The Next Day

Ning Shu usually slept early, so she also woke up early, but there were exceptions—especially in winter.

Winter is a nightmare for every girl; even if you’re awake, you still want to stay wrapped up in your quilt and not get out of bed.

Ning Shu, who still had a young girl’s heart, was no exception.

When the three boys were still small, Ning Shu would force herself to get up early in the cold to make breakfast, so they could have something warm to eat in the morning.

But as the boys grew older, they began to get their own breakfast from the canteen in winter.

Although Ning Shu doted on them and was willing to give them a comfortable life even if they lazed around, she never indulged them unconditionally in things they were capable of doing, nor did she treat them as overgrown babies.

To be honest, Ning Shu was puzzled.

Women seem to love staying in bed in winter, but why don’t children feel the same?

Not just her three boys, but even other kids in the compound would wake up early in winter and go out to play.

Unfortunately, there was no canteen in this compound.

Even if her three boys woke up early, there was no place for them to buy breakfast.

But in a few years, when private businesses became more common, there would probably be plenty of breakfast stalls on the streets.

By then, there would be so many options that deciding what to eat in the morning would become a delightful dilemma.

“It’s still early. Go back to sleep; I’ll eat breakfast at the station’s canteen,” Lin Guodong said as he saw Ning Shu wake up.

Knowing she didn’t like getting up early in winter, he patted her.

Ning Shu mumbled in agreement, then remembered something. “There’s money and tickets in the drawer. Leave a note on the dining table for the boys, so they can go to the state-run restaurant to buy breakfast when they wake up.”

“Okay.” Lin Guodong quietly got out of bed.

…

The three boys had excellent physical fitness thanks to Lin Guodong’s long-term training, and like many boys, they weren’t fond of staying in bed.

They were among the early risers, and their habit of getting up early for exercise was deeply ingrained, making it hard to change.

Even though they woke up early, they didn’t see their father.

Lin Guodong had to travel a bit to reach the station and begin his morning training, so he woke up even earlier than they did.

“Hey, there’s a note on the table,” Erbao said as he quickly spotted the note and picked it up to read.

“What does it say? Who wrote it?” Yibao asked, walking over.

“Dad wrote it. He said we should take the money and tickets to buy breakfast at the state-run restaurant and also get some for Mom. We should heat it up at home but not wake her, so she can sleep a bit longer,” Erbao replied after reading the note, then handed it to his brother.

Yibao glanced at it and saw that Erbao was right. “Let’s do a round of exercises in the courtyard first, then we’ll jog in the direction of the state-run restaurant. On the way back, we can buy breakfast.”

Erbao said, “Got it.”

The three boys were dressed in sportswear, although the fabric wasn’t the same as the cotton used in later years.

Ning Shu hadn’t found that kind of material in those days.

Instead, she made their sportswear out of corduroy, which was also comfortable. Corduroy was soft, and she had made the clothes loose, like cotton sportswear, so they could exercise in them.

The three boys wore black corduroy sportswear with white running shoes, looking every bit like three young gentlemen, just like the popular boys in novels.

Yibao called out, “Let’s start with warm-ups before the exercise. Line up…”

The three boys seriously began their pre-exercise warm-up in the courtyard.

At this time, many others were starting to wake up too.

Some, like Lin Guodong, were heading to the station, while others, older people who woke up early, or those who worked in other government agencies, were getting ready to go to work.

The capital compound had several courtyards, and theirs was a newly built one, different from those constructed in the early days of the founding of the nation.

Or rather, their courtyard was an expansion of an old one, though it was still some distance from the older courtyard.

The capital compound was mainly occupied by people who weren’t originally from the capital.

In contrast, the old compound housed veteran soldiers and their descendants who had made significant contributions to the country before its founding.

After the founding, these old soldiers, assigned to work in the capital but lacking housing, were placed in the old compound. By 1977, more than twenty years later, many of these veterans were no longer around, but their descendants still lived in the houses allocated to them in the old compound.

That group of people was among the earliest pioneers of the country, and the large courtyard where they lived was mostly occupied by military personnel, hence it was also known as the military district courtyard.

Later, as the country developed, more people from outside the capital were assigned to work in the capital. Consequently, there were new and expanded courtyards.

The new and expanded courtyards housed people from various units, including government offices, the police, and the judiciary—essentially public servant housing.

However, like the old courtyards, most of the residents were non-local, like Lin Guodong.

A few retired elders who passed by the Lin family noticed the three children warming up and couldn’t help but watch with admiration.

They were pleased to see the next generation of the country growing up well.

Others who saw the situation in the Lin family’s courtyard were astonished.

Why were these children working so hard early in the morning?

Were they doing exercises?

After warming up and practicing a set of punches taught by their father, the three children went for a morning run.

Yibao led the way, with Sanbao in the middle and Erbao at the end.

The three children, dressed in corduroy sports suits, ran out of the courtyard.

At this hour, there were only a few early risers on the street.

They ran along the road.

Unlike the quiet courtyard, the streets outside were already bustling with people—some were out to buy groceries, others had other morning errands.

However, among the people on the streets, young boys like them were rare.

The courtyard was located in the western suburbs of the capital, not in the city center.

It was less lively compared to the bustling areas of the capital, like the alleys.

The central areas of the capital were populated by true locals.

However, the environment in those areas was not as comfortable as the courtyard; they were narrow and gloomy.

Even so, the fact that there were already many people at this early hour suggested that the central areas of the capital were even more crowded.

The distance from the courtyard to the state-run restaurant was not long enough for the three children’s morning run, so Eldest Brother led his younger brothers towards the market first.

On their first day here, Ning Shu had already familiarized them with the surrounding area, including the location of the market.

When they arrived at the market, they were surprised to find it bustling at this early hour.

“Brother, it smells so good. I can smell meat buns,” Erbao said, stopping.

Yibao also stopped and looked around: “There’s no state-run restaurant here. Let’s see if we can find meat buns at the market.”

Erbao smiled, showing his white teeth: “Oh, Brother, can we buy a few more? I can eat several at once.”

Erbao could eat a lot even as a child, and now he could eat about 1.5 times more than Yibao.

Yibao said, “No, buying too many will use up our meat tickets. We need to save them for next time.”

Erbao sighed: “Why do we need meat tickets for meat? It would be better if we didn’t need tickets.”

At that moment, an elderly woman approached them: “Little brothers, would you like some meat buns without tickets?”

The three brothers, wary of strangers, became cautious.

Their mother had always warned them to be careful of human traffickers.

If they were kidnapped, they would never see their mother again or taste her cooking, so they were very sensitive to such situations.

Hearing the old woman’s offer, the three brothers thought they had finally encountered a trafficker.

Rather than being afraid, they felt a mix of nervousness and excitement.

They planned to capture the trafficker and turn them in to the police.

Reducing the number of traffickers would mean fewer children would be deceived or kidnapped.

Erbao and Sanbao looked at Yibao, their eyes filled with determination.

The three brothers could understand each other’s thoughts with just a glance, especially Yibao, who was very familiar with his younger brothers.

After all, he shared their desire to capture the trafficker.

They had grown up under the red flag, listening to soldier stories and watching soldier training.

If even Da Mao and Tie Dan could fight, they had stronger hearts.

They would not let a trafficker escape.

However, how should they capture the trafficker?

Rush into the trafficker’s den alone?

Although the three brothers were driven by justice, they were not foolish enough to endanger themselves to capture a trafficker.

“Little comrades, do you want meat buns without tickets?” Seeing that the three brothers remained silent, the old woman continued, “Don’t worry, I’m not a bad person. I’m old and couldn’t possibly be a bad person.”

“Brother?” Erbao in deep thought, Sanbao called out.

Yibao , still silent as he considered the best approach, finally spoke: “We want six meat buns. However, we’re out for a run and don’t have any money with us. Could you come with us to our home to get the money?”

The old woman hesitated when she heard they needed to go back to their house to get money, but she bit her lip and made up her mind. “Okay, but is your home close? If it’s far, then it won’t work; we’ll have to wait until next time.”

Sanbao’s eyes twinkled, and he said, “It’s close, just about ten minutes away. I’m fast, so I can run back home to get the money, and you can come with my two brothers slowly. By the time you get here, I might already have the money.”

“Alright then.” The old woman had no further objections.

Erbao was surprised by Sanbao’s claim that he was fast.

Weren’t the three brothers all supposed to be the same in running speed? Why did Sanbao say that? Erbao looked at Yibao.

When he didn’t understand something, he would ask Yibao.

If Yibao wasn’t around, he would listen to Sanbao.

Erbao knew his place among the brothers; he considered himself the third smartest, so he would defer to his elder brother and Sanbao.

Yibao said, “Sanbao is the fastest runner. Sanbao, go back home to get the money. We’ll follow behind you.” He understood Sanbao’s intention.

Sanbao was worried that the old woman might run away if they didn’t hurry.

Thus, he planned to go back to get help, and saying he was the fastest was just an excuse.

If they sent Erbao, who was really the fastest, he wouldn’t think to go call for help.

“Alright, I’m going now.” Sanbao turned and ran toward the compound.

Yibao and Erbao followed behind the old woman.

Sanbao used all his speed and ran as fast as he could to the compound.

Instead of going home, he went straight to the guards at the gate. “Uncle, can you help me with something?”

Since their home only had their mother, dealing with issues like potential human traffickers required strong assistance.

Sanbao, unfamiliar with the capital, trusted the guards at the compound gate, who were the strongest people he could rely on.

There were two guards at the gate.

Hearing Sanbao’s request, one of them asked, “What do you need help with, little friend?”

The guards were careful with the children in the compound, but they were respectful as well.

The children living in the compound had backgrounds, so the guards couldn’t afford to offend them.

They knew Sanbao was from the newly moved Lin family.

“We ran into a human trafficker,” Sanbao said urgently. “While my brothers and I were passing by the market, an old woman asked if we wanted some meat buns without tickets. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, so we suspected she might be a trafficker trying to trick us with the buns. Now my brothers are keeping her busy with an excuse that we don’t have money and sent me back to get it. Can you go catch her?”

The two guards exchanged glances and immediately agreed to help.

Both guards were soldiers.

Some were assigned to cook or stand guard at their posts, while these two stood guard at the compound.

They knew that as long as they were men with integrity, they couldn’t ignore an issue involving human traffickers.

“Alright, we’ll go catch her. But can you stand guard here for a while? This place can’t be left unattended.”

Sanbao had no objections. “I can guard here, but my older brothers and the old woman are together. You might not recognize my brothers…”

“We know their appearance. They are twins, and when they go out, they wear clothes like yours,” one of the guards said.

Their memory was good, and the twins’ appearance was particularly striking.

Although they had seen other twins, this pair was memorable because twins stood out more than single children.

“That’s good. Thank you, Uncle,” Sanbao said with relief.