Chapter 19
After eating something, Bi Chunliu also left the house. As she was locking the door, she heard a click from across the lane at the Hou family’s door. She turned her head, but didn’t see anyone—only the cloth curtain hanging over their doorway swaying faintly.
Hmm?
She suddenly remembered—the Hou family’s Wu Sanmei was probably the one who’d been called “extremely socially anxious” in her past life. She recalled how people often wondered if Wu Sanmei had some kind of problem—always hiding inside, never coming out, and even if she did, she would avoid speaking whenever possible.
Coming out of the passageway, Chunliu saw Auntie Liu from the first courtyard washing dishes by the water tank. When she saw Chunliu, she greeted her:
“Chunliu girl, heading to work?”
“Yes, Auntie Liu.” Chunliu suddenly remembered that Auntie Liu’s house had a wall clock. She asked,
“Auntie Liu, could I check what time it is?”
Auntie Liu shook water from her hands, picked up the stack of washed bowls, and said,
“Afraid you’ll be late? Don’t worry, you’ve still got time. Go take a look, child. And while you’re at it, help me open the door—otherwise I’d have to back up to do it, hahaha…”
Chunliu smiled and pushed open the Liu family’s door. Auntie Liu went inside, and Chunliu glanced toward the cabinet opposite the doorway. Above it hung a wall clock—7:40. She relaxed. It took her less than ten minutes to reach the factory, so she was fine.
After putting away the bowls, Auntie Liu turned and pulled out a handful of red dates from the cabinet, handing them to Chunliu.
“See? Not late at all. Your Sister Xiaoya just left—her place is farther than yours. You know, before, if you were worried, you could’ve just come check here instead of always rushing off so early. Going early doesn’t get you paid more!”
Seeing Chunliu hesitate, Auntie Liu stuffed the dates into her pocket, lowering her voice.
“It’s not much, I didn’t give any to others. Just look at you—your face is pale as paper. Red dates help replenish the blood. We women need to eat more of what’s good for us.”
Chunliu didn’t refuse anymore.
“Thank you, Auntie Liu. Next time I buy something tasty, I’ll bring you some!”
“Alright, hurry on to work now.” Auntie Liu patted her back.
“Okay, see you later!” Chunliu left with a smile. Walking along, she sighed. Not having a clock at home was really inconvenient. When she got back in the afternoon, she would check the money and ration tickets—if not a wristwatch, at least buy a clock like Auntie Liu’s. She had no idea how much one cost. It had been too many years; estimating time by the sun wasn’t something she could do well anymore.
Hurrying on, she passed two people riding bicycles to work. They called out,
“Comrade Bi, heading to work?”
Since they were from the same factory, Chunliu replied politely.
The textile factory was very close to the housing compound. In fact, nearly half of the residents in the area either worked or had worked at the textile factory.
Take their compound for example—it was made up of three connected courtyards, fifteen households in total, and most had ties to the textile factory.
The First Courtyard had seven families.
- The Qi family: Old Qi lived in the room to the left of the entrance. He used to haul goods at the factory and now worked as the gatekeeper. His son Qi Chao lived there too, with his wife Deng Hong (an elementary school teacher) and their daughter Qi Yalan, a second-grader. Qi Chao himself worked at the thermos factory.
- The Liu family: Next door were Auntie Liu, her daughter Liu Xiaoyue, son-in-law An Qing, and two grandsons Liu Jiang and Liu He (both in middle school). An Qing was taken in by Liu Xiaoyue’s father during a trip, and later married her. Both Xiaoyue and An Qing worked at the supply and marketing cooperative. Their family’s standard of living was among the top five in the compound.
- The Lei family: Beside the Qis lived Granny Lei, a widow whose husband and son had both passed, and whose daughter-in-law had remarried. She lived with her granddaughter Tian Xiuxiu, now in first grade. Granny Lei traded work positions and ended up in the textile factory cafeteria.
- Chen Dali: A strong bachelor, working as a loader. He lived alone.
- The Xue family: Xue Zhengchu and his wife Du Ling lived with two sons, Xue Zhi (in Bi Weiguo’s class, junior 3) and Xue Yong (in Bi Qiuguo’s class, junior 1). Both parents worked in the workshop. Zhengchu was young but obsessed with official titles; he never became a factory cadre but managed to get himself elected as “Second Elder” of the compound.
- The Lü family: Widow Lü Jinjin lived with her son Xiang Wencheng (a year older than Qi Yalan, also in grade 2). Her late husband had been a truck driver at the factory, killed while on the job. She took his position, but since she couldn’t drive, she worked in the workshop.
- The Zhang family: Zhang Grandma, her son Zhang Jianyuan, his wife Pan Juan, and their son Zhang Haohao (same age as Xiuxiu, just started school). Jianyuan was a lathe worker and Pan Juan a quality inspector at the machinery factory. Pan Juan wanted to move closer to her maiden home near that factory, but the family house wasn’t good enough to exchange, and her in-laws opposed it.
The Second Courtyard had four families.
- Granny Zhang Guihua, a retired accountant, lived alone in two rooms—unusual, but she was special. The textile factory had originally belonged to her family, and though her fiancé died in the war, she never remarried. She loved giving candy to children, and both kids and adults adored her.
- The Hou family: Hou Zhiqiang, a warehouse team leader at the factory, and his wife Wu Sanmei, a housewife. Married seven or eight years, still without children.
- The Nie family: Nie Xuesong, a workshop foreman (and the compound’s “First Elder”), with wife Bai Xingzi. Their four children included:
- Nie Xiangdong, who inherited Bai family’s job at the liquor factory,
- Nie Xiangxi, who had taken Bai Xingzi’s clerical post,
- the youngest twins, a boy and a girl, both in their final year of high school, soon facing the “go to the countryside” campaign.
- The Bi family: Chunliu’s family. She worked at the textile factory’s labor union. Her father had also been a workshop worker, but was killed protecting factory property during overtime when he was stabbed. When Chunliu took over, the factory assigned her a union post.
The Third Courtyard had three families.
- The Li family: Li Musheng, working in the security department, and his mother Wang Aunty, who had just moved from the countryside and was still unfamiliar with the compound.
- The Chen family: Chen Gaoyi, a factory repairman, his wife Yan Shuang, and their twin sons Chen Zhengqi and Chen Weiqi, classmates of Bi Xiahe in grade 2.
- The Tong family: Tong Yucheng, a college-educated technician at the battery factory, placed here because his own factory lacked housing. His wife Lei Xiuying, a women’s federation worker, was Granny Lei’s niece and had grown up partly under her care. Their children Tong Jun (grade 4) and Tong Mei (grade 3) were both bright and good-looking like their mother.
