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

More than an hour later, we were almost at the freight station.

My new home, a small courtyard house, is not far away.

Yang Dalin stopped the car for a moment.

Captain Wang understood what he was going to do.

Yuan Qiao and I helped him put several bags of things in the east wing of his new house.

Yang Dalin pointed to the east wing and said to Yuan Qiao, "Are you still living in the station's dormitory? This south room in the east wing is temporarily lent to you. You can leave after you get your own room."

Have you met Ma San from work? He's my brother too. You two can squeeze in together sometime.

However, he rarely stays here.

The north room in the east wing is where I live, and the three main rooms are also mine. Could you help clean them occasionally?

"Okay, boss. Don't worry, I'll clean it up perfectly."

Yang Dalin then greeted the two neighboring families and gave them some fruit.

And I told them how to eat it.

Only then did they continue driving back to the unit with Captain Wang and Yuan Qiao.

There were still seven or eight sacks of fruit and some dried seafood on the truck.

These are for taking back to the workplace; the ones I just brought home were for myself.

The team often did this, and Captain Wang and Yuan Qiao were both familiar with it.

Otherwise, if you bring everything to work and try to keep more things for yourself, many of your colleagues might not be happy to see it.

So when everyone goes on business trips and brings back things, the first thing they do is go home and leave their own things there.

When he got back to work, he said that he had only brought back what was in the car.

Then we'll divide it equally among everyone.

It's all routines.

Of course, your company won't let you bring it back for nothing.

I'll add a tiny bit of money and sell it to people in my workplace who need it.

As long as the driver doesn't lose money, that's fine; naturally, we won't charge you an exorbitant price like on the black market.

As soon as Yang Dalin returned to his unit, he handed the car over to Captain Wang.

I need to go to Qi Desheng's office first.

Captain Wang asked, "How much did you spend on those things in your carriage? Where are the receipts?"

Leave these behind before you go.

Yang Dalin took out a receipt for over four hundred yuan and handed it to Captain Wang.

Let Captain Wang and the logistics staff at the freight station handle the handover.

After all, he kept a few bags for himself, so quoting a price of over four hundred would be about right.

The majority of the space is in the room.

Yang Dalin arrived at Qi Desheng's office on the second floor.

As soon as Qi Desheng saw him return, he immediately came over to hug him.

Yang Dalin pulled a pomelo from behind his back and shoved it into Sheng Ge's chest: "No, Sheng Ge, I like women, stay away from me."

"Damn it, you brat, it's just that your brother missed you."

What is this thing? It has yellow skin. Is it a pear from the south?

Why is it a little soft?

Is it delicious or not?

Qi Desheng had never seen a pomelo before, so he took it, wiped it, and took a bite of the pomelo peel.

"Pah, pah, so bitter."

Yang Dalin had deliberately not stopped him earlier, but now he laughed loudly and said, "Brother Sheng, this is a pomelo from Jianfu Province in the south."

You have to peel it before eating.

"Who told you to just bite into it?"

"Damn it, why didn't you say so earlier?"

"I hadn't even had a chance to say anything before you bit me."

You need to use a knife to cut open the skin, then peel it off and eat the flesh inside.

There was nothing that could be done; Qi Desheng, that big bear, was from Shaanxi Province and had never even seen a pomelo before.

I've never eaten it before.

Not to mention now, in his previous life, after the Shanghai World Expo, Yang Dalin helped others wholesale and sell fruit at the Shanghai Fruit Market.

An elderly woman from Anhui province, who was selling goods, brought her new daughter-in-law to her stall.

Yang Dalin handed a handful of kumquats to the new bride.

The young woman kept picking at her clothes while Yang Dalin and her mother-in-law were talking.

Seeing that she had been picking at her food for a long time without eating, Yang Dalin asked her, "What's wrong? What are you picking at?"

The other person replied, "Isn't this an orange? I'm peeling it."

This made Yang Dalin and her mother-in-law burst into laughter.

Yang Dalin has also encountered people who have never eaten bayberries and want to peel them for him.

This is normal.

Don't even mention it now.

Many northerners are eating bananas for the first time, and they even eat them with the peel on.

It's normal not to have seen it before.

Yang Dalin smiled as he took the pomelo and made a few cuts with a small knife.

The grapefruit peel was removed in just a few strokes.

She handed him a segment of pomelo: "Hey, eat this, and peel off this thin skin too."

Don't wear this mask.

Qi Desheng took a bite: "Hmm, not bad, quite sweet."

Seeing him eating a pomelo, Yang Dalin was about to clean up the pomelo peel and throw it in the trash can.

Qi Desheng quickly stopped him: "Are you just going to throw away this skin? It's useless now!"

This left Yang Dalin speechless.

At that time, everyone was very frugal.

They never peel apples or pears before eating them.

They can even eat the watermelon rind clean, and then use the rest to make a stir-fry.

Yang Dalin stopped what he was doing, thinking of the pomelo tea from later generations.

However, he didn't know the specifics of how to do it.

"It seems like it can be used to make tea. Brother Sheng, could you ask your comrades if there are any from Fujian Province?"

I don't know the specifics of how to do it.

After eating one segment of pomelo, Qi Desheng stopped eating and quickly found a piece of scrap paper to wrap up the pomelo peel and the inner membrane that had been torn off.

Fine, let Qi the bear keep it if he wants.

Many people don't have tea to drink these days. If they get two oranges, they can give the orange pulp to the children and keep the peels to make tea.

Let alone soaking grapefruit peel.

It can only be said that people are so lacking in resources nowadays that they don't want to waste anything.

Qi Desheng briefly asked him about his mission this time.

Yang Dalin said what he could say, and Qi Desheng knew he wouldn't ask about what he couldn't say.

Just get a basic understanding of the situation.

Qi Desheng told him that he would receive another special merit award this time.

The superiors are now wondering how to reward them.

Yang Dalin said, "Brother Sheng, they gave me a reward of 500 yuan and a lot of tickets over there."

I used that money to buy fruit and local specialties.

"Since there's a cash reward, this credit is unnecessary."

"No, no, money is money, and merit is merit. You used the money to buy fruit and local specialties, right? They're in the car downstairs, aren't they?"

"Yes, I asked Captain Wang to help with the handover at the logistics department."

"Okay, I'll have the logistics director give you the money later, but you still have to be credited for this."

Otherwise, it would be unfair to other people who have made contributions.

Our team has both rewards and punishments, and strict discipline is the key to our victory.

Think quickly, what else do you want?

Every time you do something good, I feel both happy and worried.

I'm happy that our unit received an award from our superiors, but I'm worried about how to reward you.

"You've done so many great things each time, it's definitely not right not to reward you."

Seeing that Qi Desheng was serious, Yang Dalin said, "How about this, Brother Sheng, I'll save this credit for now, and you can discuss it with your superiors."

See how many major achievements can be exchanged for a big house.

Give me another house as a reward later.

Ideally, it should have a separate yard.

If the leadership feels it's not enough, I can accumulate more credit; once I have enough, I can be rewarded with a large courtyard.

"Hey kid, you just got the house, what's wrong? You think it's not big enough?"

"Big courtyard? How big is big?"

Is it a three-courtyard or a five-courtyard compound?

How many people are in your family?

"Can't you see my house isn't even as big as yours?"

Yang Dalin sighed and explained, "Brother Sheng, didn't you say you didn't know how to reward me? I'm just solving your problem."

What I mean is, either we can just leave it at that and not give a reward, but if the superiors feel that it's not okay not to give a reward, then I'll make a suggestion, it's for your own good.

It's like putting together several achievements to get me a bigger courtyard.

I can have my aunt plant some vegetables and fruit trees there.

And after I get married, I plan to have ten or eight children, in response to the country's call.

Then my ten or eight children will live with me in the future, and they will also get married and have children.

By the time I become a grandfather, the place will probably be full.

There might not even be enough room.

What do you think?