Chapter 5: Settling In

Chang Xi’s house wasn’t far from the second-hand shop. They had only walked a few minutes before they found a small courtyard. Peering in from the outside, they could see that the yard was in a complete mess, piled high with furniture. Xu Meng’s eyes nearly popped out of her head the moment she saw it all.

It was nothing like she had imagined. Some of the items here were still in quite good condition, and there was even a twelve-inch television set that had been popular in the 1970s.

By now, domestic televisions were already being mass-produced, and almost every household in the city owned one. Some families had already phased out their twelve-inch sets in favor of larger or imported color TVs. Televisions like this had long since been swept away by the tide of history, and Xu Meng hadn’t seen one in years. The moment she laid eyes on it, she found it fascinating and kept staring at it, again and again.

Chang Xi thought Xu Meng was tempted by that television. “We have a TV at home. This small one’s not worth watching.” Then she raised her voice as she called out, “Uncle Shuanzhu, do you have any bed boards?” It wasn’t clear who exactly she was shouting to.

At that moment, Xu Meng finally noticed a man with permed hair buried among a pile of appliances. It wasn’t until he heard someone call out that he lifted his head. His gaze swept briefly over Xu Meng before he pointed toward the inside and said in a muffled voice, “There’s plenty of bed boards in there. Lots of planks. But if you want to use it as a bed board, it needs to be big enough. Can you move it yourself?”

The man looked to be around thirty or forty, unshaven and rather unkempt in appearance.

After speaking, he lowered his head again and went back to tinkering with something, leaving Chang Xi to look around on her own.

Chang Xi was quite familiar with Wang Shuanzhu. When she was a kid, she used to love sneaking into this place during games of hide-and-seek. She immediately dragged Xu Meng inside with her, calling out as they went, “Uncle Shuanzhu, this is a friend of mine. Give her a discount later, okay?”

“You might as well just buy a whole bed instead of just a board. Beds aren’t that expensive anyway.”

Chang Xi turned to look at Xu Meng.

Xu Meng thought for a moment. “I’d better just buy a bed board.”

In case she had to move, it would be easier to carry. Besides, she really didn’t have any money right now. She could always buy a bed frame later when she had more.

The two of them rummaged around inside, and sure enough, they managed to find a plank suitable for use as a bed board. The wood was a bit old, about one and a half meters wide, with an acceptable length. It had been buried under a pile of broken and tattered old furniture. That room looked like it hadn’t been organized in ages. Furniture was stacked every which way, and Xu Meng seriously wondered if a single spark could burn the whole place to the ground.

It took quite an effort for the two of them to drag the board out. While they were at it, they also sorted the rotten furniture into one pile, then carried the board outside to show Wang Shuanzhu.

That was when Xu Meng noticed the man was in the middle of repairing a television.

Chang Xi grinned brightly. “Uncle Shuanzhu, how long has this board been lying around? No one’s been cleaning up back there, and Xu Meng and I made a mess digging through everything. But we also tidied it up for you a bit. If you see a pile of old wood later, it’s not because we wrecked the place.”

Wang Shuanzhu glanced up at the bed board and said indifferently, “Forget it, just take it. This thing’s not worth any money.”

Chang Xi’s eyes lit up. “Really? You’re giving it away for free?”

Wang Shuanzhu quickly waved his hand. “Hurry up and go, don’t hold me up.”

The area outside his house was cluttered too. A broken bed board lying around here really did take up a lot of space.

Xu Meng wanted to say something, but Chang Xi had already pushed her along, hurrying her out.

“Uncle Shuanzhu has money. He doesn’t make his living selling this kind of stuff. Did you see the appliances he’s fixing? Once those are repaired, they can be sold for a good price. That’s where the real money is. If that bed board had stayed in there, it probably would’ve ended up being chopped up for firewood.”

Xu Meng, however, felt that even if he chopped it up, it could still burn for a few days. Letting her take it was essentially giving it away for free.

The bed board wasn’t heavy, but there was nowhere to get a good grip on it, so it was a bit of a struggle for the two of them to carry it. Once they reached the entrance, they stopped to rest for a moment.

Just then, they happened to see three little boys coming down the alley. The one leading the group looked to be about seven or eight years old and was holding a radio in his arms as they walked into Wang Shuanzhu’s courtyard in a line.

“Uncle Shuanzhu, do you buy radios?”

“Liu Jin, you’re selling a radio?” came Wang Shuanzhu’s voice.

“Mm,” the child replied softly.

Wang Shuanzhu said, “Why are you selling the radio? That was something your dad left behind. Is something going on at home?”

Chang Xi had been eavesdropping and gestured to Xu Meng. The two of them leaned the bed board against the wall and set it down. She then went back into the courtyard, hands on her hips, and questioned the boy, “Liu Jin, why are you selling the radio? Did you spend money on something you shouldn’t have?”

The boy fell silent for a moment, then suddenly stood up with the radio in his arms and darted out of Wang Shuanzhu’s courtyard like a shot.

The two other boys quickly ran after their older brother. The second one looked to be about five or six years old, just barely able to keep up. The youngest, only around three or four, was already struggling to follow behind from the start. When the two older ones suddenly took off, the little one panicked. He ran a few steps, then stumbled and fell flat on the ground with a thud, bursting into tears with a soft wail.

The child had delicate features, and when he cried, he looked just like a little girl.

Chang Xi quickly picked up the youngest child and ran after the two older boys. It was a while before she returned, but by then, the child was no longer in her arms—it seemed she had taken him home. The two of them then continued carrying the bed board back.

They set the board across some red bricks, and Xu Meng tested it. “Pretty sturdy.”

Chang Xi said, “I still think it’d be better to get a proper frame.”

Xu Meng replied, “We’ll get one once we find a permanent place to live.”

At that moment, Feng Yanwen happened to return, carrying the things she had bought. Seeing that the two of them had already set up the bed, she tested it herself and was satisfied too. Any kind of bed would do, as long as they had somewhere to sleep. The only downside was that without any padding, the bottom was very hard. Fortunately, the weather was nice and cool now. Laying down a straw mat would make it sleepable. She had brought back a straw mat and also bought three towels—one for each of them to wash their faces.

People back then weren’t too particular—mother and daughter could share a face towel. But for bathing towels, they definitely needed their own, one each. Then a washbasin and a bucket, two toothbrushes, one tube of toothpaste, and one enamel cup.

After buying all that, Feng Yanwen had more or less spent all the money she had on her.

“Good thing we didn’t have to pay for the bed board. It was a freebie,” Xu Meng sighed. Otherwise, she and Feng Yanwen really wouldn’t have had any money left for food.

When Feng Yanwen heard that the bed board was a gift, she felt a little uneasy. After all, it was a favor owed to Chang Xi. “Once we have some money, we should bring him something to eat.”

When Chang Xi heard that, she said, “That’s even better. Uncle Shuanzhu doesn’t mind those things anyway.”

While talking, Chang Xi casually mentioned a bit about Wang Shuanzhu’s background. He used to deal in second-hand furniture, but over time, he started tinkering with appliances and gradually picked up the skills to repair them. He didn’t do house calls, only collected used appliances like these—if they weren’t working properly, he’d fix them up, then sell them for a tidy profit. Eventually, the furniture business became secondary. It was said that after his wife passed away, he had lived alone over there, with no one to help keep things in order. In the end, he was really quite a pitiful person.

Feng Yanwen sighed. It seemed that having money didn’t necessarily mean a good life—what truly mattered was having a whole, complete family.

Since they hadn’t settled in properly yet, they would have to eat out for the next few days.

Chang Xi waved her hand grandly. “Meals are easy to handle. My parents never finish all the meal coupons they’re given. Tonight the three of us can eat at the workplace canteen. Tomorrow morning I’ll go buy some steamed buns from the canteen.” With this kind of weather, stuffed buns spoiled easily, but plain steamed buns could sit out all day without issue.

Feng Yanwen felt uneasy about it. They were already living in someone else’s place, and now they were also relying on them for food and drink.

Xu Meng, on the other hand, cheerfully expressed her thanks. “Sure, I’m short on cash these days, so I’ll be counting on you. Once I’ve got money, I’ll treat you to a proper meal.”

Chang Xi giggled and readily agreed. Although her parents doted on her, they didn’t give her much pocket money. She had free access to the canteen, but rarely got to eat out. She hooked her arm through Xu Meng’s and said, “Then I’m counting on you to strike it rich and treat me to something delicious.”

Only then did a faint smile appear in Feng Yanwen’s eyes. Once the three of them had finished tidying up the room, they went together to eat at the workplace canteen where Chang Xi’s parents worked.

The Railway Bureau was a large organization, and the canteen offered a wide variety of meals, with dishes from both the north and the south. Xu Meng hadn’t had rice in a long time, and just seeing it made her crave it. Chang Xi simply ordered a jin (0.5 kg) of rice, along with a stir-fried pork dish, an eggplant dish, and some green beans—all seasonal vegetables—and paid for everything with meal coupons.

Once the food was served, the three of them began eating.

At large workplace canteens like the one at the Railway Bureau, the chefs were naturally quite skilled. Especially with dishes like stir-fried pork—this was the kind of flavor that even restaurants outside might not be able to match. Even Feng Yanwen couldn’t stop praising it as she ate, repeatedly saying, “Even the head chef at the teacher’s canteen at our old school couldn’t cook like this.”

But after saying that, a shadow passed over her eyes. Losing that job had been a real regret for her.

But Xu Meng—who was she? Of course she noticed. While picking up some food, she said, “Mom, your English was properly learned through formal education. Unlike some people who just took a few days of training at a teacher’s refresher school and went off to teach. Don’t worry, we’ll definitely find a job better than teaching.”

Feng Yanwen gave a bitter smile. She didn’t quite believe something that good could happen.

After all, this was the 1990s, and the so-called “iron rice bowl”^[1]“Iron rice bowl” (铁饭碗) is a Chinese term referring to a secure and stable job, typically in government or state-owned enterprises, that guarantees lifelong employment, steady income, and … Continue reading was still what everyone wanted.

Seeing the gloomy mood, Chang Xi quickly tried to lighten the atmosphere. “Xu Meng, are you planning to move out for good? Then what do you and Auntie plan to do?”

When it came to shifting the mood, Xu Meng could never compare to Chang Xi. But what she really couldn’t understand was—Chang Xi seemed like someone with high emotional intelligence, so how did she end up falling for that kind of man in her previous life? Even after getting divorced, the guy had still managed to walk away with quite a bit of money.

“I’m thinking of doing a small business over at the train station square. What do you think? Interested?”

“Me? I’ll pass.” Chang Xi shook her head. “If someone my parents know saw me doing that instead of studying properly, they’d go straight home and report me, and I’d get a full scolding over dinner.”

Doing small-time individual business still carried a bit of shame at this point in time.

Xu Meng simply said to her, “You’ve got one year left—why not give it your all one more time? Who knows, maybe you’ll even get into university?”

In the 1990s, a household registration in the capital was still incredibly desirable. College admissions were also a bit easier compared to other regions. Even if Chang Xi’s grades were just average, aiming for a junior college shouldn’t be too hard.