Chapter Six: Home

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The bus swayed all along the way, and Li Yancheng didn’t even realize when he had fallen asleep. In the end, it was the ticket inspector who woke him up.

“Hey, comrade... comrade... wake up, we’ve arrived at the final stop.”

“Hm... ah? Already here?”

Groggily, he opened his eyes and looked around. Besides the ticket inspector calling him, there was neither the driver nor anyone else on the bus.

“Sorry to bother you, sorry for the delay.”

The ticket inspector, a middle-aged woman, was used to this; she had encountered passengers who, when woken, would curse at her. This one even politely thanked her after being roused.

Hurriedly, Li Yancheng got up and started to leave the bus. After taking a few steps, he stopped, turned around, and asked, “Comrade, may I ask, what time does the bus leave in the afternoon?”

“Three o’clock. It’s still here now; just board and buy your ticket then.”

“Thanks a lot!”

The bus was parked by the roadside. After stepping down, Li Yancheng looked around, spotted the bus stop sign, and headed straight towards it.

Twenty minutes later, after a morning full of rushing about, he finally stood at the entrance of the alley where his home was located.

“Well, Da Cheng is back?”

“Uncle Guo, hello!”

“Are you still going to the countryside or not?”

“I’m just back to handle some things. I’ll have to leave again soon.”

Just as he arrived at the alley entrance, he ran into a familiar face.

Li Yancheng had been living in this alley since he was three years old when that old gentleman brought him home. Except for the years he moved away for military service, everyone here knew each other.

“If you still have to leave, then get going quickly.”

“Alright, I’ll be off then, Uncle Guo.”

“Go on now.”

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After exchanging a few words with Uncle Guo, the slight homesickness Li Yancheng had felt earlier gradually disappeared. Waving goodbye, he quickened his pace towards home.

It was nearly eleven o’clock now; the office closed at noon and reopened at two, but he had to be at the front gate area by two-thirty at the latest.

Walking along, he greeted familiar neighbors as he went and soon arrived at his courtyard at No. 20, Meishan East Alley.

This was a traditional two-courtyard siheyuan covering over 300 square meters. Only four families lived there, all of whom had moved in before liberation.

Due to limited space, the front courtyard had only two rooms: a reverse-facing room and a west room.

One family lived in these two rooms. The patriarch was surnamed Zhao—Zhao Zhong—just over forty, working at the Second Radio Factory outside Guangqumen. His wife, Wang Chunju, worked at the street committee's glove factory. They had three sons.

The eldest, Zhao Mingliang, was twenty. After graduating high school, he was assigned to the district transportation company. This was his third year as an apprentice, and barring any accidents, he would become a full employee next year.

The second son, Zhao Mingjun, was seventeen. He should have graduated high school this year, but the school was currently closed, and no one knew when it would reopen.

Li Yancheng had some memory of this from his previous life. He recalled his father saying that schools would reopen next year, and an unprecedented six graduating classes from both junior and senior high would graduate together.

Because so many students graduated at once, there weren’t enough jobs available, causing a huge employment crisis. As a result, most of these students ended up becoming educated youth sent to the countryside.

The youngest, Zhao Mingming, was only twelve and still in elementary school.

When Li Yancheng entered the courtyard, the boy was playing "falling dumplings" with two other children from the alley.

Seeing him come in, all three kids stood up. Two called him “Brother Da Cheng,” and one called him “Uncle.”

Each handed him a piece of taffy candy. Goodness, it made all three of them so happy that they had runny noses.

Passing through the hanging flower gate into the back courtyard, three families lived there. The main house and the west wing now belonged to Li Yancheng.

The east wing had two rooms, originally occupied by a family of four: a couple with a son and a daughter. The son, Cai Fangchao, was two years younger than Li Yancheng and had just married this past summer. Both newlyweds worked at the post office.

Cai Yihe, Cai Fangchao’s father, had been transferred in September to the Yangchao District Post Office as deputy director. When he moved, he took his wife and the youngest daughter, who had just started junior high, with him. The two rooms here were now occupied by the young couple.

The west wing had two rooms as well, currently home to a brother, sister-in-law, and younger sister.

The older brother, Jin Zhihai, was about the same age as Li Yancheng. His father had died on duty in the tenth year of the founding of the nation. Jin took his place at the public security bureau and was now a police officer at the Meishan Police Station in this jurisdiction.

His wife, Xing Lihua, worked at the department store.

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The younger sister, Jin Wenning, was twelve, in the same class as Zhao Mingming from the front courtyard, and was currently also home due to school closure.

As for their mother, when she gave birth to this little girl, everything seemed fine at first. But two hours after delivery, she suddenly began hemorrhaging heavily and couldn’t be saved.

Just as Li Yancheng entered the back courtyard, the door curtain of a room in the west wing was lifted, and a small head popped out. It was the little girl, Jin Wenning.

When she saw who had come in, her eyes lit up noticeably. She bounced out of the room and ran straight to him.

“Brother Da Cheng, you’re back!”

“I’m back to handle some things. I have to leave again soon. Where’s your brother?”

“They’re all at work. It’s just me and Zhao Mingming from the front courtyard here.” Hearing that he would leave soon, the little girl immediately pouted.

In the memories Li Yancheng had inherited, ever since he returned from the army, this little girl had become especially clingy to him. He didn’t know why; when he left for the military, she was only five years old.

Though she was only twelve now, she was already quite tall, at least 1.6 meters, and...

Looking closely at the graceful young girl standing before him, Li Yancheng suddenly realized she bore some resemblance to the childhood photos of Liu Baozi he had seen online in his previous life.

Of course, there was no relation to that family; this little girl was older than Liu Baozi’s mother and was a genuine native of old Beijing.

They say girls change a lot as they grow up. This girl was now pretty and adorable, but hopefully, she wouldn’t change for the worse as she grew older.

Li Yancheng smiled and gently tapped the little girl’s nose. “What about lunch? Do you want to go out and eat with me?”

“Sure!” The little head nodded vigorously, like a little bobblehead. The pouty mouth disappeared, replaced by a grin revealing two small tiger teeth that sparkled in the sunlight.

“I usually eat at my brother’s workplace at noon. My sister-in-law only cooks after she gets off work in the afternoon.”

“Go put on an apron, I’ll go inside and get something, then we’ll head out. First to the street office to find a phone and call your brother to let him know you won’t be eating there today.”

“Okay!”

Watching the little girl bounce back into the house, Li Yancheng took out his keys, unlocked the padlock on his door, and stepped inside.