Chapter 9: Three Little Neighbors

As expected, after Sister Liu asked Liu Jin, he didn’t have any objections.

That auntie from earlier was truly kind and friendly—it was impossible to feel any dislike toward her.

Paying rent every half month would also help keep the children from spending recklessly. Right now, Liu Jin’s household received their rice, grain, and daily necessities from the work unit, along with a basic monthly subsidy of ten yuan. That amount was simply not enough.

Actually, Liu Jin’s parents had left behind some savings back then. Their uncle had come, saying he wanted to take the children back with him.

But what happened in the end? The children weren’t taken, yet the money was.

Those distant relatives, who neither hurt nor helped, had barely shown their faces a few times. There was no way to feel any real affection toward them. In the end, solidarity was more appealing. Once a person took the money and left, it was nearly impossible to get it back.

So this was what it meant to be relatives, to be family.

Later, Sister Liu also came around to it. She simply let Liu Jin take charge of his own household. He was already seven or eight years old—back in the wartime years, kids his age were running courier missions and fighting the Japanese. With his parents gone, it was only a matter of time before he had to learn to grow up. From then on, the money would be left to them to manage themselves.

After paying twenty-five yuan in rent, the house was considered officially settled.

Feng Yanwen didn’t feel the slightest sting. She was all smiles, thinking—now no one could try to persuade her to go back to the Xu family!

————

Once the house was settled, the next step was moving in.

The mother and daughter hadn’t brought much with them when they left. Before heading out, they took the bed board they had hauled back the day before. Then they went to Wang Shuanzhu’s place and picked out some used furniture. Some of the items were missing a leg or an arm, but Wang Shuanzhu seemed to find them troublesome to keep at home, so he half-sold, half-gifted them to the two of them.

Chang Xi was a little reluctant to part ways, but after all, Liu Jin’s home wasn’t that far away.

What really drew envy was the house itself. Word had it that Liu Jin’s late father had been a very capable man. After Liu Jin was born, he had renovated the place several times himself. The four rooms had all been reinforced with beams he installed on his own, with white panels and a ceiling hung overhead.

The walls inside had also been painted—done in the currently popular style of white on top and green on the bottom.

Feng Yanwen had originally felt a bit hesitant about the cost, but when she saw a house like this, she couldn’t bring herself to say the rent was too high.

The rent wasn’t expensive—she just didn’t have the money.

You get what you pay for. Even a tiny rundown shack outside could go for twenty yuan. This house at fifty was truly worth it.

There had originally been some plants growing in the courtyard, but clearly, Liu Jin and the other children didn’t know how to care for them. Everything had withered, though the soil remained, which only made the yard feel even more empty.

Xu Meng was nearly in tears. “This house is really wonderful.”

A house like this, even in a crowded siheyuan, would still be considered a good one. How could it possibly sit unrented?

Sister Liu sighed. “Their uncle even wanted to bring his own children over, but I heard he couldn’t get a household registration in the capital, so he ended up leaving. Their father was a capable man. It’s just a pity he didn’t make it out of the fire… It’s not hard to find tenants for a house like this, but it’s not easy to find ones like you, with such a simple household.”

There had been quite a few families who came looking for the place, dragging along their whole households. Some of them clearly didn’t look like easy people to deal with. Others complained the rent was too high, nitpicking over every little thing. A few even said things that were downright unpleasant, as if the street office had somehow gotten some kind of benefit from this. In the end, it was more like the house was the one choosing its tenants.

Seeing that Sister Liu seemed to be the one who could make the call, Xu Meng simply asked, “It’s a pity that the area where things were planted is just sitting there empty. Can I grow some vegetables?”

Sister Liu’s eyes lit up. “Go ahead and plant whatever you want. If it’s convenient, maybe share a little with them too. These kids are having a hard time. Sometimes when we forget to send vegetables, they end up getting by on nothing but pickles.”

Xu Meng thought to herself, “What a model public servant, always looking for chances to help the little comrades squeeze a bit more out of their tenant.”

Still, the one being squeezed was quite happy.

With more people around, the place felt full of life again.

Sister Liu and the others helped carry everything inside. After giving all the necessary instructions, they took their leave.

Xu Meng went in first and did a round of cleaning. She set up the bed before anything else. They hadn’t bought curtains yet, so she simply placed the newly acquired bed in the inner room for now.

“Mom, I think we could plant some green onions, ginger, and garlic outside. Do you think we can grow leafy greens in this season?” In the north, water was precious, but the final rinse from washing faces, bathing, and doing laundry could all be saved for watering vegetables. There was no need to use tap water separately.

Feng Yanwen had been thinking the same thing. She had just taken a quick look at the small courtyard outside. In the middle of the yard was a built flower bed, though it wasn’t clear whether flowers or vegetables had been grown there before. Now it was all empty.

At first, the children craned their necks to watch. After a while, the eldest came over carrying a hoe in his arms.

Xu Meng was delighted as soon as she saw it. They even had a hoe—no need to buy one.

“Kid, your name is Liu Jin. What are the names of the two younger ones in your family?”

Xu Meng was quite curious—how did this family manage to have three children? Wasn’t the one-child policy already in effect in the early 1980s?

Liu Jin pointed to the two younger ones. “The second is called Xu Bin, and the third is Wan Xiaohua.”

Xu Meng’s jaw dropped. “You three aren’t biological brothers?”

The second child slipped in from who knows where and made a face. “We’re half-brothers with different fathers and different mothers.”

Liu Jin shot him a glare. Acting like a little adult, he sighed. “Sister, that’s just how my brother is. Their dad and my dad were comrades-in-arms, and both of them died in service. My parents first adopted the two of them. Later, my dad also passed away. After that, the three of us simply stuck together and relied on each other.”

This kid spoke just like a little adult.

Now it was Xu Meng’s turn to be stunned. This patchwork family really was something else.

But as for why they hadn’t ended up in a welfare home—there was no need for her to ask.

Even in later decades, welfare homes never had particularly good conditions. All three of these children’s fathers had died in the line of duty and were martyrs assigned by work units. Their family had housing, the unit had money, and the neighborhood office provided care. Living like this was far better than being in a welfare institution. As for the children, they were noisy and full of life.

“My mom used to grow flowers here, but you guys can plant vegetables too. She used to tell us to save our pee,” one of them chirped.

“Save your pee for what?” Xu Meng blurted out.

The second child rolled his eyes. “To water the flowers, of course. It’s called ‘boy’s urine.’”

Xu Meng’s hand slipped, and the broom nearly swept across the kid’s face, making his eyes go wide with alarm.

“Accident, just an accident,” Xu Meng said quickly. In all her past-life experiences, none of them had included raising kids, and she was truly shocked by this child’s boldness. Still, she patiently tried to teach him, “Now that you’re getting older, you shouldn’t be pulling down your pants to pee in front of girls.”

The second one rolled his eyes again. “I’ve known that for a long time. Do I look like someone who just flashes himself around?”

Alright, so you don’t flash yourself—you just can’t keep your mouth shut.

The youngest suddenly had a revelation. “Pee! I need to pee!” he shouted, leaping up as if he were about to let loose that very second.

That’s just how kids are—by the time they realize they need to pee, it’s already too late.

The second one was startled and quickly dragged the third to the public toilet.

Xu Meng burst out laughing. Not long after, the second came back holding the third’s hand, his little face dark with frustration as he scolded, “Don’t just shout things the moment you hear them. You didn’t even need to pee…”

The second one really liked chatting. When he saw that Xu Meng was busy tidying up and didn’t have time to talk, he jumped right in to help without being asked. He swept the floor, wiped down the tables—handling household chores with surprising skill. Just like that, Xu Meng gradually got familiar with the little neighbors.

And these little neighbors really were something.

She quickly warmed up to the kids. The eldest was eight and in second grade. The second was six and would also start second grade next term. He had started school early and was clearly bright. The youngest was not yet four. Originally, he was supposed to be sent to the daycare center run by their father’s work unit, but the fire station’s school was a bit far from here. The neighborhood office issued a certificate so he could enroll nearby. All three kids had their lunch at school.

As they chatted, the two younger kids also joined in to help with the cleaning.

And while they were cleaning, the sky gradually darkened.

Xu Meng called out to the eldest. “Hey, big kid, how do you guys handle bathing at home?”

She had just realized no one had mentioned buying coal.

The eldest frowned. “Can you not call me that?”

Xu Meng rubbed his head. “Remembering names is so hard. You kids have it easy—one calls me ‘auntie,’ the other calls me ‘jiejie.’ I’m in my final year of high school right now, can’t even finish memorizing my textbooks. Using my brain to remember names would be overkill.”

She said it so seriously that it almost sounded convincing. The eldest pursed his lips, then pointed to the pile of honeycomb briquettes by the base of the wall. “The work unit provides some, but I’m worried it won’t be enough when winter comes. I don’t dare let them use too much. In this weather, we just sun-heat water to bathe. If we need to cook during the day, we burn firewood.”

“Then from now on, we’ll buy fifty yuan worth of coal briquettes each month and share it. Once there are more people in the house, let’s stop making fires all the time, alright?”

The eldest thought it over carefully. “Then what about using coal in the winter?”

Winter was when the demand for coal and charcoal heating peaked.

Xu Meng asked, “Do you save it up to heat the kang?” Even so, it probably wouldn’t be enough.

The second pointed to the middle of the wall. “There’s a heated wall.”

Oh wow, that’s a good thing. Xu Meng’s eyes lit up, though heated walls did use up more coal.

The Xu family never had anything that fancy before. Granny Xue would light a coal stove, but it was kept in her room day and night. With so many people in the house, Xu Meng had no desire to hang around her, so in the winter, she would rather freeze.

“Can I take a look?”

“Over there.”

It was piled up messily in a corner, covered with a plastic sheet. The amount wasn’t small, but it definitely wouldn’t last through an entire winter.

“The unit bought it?”

“Yeah. The unit supplies fifty pieces of coal briquettes every month.”

“Did you use the heated wall last year too? Was it enough?”

“Not enough, so we had to use the stove instead. The youngest even caught a cold.”

“Alright, if I have enough money this year, we’ll split the cost of the coal evenly and try to start heating earlier.” If they could keep warm, Xu Meng didn’t mind pitching in. “By then, you might still need to buy a bit more. At least two or three months’ worth of coal will be needed in winter. You’ve seen my and my mom’s financial situation—we’re even paying the rent in half-month installments.”

The little neighbor clearly perked up, his eyes shining brightly. “Sure! If there’s anything you need help with, just say the word. Me and the second kid—we’re big enough to help out a bit.”

“I’m tired today. Let’s tidy up around here tomorrow.” Xu Meng resisted the urge to clean immediately and muttered, “Didn’t they say someone from the neighborhood office comes by regularly to help with cleaning?” They had made it sound so good. Now she just felt like she’d been tricked.

“Those aunties can’t even finish their own chores. At most, they come over to help us wash clothes and bedding,” the eldest emphasized. “Usually it’s me and the second one who do the washing, but we can’t get things very clean. When they come by, they’ll rewash the clothes for us. As for tidying up the house—if someone comes, they help tidy; if no one comes, we do it ourselves.”

Alright then, got it.

“What about meals? How do you usually cook and eat?”

“My dad’s work unit gave us meal tickets. We go there to eat.”

That actually sounded pretty convenient.

The eldest scratched his head. “But my dad’s unit is kind of far. We walk over there in the evenings for dinner. In the morning, we cook porridge or noodles ourselves. In winter, it’s easier—we can buy a bunch of steamed buns in advance. Then in the morning, we eat steamed buns soaked in hot water. Right, little one?”

The youngest had his head down, playing with marbles. When his brother called him, he looked up and gave a small nod.

Xu Meng snatched the marbles from his hands. “You can’t play with these.”

Seeing the stunned look on his face, like she had just become the big bad villain who stole his toys, she said seriously, “He’s too little. He might swallow them.”

The youngest was on the verge of tears, his eyes welling up quickly. His lips quivered—it looked like he was about to cry on the spot.

Xu Meng was momentarily speechless.

Meanwhile, Feng Yanwen felt that, for the first time in her life, she was finally living a decent life.