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

Yang Dalin returned home and, having nothing to do in the afternoon, waited until Aunt Qi left for work.

Yang Dalin prepared to do a thorough cleaning of his house.

After all, the Lunar New Year is approaching, so a thorough cleaning of the house is definitely in order.

He closed the door, drew the curtains, and quickly put all the furniture and other items into the space.

This makes cleaning much faster.

It can reach even the most remote and obscure corners.

You don't have to worry about dust settling on the furniture and having to wipe it all over again.

The roof, walls, and windows were all polished to a shine.

After finishing all that, Yang Dalin saw that it was still early, so after putting all the furniture out, he prepared to go and take another look at the large courtyard that his superiors had promised to reward him with.

The courtyard is right next to Dongsi Shitiao, very close. It took Yang Dalin less than twenty minutes to walk there.

The courtyard gate was still locked. Yang Dalin took out his key and went inside to take a look.

They found that all the weeds and other debris inside had been cleared away.

The scattered bricks and other debris from the collapsed houses were also cleaned up.

Even the houses that weren't completely collapsed were completely demolished.

All the usable wood, bricks, and other materials were neatly arranged.

It seems a house repair crew has been here.

Considering it was the dead of winter and not suitable for construction, we just did a simple tidying up.

Yang Dalin estimated that someone would come and properly repair it after the New Year and the beginning of spring.

Then there's no rush. We can just release some of the wood and stone materials from the space when spring arrives.

I'll have to meet with the construction team leader again later.

Let's see what's missing.

Yang Dalin looked around at the other exterior walls and saw that the construction team had rebuilt the gaps in the walls with bricks.

People and children from outside shouldn't come in directly.

The bricks and wood that are removed are not easily thrown away.

After checking everything, Yang Dalin found there wasn't much building material to put away, so he locked the door and left.

We'll wait until we meet the construction foreman before we talk about it.

Anyway, his space contains wood, stone, cement, sand, and steel bars.

They can provide whatever they need themselves.

These were all things he casually collected from the foreigners.

There is a lot of good timber, in particular.

Old bricks are easy to find. They're still demolishing a lot of old buildings, and they've collected a large batch of city wall bricks themselves.

Yang Dalin slowly returned to the courtyard.

Greet the neighbors in the courtyard houses you meet.

Many people are still at get off work at this time.

Yang Dalin could vaguely hear the sounds of children playing happily in the courtyard.

It seems like Banggeng was playing with Xiaorui and the others.

It seems that Yi Zhonghai has returned from shopping with them.

He saw Ma Sanqi's tricycle parked in front of his house, with the key still in the chain lock.

The children are still young and don't understand much.

Some children whose parents have a bad relationship can still get along well with each other in private.

Because some of them are very simple-minded and don't think too much.

Yang Dalin did not go to the Intermediate People's Court again.

I was going to cook dinner in advance so that Aunt Qi and the others could have something hot to eat when they came back.

As time passed, Yang Dalin's meal was almost ready.

The workers in the courtyard began to slowly go home after get off work.

When many people returned and heard that Yi Zhonghai had adopted four children, they immediately went to Yi Zhonghai's house to take a look.

If you have a good relationship with someone, then sincerely send your blessings. If you don't have a very good relationship with someone, then you should at least try to save face.

Instead of deliberately causing trouble, Yi Zhonghai's level eight worker status still holds considerable prestige in the courtyard.

However, amidst these congratulations and blessings, Yang Dalin suddenly heard Banggeng crying.

Yang Dalin put down his spoon, closed the door, and went out to see what was going on.

It must be Qin Huairu who's back.

As expected, Yang Dalin arrived at the Intermediate People's Court.

They discovered that there were many people in the Intermediate Court at that time.

After all, Yi Zhonghai's house couldn't accommodate so many people.

So many people stood at Yi Zhonghai's door and spoke to him.

Yang Dalin immediately saw Qin Huairu holding up the collar of her cotton-padded jacket and hitting the stick.

She was yelling, "I told you not to get your clothes dirty! Don't you know you only have one cotton-padded jacket?"

"Who told you to bring your sister out to run around and play?"

Qin Huairu slapped the buttocks of the stick several times, and then said to Yi Zhonghai, "Congratulations, Uncle. This child is ignorant and has gotten your clothes dirty with your children."

I'll go back inside and deal with him then.

With that, he picked up the stick and went home.

What was said unintentionally was taken seriously by the listener.

Isn't it obvious that Qin Huairu deliberately hit the child?

She must be unhappy that Yi Zhonghai adopted four children.

Her plan to exploit and exploit others failed before it even began.

She was definitely unhappy to come back, especially seeing that silly boy Banggeng happily playing in the yard with the four children adopted by Yi Zhonghai.

How could she not get worked up?

Not wanting to show a direct displeasure, he found an excuse to give her a beating.

However, Yi Zhonghai's expression immediately turned ugly.

He's not stupid; he can tell that Qin Huairu is subtly criticizing him.

Xiao Rui and the other children were also a little frightened by this sudden change.

They could tell that the aunt across the street didn't like them, nor did she like them playing with the stick dog across the street.

Xiao Rui hid to one side with his younger siblings, as if he felt he had done something wrong.

Seeing that Yi Zhonghai's expression was a bit off, Yang Dalin stepped forward and said, "Xiao Rui, bring your younger siblings over. Let me introduce you to your other friends."

At this time, many children and parents from the courtyard were present.

Yang Dalin introduced them: "These are Wang Cheng and Wang Cai, from the front house of Sister Meiyun. They are brothers."

This is Zhao Xiaoyong, the grandson of Grandpa Zhao, and his granddaughter Zhao Xiaohong, from the main room.

Xiao Hong has the same name as you, just a different last name. She's also younger than you, so you should call her Xiao Hong, little sister.

Yang Dalin introduced several friends to them in succession.

He then pulled a handful of candies from his pocket.

Hand it to Xiao Rui and have him lead the way in sharing it with everyone.

Before long, the children ran off to play together again.

Seeing that the other children didn't reject Xiao Rui and his friends and were getting along well with them, Yi Zhonghai's expression finally improved.

Several people from the courtyards greeted Yang Dalin separately.

Yang Dalin also told Sha Zhu, Xu Damao, and Liu Haizhong that he would come over for a chat later.

At this point, Banggeng probably saw the children outside sharing candy and wanted to come out, but Qin Huairu beat him up again.

So Banggeng and Xiaodang cried loudly at home.

Their cries, in turn, drew the cries of Little Locust Flower.

The people looked at each other, feeling a little awkward.

Upon seeing this, Yi Zhonghai said, "Thank you all for coming to see the children. These children have just arrived at the yard, so I hope you will all take good care of them."

It's almost lunchtime, and I can't afford to treat everyone to a meal, so please go home and eat yours.

"Okay, don't worry, old man, everyone will definitely take care of the children."

If you need anything, just let me know.

"Then we'll go back and have dinner."

Everyone greeted Yi Zhonghai and then turned around and went home.