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

Xu Damao clutched his stomach with one hand and braced himself against the long bench with the other.

"I went to the countryside a few days ago to show movies to the nearby communes, and I didn't get home until dark yesterday."

I met Brother Dalinzi at the main gate. Brother Dalinzi was very polite. He helped me lift my car at the main gate and then helped me carry it through the hanging flower gate.

I traded some sweet potatoes from the countryside. I know Brother Dalinzi isn't on a ration, so I said I'd give him a few sweet potatoes. We Beijing men have to be generous, right?

Those around who overheard this nodded in agreement: "Da Mao did the right thing."

"Da Mao is right. It's right to offer a cigarette or something when someone helps you."

"That's right, Da Mao did the right thing."

Hearing everyone's agreement, Xu Damao continued, "Brother Dalin refused to take it no matter what, saying it was just something he could do on the spur of the moment."

When I saw that Brother Dalin absolutely refused, I thought that since he really didn't want it, and since he was being polite to us, we should help him if he needed anything in the future, so I decided to go home.

Unexpectedly, Yan Bugui came running over from his doorstep at that moment.

"He insisted on pretending to help me lift the car again. What could I do? My car was already inside the gate, did I really need his help? But I couldn't very well refuse him."

Then I could only politely offer to give him a few sweet potatoes.

As everyone knows, food is scarce these days, and it's dangerous for me to go to the countryside to show movies.

There are still robbers and bandits on the roads in the countryside.

Every time I went to the countryside, a colleague with a gun followed me.

I traded some sweet potatoes and finally got home, saying I'd bring them to my parents later.

As it turned out, Yan Bugui felt that two yuan wasn't enough, and even said that it would be difficult to divide it at home.

They insist on taking six of my shares.

Then, Actor Xu appeared online, his eyes red and his voice choked with emotion: "Everyone, tell me, is there such a thing?"

Food is so precious these days. I risked my life to trade some sweet potatoes from the countryside to send to my parents. Yan Bugui didn't help at all. He wouldn't even give me two, and he kept pestering me to give him six.

My small bag only cost a little over twenty yuan, but he wanted a third of it. He used to be the third uncle, and I didn't dare to provoke him, thinking of what the first uncle said about respecting the elderly and caring for the young. So he took advantage of me quite a bit.

I was also thinking of giving him some so that he could take care of me sometimes.

I didn't even know he'd been dismissed when I got back yesterday. I gave him two yuan, but that wasn't enough; he wanted six more.

Let's not talk about how much six sweet potatoes cost; let's just say that nowadays, one sweet potato can save a life.

Last night, when I got home, I felt increasingly uncomfortable and heartbroken. Why did he take six yuan from me for nothing when I risked my life to get those sweet potatoes? I was so angry that I went to find a spitting stick to get revenge on him this morning.

That's how it happened.

When Yan Bugui heard Xu Damao's description, he almost vomited blood in anger. "I asked for it willingly, but you gave it to me willingly!"

"And that bag of sweet potatoes must have cost at least forty or fifty yuan. You dare say it only cost twenty or so?" Yan Bugui immediately retorted, "Xu Damao, you're talking nonsense. That bag of sweet potatoes must have cost at least forty or fifty yuan."

Yi Zhonghai rolled his eyes at him. Was this the time to discuss how many sweet potatoes were in that bag?

Can't you see how much more people despise Yan Bugui?

Yan Jiecheng now knew he was going to play, otherwise things would have been different if he had discussed it with his father: "Xu Damao, don't talk nonsense. Everyone knows that every time before, it was you who offered to give it to our family."

You used to fawn over our family when my dad was the third uncle. Now that my dad can't be the third uncle anymore, you look down on our family, right? So you respected the title of the third uncle, not my dad. You're such a sycophant. Now that my dad has been dismissed, you feel like you've been cheated by giving him sweet potatoes, huh?

Why pretend to be innocent? Why pretend to be pitiful? Everyone in our department knows you're a scoundrel who prioritizes hiring people over using them.

"I'll beat you to a pulp today! Second brother, third brother, come at me!"

Well, these days, being hands-on isn't just a privilege exclusive to Silly Zhu.

Everyone likes to fight, mainly because Sha Zhu is strong and knows a bit of wrestling. Others can't beat him, so few people will take the initiative to fight him.

Yan Jiecheng might not be able to defeat Xu Damao by himself, but if he calls on Yan Jiefang and Yan Jiekuang, then there will be no problem.

Besides, Xu Damao was just kicked by Sha Zhu.

It seemed that another major battle was about to break out.

Xu Damao knew he couldn't beat the Yan family today, so he deliberately hid behind Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong.

Liu Haizhong has often taken advantage of Xu Damao.

Of course we have to protect them now.

After a very amicable negotiation, everyone agreed that Xu Damao would compensate Yan Bugui for half a month's salary loss.

This will prevent his family from causing further trouble.

You see, having more children sometimes gives you an advantage.

If I can't reason with you, I'll cause trouble for a while; if I can't win an argument, I'll resort to force.

This is one of the reasons why people are trying so hard to have sons, whether in the city or the countryside.

Having more sons means they won't be bullied. Even if they are bullied, I'll reason with them if I can, and if I can't win the argument, I'll use force.

The matter was resolved just like that; Bang Geng simply bowed and apologized, and that was it.

In Yi Zhonghai's words, "What can you do when someone is just a child?"

The lively courtyard meeting came to an end, and Yang Dalin had not seen the deaf old lady come out at any of these meetings.

She's a hidden mastermind; she probably doesn't even bother getting involved in these things.

I didn't see her getting very close to Sha Zhu, maybe I just didn't see it.

Afterwards, everyone went home.

Sha Zhu then called Yang Dalin to chat.

Yi Zhonghai saw Yang Dalin go to Sha Zhu's house, and stood at his own door, watching silently for a while.

When Yi Zhonghai returned home, his wife, Wen Xiumei, saw him silently smoking.

She seemed to have something on her mind.

He asked him, "Old Yi, what's wrong? Are you angry because of what Da Lin said at the meeting?"

Yi Zhonghai shook his head: "It's not that serious. I'm too old to argue with him. I just feel that the kid is smart and might be better than Dongxu in the future."

Wen Xiumei nodded in agreement: "Yes, Qi Yulan is so lucky. This child she brought is so grateful. Look how protective he is of the Qi family mother and daughter."

"Bold and responsible, compared to him, Dongxu does seem rather cowardly."

Yi Zhonghai waved his hand: "You can't say that. When we took him as our apprentice in the academy, it wasn't because of Lao Jia's relationship, but because Dongxu was honest and obedient."

People like Yang Dalin and Zhuzi are too opinionated; they might become troublemakers in the hospital later on.

Both of them have experience living independently, are very opinionated, and sometimes don't agree with others' opinions, let alone those of an old man like me who has no connection to them.

Wen Xiumei understood immediately. Old Yi was referring to Sha Zhu, who had lived a hard life with his younger sister when he was sixteen, and Yang Dalin, who had also fled famine with his grandmother when he was sixteen. They had both experienced some things.

They both had their own understanding, and they were indeed not easily fooled.

Sha Zhu can be quite extreme at times, while Yang Dalin, though young, is very principled. These two are close, which might make it difficult for Yi Zhonghai to manage them in the yard.

However, it was always others who started trouble; Yang Dalin never really went too far.

We can't just manipulate him, otherwise everyone's not stupid. If Yi Zhonghai arbitrarily labels Yang Dalin and offends everyone, he won't be able to win people's hearts, and that would damage Yi Zhonghai's prestige.

Wen Xiumei suddenly had a good idea: "Old Yi, what do you think about letting Dongxu get closer to those two?"