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

Yang Dalin listened to the minister's words without any discomfort and readily agreed to everything.

The minister was pleased to see that Yang Dalin was indeed sensible.

Pick up the blueprints and show them to him.

Yang Dalin immediately took a liking to the set recommended by Rong Shuai from among several blueprints.

This courtyard house is located in Dongsi 46 Hutong, and is only a few kilometers away from the freight station where Yang Dalin works.

It's a bit closer than Nanluoguxiang.

There are also two courtyards, east and west, with a total area of ​​over 3,000 square meters.

It would be unreasonable to say that this courtyard is worth less than a billion or more in the future.

Large courtyard houses within the Second Ring Road will definitely be valuable in the future.

Yang Dalin was very happy with it; even if the entire place was reduced to ruins, he could rebuild it himself at his own pace.

It's good that it's in ruins; it's a good opportunity to rebuild and renovate it.

Otherwise, the accommodation wouldn't be comfortable.

Yang Dalin pointed to the blueprint and told Minister Teng that he wanted this set.

Minister Teng asked him, "Aren't you going to go and take a look?"

Shouldn't we go and do some on-site research before making a decision?

Yang Dalin shook his head: "No need, Minister, this is fine. I'll make some minor modifications to the inside later, and that'll be enough."

"Okay, as long as you're satisfied, I'll notify the higher-ups in two days. Go check it out yourself later."

If you want to exchange it again, just call me within two days and I'll exchange it for you.

If you don't call within two days, I'll just report this to you directly.

When the Lunar New Year or spring arrives, a house repair team will come and help you with the repairs little by little. You can then go directly to their leader and discuss which parts need to be modified.

The paperwork will be processed at the local street office next week. The paperwork was given to you by a distant relative.

The procedures will be completed, so that no one, whether outsiders or other people with ulterior motives, will notice you.

"Thank you, Minister."

"Don't be so polite with me. You've done a great job and brought honor to me and our department."

"Let's go, we've chosen a house, let's go out to eat."

As expected, the minister's wife and the nanny had prepared a large meal early in the morning.

The minister's children are all grown up and no longer live with them.

The minister's wife treated Yang Dalin almost like she was seeing her own son.

She was very hospitable, constantly serving food to Yang Dalin at the dinner table, and even told Yang Dalin to come and visit often in the future, and to just call her Aunt Lin instead of her by her professional title.

You can just call Minister Teng "Uncle". This is at home, not at work, so there's no need to be so formal.

Minister Teng was also satisfied with this title. At home, he could just call him Uncle. Yang Dalin could come and visit him often, and more importantly, he could frequently receive tiger bone wine from Yang Dalin.

It's because Minister Teng really likes this kid Yang Dalin.

After having dinner at Uncle Teng's house and staying for a while longer, Yang Dalin said goodbye and left.

It's my first time here, so I'm sorry to keep you here too long. After all, Minister Teng has to go to her workplace soon, and Aunt Teng also needs to take a nap.

Yang Dalin could also go and take a look at that big courtyard on Dongsi Shitiao.

Yang Dalin, carrying some return gifts from Aunt Lin, rode his bicycle to Dongsi Shitiao Hutong.

After entering the alley, Yang Dalin soon saw the large courtyard that had been assigned to him.

The gate to the courtyard was still intact and locked.

However, the surrounding walls already have many gaps.

Some of the children in the neighborhood can run through the gap in the wall and play hide-and-seek.

Yang Dalin used the key given to him by Minister Teng to open the gate, pushed his car inside, and went in.

The entire courtyard house is so large that you can vaguely see that there are five courtyards in the middle.

The place was overgrown with weeds, and few of the houses in the five-courtyard complex were in good condition; many of the roofs had collapsed.

No wonder no company wants to use it.

The repair costs will certainly be substantial; it's practically necessary to tear everything down and rebuild it entirely.

The doors and windows of many houses have been removed.

Even the floor tiles inside the house were torn down by people from the surrounding area.

The west courtyard was a garden, overgrown with weeds. When Yang Dalin went in, he startled a wild rabbit.

The east courtyard contains a stable, a poultry breeding area, and a place for raising livestock.

The sheds collapsed, and the materials were taken away by the surrounding neighbors.

It was also dilapidated.

Fortunately, there are some old trees in all three courtyards, and no one has touched them.

Yang Dalin glanced at it briefly.

These trees can be preserved; there are jujube trees, pomegranate trees, and a grapevine with a very thick diameter.

These are common in the north. Yang Dalin particularly likes these fruit trees, and they can be preserved.

The wood needed inside is also available in my own space.

It can be repaired gradually later.

But it is essential to build a flush toilet, a shower room, and a large gate that allows vehicles to enter.

This should be sufficient for most things in the future.

Materials for repairing old houses can be sourced from other construction sites, since many ancient buildings are being demolished now.

These old materials are still easy to find, unlike in the 21st century when finding them is quite troublesome.

The east and west courtyards can be left unbuilt for the time being. The west courtyard, which is over 1,000 square meters, can be used to grow flowers on one half and vegetables on the other.

You can raise a few chickens and a few ducks in the east courtyard.

There's no rush to finish building all the houses.

For the five courtyards in the middle, we can simply repair the main rooms in the middle courtyard first.

However, we can collect the materials needed for building houses in the future.

We'll use it again after it's been reformed and opened up.

Otherwise, if I lived in a large courtyard of over 3,000 square meters during a windy period, I might have trouble caused by some mischievous spirits.

Yang Dalin glanced at it and immediately made a plan.

People from rural areas in northern China generally prefer houses with large courtyards.

It would be great if we could grow some vegetables and raise some chickens there, and as long as it was convenient for showering and using the toilet.

Yang Dalin also plans to dig a well in this courtyard.

The original well has been filled with earth and stones.

There is a well, even if it is a bitter well and you can't drink the water, but you still need to use it for washing, rinsing, and feeding chickens and ducks.

This is more convenient.

Yang Dalin walked around every corner of the entire courtyard.

Finally, we arrived at the well that had been filled in.

Readers who have read many novels know that it seems that people from courtyard houses like to throw some important valuables into the well before fleeing, and then fill it up.

Yang Dalin also planned to look for it.

Let's see if any valuables were left in this large courtyard.

That's why Yang Dalin walked around every corner of the entire courtyard.

Although several secret rooms were discovered, they were empty, and the cellar was completely deserted.

Yang Dalin guessed that either there was something inside before, and it was searched when the State Administration of Government Offices took over.

Either the original owner left nothing inside, or they might have hidden it in the well.

Or perhaps the original owner left nothing behind and took everything with them.

Yang Dalin planned to hit a jujube tree first, whether there were any or not.