Chapter 19

After eating something, Bi Chunliu also went out. When he was locking the door, he heard a click from the door of the Hou family across the street. Bi Chunliu turned his head and looked over. There was no one there, only the curtain hanging on their door swaying slightly.

Um?

She suddenly remembered that Wu Sanmei of the Hou family must be the extreme social anxiety often mentioned in her previous life. She also remembered that people often said that Wu Sanmei had some kind of problem. She hid in the house every day and even when she went out, she would not speak unless she could.

Walking out of the alley, Bi Chunliu saw Aunt Liu from the courtyard washing dishes in the sink. Seeing Bi Chunliu, she greeted her, "Chunliu, are you going to work?"

Bi Chunliu: "Yes, Aunt Liu." She suddenly remembered that Aunt Liu seemed to have a wall clock at home and could check the time, so she said, "Aunt Liu, can I go check what time it is?"

Aunt Liu shook the water off her hands and picked up the stacked bowls. "Are you afraid it's too late? It must be okay now. Go and see, little girl. It's just right that you can open the door for me. Otherwise, I would have to back away to open the door, hahaha..."

Bi Chunliu smiled and pushed open the door of the Liu family's house. Aunt Liu entered the house, and Bi Chunliu looked at the cabinet opposite the door. There was a wall clock above the cabinet, showing 7:40. Bi Chunliu was relieved. It would take her less than ten minutes to walk to the factory, so she would have enough time.

Aunt Liu put the bowl away, turned around, took out a handful of red dates from the cabinet and handed them to Bi Chunliu: "Look, it's not too late, is it? Your sister Xiaoyue just left, and they live even farther away than you do. You used to do the same thing. If you were worried about being late, you could just come to my house to see what time it is. Why do you always go so early? I won't give you more money if you go early!" Seeing Bi Chunliu refuse, she pulled Bi Chunliu over and stuffed the money into her pocket, then whispered: "It's not much, and I didn't give it to anyone else. Look at you, your face is so pale. Red dates replenish blood, and we women should eat more to benefit ourselves."

Bi Chunliu didn't hesitate any longer, "Thank you, Aunt Liu. I'll buy you something delicious someday!"

"Okay, go to work quickly." Aunt Liu patted Bi Chunliu on the back and said.

"Okay, see you later, Aunt Liu!" Bi Chunliu smiled and walked out of the Liu family's house. As she walked down the street, she sighed. It was really inconvenient not to have a watch at home. She'd go home this afternoon and find some money. Even if she didn't buy a watch, she'd buy one like the one Aunt Liu had. She just didn't know how much it would cost. So many years had passed, and she couldn't tell the time by looking at the sun anymore.

Bi Chunliu was walking hurriedly when she met two people riding bicycles to work. They shouted at her, "Secretary Bi, go to work!" They all worked in the same factory, and Bi Chunliu responded with a few words.

The textile factory is very close to the compound, and almost half of the people in the nearby compound work in the textile factory or have worked in the textile factory.

Take Bi Chunliu's compound for example. It has three courtyards in total, with fifteen households living in it, most of whom work in the textile factory.

There are seven households in one courtyard.

Uncle Qi of the Qi family lived in the room on the left side of the entrance. He used to be a mover at the textile factory and now worked as a gatekeeper. Uncle Qi's son, Qi Chao, and his wife also lived in the same courtyard. The three of them lived in a room on the west side of the courtyard. Qi Chao worked at the thermos factory, and his wife, Deng Hong, was an elementary school teacher. They had only one daughter, Qi Yalan, who was in the second grade.

The two rooms next to Grandpa Qi's house belonged to the Liu family. They housed Aunt Liu, her daughter Liu Xiaoyue, her son-in-law Anqing, and their two grandsons, Liu Jiang and Liu He, who were already in junior high school. Anqing was picked up by Liu Xiaoyue's father while on a business trip. He later fell in love with her and married her. Both Liu Xiaoyue and Anqing worked at the supply and marketing cooperative, one as a salesperson and the other in logistics. The Liu family's standard of living was among the top five in their compound.

Next door to Qi Chao lives Aunt Lei. Her husband and son are both dead, and her daughter-in-law remarried. She now lives with her granddaughter, Tian Xiuxiu. Instead of taking over her son's job, she switched jobs and now works in the textile factory cafeteria. Tian Xiuxiu was raised by Aunt Lei since she was a child, and shares her personality and temperament. She just started first grade this year.

There lived a bachelor named Chen Dali in the room to the north of Aunt Lei. As his name suggested, he was very strong and worked as a loader.

The two rooms east of Chen Dali were occupied by Xue Zhengchu and Du Ling, the Xue family. They had two sons, Xue Zhi and Xue Yong. One was in the third grade, in the same class as Bi Weiguo, and the other was in the first grade, in the same class as Bi Qiuguo. Both Xue Zhengchu and Du Ling worked in the workshop. Xue Zhengchu was still young, but he was obsessed with power. Although he didn't get a job at the factory, he remained active in the compound and was eventually elected the second uncle of the compound.

To the east of the Xue family's house stood an annex, where Lü Jinjin lived with her son. Lü Jinjin was a widow. Her husband had been a truck driver at the textile factory, but he had died while hauling goods. Lü Jinjin took over his job, but she couldn't drive, so she worked in the workshop. Lü Jinjin's son, Xiang Wencheng, was a year older than Qi Yalan from the Qi family and was also in the second grade.

Across the alley from Lü Jinjin's house, the two rooms facing the main entrance, are home to the Zhang family of four. Aunt Zhang, like Aunt Liu, is a stay-at-home mom. Zhang Jianyuan and his wife, Pan Juan, both work at the machinery factory, one as a machinist and the other as a quality inspector. They also have a son, Zhang Haohao, who is the same age as Tian Xiuxiu and just started school this year. The machinery factory is a bit far from the compound, and Pan Juan's parents live nearby. She's always wanted to move there, but the Zhang family's house isn't very nice, and Aunt Zhang and Zhang Jianyuan disagree, so she hasn't been able to move.

There are four households living in the second courtyard.

The two rooms, separated by a path between two courtyards, belong to a retired elderly woman. While it's unlikely that a single elderly woman would have two rooms, Grandma Zhang Guihua was a special case. The textile factory originally belonged to the Zhang family, and she herself had worked there as an accountant. Grandma Zhang's family had all but disappeared, and her fiancé had died in the war. She never remarried and lived alone. Grandma Zhang loved to play with the children, often sharing candy with them. She was beloved by both adults and children in the compound.

To the west of Grandma Zhang's house is the home of Hou Zhiqiang and his wife Wu Sanmei. Hou Zhiqiang works in the warehouse of a textile factory as a team leader, and Wu Sanmei is a housewife. The two have been married for seven or eight years and have no children yet.

The room next to the Hou family's and the two rooms in the main house, a total of three rooms, all belong to the Nie family. Nie Xuesong is the team leader of the workshop and the eldest uncle in the compound. Like the second uncle Xue Zhengchu, he is also obsessed with officialdom. Nie Xuesong's wife Bai Xingzi used to work in the factory office of the winery. The Bai family has no sons, only two daughters, so the eldest son of the Nie family, Nie Xiangdong, took over the job of the Bai family grandfather at the beginning of the "Up to the Countryside" movement and also worked in the winery. In 1968, the second son of the Nie family, Nie Xiangxi, graduated from high school, but the job of the old lady of the Bai family had been taken over by the children of Bai Xingzi's younger sister. In order to let the second son stay, Nie Xiangxi took over Bai Xingzi's job. Because Nie Xiangxi was a clerical worker and Nie Xiangdong was in the workshop, Nie Xiangdong had always been resentful. The third and fourth sons of the Nie family are twins, a boy and a girl, who are in their third year of high school and will soon face the problem of going to the countryside.

The easternmost room of the main house and the east side room belong to the Bi family. Bi Chunliu worked in the textile factory's labor union. At the time, Bi's father also worked in the workshop, but he was stabbed twice while working overtime to protect the factory's property and died. Later, when Bi Chunliu took over, the factory reserved a position for her in the labor union.

There are three families in the third courtyard.

The room opposite the alley is occupied by the mother and son of the Li family. Li Musheng works in the security department of the factory. Li Musheng's mother, Aunt Wang, has just moved here from the countryside and is not very familiar with the compound, so she has not been out much.

The two rooms on the south side belong to the Chen family. Chen Gaoyi is a maintenance worker in the factory. Chen Gaoyi's wife Yan Shuang works in the workshop. They have twin sons, one named Chen Zhengqi and the other named Chen Weiqi, who are in the second grade of junior high school like Bi Xiahe.

The two rooms on the west side of the third courtyard belong to the Tong family. The man in the Tong family is called Tong Yucheng and works at the battery factory. Tong Yucheng was a college graduate and a technician. At the time, the battery factory lacked suitable housing, so Tong Yucheng was assigned to the textile factory compound. Tong Yucheng's wife was introduced by Aunt Lei. She is Aunt Lei's cousin, Lei Xiuying, who works at the factory's Women's Federation. Lei Xiuying's mother died young, and she lived with Aunt Lei for a while as a child, so she and Aunt Lei have a good relationship. Tong Yu had a difficult upbringing, but the two children in the Tong family look like their mother and have been well-behaved and adorable since childhood. Tong Yucheng named his children Tong Jun and Tong Mei. Now, one is in the fourth grade and the other is in the third grade.