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

Yang Dalin summarized the major problems he needed to solve.

First, I need to earn my own food.

Second activation system.

The third and fourth courtyard houses have gained a firm foothold.

Fourth, resolve the employment issue.

Fifth, we could either marry Qi Yanhua or become her son-in-law. If she really doesn't like us, we could just become godparents.

The fifth point is a long-term issue, so there's no rush.

Yang Dalin will not have the habit of being a simp in this life. Mainly because he was hurt by simping in his previous life, he has experience. If he invests a certain amount of time and money and there is no return, he will stop directly. After all, he is a 30-something-year-old single man, unlike an inexperienced 20-something-year-old who keeps simping until he has nothing left.

Knowing that the input and return are not proportional, one will decisively give up; this is the experience of an old sycophant.

In short, it was all a painful realization; without experiencing pain firsthand, one cannot have such a profound experience.

Through their conversation, Qi Yanhua realized she had underestimated this younger brother who had fled from the countryside.

Last night, when her mother said she was going to take Yang Dalin as her son-in-law, Qi Yanhua thought it was impossible and that she might not be interested in him.

Unexpectedly, this younger brother is quite steady in his speech and actions, not at all impulsive, and knows what he needs to do.

Therefore, Qi Yanhua, as a young woman just beginning to experience love, sometimes looked at Yang Dalin with a strange gaze.

This younger brother from the countryside showed no signs of inferiority. He spoke to others with neither arrogance nor servility, and he was quite handsome.

Unlike the rural relatives she had met from other neighbors, who were very reserved and seemed afraid to speak loudly.

Although Yang Dalin is not as tall as me, my mother said that Shandong Province has always been known for producing strong men, so he will continue to grow and there is no need to worry too much.

The two can spend some time together. If it works out, the son-in-law can become the daughter-in-law. If not, they can become sworn brothers, so that the family can have a man to support them.

At this time, young women generally value a man's character and his ability to work hard and support the family when they get married.

Height and appearance aren't the most important things; as long as you're not injured or disabled, and you work diligently, that's enough.

Unlike the divorced women in their thirties of later generations who want to find men with a monthly income of over five figures, whose parents are preferably employed, who are getting married for the first time, who are over 1.8 meters tall, who don't do housework after marriage, whose husbands have time to spend with them, and whose families don't have loans on their houses or cars.

In his previous life, Yang Dalin had personally met several people through blind dates, and they were all introduced by relatives.

Before he traveled through time, Yang Dalin had no idea whether the wish the other person made had come true.

That wasn't a blind date, that was making a wish.

Yang Dalin then asked Aunt Yulan and Uncle Qi if they would be coming back for lunch.

Qi Xiaoning told Yang Dalin that those who work in the yard and those who go out to work generally eat three meals a day.

(As Liu Haizhong mentioned in the drama, there were more than 20 households in the courtyard, and seven of them lived in the steel rolling mill.)

Women and children who do not work eat two meals a day.

Aunt Yulan will come back at noon, but Uncle Qi is uncertain; sometimes he will come back, and sometimes he won't.

Yang Dalin planned to talk to Aunt Yulan after she returned.

Ask her to introduce me to Grandpa Qi, and see if I can go for a walk with him this afternoon.

Yang Dalin never dared to take the "power pill".

He believes in the law of conservation of energy. What should he do if he needs to replenish his energy with a large amount of food after eating?

Or what if it has the effect of cleansing the marrow and tendons, and the body also shows signs of detoxification?

I'm currently staying at someone else's house, and the relationship isn't well-established yet, so it's very fragile. I need to be careful in everything I do.

After chatting for a while, Yang Dalin insisted on helping to clean up the nooks and crannies of the house.

After cleaning, she lay back in bed for a while. It was almost noon when Yang Dalin offered to help cook, but Qi Yanhua refused.

Because he couldn't do the job of steaming cornbread. He had been single for over thirty years in his previous life, so how could he not know how to cook?

He can cook most common home-style dishes, but the problem is that there aren't many seasonings and ingredients available for him to choose from these days.

I heard that you need coupons to buy scallions, ginger, and garlic these days.

This is a true story. There were also food coupons. Each person in a family received two liang (a unit of weight) of food coupons per day. The key point is that you might not even be able to buy fresh vegetables.

The same goes for scallion, ginger, and garlic coupons; each family was allotted two ounces a day, and whether or not they could buy them depended on luck.

Although these tickets were only issued for a very short time, they actually existed, which shows how tight the supply was.

Yang Dalin now only hopes to activate the system as soon as possible. Even if he really can't find a job, he can still support himself by secretly selling some scallions, ginger, garlic and vegetables.

I just don't know what kind of system I have, whether it's a farm system or something else.

Qi Xiaoning cooked lunch again. It's not that Qi Xiaoning can't cook; they each take turns doing housework each day.

This is a rule set by Aunt Yulan, and today it just so happens to be Qi Xiaoning's turn.

At this point, it's a pipe dream for twelve-year-old girls, whether in the city or the countryside, to dream of playing all day and not helping with chores at home, unless they're like Lou Xiao'e, who has maids at home who do odd jobs, but they just don't live there.

In his previous life, before graduating from high school in 07, Yang Dalin stayed at home and had to help with chores during holidays or after school.

How could I let you play around all day with nothing to do?

After you've finished helping with the chores at home, you can relax for a while. But when it's really busy farming season, do you still dare not help? Do you think Seven Wolves' whip doesn't hurt?

Just as Qi Xiaoning finished cooking, Aunt Yulan came home from get off work. The first thing she did when she got home was to check on Yang Dalin.

Seeing that Yang Dalin was in good spirits, I knew he had only drunk a bowl of dumpling soup that morning.

I insisted on giving him both of my mixed-grain steamed buns for lunch.

Even if Yang Dalin was starving, he knew he couldn't take it.

Even though his stomach was full of water in the morning and then empty after going to the toilet, and it kept rumbling, he was too embarrassed to eat the food his savior was giving him.

In the end, Yang Dalin ate three and a half cornbreads for lunch. Half of them were given to him by Aunt Yulan. Actually, his aunt gave him one, but he tore it apart and only accepted half.

One was given to him by Qi Yanhua. Sister Yanhua said she wouldn't go out in the afternoon and would burn less energy, so she insisted he eat one. Including his own two, there were three and a half in total, with each steamed bun weighing a little over one ounce on average.

To be honest, it was hard to eat. It was not only irritating to the throat, but the texture was also indescribable.

Fortunately, there were pickled vegetables to eat with it, and a bowl of cornmeal porridge that was as thin as water, which helped him swallow it down. Otherwise, Yang Dalin was really afraid he wouldn't be able to eat it.

Admittedly, his soul felt unable to eat, but his body was very honest.

He insisted on finishing the cornbread, even though he was still not full.

Just before eating, Yang Dalin mentioned to Aunt Yulan that he wanted her to help introduce him to Uncle Qi.

Aunt Yulan first inquired about Yang Dalin's health.

It means he should rest for two days first.

Yang Dalin said no, he's just going to wander around and see what's going on, he's not sure he'll find any work.

Aunt Yulan thought about it and agreed. The young man had just arrived in Beijing and was unfamiliar with the city. Even if he didn't work, it would be good for him to go and explore.

But not now, let's talk about it later.

Because it's mealtime, we have to wait until everyone has finished eating before we can talk about it.

The godmother then took out an unopened pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from a drawer in the living room.

I don't know how long these cigarettes have been sitting here. Aunt Yulan even asked Yang Dalin if he wanted to smoke. He was a heavy smoker in his previous life, but he decided not to touch them in this life, so he shook his head.

Besides, this body isn't addicted to it, and more importantly, I'm poor. If I really got hooked, I wouldn't have the money to buy it.

There's a saying among smokers in Beijing: "Senior cadres smoke Peony, mid-level cadres smoke Fragrant Hills, workers, peasants and soldiers smoke 23 cents a pack (referring to Beihai brand, which cost 23 cents a pack), and rural cadres happily smoke Big Cannon."

Beihai cigarettes haven't been released yet.

Aunt Yulan planned to take this pack of cigarettes and go find Grandpa Qi later.

They even slipped a dollar to Yang Dalin, who tried to refuse it several times, but in the end, he couldn't refuse it.