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

Seeing that Aunt Qi was somewhat absent-minded while eating, Yang Dalin said to her, "Auntie, look how much money and cotton I've earned in just these few days."

Don't worry, I'll let you in on a little secret. There are plenty of people exchanging things at the train station, and Uncle Qi knows people there. We can get a discount. I'll figure something out slowly, so you don't need to worry.

Qi Yulan felt a little better after hearing Yang Dalin say that.

"Then I'll give you some more food stamps and money."

"No need, Auntie, I still have money and food coupons on me, which I don't need for the time being."

You know I eat over there without needing ration coupons. These coupons are for the three of you.

Not long after the family had finished their dinner, He Yushui, who loved to visit others, came over again.

She saw that the Qi family had started heating the kang (a traditional heated bed) today.

Their house doesn't have kang (heated brick bed), it has beds; both her and Shazhu's rooms have them.

So I waited until the Qi family finished eating before I came.

They said they wanted to experience the charm of a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove).

Qi Xiaoning led her to the inner room.

A moment later, He Yushui ran out and asked, "Aunt Yulan, may I sleep on your kang (heated brick bed) for the night?"

Nowadays, the kang (heated brick bed) in most households is quite large, and the Qi family's is no exception.

Besides, people sleep horizontally up there, so it can comfortably accommodate four people, or even one more.

"Sure, no problem at all. Just tell your brother to bring the blanket over."

He Yushui happily ran off to tell Sha Zhu.

Ever since He Yushui started visiting the Qi family more often, the girl's personality has noticeably improved.

A moment later, He Yushui ran back with her blanket and told Yang Dalin, "Brother Dalin, my brother is looking for you."

"Okay, Auntie, you two get some rest. I'll go check on things."

With a heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed), the quilts wouldn't need to be so thick in winter, which would save the Qi family money and eliminate the need to make two more new quilts for Yang Dalin.

Yang Dalin went out the door, preparing to go to the Intermediate People's Court.

Upon seeing Xu Damao, Xu Damao was about to leave.

"Brother Da Mao, are you going out to use the restroom?"

"Yeah, Dalin, just take care of this before bed. What are you doing?"

"I need to see Brother Zhu. He just sent Yushui to say he needs to see me."

Upon hearing this, Xu Damao realized that Yang Dalin and Shazhu had become very close even though he had only been in the yard for a few days.

He quickly pulled Yang Dalin towards the hanging flower gate and whispered, "Brother, you're new to our courtyard, so there are some people you don't know. Let me tell you, there aren't many good people in our courtyard, and Sha Zhu is one of them."

He's stupid and loves to hit people.

Yang Dalin glanced at him sideways and thought to himself, "Shazhu is indeed not a purely good person, but you're not much better."

They're evenly matched, neither one is better than the other. The eldest brother doesn't laugh, but the second brother understands.

Besides, I'm not exactly a good person either; I might even be worse than you guys.

A petty person speaking ill of another person in front of a villain—that's just ridiculous.

"Brother Da Mao, I've just arrived at our institute. I need to judge for myself who is a good person and who is a bad person. I need to see what they do, not what they say. Do you agree?"

When someone calls me, I go see what's going on.

"We'll run into each other again, so we have to at least save face, right?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Damao said, "Yeah, that's true. Anyway, I'm just giving you a heads-up, just so you know. By the way, is what happened yesterday true? Old Man Yan really got dismissed?"

"Yes, I was dismissed."

"Damn it, I was dismissed, but they still took advantage of me and took several of my sweet potatoes."

Pah!

Da Mao stuck out his tongue and made his signature gesture towards Yan Lao Kou's house.

I have to say, it's actually quite funny.

Da Mao is truly brave. Even though he knows he can't beat Sha Zhu, he keeps fighting despite repeated defeats, like an unkillable cockroach.

But as for your lifelong enemy, when you get old and have no money or house, it's still Sha Zhu who will save you.

You two, with your love-hate relationship, have certainly provided plenty of laughs in the yard.

However, Yan Bugui is so shameless, Da Mao must feel resentful.

Then Yang Dalin said, "Brother Da Mao, you've been taken advantage of. They even gave you several sweet potatoes."

Oh dear, sweet potatoes are quite expensive these days. It's a pity. The police station only notified the neighborhood committee, not their workplace, because they were in financial difficulty. Your sweet potatoes have gone to waste.

"You'd better go to the bathroom quickly, I'll go find Brother Zhu to see what's wrong."

After saying that, Yang Dalin left to find Sha Zhu.

Upon hearing Yang Dalin's last words, Xu Damao thought about it carefully and understood. "That's right, is it so easy for me to take advantage of others?"

You've taken advantage of my family a lot in the past, and now that you're no longer the third uncle, you're still trying to deceive me and take advantage of me.

I'll spread the word around the school area tomorrow.

You've lost all face.

Yan Bugui had no idea that he would become famous at school the next day just because he had taken advantage of a few sweet potatoes.

He's happily eating roasted sweet potatoes right now, passing on his shrewdness to his children.

"What is your face? You can't eat or drink it. At times like these, it's a blessing to be able to eat more."

Yang Ruihua was still looking at her husband with an adoring expression.

Inside Shazhu's house, he was drinking alone again, living a comfortable life.

Unfortunately, the house was a bit colder than the Qi family's.

The Qi family lit two heated brick beds and a stove tonight.

The temperature there is naturally higher than at Sha Zhu's house.

Sha Zhu's main house has three rooms. He closed the door to the west room. He usually only uses the middle and east rooms, which are connected. The side rooms are not connected either. Otherwise, the larger the room is, the less warm it would be with just a small stove.

"What does Brother Zhu want?"

"Nothing much, just wanted to ask about your heated kang (traditional Chinese bed). Want a drink?"

"I'm not doing it anymore. I'm not addicted to alcohol. You can drink it yourself."

"Okay, let's not drink alcohol, let's have some tea. What do you think about building two heated brick beds in this room and the rainy room?"

It will get even colder in a while, and I don't even want to go out in the mornings because of the cold.

This way, I can build a kang (heated brick bed) for Yushui, saving her the trouble of burning in a stove for warmth.

"I think it is. I haven't been to Yushui's room, but it should be about the same size as mine. It's just a small kang (heated brick bed), so it doesn't need much firewood. It's warm on the kang, and people can sleep comfortably."

"Yes, that's what I was thinking too. Why didn't I think of getting a heated kang bed all these years? I'll find someone to do it tomorrow."

With a heated kang (traditional Chinese bed), it's much warmer to sleep at night.

"That's all?"

"Oh, there's one more thing. Did you see Xu Damao today?"

He didn't say anything nice about me, did he?

Yang Dalin thought to himself, "How did you know? I just broke up with him."

Does that mean the person who understands you best isn't necessarily your family, but rather your rival?

Yang Dalin didn't want to gossip between the two sides, so he simply said calmly, "No, I ran into him on his way back this evening and greeted him."

Sha Zhu took a small sip of his drink and said, "He's back with lots of bags again, isn't he?"

Yang Dalin nodded and said, "Yes, he does this often?"

Sha Zhu said noncommittally, "Yes, when his father Xu Fugui still lived in this courtyard, it was like this when they went to the countryside to show movies. He learned from his father for three years, how could it be different?"

As the saying goes, "Like father, like son."

Yang Dalin almost burst out laughing when he heard this. It was true, your father liked widows, and so did you.

Your dad likes to raise other people's children, and you're doing just as well, you're even raising other people's dads.