◎ First update ◎ 

Thinking of how Xu Shengjie hadn’t allowed Xiaowei and Xiaoya to get close to the river because of his parents death, she didn’t ask; after all, it would be like rubbing salt into someone’s wounds. 

Under the silvery moonlight, the two of them walked towards home, their figures illuminated against the night. Two long shadows moved side by side, occasionally blending together. Today was the autumn equinox; the weather had suddenly turned much colder. It was sunny and hot during the day but cold at night. 

Xu Shengjie held Liang Baozhen’s arm and felt her body temperature. “Are you cold?” 

“Not at all. It was too hot recently; now it’s just right.” 

Walking back to the Crescent Alley, they reached the entrance of the big courtyard. They saw a man carrying a large package and a military green bag, with a woven sack on the ground, bending over to pick it up. 

However, he wasn’t paying attention to the package on his shoulder, which was about to fall off. 

“Comrade, be careful,” Xu Shengjie helped him lift the package, “Where are you going? Let me help you.” 

They don’t know what’s in the package, but it makes a clinking sound.

“Are you from this courtyard?” The man looked at the unfamiliar couple and tried to recall. He didn’t have a clear impression. 

“Yes, we live here. We’re from the Xu family. Are you here to visit?” 

“Grandma Zhou’s house?” Hearing the Xu family, the man realized, “Xu Shengjie? “Are you the one who joined the military?” 

Xu Shengjie had been away from the courtyard for many years and could only come back occasionally for a family visit. He wasn’t very familiar with everyone. But he recognized the man’s features in the darkness and had a sense of familiarity. 

“I’m from the Zhang family, my mother is Zhang Rong.” 

“Are you Aunt Zhang’s son who was an educated youth?” Liang Baozhen was the first to react. Aunt Zhang said a while ago that she had found a job for her son in the city and wanted him to come back to the city. Was this him? 

“Yes!” 

*** 

“Aunt Zhang, Aunt Zhang, are you asleep?” Liang Baozhen knew that Aunt Zhang had been looking forward to this day. She was a little excited at this moment and hurried to the west room and knocked on the door. 

Zhang Rong and Zhou Jun had gone to bed early and were half asleep when they heard the knocking. The voice sounded somewhat familiar. 

“It seems to be Xu family’s daughter-in-law Baozhen.” 

“Why is she knocking at this hour?” Zhou Jun and Liang Baozhen had only met once or twice, and he wondered why she was so urgently knocking on their door. 

Zhang Rong put on her coat and walked to the door, unbolting it. “Baozhen, what’s going on?”

“Aunt Zhang, your son is back!” Liang Baozhen pointed at the man behind her and spoke excitedly. 

Zhang Rong listened to Liang Baozhen’s words and didn’t react at first. Who was coming back? It took her a few seconds to realize that Liang Baozhen was referring to her son. 

There was a man standing in the dark yard. Zhang Rong took a closer look and found that it was her son Zhou Qingdang, whom she had been thinking about for all these years! 

“Qingdang?” Zhang Rong stretch her right hand, trembling, and pointed toward the man, “Is it really Qingdang?” 

“Mother!” Zhou Qingdang put down the package, walked quickly to Zhou Rong, and called out loudly, “Mother, I’m back!” 

“Qingdang, oh, you’re really back!” Zhang Rong’s eyes were filled with tears, and her eyes reddened instantly. She held her son’s hand tightly and couldn’t speak for a long time. She turned her head and shouted into the house, “Zhou Jun, Zhou Jun, come out quickly, Qingdang is back!” 

After five years in the countryside, Zhou Qingdang had finally returned to the city. The noise woke everyone who had been sleeping. They quickly put on their outerwear and gathered at the Zhou family’s house. 

“It wasn’t easy; it’s great that the child is back!” 

“Qingdang, your parents have been waiting for you for years, and they talk about you every day.” Zhou Guoping stood at the door, shouting that he wanted to help Aunt Zhang’s family. “Now that Qingdang is back, it’s a great occasion. If you need any help, remember to ask.” 

“Qingdang had a hard time. He suffered a lot when he went to the countryside.” 

Uncle Wei and Aunt Li watched at the door for a while, then turned around and went home. Zhou Rong was crying uncontrollably, and looking at Zhou Qingdang, who was once a spirited young man, it was clear that five years in the countryside had changed him quite a bit. 

“I almost didn’t recognize him; Qingdang has suffered a lot.” 

“Life in the countryside means working under the sun and wind; he looks much older. I remember he and Fang Hongming were born in the same year, but now they seem like there’s a seven or eight year age difference between them.” 

Zhou Rong carefully examined her son. His skin had darkened, his hands were rough and calloused, and his eyes were full of weariness. He said that he had been on the train for five days and he couldn’t care less about his untidy beard. He was just looking forward to coming home. 

“Didn’t you say that the formalities couldn’t be completed so quickly? Why did you come back so suddenly?” 

Zhou Jun had only two children, a son and a daughter. When it was time to send one child to the countryside, the eldest, Qingdang, volunteered to go, leaving his sister in the city. Last year, when Zhou Qinghua got married, he couldn’t make it back because he couldn’t get away. 

“I used a lot of connections and finally gave our commune cadres three packs of cigarettes and said a lot of nice things to get the formalities done. I got a letter of introduction to go back to the city and immediately bought a train ticket back.” Zhou Qingdang never dreamed that he would actually return to the city, to his own home. “The cigarettes Qinghua sent me during the Chinese New Year came in handy.”

“It’s good that you’re back!” Zhou Rong wiped her face with her hands. Knowing that her son rushed home as soon as he got off the train and had no time to eat, she immediately got up to cook him a bowl of noodles. 

“Aunt Zhang, is there anything missing at home? I still have some noodles.” 

“Wait a minute; we still have some cornbread. I’ll bring a few over.” 

Everyone contributed a little, and the table at Zhang Rong’s house was piled with food. Seeing that Zhou Qingdang had a hard time in the countryside, everyone let him have a good rest and then went home. 

The Yao family, who lived in the east wing, was more worried. They still had a daughter in the countryside and hadn’t managed to arrange a job for her to come back. 

After the crowd dispersed, Zhou Qingdang ate a large bowl of scallion noodles and a few steamed buns. He stopped only when his stomach was full. 

“Don’t overeat before sleeping, or you’ll end up with indigestion.” Zhou Rong felt sorry for her son suffering in the countryside and had already planned to get up early tomorrow morning to line up to buy some meat. She had to make up for it. 

“It’s too late now. I’ll go inform your sister tomorrow morning.” Zhou Jun felt much more at ease thinking about his child coming back. Finally, their family was reunited. 

Zhou Qinghua, the younger sister of Zhou Qingdang, worked in a towel factory. This time, she also asked around and heard that someone in the towel factory wanted to sell a job. Nine hundred yuan per position was not a small amount, and there were still many people competing for it. Zhou Qinghua had to use her connections to get the opportunity. The family scraped together the money and even borrowed two hundred yuan to get the job. 

Otherwise, Zhou Qingdang would not have been able to return to the city. 

“I’ll prepare your bed, and you can take a bath and get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow, Mother won’t wake you up. Sleep until you wake up, and I’ll get your favorite pork belly for you.” 

“Okay, Father, Mother, you guys should take a rest.” Zhou Qingdang looked at his busy parents and finally felt at peace. 

*** 

Liu Nianhua’s family also went out to join in the fun. Xiaolong and Xiaohu loved to look around. After returning home, they talked about Zhou Qingdang’s return. He was the first educated youth to return to the city, so naturally, people were talking about it. 

“Aunt Zhang’s family is so happy. Such a large sum of money, tsk tsk.” Zhou Guoping had just heard that Zhang Rong’s family used their connections to save up 900 yuan to buy a job for Zhou Qingdang. They were really willing to spend that much money. “But I think Zhou Qingdang might have been ruined after so many years in the countryside. He doesn’t even look like much of a person anymore.” 

Liu Nianhua listened to the man’s mumbling and suddenly felt she could not see through him. In her memory, Zhou Guoping had always been kind and considerate, and he had just said some nice things in front of Aunt Zhang. But now, the way he sneered and belittled Zhou’s son made him seem like a stranger. 

“It’s already difficult for him to come back to the city. Things will only get better from here.” 

She couldn’t help but speak up. Seeing Zhou Guoping’s slightly surprised expression, she went straight back into the house. 

“Eh?” Zhou Guoping looked at his wife and thought that she might have taken the wrong medicine today. 

*** 

The next day, the smell of meat from the Zhou family’s house wafted through the entire courtyard. With the month coming to an end and everyone having not eaten meat for a long time, they were truly craving it. 

Xu Shengwei ate sweet potatoes and smelled the aroma of braised pork, looking intoxicated, “Smelling this makes the sweet potatoes taste even better.” 

“Aunt Zhang stewed a pot of pig’s trotters today. They are fat and big.” Xu Shengya swallowed and kept glancing outside. 

The Xu family has already used one pound of the two and a half pound of meat tickets allocated for this month. The remaining one and a half pound will be saved for the New Year, so they can only endure for the remaining few days. 

“Xiaojie, can you get a pig offal from Hong Saner place this month?” Zhou Yun felt distressed when she saw her grandchildren like this. 

“The meat processing plant is also under pressure this month. They said there are no benefits.” Xu Shengjie didn’t need to ask; Hong Saner said it himself. 

“I’ll buy some meat when I get my salary in a few days,” Liang Baozhen said. She was about to receive her first salary and had been counting the days. With the time almost here, she planned to treat her family to a nice meal. 

“Great! Sister-in-law, let’s eat braised pork at home!” 

“Braised pork with potatoes is the best!” 

“Okay, we’ll make sure to have enough potatoes as well.” 

Liang Baozhen flipped through the calendar on the wall every day. Finally, it was the beginning of October, when salaries were paid. 

Since she wasn’t yet a formal employee, her salary this month was the lowest level, 21.5 yuan. Once she became a level one worker, it would be 32.5 yuan. 

She had felt like she was dreaming when she first entered the State Cotton Factory, but now that she was about to receive her first salary, it felt like she had returned to reality. Money is truly a wonderful thing! It’s something you can hold in your hand and use to buy things!

She and Xu Shengjie had long agreed on how to manage their salaries. 

“You earn 43 yuan a month, and I earn 21.5 yuan a month, which adds up to 64.5 yuan. We should save 15 yuan for our family’s living expenses and give it to grandma. If we need to buy extra things, such as furniture, food, or cloth, we can take out some extra money. As long as there’s nothing major, we should save 30 yuan every month. What do you think?” 

Xu Shengjie had nothing to say. He had never cared about how much his salary and allowances were. Before, he would just send 30 yuan regularly and then put the rest into his savings account at the end of the year. Only then did he know how much money he could save. Now that Liang Baozhen had made a good plan, he naturally had no objection. 

“I’ll do whatever you say.” 

“With our salaries, we can keep five yuan for our personal expenses. Xiaowei and Xiaoya are older now; sometimes they might want to buy something at school, so we should give them five cents a week for pocket money. For Grandma, we’ll give her five yuan a month. I’ve noticed she likes to save money and enjoys counting it.” 

“You know all this?” 

“That’s right.” Liang Baozhen put down the pen in her hand, remembering that when the family was counting the money for vegetables not long ago, Zhou Yun counted a handful of loose bills back and forth several times, and she looked so happy. 

“Okay, grandma will definitely be happy with it.” 

“If we save 30 yuan a month, we can have 360 yuan a year. In a few months, I will be hired as a regular employee, so we should be able to save 40 yuan a month, at least 400 yuan a year, and in two years, we can probably use the money to start a business or buy a house…” 

Liang Baozhen is thinking about a better life in the future. Once the policies are relaxed, life will only get better. 

“Start a business? Buy a house?” Xu Shengjie smiled, thinking his wife had big ideas. With the severe crackdown on speculation outside, he wondered if she was brave enough to consider starting a business. “Aren’t you afraid of being arrested?” 

“Oh, I just said it casually. Maybe; who can tell for sure?” Liang Baozhen almost let herself be exposed and immediately made up for it. 

“I’ll put the money away first, and when I save up a hundred yuan, I’ll deposit it into the passbook.” Liang Baozhen put the fixed amount of 30 yuan into a handkerchief, then hid the handkerchief in the pillowcase, patted the pillow back into place, and felt satisfied. 

The author has something to say: 

Liang Baojun: Don’t mention it, this is the fixed place where we Liang family hide our money. Baoling does it, Baozhen does it, and so do I!