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

When Yang Dalin took the cotton and cotton cloth he bought that day from under Grandpa Qi's cart, he went home.

Xu Damao and Yan Bugui have already separated.

Yang Dalin deliberately chose to come and pick up these things after dark.

If Yan Laokou from the province sees this, he'll keep nagging, or if other people in the courtyard see this, they'll say all sorts of things.

Aunt Qi was overjoyed to see so much good cotton and cotton cloth.

He pulled her into his arms and said, "Dalinzi, where did you buy so much cotton cloth and cotton?"

You really know what I'm thinking. I've been looking everywhere for cotton and fabric to make you a thick cotton-padded coat and trousers.

There's so much cotton here, and it's of such good quality; it could make you two sets of cotton-padded jackets and trousers.

The Qi sisters also looked with delight at the cotton cloth in their mother's hands.

To be honest, many of the clothes Qi Xiaoning wears are altered from clothes that her older sister couldn't wear anymore.

She was even happier than Yang Dalin when she saw the new fabric.

Who knows, I might be able to snag a new set of clothes.

(The fifth child also had this experience. Before starting junior high school in 2003, he often wore clothes that his older brother could no longer wear.)

When Qi Yulan saw her second daughter so happy, she slapped her hand away and said, "What are you so happy about? This is for your eldest brother Lin to make a new cotton-padded jacket and trousers."

"It's not like you have no clothes to wear!"

Upon hearing this, Qi Xiaoning's eyes were filled with disappointment: "Mom, you're so biased. I think Yang Dalin is your real son. I was adopted, wasn't I? I've always worn my sister's hand-me-downs. I haven't worn new clothes in years."

Seeing that Qi Xiaoning was about to argue with her aunt, Yang Dalin quickly explained, "Auntie, there's some floral fabric in what I bought. Just make me a coat; I don't need a padded jacket or trousers. I'll make a new padded jacket for each of the three of you."

Aunt Qi actually found a piece of blue floral fabric in the cloth.

"Dalinzi, why are you buying floral fabric? All three of us have thick cotton-padded coats. We just need to re-fluff the cotton inside this year and add a little more cotton."

How can you go out in winter without a thick cotton-padded coat and trousers?

Yang Dalin sat down and explained to them, "Auntie, just listen to me."

Please make me a coat out of this fabric, make it a bit bigger, since I'm still growing. I can wear it when I go out in the morning and evening.

When I'm working, I can't wear a cotton-padded jacket and trousers, otherwise I'll easily catch a cold if I sweat, get hot, and then take them off.

I have a coat that I take off after I arrive at the work site, and then I just put it on after I'm done.

Make the coat a little bigger so it can still cover your legs, and that will do.

I'm short on money today. I'll try to find a way to buy some more cloth and cotton-padded jackets, and get you three more new cotton-padded trousers.

We'll all be wearing new clothes for Chinese New Year this year.

Upon seeing the floral fabric inside and hearing Yang Dalin's words, Qi Xiaoning's mood brightened considerably.

Holding onto Yang Dalin's arm, she said, "Brother Dalin is so much better. Unlike me, his mother doesn't care about her daughter at all."

Qi Yanhua couldn't help but smile when she heard Yang Dalin's words.

Most of her clothes were altered from Qi Yulan's; did she really think she wore new clothes?

Qi Yulan knew her second daughter was joking, so she patted her on the back again: "Without me as your mother, you wouldn't have grown up like this. I'm just worried that your eldest brother Lin only has one coat, which isn't enough to wear."

Yang Dalin said, "That's enough, that's enough, Auntie. I'll try to buy some more."

We're family, so let's each get one first. I'll take advantage of a little and get a bigger one, and we'll buy more later.

Aunt Qi held Yang Dalin's hand: "Good child, good child, I'm sorry to have troubled you. Let me see what fabric I have. I'll make you a hat with the extra fabric, and a couple more pairs of shoes."

Yang Dalin had a bad habit in his previous life: he didn't like wearing hats. When he was a teenager learning to ride a motorcycle, he didn't like wearing a helmet because he felt it would affect his hearing and vision.

Later, when we started at Bright Summit, I didn't like wearing a hat either, because I always felt uncomfortable.

But it was really cold in winter at this time, so Yang Dalin said to Aunt Qi, "Auntie, make hats for Sister Yan and Xiaoning. I'm not used to wearing hats. If I sweat while working and take them off, I'll easily catch a cold. Do you know how to make those earmuffs? Just make one for me."

"Ear socket" is a term used in Yang Dalin's hometown; it refers to something made of wool that can protect the ears.

I don't know what the old city of Sijiu is called.

Aunt Qi replied, "You mean an earmuff? Your sister Yan knows how to make those. Have her knit one for you and make you a cotton lining too."

"Okay, thank you, Sister Yan."

Qi Yanhua gave him a shy glare: "Why are you being so polite with me?"

I'll make it for you later. I haven't thanked you yet for giving me new cotton clothes.

Yang Dalin chuckled sheepishly and scratched his head.

Aunt Qi glanced at the two of them with a smile.

Then he asked, "Wait a minute, Dalin, you don't have any cotton-padded trousers. Aren't your legs freezing? How about we make you some thin cotton-padded trousers later? That way, it won't affect your work, right?"

Nowadays, ordinary people don't have thermal underwear at home. Yang Dalin, for example, wore two pairs of pants.

Many children are even wearing cotton pants with bare legs.

Looking back, I need to buy some more yarn and have my aunt knit me some woolen pants.

Otherwise, we really won't be able to get through this winter.

Yang Dalin was wearing an old sweater.

There aren't any thermal pants available.

"Auntie, do you know how to make woolen pants?"

Qi Yulan looked at Yang Dalin with a troubled expression: "Dalin, Aunt Maoku does know how to make it, but, but..."

Yang Dalin noticed Aunt Qi's predicament: "Is yarn very expensive, Aunt?"

Qi Yanhua spoke up for her mother: "Yes, Dalinzi, a kilogram of yarn costs over thirty yuan, and you also need coupons. To make a pair of woolen trousers, you need at least two or three kilograms of yarn..."

Qi Yanhua's voice grew softer and softer as she spoke.

Goodness, making a new sweater and a new pair of woolen pants would cost at least sixty or seventy yuan, not even counting the ticket and labor.

If you include everything, it would be over a hundred.

No wonder Aunt Qi and Sister Yanhua were in such a predicament.

No wonder my mother in my past life often took apart sweaters and re-knitted them.

It's really expensive! The value of a pair of woolen trousers plus the ticket is probably equivalent to two months' salary for Aunt Qi.

The key issue is that Aunt Qi doesn't have that many tickets, so she has to buy them at a high price.

Alright, let's not worry about manners. Yang Dalin actually didn't want to wear cotton-padded trousers. He thought they were too bulky, unattractive, and would hinder his work.

It seems like I should just stick to wearing cotton-padded trousers.

The system will be activated in a few days. Let's see if we can get some freebies from it.

Otherwise, I can buy yarn myself; I can earn the money myself. It would be a bit extravagant to use food coupons to buy it.

The key is to buy things, not just things for yourself.

"It's alright, Auntie. Let's wait a few days. I'll ask someone at the train station later."

"Don't worry about it. I'm big enough to keep myself warm. If it really gets too cold, I'll buy some more cotton and fabric, and we can make some thin cotton trousers."

Seeing that Yang Dalin wasn't getting stuck on things and wasn't as rebellious as many teenagers, Aunt Qi was even more relieved: "It's alright, Auntie will ask around at work for you. By the way, you haven't told me how much all this cost today?"

Yang Dalin told Aunt Qi the amount spent. When Aunt Qi heard that she still owed Grandpa Qi a pound of fine grain coupons, she quickly gave him the coupons and told him not to forget to pay them back tomorrow.