Chapter 103

Thinking about Cheng Chen’s tiredness from traveling back by train, after a few more words, Chen’s sister-in-law said to him, “Aren’t you tired from traveling? If you’re tired, go back and rest for a while, and I’ll call you when I’m ready to eat.”

Cheng Chen was not polite and said, “I am indeed a bit tired, then I will go back to sleep first.”

The four of them watched Cheng Chen go out of the courtyard door together, and when she withdrew her gaze, Wen smiled and said, “Sister-in-law, your Cheng Chen is really good, he has a good look and a good career, I don’t know which girl will have this kind of luck in the future.”

It’s hard not to be happy to hear people praise their sons.

Chen’s sister-in-law also smiled and said, “I don’t expect him to become a big official, just about, get a daughter-in-law and have a child, and live a peaceful and beautiful life, that’s the biggest blessing in his life.”

Everyone agreed.

Zhen Zhen, Ah Wen and Li Shuang all nodded, “That’s how it is.”

The four of them chatted and talked in the courtyard as the sun slowly set in the west.

When Servant Huai Ming, Liu Zhi and He Shuo returned from work, everyone got up one after another, calling their husbands to grab their things and go home to cook. The children would play for a while longer, and would only go back when they were told to eat.

The fireworks rise and the sun sets.

Lights on the earth, the day is plain and contented.

***

It’s New Year’s Eve and the weather has been sunny lately.

On sunny afternoons, when the sun shines warmly, Mimi, Dantong and Mak play shuttlecock in the alley.

Mimi was a good shuttlecock player, and Dantong and Xiao Mai helped her count the number of shuttlecocks she played.

The more they played, the bigger the number became, and the higher the girls’ voices rose.

When they reached sixty-six, they suddenly heard a droll whistle.

Mimi and Dantong Mai went off together, the falling shuttlecock failed to catch, and the number broke on sixty-six.

The three little girls turned their heads to look over to the entrance of the alley, only to see a young lad entering the alley.

The young man’s temperament and appearance than his whistle is even more dangling, wearing a gray and old ragged jacket, carrying a similar gray and old bag, the whole person looks grimy.

Watching the young lad walk toward the alley, the three little girls did not say anything.

Mimi bent down to pick up the shuttlecock, straightened her back, and Dantong Mai together to look at the young man.

When the young man came to the front, Dantong first opened her mouth and asked: “Who are you? Playing hooligan in the military compound.”

The lad looked at Dan Tong and smiled.

He thought for a moment and said, “If I’m not wrong, you should be the girl doll in the pair of dragon and phoenix babies of the Servant family, your name is Servant Dantong, you look quite like your father.”

Dan Tong had been smart since she was a child, and her mind turned faster.

She looked at the lad and blinked, speculating, “You are …… He Ziran …… big brother?”

When the He family accident was sealed, they were all still very young, after the He family moved away, they did not see He Ziran much, and after that He Ziran went to the countryside to join the army, so many years down the road, of course, they do not recognize He Ziran.

However, Dantong guessed that the gray-headed young man in front of her was it.

The young man indeed replied, “Good guess.”

After hearing this, Xiao Mai immediately turned around and ran to the gate of Zhen Zhen’s yard.

She didn’t go in, but directly leaned over the gate and shouted, “Aunt Li, your big brother He Ziran is back!”

Not long after her voice fell, all the people in the courtyard came out at once.

Zhen Zhen, Li Shuang, Ah Wen, Chen’s sister-in-law, and Cheng Chen, the five of them lined up outside the courtyard door, all looking towards Dantong and Mimi’s side, and their gazes quickly landed on He Ziran.

Before anyone could make a sound, Dan Sui Dou Dou and He Zi Yan Xing Yu came out of the courtyard gate again.

It was He ZiYan who spoke out first, smiling and calling out, “Brother!”

Watching He ZiYan run in front of him, He ZiRan lifted his hand and touched his head, dangling and saying, “Missed your brother, didn’t you?”

He ZiYan’s eyes brushed wet and responded bluntly, “Uh-huh!”

After finishing his conversation with He Ziyan, He Ziran looked at Li Shuang again.

Without sensationalizing the situation, he slightly collected the flowing air from his body and spoke out, “Mom, I’m back.”

Li Shuang’s eyes are also wet, but she doesn’t sensationalize it either, gently sniffing her nose, she looks at He Ziran and says, “Hurry home and put your luggage down, go get a haircut first, then take a shower and change your clothes, look at what you’re like now, it’s as if you fled the famine and escaped here.”

After talking to Li Shuang, He Ziran greeted Zhen Zhen and the girls.

When it was Cheng Chen’s turn, Cheng Chen directly came over and hugged him, patting his shoulder.

After exchanging pleasantries, He Ziran went home to get his clothes to get a haircut and shower.

Cheng Chen also went back to get his clothes and a bath ticket and went with him to the barber store and bathhouse.

Although they hadn’t seen each other for four years, the feelings between the two hadn’t changed, and they got acquainted with each other in just a few words.

The two went to the barber store first, He Ziran spent a few cents to shave his messy hair.

After shaving, they went to the bathhouse and relaxed in the hot water.

He Ziran tilted his head and said slowly, “I thought I couldn’t come back in this life.”

He was almost ready to spend his whole life in the countryside.

Cheng Chen looks at him and picks up, “I heard Auntie say you didn’t want to come back before.”

He Ziran still tilted his head, “Who would want to stay in that kind of place for the rest of their life and not come back, it’s just a bit of trouble.”

Cheng Chen didn’t beat around the bush and directly asked, “Have you talked to someone?”

He Ziran turned his head to Cheng Chen and gave the answer with his eyes, his mouth did not answer.

He shifted the topic to Cheng Chen and asked him, “You’re a platoon officer now, and you don’t have a date?”

Cheng Chen said, “The army is so busy, training until midnight every day, how can I have time to get a date.”

He Ziran sighed exaggeratedly, “You’ve become an officer, I’m just going to be a new recruit after the New Year.”

Cheng Chen said to him, “With your brains and qualifications, it’s not easy for you to be promoted to the cadre.”

He Ziran said, “I’m not suitable for the army, I don’t like to be controlled by others, and the rules in the army are too many and too strict.”

He said and sighed, “But these days there is no other way out if you don’t want to be a soldier.”

In the countryside is free, but a lifetime of eating chaff and swallowing food is not promising.

Cheng Chen patted him on the shoulder, “Collect your heart and get into the army and mix well.”

He Ziran: “That’s the only way.”

***

After taking a shower and returning to the hutong, just in time for dinner.

Entering the yard and seeing He Shuo, He Ziran’s face gave birth to some good manners and said with a smile, “Dad, I’m back.”

He Shuo scrutinized him for a while and said, “You’ve grown taller and thinner.”

After eight years, the family of four finally sat down at a table to eat again.

All the heartache and suffering of the past are no longer mentioned, but talking about those interesting and funny things, will also laugh and laugh and laugh out of tears. Behind all the funny things, the deepest taste was still bitter.

This night, their family of four to sleep a bed, also almost all night did not sleep.

In the wee hours of the morning when they really couldn’t carry on, He Ziran and He Ziyan both fell asleep.

When they woke up, it was already three o’clock in the morning, just in time for lunch.

In the afternoon, He Zi Ran didn’t stay at home anymore, took He Zi Yan and called Cheng Chen, went out for a walk.

Although he hadn’t been back for a long time, Xicheng hadn’t changed much and was still the same as before.

To say what has changed, it’s that some people are getting older, and some people, are growing up.

***

New Year’s Eve is a day of true reunion.

On this day adults and children all got up very early, and none of them went out to play.

Everyone puts on the clothes they made before the New Year, puts up spring scrolls and cleans up on this day.

Because Zhong Minfen died this year, Zhen Zhen’s family did not put up spring scrolls.

Instead of working at home, Dan Sui, Dan Tong and Xing Yu go next door to help someone else’s house put up spring scrolls.

Dantong went to Ah Wen’s house with Mimi Mak.

Xingyu went to He Ziyan’s house and followed him around.

Dan Sui, on the other hand, went to Sister Chen’s house and brought DouDou there as well, helping Cheng Chen put up spring scrolls and hang lanterns.

He Ziran, with the help of He Ziyan and Xingyu, stood on a high stool and put up the banner on the door of his house.

When he turned around, he saw that Cheng Chen was also putting up the banner of his house, accompanied by Dan Sui and Doudou.

He Ziran couldn’t hold back a laugh and said loudly, “Dude, you’re quite popular with the little girls.”

Cheng Chen sniffed and looked down at Dan Sui and DouDou, nonchalantly said back, “Not bad.”

Eyes confiscated back, He Ziran looked at Dan Sui and DouDou two eyes, and said: “I did not notice, our family Sui Sui grows more and more beautiful ah, have become a big girl.”

Dan Sui was even less subtle and replied, “You just realized it!”

He Ziran said, “You don’t even come to play with me, how could I realize?”

More children together are just noisy and quarrelsome.

Cheng Chen and He Ziran were older, but with this group of kids, they were just kids.

From the daytime to the evening New Year’s Eve dinner, the hutong never stopped.

The New Year’s Eve dinner table is also rowdy.

Dan Sui felt that he is not a child, not to sit at the children’s table to follow the noise, directly to the table of adults, crowded Cheng Chen next to sit down. As a result, she couldn’t reach the food, so Cheng Chen kept giving her food.

She is not polite, what she wants to eat directly with Cheng Chen said.

After the New Year’s Eve dinner, we will watch the New Year’s Eve together.

After midnight, they all went out to set off fireworks.

The kids grabbed the fireworks and were still very rowdy together.

He Ziran and Cheng Chen didn’t compete with them, and like Zhen Zhen, they just watched from the sidelines.

Tilting his head to look at the fireworks for a while, and scanning all the people under the fireworks, He Ziran suddenly looked at Cheng Chen and said, “Eh, how do I feel that girl Spike, she seems to be a bit different to you.”

Cheng Chen was still looking up at the fireworks, and casually replied, “How is it different?”

He Ziran laughed, “Then what else could be different?”

Cheng Chen understood and turned his head to look at He Ziran, “What are you talking about? Spike that’s still a child.”

He Ziran smiled and raised his head, “She’s still a child in our eyes, but she doesn’t feel it herself.”

Cheng Chen: “……”

***

The night was late.

All the hustle and bustle has returned to calm.

Zhen Zhen went to bed and pulled the covers, “It’s been a long time since we’ve been this lively.”

Servant Huai Ming pulled the lamp and lay down next to her, “Yes, the children have all returned.”

The return of the children who traveled far away was short-lived.

After the New Year, Cheng Chen and He Ziran packed up their packages again and left Xicheng.

Dan Sui went to the singing and dancing troupe, and the rest of the children continued to go to school.

And once again, this new year ended with Doudou and He Ziyan graduating from middle school.

Doudou and He Ziyan were still relatively young, so Wen and Li Shuang couldn’t bear to let them leave Xicheng, so the two children stayed in the city to continue their schooling and finish high school before considering what to do next.

In the year when Doudou and He Ziyan’s high school was about to end, the country carried out a major reform of the education system – the college entrance examination, which had been suspended for ten years, was officially resumed at the end of that year!

This explosive news caused young people up and down the country to collectively boil.

After abandoning their studies for ten years, many people picked up their books overnight and began to sprint for the college entrance exams.

Suddenly, many cram schools were set up outside of schools, and the people who went to them ranged from teenagers to thirty years old, and their statuses ranged from workers, to people, to intellectuals and everything in between.

Cram schools were also set up in the school, but the age of the students was relatively concentrated, and they were all fresh graduates of the school.

Because there was very little time left before the college entrance exam, the classes were held every day and into the evening.

Coming out of the classroom at the end of a day of sprint learning, DouDou’s entire brain was dim.

She and He Ziyan went home together with their backpacks, lamenting as they walked along the road, “Forget it, I’m sure I won’t be able to pass the exam.”

Their generation, a product of the Ten-Year Revolution, hadn’t paid much attention to learning in school since they were in elementary school.

After so many years of neglect until high school graduation, suddenly said to take the college entrance exam, can test out a ghost ah?

The old three at least had a foundation, they didn’t even have one.

But He Ziyan and DouDou were different.

Although the general environment does not emphasize learning, but there are always students who themselves like to learn, or because of some other reasons, can only find a sense of achievement in learning, their cultural courses are basically not left behind.

He Ziyan was more calm, then Doudou said, “Try it, not next year.”

Doudou turned her head to look at He Ziyan, “You usually study so seriously, did you already know that the college entrance exam would be reinstated?”

He Ziyan shook his head, “How would I know?”

Doudou lowers her head again and whispers, “You’ll definitely be able to get into a very good school, and in the future you’ll be a college student at a prestigious university. Spike is also now a pillar of the singing and dancing troupe, only I, I can’t do anything.”

He Ziyan said, “Don’t think like that, you’re also very good.”

Doudou looks at him again, “Where am I excellent?”

He Ziyan thought for a while, half a day without saying anything.

Doudou was even more sad, holding onto the strap of her school bag and turning around to run away.

He Ziyan chases after her, “I’ll help you with your tutoring, it’ll be fine.”

***

Servant Huai Ming came to the courtyard door to lock it, just in time to hear Doudou and He Ziyan coming back from school.

He locked the courtyard door and went back to his room, and Zhen Zhen also happened to put down the fountain pen in her hand.

Servant Huai Ming sat down beside the bed and spoke out, “Finished writing?”

Zhen Zhen sent the article she had written to him and said with a smile, “Uh, let me show you.”

Now Servant Huai Ming was not only Zhen Zhen’s loyal audience, but also her loyal reader.

Ever since the end of the ten years of turmoil last year, Zhen Zhen had picked up her pen and started writing again.

After holding it back for ten whole years, there were so many things in her head to write about that she couldn’t stop once she started writing now.

Of course, her heart is still not very solid, so she is just writing now, not submitting.

Serving Huai Ming took the manuscript from Zhen Zhen’s hand and slowly read it.

After reading it, he looked at Zhen Zhen and said, “Well, it’s more in-depth than before, and it’s also more grounded.”

Zhen Zhen took the manuscript back from him, “At that time, when I first learned to write, all I could show off was the writing style and elegance, and I used many words to pursue splendor. Now ten years have passed, and after experiencing so many things, the state of mind is different from before.”

It was getting late, so after a few words, Zhen Zhen put the manuscript away and went to bed with Shi Huai Ming.

When Shui Huai Ming reached for the lamp, Zhen Zhen suddenly put her arm around him and said, “I want to discuss something with you.”

The first time I saw her was when she was about to stretch out her hand to pull out the lamp.

Zhen Zhen looked at him and smiled, then said, “I want to quit my job, okay?”

“Yes.” Servant Huai Ming agreed without hesitation, “If you don’t like it then you can quit.”

The smile in Zhen Zhen’s eyes grew even thicker, “Then you have to support me.”

Servant Huai Ming softened his voice, “Raise, it’s my honor to be able to raise such a great writer and performer as you.”

The smile on Zhen Zhen’s face was a little too tight, “Isn’t it very happy?”

Serving Huai Ming: “Well, very happy ……”

After saying this turned off the lights.

The two pulled the quilt down next to each other.

Leaning her head towards Shi Huai Ming’s arms, Zhen Zhen added, “Before I didn’t know how this world would develop, but now I’m looking at it, it should be getting better and better, what do you think?”

The resumption of the college entrance examination was a very good signal.

Servant Huai Ming felt the same way and softly answered, “It will get better and better.”