighbors.

Yang Dalin prepared a lot of dishes for dinner.

There was definitely meat, quite a lot of it, but Yang Dalin also prepared a lot of vegetables.

The staple food consisted of two pots of steamed buns made from a mixture of two types of flour and two pots of cornbread.

He could just steam big white flour buns; Yang Dalin didn't lack that little bit of flour, but he didn't dare to be so ostentatious.

There was so much to prepare, so Yang Dalin asked two neighboring women for help.

Yang Dalin had inquired about both families and found them to be easy to get along with and not troublesome.

Be generous when hosting a dinner party. Qi Desheng and Tian Xueyi are neighbors, and both of them have children. Steam two more pots of food and invite their children as well.

The task of making steamed buns was left to the two neighbors.

Yang Dalin prepared all the dishes.

Soon after, Sister-in-law Liu Meimei arrived with her child.

She wasn't working and had nothing to do, so she came over early to help.

Yang Dalin and his sister-in-law counted the people who needed to come.

When you add it all up, there are about thirty people, including the children.

Qi Desheng and his wife and children, a family of four; Tian Xueyi's family of five; Li Dasheng's family and his mother, a family of six, who lived in the west wing; Hou Shuangxi's family of four, who lived in the back house; the original homeowner's family of two; and Yang Dalin, Ma San, and three others, a family of five, who lived in Aunt Qi's family.

That makes twenty-six people.

Goodness, there are quite a lot of people.

There are sixteen adults and twelve children.

Let's set up two tables for adults and two tables for children like this.

We don't need to eat inside anymore; we can eat in the yard.

Yang Dalin borrowed two more tables from his neighbor, making a total of four tables in the yard.

If there aren't enough chairs, simply have the children in the yard carry the leftover bricks from Yang Dalin's house renovation.

Arrange it like a stool, and just put something on top.

The first dishes served were tomatoes with white sugar, smashed cucumber, peanuts with aged vinegar, and tofu with scallions.

Four cold dishes, followed by cooked food.

This thing will do the trick.

Each table was served a piece of pork head, and a plate of pig's trotters was also served according to the number of people at each table.

Yang Dalin didn't take the braised beef out, not because he was reluctant to part with it, but because he needed to be more discreet.

Didn't you see that he was taking out meat that wasn't very good, like pork and pig's trotters? These aren't good cuts of meat, but Yang Dalin made them taste good.

Yang Dalin thought for a moment, then served another plate of braised lamb offal, and finally a hot pot of braised lamb ribs.

That's enough.

Four vegetarian dishes and four meat dishes are already quite good.

Apart from braised lamb chops, the other dishes are not very good pure meat.

Even if others find out, they won't say anything.

While the dishes were being served, Yang Dalin noticed that Tian Ge's little girl was sucking her finger and quietly approaching him. Tian Ge's two boys hid behind her, and behind them were the children from the two neighboring families.

It seems the group of kids quickly became friends.

The little girl looked up at me pitifully and said, "Uncle Lin, can I have a bite first?"

The little girl was clearly being used as a pawn by her brother.

Her brothers knew that their father doted on his sister and was a doting father, so they thought it was more effective to let their sister take the lead than for the two of them to do so.

As for what was laid out on the table, the children didn't dare touch it.

Even though they were drooling with envy.