Chapter 8: First Arrival in the Capital…

The Capital in 1948 was in ruins. Especially under the autumn wind, the traces of countless battles, large and small, made the city walls—already weighed down by history—seem even more desolate and decayed.

Fang Dahai looked at the city gate and felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest. After three hundred years, he had returned to the capital once again, but it had completely changed from the home he once knew.

Back then, the capital had also suffered the devastation of wars during the era of the “Begging-for-Entry Emperor,” but after several generations of restoration, the city walls had long regained their solemn and intact appearance. But now? Even without getting close, he could already clearly see the massive shell marks near the gate.

“Big Brother, this city wall is really tall. Are there people on top of it?”

This was Fang Dajiang’s first time coming to such a big place. The moment he saw the city gate, he became excited, his eyes practically glowing. He Yulan also smiled, full of emotion:

“So sturdy—living inside must be really peaceful.”

Fang Dahai wanted very much
to tell his younger siblings that you can’t judge everything by its appearance. No matter how thick the city walls are, they can’t guard against the hearts of men. But they were already approaching the gate, and the soldiers collecting tolls stood just ahead, so it wasn’t the time to say too much. He could only urge them to move faster.

“It’s almost noon. Let’s get inside quickly—we still have to find a place to eat.”

The moment food was mentioned, the first to react was Xiangcao, who was sitting in the cart. She clutched her stomach—only four years old, the age when hunger hit the hardest. The rice ball she ate at dawn was long gone. Now hearing they’d be eating soon, how could she possibly hold back? She immediately turned around and urged:

“Big Brother, I’m hungry.”

As she spoke, she even smacked her lips. The sound of her swallowing was unusually loud.

“I know, we’ll eat as soon as we get inside.”

Fang Dahai readjusted the rope of the cart over his shoulder. With a forceful tug, he began to pull the cart forward.

Seeing their big brother move, Fang Dajiang and He Yulan quickly followed—one pushing from behind, the other walking beside the cart and carefully holding Xiangcao’s hand to prevent anyone from snatching her away.

The soldiers at the gate had long noticed the group of four children. It was midday, and even at the city gate, there weren’t many people passing by. This little group was quite eye-catching.

“Stop! What are you here for?”

Fang Dahai looked young, but inside he was already an old hand. Just from their tone, he could tell what the two soldiers were aiming for. But since they hadn’t said it directly, he couldn’t be too forward either—after all, his face still looked like a 14-year-old’s, and he had to maintain his persona.

“Sirs, we’ve come to seek refuge with relatives.”

“Relatives? Just you kids? What kind of relatives?”

“Our father’s passed away. We’ve come to find our second uncle—he’s a cook at Xiangmanlou.”

The moment they heard him name both the profession and the restaurant, the soldiers started to believe him. After all, there was even a toddler in the cart who looked like she had just started talking—no way were they spies or anything like that.

But the Kuomintang’s situation wasn’t good these days. They’d lost the Northeast and North China, and the finances were so tight that even these common soldiers couldn’t count on getting paid. They had to rely on squeezing others just to get by. So even if these kids didn’t look like trouble, it was worth trying to see if they could get anything out of them.

Looking more closely though… their clothes were all tattered, shoes had toes poking through—how much could they possibly offer? Probably couldn’t even afford a sesame flatbread. Sigh. Still, might as well shake them down a bit just in case.

“Your story sounds okay, but we still need to check the cart.”

As they spoke, the two soldiers had already come to the cart and began rummaging through the bedding. Xiangcao was so scared she started trembling. He Yulan quickly scooped her up into her arms, which drew a few more glances from the soldiers.

Fortunately, Fang Dahai knew how troublesome these petty soldiers could be. He had prepared for this when they left home. Everyone wore their shabbiest clothes, deliberately left their hair messy, and even smeared dirt on their faces. They looked dusty and completely unremarkable. So even though He Yulan was actually quite pretty, right now she just looked like a scrawny, half-grown girl.

But while their appearances were properly downplayed, the luggage was a different story. The bedding looked shabby on top, but underneath were the thick comforters and sturdy cotton jackets they had gotten from the Fu family. If those were discovered, they might not be able to keep them. In these times, that kind of thing could fetch money.

In order not to reveal the hidden storage space in front of the children, and to bring as many things as possible without attracting attention later, he had put a lot of thought into it—even hiding an iron pot inside a wooden barrel. He couldn’t let it all be discovered now.

“Hey hey hey, sirs, my sister is just a child—please show some mercy.”

As he spoke, Fang Dahai tried to slip three 10,000-yuan bills into the hand of the soldier who’d just spoken.

The soldier looked pleased at first, but when he glanced down and saw it was fabi (old Nationalist currency), his expression immediately soured.

“Kid, that money’s no good anymore—not since last month. If you gave gold yuan notes, maybe. But this? Not even enough for toilet paper, got it? You need 3 million of these to exchange for one gold yuan!”

“Huh? Not usable anymore?”

Fang Dahai actually knew that this wouldn’t work—but he had to try. As someone from the countryside outside the capital, being behind on news was completely normal. If he handed over the right currency too easily, that would be suspicious.

So he was fully prepared. Instantly switching to his best acting, he put on a flustered expression, looking completely at a loss. As the soldiers prepared to dig deeper, he began patting himself all over as if searching for money, wiping away tears while muttering:

“The money devalues fast, fine, but how come it’s not usable at all now? Father saved it for so long—what are we supposed to do now?”

These words struck a chord with everyone present. Even the two soldiers couldn’t help but sigh.

“Ain’t that the truth? The big shots up there come up with random ideas on a whim, and now we’re all starving because of it.”

Of course, sympathizing is one thing, but giving up on collecting money is another. Just because they’re suffering too doesn’t mean they’ll stop demanding payment, right?

So the two soldiers stood still, right by the cart, watching Fang Dahai search for money. Their posture clearly showed they were waiting for a bribe.

Did they not know Fang Dahai didn’t want them rummaging through his things? Impossible. After standing guard at the city gate day after day, even a fool would have picked up on the basics of human behavior. How could they not know what he was trying to do?

But what could they do about it even if they knew? Just one look at these scrawny children and their sickly yellow faces showed the truth—they were genuinely poor. What could they possibly be hiding? At most, a bit of food or something they mistakenly thought was valuable. If they had real wealth, they wouldn’t look like this.

So instead of wasting time and effort turning the cart upside down and making a scene, why not just stand there and wait for someone to offer a bit of money? It saved them the trouble.

Seeing this, Fang Dahai let out a sigh of relief. Finally, he had time to really dig into his waistband for money.

Where did the money come from? He had anticipated the monetary chaos and the chance of running into trouble at the city gate. On the way here, while passing through towns and cities, he had broken a silver dollar and exchanged it for a bunch of copper coins. Even though copper had devalued severely—what once took 80 or 90 copper coins to exchange for a silver dollar now required 400—it was still physical metal and retained some value during chaotic times. Of course, he had come prepared.

“Officer, would this be enough?”
Fang Dahai nervously held out a hand with twelve copper coins, then watched the two soldiers’ expressions anxiously. Seeing their brows furrow with displeasure, he quickly offered his other hand, which held another ten.

“This is really all I have left. We spent everything arranging my father’s funeral. Even this travel money was pooled together by the neighbors.”

Though it really wasn’t much, the two soldiers exchanged a glance and eventually nodded. One of them snatched the coins from Fang Dahai’s hands and waved them on.

“Fine. Not even a big coin in there, just small coppers. But hey, it’s enough for two bowls of noodles. Go on, then.”

“Ah, ah, thank you, officers, thank you!”

Finally, they were through. Even after giving away money, they had to thank them. For Fang Dahai, who once only ever received bribes as a Jinyiwei (Embroidered Uniform Guard), this was a first.

After getting past these little devils at the gate, Fang Dahai led his younger siblings into Anding Gate. This was the closest gate to the Imperial City from Changping. As someone who had once lived in the capital, he was familiar with this area—after all, it was near Mao’er Hutong, the jurisdiction of the Northern Imperial Guards.

But stepping through the gate… this was definitely not the capital he remembered.

Garbage piles lined the streets, and among them sat or lay countless refugees. The adults were skeletal and barely able to move; the children’s cries were faint, their breath barely a whisper. It looked more like a scene from a zombie apocalypse.

“Big Brother, what’s wrong with them?”

“They’re starving. Yulan, hold Xiangcao and stay on the cart. Dajiang, put in more effort. Let’s hurry.”

With just a few children in such an atmosphere, the danger was real. If these desperate people latched onto them, they might not make it out alive.

He Yulan had experienced ** herself and knew exactly how terrifying people became when starving. At first sight of the crowd, she tightly hugged Xiangcao to her chest, carefully covering the child’s head so she wouldn’t be scared. Upon hearing Fang Dahai’s instructions, she didn’t hesitate, quickly getting on the cart and wrapping herself and Xiangcao in the shabbiest blanket they had.

In times like these, the poorer you look, the safer you are.

Having eaten well for a few days, the two brothers gave it their all. Practically running, they crossed several streets. Only after they passed the Confucius Temple and saw fewer people along the roadside did they slow down a bit.

“Big Brother, those people…”

“They must be refugees fleeing famine. People think the war’s only bad outside the capital, but here’s no better.”

Fang Dahai remembered reading accounts of when the capital was liberated. It had said that because of the war outside, countless refugees flooded into the city—but even here, there was no way to survive.

With prices spiraling out of control, unscrupulous merchants hoarding goods, and a corrupt government squeezing the people with both legal tender and gold yuan coupons, places like the Confucius Temple and Yonghe Palace, which were used to shelter refugees, saw people starving to death every day. The bodies were hauled out of the city by the cartload.

But knowing it and seeing it were two very different things. Even though he had lived through war and seen firsthand how the poor struggled under the old regime, this level of man-made disaster… No wonder the people welcomed our army with open arms when they entered the city. The Nationalist Party had practically pushed the people right into our embrace.

Fang Dahai had originally planned to find some food after entering the city, then clean up and present himself a bit more properly before looking for anyone. That way, at least he’d make a good first impression—he didn’t want to come off as just another beggar hoping to scrounge something. And if he couldn’t find the person, well, looking clean would still make it easier to rent a place.

But now he didn’t think that way anymore—nothing was more important than finding a place to settle down. As long as they had somewhere to stay, and he could get the little ones settled properly, then he could leave home again with far less worry.

With that in mind, Fang Dahai didn’t pause for a moment. He pulled the cart and led the way straight toward Nanluoguxiang.

Why there? Because back in the Ming Dynasty, that was the area he had lived in. Even though times had changed and it was no longer the place he once knew, both muscle memory and emotional instinct led him to consider it a safer haven when faced with an unfamiliar world.

“Big Brother, aren’t we eating first?”

Fang Dajiang knew his brother’s plan. On the way there, Fang Dahai had taken the opportunity to teach him plenty of ‘wandering the jianghu’ survival tips as a kind of training. So he couldn’t help feeling puzzled when his big brother headed straight into the alley.

“First we find a place to stay. Things outside are more chaotic than we expected. It’s better to secure shelter first before we worry about anything else.”

He had only asked casually, and since his brother had a plan, Fang Dajiang naturally followed without further questions. But the route…

“Big Brother, don’t just keep walking—shouldn’t we ask someone for directions? What if we go the wrong way?”

Hey, why are you so talkative? Can’t you tell I’m trying to look like I know what I’m doing, and now you’ve exposed me?

“I did ask around a bit back at the rest stop. Everyone says Beijing is ‘rich in the east, noble in the west, poor in the south, and lowly in the north.’ So we can rule out the east and west. The south’s full of shady characters—not a place to settle down. And near the city gate, you saw it yourself—it’s all refugees. So really, the only viable place left for us is the area north of the Imperial City.”

Right, right, his brother had roughly mentioned that on the road. But the north side… that covered a pretty big area. How would they narrow it down?

“Look over there.”

Fang Dahai pointed into the distance, toward a small building that rose above the surrounding rooftops.

“That should be the Drum Tower. I heard that area houses a lot of professors and scholars. With big names living around there, it has to be safer than most. We’ll look for a place nearby.”

Where the professors live? Fang Dajiang immediately nodded enthusiastically.

“Right, right, that kind of place is peaceful. With educated folks around, there’s less petty crime.”

Centuries of Confucian influence had ingrained the respect for scholars deep into the culture. Even in times of chaos, there remained a reverence for knowledge. Every commoner understood the weight behind the word ‘teacher’.

“If that’s the case, Dahai-ge, maybe we’ll also have an easier time finding work? I could help with laundry or chores, and you could do some furniture repairs or carpentry.”

That might not be so easy. Families like those usually already had housekeepers, and carpentry jobs often went to veteran craftsmen. Who would hire kids like them? Sure, child labor existed, but that was usually in factories. These esteemed scholars wouldn’t want that kind of reputation.

But Fang Dahai didn’t want to dampen his brother’s spirit. He simply nodded lightly.

“Maybe. Either way, safety is what we need most right now.”

Looking at the herbs on the cart, He Yulan also nodded.

It was true—Xiangcao was still very young. They had to keep her in mind.

The distance from the Confucius Temple to the Drum Tower wasn’t far. While chatting, they soon arrived at the God of Wealth Temple. And as soon as they got there, Fang Dahai’s gaze turned distant and dreamy. Three lifetimes—and this temple showed the clearest difference among them. In his first life, only three main halls remained, the rest long gone. In the Ming Dynasty, it had been just an open lot at the corner of a street. But now… there was a full two-courtyard Daoist temple, and its incense offerings seemed quite popular. Inside, many refugees were clearly being sheltered.

Standing at the mouth of Beiluoguxiang, Fang Dahai looked up at Nanluoguxiang across the way. That area had changed a lot too. It used to be the residential district for Jinyiwei and the Twelve Guards. But now, all signs of that had disappeared. Instead of the military aesthetic of the Ming Dynasty or the commercial look of the future, the area was filled with signs of ordinary civilian life—cooking smoke, laundry lines, and everyday bustle.

Could they really find a suitable house there? With their current family setup, buying a standalone courtyard home seemed out of the question. Even if they had the money, showing off wealth would be dangerous. That left only multi-family compounds. But without acquaintances inside, moving in blindly might expose them to bullying.

Ah, they say when you leave your hometown, you become lowly. But even within the same city, switching homes is no easy feat!

“Brother, I’m hungry.”

Fang Dahai was lost in thought when a sudden child’s voice cut through his musings. It was Xiangcao—the one who could never go hungry for long.

“Got it. Big brother will get you something to eat right now.”

Food on the street? No need to look far—Xiangcao had already locked eyes on her target. Her mouth called for her brother, but her eyes were glued to the nearby bun shop. Her swallowing sounds were so loud, you could hear them from five meters away.

“Haha, what a funny little one. What do you say, young man—buy a few buns?”

Buns? Sure, why not? After walking so far, having something with a bit of meat would help restore their energy.

Fang Dahai parked the cart by the bun shop, took out some money to pay, and while keeping a modest and obedient look, began asking the bun shop owner some questions.

“Xiangmanlou? Are you looking for someone? Visiting relatives? Do you know the name?”

Huh? Shouldn’t he have just told them the address or direction? Why was he asking that? Something seemed off.

Fang Dahai froze for a second. He lifted his gaze toward the shop owner behind the steaming baskets — wearing sleeves, an apron, and surrounded by clouds of steam. Big bulbous eyes, a long face… Whoa, was that a black mole above his left brow? That face was way too distinctive! Wasn’t this exactly how He Yulan’s father had once described his younger brother — the one who worked as a cook in the capital — back when they were fleeing famine?

This was unreal. He hadn’t even started seriously looking yet, and now he’d already stumbled straight into the person they were looking for? This kind of coincidence — it was like something out of a novel! Could this world really have some kind of cosmic will guiding everything? Did he have a protagonist’s aura or something?

No way, just thinking about it made his heart thump wildly. The surprise was too much — he could hardly take it! But then again, this really was an amazing opportunity to settle down quickly!

With that thought, Fang Dahai instantly activated his inner Oscar-winning actor.

He showed a hesitant expression, took a cautious step forward, and asked with deliberate uncertainty:

“We are looking for relatives, actually. Uncle, do you know Xiangmanlou? Also, uh, I feel like you look kind of familiar… Yulan, Yulan, come here — doesn’t this uncle look a bit like your dad around the eyes?”

What? All he did was ask a single question, and suddenly it was turned on him? And now they were saying he looked like someone?

He Maozhu was momentarily stunned. He glanced at the Fang brothers, then looked uncertainly at He Yulan, who had just been called over. Then… he started getting excited.

“You… Yulan? He Yulan?”

His small eyes suddenly widened by a third. But instead of a teary family reunion, what followed was a rapid-fire interrogation:

“What’s your dad’s name? Your mom’s maiden name? What did your grandpa do? Where’s your ancestral home?”

Good grief! Was he planning to interrogate eight generations of her ancestors right here in the middle of the street?!