◎Two in One◎

Shanshan took a bath, changed into a pure white cotton nightgown, and jumped on the bed like a little princess. Liang Baozhen was sitting at the table, still applying face cream, dotting it on both cheeks and then spreading it evenly.

With a fragrant body, she applied some more cream on her girlfriend. Shanshan likes to apply cold cream the most. She likes the sweet smell and thinks she smells good.

"Mom, why doesn't Dad sleep with us?"

"Shanshan wants her father to come back?"

Shanshan was about to nod, but then she thought that Dad would snatch Mom away when he came back, and then Dad would have to hold Mom to sleep. She was conflicted. Is it better for Dad to come back or not?

"Mom, do you want Dad to come back?" Shanshan has learned to kick the ball back.

Liang Baozhen was choked by the question from the lady, and she was still annoyed with Xu Shengjie in her heart. This man actually wanted to hide such a big thing from her, which was really too much. However, she did not blame her father in front of the lady.

"Dad just came back today and he's so tired that he snores when he goes to sleep. If he snores, we won't be able to fall asleep, right?

"Xu Shengjie"...How come I don't know!"

"Ah?" Shanshan moved her head. Is that so?

She thought it was her father who made her mother angry, but it turned out not to be the case!

Shanshan nodded, and went to sleep with her mother in her arms.

Then let's not have dad for now.

When Shanshan woke up the next day, she saw someone beside the bed. It was her father who was looking at her in front of the bed, poking her little face and rubbing her eyes. Shanshan called her father in a hoarse voice.

"Little lazy pig slept for so long."

"Shanshan is not a lazy pig." Shanshan corrected her father very seriously, "Shanshan is a lazy horse."

Xu Shengjie: "..."

That's right, after all, the child is born in the year of the horse.

Today Xu Shengjie stayed at home to take care of the baby. He watched his wife go out to work with her bag. In the afternoon, he sent his sister Xiaoya to take the bus to Damian Village. Baoling would be waiting to pick her up at the other end.

In the afternoon, Daddy took Shanshan to play at the entrance of the alley, and then picked up Baozhen who was coming back from get off work with her bag. At dinner, Xu Shengjie fried his wife's favorite pork belly.

We also had a big watermelon after dinner.

After eating watermelon and washing her sticky hands, Shanshan wanted to ride on the swing, and she insisted on pulling her father and mother along, one on each side.

Liang Baozhen is still unilaterally angry with Xu Shengjie. Doesn't she think it's too embarrassing to get over it in just one day?

However, the young lady was a hindrance. She insisted that her mother hold her in her arms while she sat on the swing, and she even instructed her father to push from behind.

The swing swung up and down, flying higher and higher. Xu Shengjie pushed it from time to time from behind, honestly serving as a swing worker for his wife and children. Seeing Baozhen and Shanshan having fun with smiles on their faces, he was satisfied.

When getting off the swing, Shanshan looked at her mother, then at her father, blinked her big eyes at her father, winked at him, and then covered her mouth with both hands, and asked in surprise, "Dad, does your hand hurt? Did you push the swing for too long? Look, mom, dad is so tired."

Liang Baozhen: "...whether the acting is too exaggerated."

Xu Shengjie: "...Is it possible? That's not what I taught her."

Shanshan, an outstanding student from the fugitive film academy, was still immersed in her acting skills. She pulled her mother over to look at her father, and even tried to put her father's hand into her mother's.

Dad said today that she needed his help. Shanshan felt that the task was huge and was really exhausted.

Liang Baozhen looked at the childish lady, then glanced at her man. Her hand was held tightly, and she forced a smile, "Next time..."

"There will definitely not be a next time!" Xu Shengjie promised solemnly, "I will definitely tell you everything and will never hide anything from you."

Shanshan tilted her head up and saw that her parents were both smiling. She smiled too. Oh, why did her father lean over to kiss her mother?

She can't watch! Cover your eyes!

For a long time afterwards, Beijing and other provinces and cities across the country launched severe crackdowns, and dark forces were defeated one by one, and criminals were arrested one by one.

The public security everywhere was restored at a visible speed. There were fewer thefts and fewer gangsters.

Ren Qiang of the Cleaver Team was sentenced to death, and Wei Hongjun and Dong Jianshe's group of second-rate people were also sentenced to death. Everyone has truly realized that the country is determined to crack down on them.

People from all over the country also began to actively report the crimes. People were no longer so afraid and were striving to catch all the criminals in one fell swoop.

However, after dealing with many hooligans, they began to deal with people who had promiscuous relationships between men and women.

In October, people who held house dances were arrested, and men and women who were close to each other on the street were taken away for ideological education. Those who had too many partners or had promiscuous relationships were all shot.

For a while, everyone paid special attention to their work style and dared not make any mistakes.

In 1983, there seemed to be a clear dividing line between the first half and the second half. Starting from the middle of the year, each of them followed a different life trajectory.

At the end of the year, Liu Nianhua and Zhou Qingdang got married.

Considering Liu Nianhua's consideration, the couple did not hold a grand wedding. They just set up two tables in the large courtyard and invited the neighbors for a meal.

The Xu family naturally went out in full force and returned to the compound. Liang Baozhen picked out a pair of festive enamel cups for the two of them.

There were two eight-person tables in the yard, and dozens of people sat around them, enjoying the feast.

When they first learned that Zhou Qingdang was going to date Liu Nianhua, everyone was shocked and thought it was too unbelievable. However, after all, they had been neighbors for many years, so no one said anything unpleasant, but they just had doubts in their hearts and felt that they were not a good match.

People outside didn't care so much. Some said Liu Nianhua was shameless and seduced unmarried people. Some said Zhou Qingdang hooked up with a divorced woman and the two had been together for a long time.

Rumors were flying everywhere, and Zhang Rong got angry when she heard them. Liu Nianhua had always been worried about these rumors, and now that he actually heard them, he still felt uncomfortable in his heart even though he didn't say anything.

In the end, Zhou Qingdang was still determined. He even went from house to house to give candy to everyone. He was even particularly generous and talked about how he was pursuing Liu Nianhua and had just found a partner and was getting married.

Having said this, it was not appropriate for anyone to spread any more rumors. Even some of the aunts and uncles in the orphanage felt that Zhou Qingdang was quite responsible, and began to have a new perspective on the marriage between the two.

Maybe I really have met the right person.

This is not the old society, nor is it like ten years ago. There are not many divorces, but they happen every now and then. The first divorce attracted attention and was not understood, but now when there is an occasional loud noise, people are not so surprised anymore and at most they just make a few casual remarks.

Remarriage after divorce is naturally acceptable.

"It's not easy for Nianhua and Qingdang to come together. That's good, very good." Master Wei, as the master in charge of the courtyard, spoke on behalf of everyone. When the others heard it, they thought, "Okay, another speech is about to begin," and they all buried their heads in eating.

Liang Baozhen has been away from the big courtyard for more than a year, and she often thinks of the days when she lived in the big courtyard. She used to complain that the side room in the big courtyard was too crowded, and sometimes in the morning there were clanging sounds of people washing their faces everywhere. But after leaving, she still missed it, and felt that those sounds and those crowded spaces had become a beautiful part of her memory.

Listening to everyone's lively conversations, it was a little noisy, but more intimate.

"It's not easy for Nianhua. Live a good life in the future. Qingdang, you have to be nice to others!" Lu Yuan took a sip of wine and began to give orders like an older brother. He shut up only after Cheng Caili rolled her eyes at him.

"You seem to understand this particularly well?"

"Isn't this a blessing? A beautiful blessing."

Zhang Rong was the one who felt the deepest emotion. Her son finally got married. It was not easy for her to wait for this day.

Sitting next to her was Li Zhengxia. The two were of similar age and talked a lot on weekdays. At first, Li Zhengxia didn't understand like everyone else in the compound. She always felt that she could find someone with better conditions than Zhou Qingdang.

Now it turns out that he is sincere to Nianhua.

After three rounds of drinking, Sun Zhiqiang started to make a fuss, "Today is a great day, let Xiaolong and Xiaohu change their tune!"

Qian Jingjing and Xu Hai followed suit, "Sure, that's a good idea!"

It was such a joyous occasion that the two sons changed their stepfather's name, just the right time to have some fun.

Liu Nianhua had actually discussed this with Zhou Qingdang, and they both felt that they should just let things take their own course. After all, their two children are grown up now, and they didn't know if they would be able to accept suddenly changing their minds.

"It's okay, you can call me anything." Zhou Qingdang didn't care about these things, worried that the two children would be unable to get off the stage because of the noise.

After all, he is young and has a more impulsive temper.

"Qingdang, how can you say it's okay?" Luo Hongmei thought it was a big deal. He was the stepfather, so she couldn't still call him uncle, right? "I have to change my words today."

Everyone's eyes unconsciously drifted to Zhou Long and Zhou Hu. They seemed to have lost their father after their parents divorced. Now a group of people were waiting for them to speak. Uncle Zhou Qingdang, who has been playing with the two brothers and taking care of his family in the past few years, is now married to his mother.

Zhou Long and Zhou Hu were more accepting than he had imagined, especially since this man was Uncle Zhou Qingdang.

Zhou Qingdang was still trying to smooth things over, worried about how difficult it would be for the two children and how difficult it would be for Liu Nianhua.

"Dad!" Zhou Hu was the first to speak. He was a sturdy man, and his voice was powerful. It was no exaggeration to say that his impression of his biological father now almost stayed on the time when he carried him away without wearing a cotton jacket in order to pester his mother, freezing himself to death.

Only then did he realize that his biological father might not necessarily care about his life or death.

From then on, he gradually became cold-hearted.

Now, before my mother and Uncle Zhou Qingdang decided to date each other, she specifically talked to the two brothers and said that if they didn't agree, then the matter would be put on hold.

Of course they both agreed. They were grown up now and knew what abominations their father had done. Now that Uncle Zhou Qingdang was accompanying their mother, they felt relieved.

So when Zhou Hu called "Dad", he was particularly sincere.

Zhou Long followed his brother and called out, "Dad."

Each of them called Dad, which made everyone at the dinner table cheer and hoped that their family could live a good life.

Liang Baozhen also joined in the eating enthusiasm. The wedding dishes nowadays are much more sumptuous than when she got married. It was much more difficult to buy meat and vegetables then. Now it is so convenient.

Xu Shengjie picked up a piece of soft braised pork for his grandmother and another piece for his daughter-in-law. Just as he put away his chopsticks, he heard Baozhen talking.

"I remember that on our wedding day, the first thing you picked up for me with your chopsticks was the braised pork." Liang Baozhen's memories flooded back, as if she had returned to the time when she first arrived here many years ago.

Xu Shengjie was stunned. He didn't remember what dish he picked up with his chopsticks. But since his wife said so, he had to pick up another piece. "Try it and see if it tastes better seven years ago or now?"

"They seem to taste the same, both are delicious." Liang Baozhen could only smell the aroma of meat in her mouth and couldn't tell the difference.

Winter passed and spring came, the ice and snow melted, and a major event happened in the spring of 1984: people across the country were able to apply for identity cards.

Since the first event in August, various neighborhoods and communities have been flying red flags, hanging lanterns and decorations, and even setting off firecrackers.

The courtyard of the street office where Chunri Hutong is located was packed with people. They lined up in three rows, winding all the way to the entrance of the hutong. The street office staff lit a string of firecrackers, and only a series of crackling sounds could be heard.

Someone took a gong and knocked hard, "Get an ID card!"

There was a big red banner hanging in the courtyard of the street office, facing the gate, which read - Identity Card Processing Office.

Posted below is a piece of paper with black and white text explaining the conditions and information required for applying for an identity card.

In early April this year, the authorities issued a notice that the people of the country finally received their ID cards. From now on, everyone will have a document that is unique to them.

How stylish it sounds!

Many people put on new clothes that they only wore once during the Chinese New Year, and happily brought their household registration books and one-inch photos to apply for identity cards. From now on, everyone will have a certificate!

In September, it was finally Kasugaru Hutong's turn to organize the issuance of ID cards.

The Xu family also went out together. Except for Shanshan, all the family members met the requirements for applying for ID cards. Shanshan was very disappointed. She looked at the long line and asked her mother, "Mom, why can't I get a mixed ID card?"

Everyone has it except Shanshan, and she feels very wronged.

Liang Baozhen had no choice but to pinch her little nose and said, "You are not old enough yet, you have to wait a little longer."

"How long will it take?"

"You can do it when you're sixteen."

Sixteen? Shanshan is five years old this year. She counted on her fingers. Wow, the distance between sixteen and five is so great that she can’t count it with ten fingers on both hands!

Oh my god, it's still taking so long!

Getting an ID card is the most important thing in Kasugaru Hutong today, so those who have jobs took half a day off to come here.

But everyone felt a little regretful that they did not catch up with the first batch to apply for ID cards. The first batch of residents who got ID cards had been showing off for more than half a month. That small document was proof of identity.

Finally, it was the Xu family's turn. Everyone handed in their household registration booklet and one-inch photo, signed for confirmation, and waited to go to the street office to get their ID cards half a month later.

"That's all?" Xu Shengya and her family walked out and saw their neighbors saying hello. She couldn't help but sigh that this was too fast.

"Yeah, we queued for more than two hours, and it only took two minutes to hand in the documents and sign." Liang Baozhen looked back at the long line. It was rare that everyone was not bored. After all, this was a good thing and a happy event, and they were excited while queuing.

Half a month later, the Xu family got their ID cards.

A rectangular ID card with a one-inch photo of the ID card owner on the upper left and personal information on the right.

"Name: Liang Baozhen, Gender: Female, Ethnicity: Han..."

Liang Baozhen stroked her ID card, feeling overjoyed. An ID card represented so much. She had to have a letter of introduction before to go anywhere, but from now on this ID card would represent everything.

"After a while, when Damian Village is ready, it will be convenient for my parents and Baoling to go to the city."

The processing speed in Damian Village and the major communes would be slower than in the city, but she had heard that everyone was looking forward to it.

Xu Shengjie put away his ID card and told his wife what she had been waiting for, "Didn't you want to buy another courtyard house last time?"

"Yes." Liang Baozhen had not found a suitable courtyard house for sale in the past two years, so she asked Xu Shengjie to help her take a look. She wanted to bring her parents to the city as well.

After hearing what Xu Shengjie said, I immediately knew what was going on. “Is there anything suitable to sell?”

Xu Shengjie had a smile on his face, looking a little proud. His daughter-in-law must be assured when he does something. "Yes, there is a regular customer in our store who wants to sell a courtyard house. I asked him about it. It has two entrances and is a little smaller than ours. It should be about 350 square meters. The price is 35,000."

Xu Shengjie was actually quite surprised by the price. He had not paid attention to the price of courtyard houses in the past year or so, and it had actually increased a lot.

"What is a siheyuan like? Who lives in it?" Having bought a siheyuan once, Liang Baozhen has a good idea of ​​what issues to pay attention to. The most difficult issues to resolve when buying a siheyuan are the property rights and the tenants.

"I heard him say that it's been well preserved and there's no major problem. We'll have to go and see for details. As for the tenants inside, I heard there's no problem and they can all move out."

"Then let's go and take a look."

Liang Baozhen and Xu Shengjie were planning to go house-hunting, while Shanshan was playing at the entrance of the alley.

She is already five years old and will be able to go to primary school next year. Now the little girl has started to grow taller, and her chubby face and arms and legs have become much thinner. She has become a pretty little girl, especially her bright eyes and cherry-like mouth, which looks like a spring breeze blowing on your face, making people can't help but smile along with her.

Zhou Yun took Shanshan out to play. There were many elderly people at the entrance of the alley, and everyone liked to sit and chat. Next to them was a group of children making a noise, and the adults would glance over from time to time.

Shanshan played with other kids of the same age for a while, then looked over to see some old men playing chess on the side of the road. Two old men were playing chess, surrounded by a circle of people. Now, a little girl had squeezed in among the group of old men.

She didn't understand anything yet, but she was reading it very seriously.

"Little girl, can you understand it?" asked the old man who was playing Go. This little girl is interesting. She is so serious at such a young age.

Shanshan shook her head and said honestly, "I don't understand."

"So what are you looking at?"

"It's fun!" Shanshan thought that with so many people around, it must be fun. "I want to see it, too."

As a result, she couldn't understand it at all.

In fact, she was already old enough to go to kindergarten. After Wu Bingnian took office, the National Cotton Mill was reorganized and the family was asked whether they wanted to arrange for their daughter to attend the kindergarten class at the National Cotton Mill. They could reserve a place for them and even in the future, it would be no problem for them to go to elementary school or middle school at the National Cotton Mill.

Liang Baozhen visited the nursery class at the National Cotton Mill and helped the factory workers solve the dilemma of having no one to take care of their children. However, there were so many children that the teachers in the class were simply overwhelmed.

Sometimes, some children get noisy and cling to each other, and the teachers can’t notice the situation. It’s not that the teachers are irresponsible, but they really can’t control it.

Instead of staying in the kindergarten, it is better for her to stay at home and be taken care of by her grandmother.

Therefore, she planned to let Shanshan go to primary school directly when she reached the age. In order to prevent her child from falling behind too much, Liang Baozhen taught her pinyin, some simple words, counting, colors, flowers, plants and trees at home. Now Shanshan is a child with good knowledge reserves.

For example, now she knows that this round cake is called chess.

"Do you want to learn? Master can teach you."

Shanshan shook her head. "I can't learn so much. I still have to learn to count."

"Hahahaha, what's the point of counting? Learn this, this is awesome!"

A group of gentlemen saw the child having fun and couldn't help teasing her, "How many can you count?"

"Come on, count one for us."

Shanshan: “…”

Why are you suddenly asking me to perform my talent?

"I won't count today. I already counted this morning. I can only count once a day."

After saying that, the man ran away.

The master who was playing chess was originally thinking about what to do next, but was interrupted by Shanshan. Now his mind is back on chess. Tush suddenly got an inspiration while looking at the chessboard.

"Hey! Pegasus!"

Shanshan went back from the chess group to the children's group, and it was her turn to skip rope. "Malan blooms twenty-one..."

Mom and Dad are back!

She waved to her parents while dancing, but she couldn't concentrate on two things at once. At the last section, her left and right feet were tumbling, and she got tangled up in the ropes. She lost the opportunity and another child took over.

"Mom! Dad!"

Shanshan was not depressed at all. She rushed towards her parents. Her hair had grown a lot longer and could be tied into a small braid with a beautiful flowery hairband on it.

"Look at you, your forehead is sweating."

Liang Baozhen took out a handkerchief to wipe the child. Xu Shengjie saw the grandmother enjoying the cool under the shade of a tree and went forward to help her over.

"How do you like the house?"

Zhou Yun knew that his grandson and granddaughter-in-law were going to look at the house.

"No, the house has been bought by someone else." Liang Baozhen didn't feel very regretful. After all, who could snatch the protagonist of the book away?

Today she and Xu Shengjie went to see a courtyard house, but they met the owner as soon as they arrived. The owner was a little embarrassed. He had originally agreed to let them see the house, but it had been booked by another house-hunter early in the morning.

Liang Baozhen didn't insist on these things. After all, she was just looking at the house and there was no written contract to sign. She just took a look at the gate of the courtyard and thought it was okay.

As a result, at this moment, she met the protagonist of the novel she was in, Chen Sixian.

Xu Shengjie had no impression of this man. He only knew that he was Chen Yong's son, and that Chen Yong was the murderer of his parents.

Although they were not enemies, there was still a blood feud between them. His aura immediately became cold, and anyone would not feel very natural seeing the son of their enemy.

Chen Sixian and his wife Ding Qing, the heroine in the book, also saw Xu Shengjie and Liang Baozhen.

His own father killed the parents of the man opposite him. Chen Sixian, who claimed to be a proud man, felt inferior to him at this moment.

Just when I wanted to say a few words, Xu Shengjie took Liang Baozhen away.

However, Xu Shengjie was not prepared to tell his grandmother about this. The family had finally come out of the shadow of the past, and it would be best not to involve the Chen family's affairs anymore.

Chen Yong was shot and killed, which put an end to the case that happened many years ago.

"Then you guys wait and see." Zhou Yun is calm about everything as he gets older. If he can't find a solution in one place, he will just look for another.

"Yes, we are also going to take another look." Liang Baozhen supported her grandmother and walked back, Shanshan walked beside her, and at the other end was Xu Shengjie holding her little hand.

Liang Baozhen was talking to her grandmother, and Shanshan was chattering with her father.

"Once Baoling gets her ID, she can come to the city. Then she can register at the street office and learn how to do business in the city."

"That's great. She can live in our house. Xiaoya will definitely be happy. She'll have company."

"Dad, I saw Grandpa playing chess today. Do you know how to play chess?"

"I can't. I haven't learned it."

Shanshan looked at her father and said, "Then Dad is not the eldest master."

Xu Shengjie: "..." What a mess.

Shanshan remembered correctly, everyone said that there is no grandfather who doesn't know how to play chess! Since Dad can't play chess, then Dad is not a grandfather!

The next day, Sunday, was a day of rest.

Liang Baozhen called the brigade headquarters from home and asked the captain to call her younger sister Baoling.

The Xu family pulled a telephone line and became one of the few families in Chunri Hutong to have a telephone installed. Installing a private telephone is not cheap, costing more than 3,000 yuan. Ordinary people can't even think about it, as that is a person's salary for several decades.

Although telephones are expensive, they are really convenient. Now you can make calls at home.

Liang Baozhen asked Baoling to get her ID card and then pack up to go to the city to work in her brother-in-law's newly opened clothing store.

After hanging up the phone, Liang Baozhen was preparing to cook pumpkin and green bean soup when she heard her daughter shout at the gate, "Mom, someone is looking for you."

Liang Baozhen looked up and saw that the person coming was Chen Sixian.

The author has something to say:

Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated me with nutrient solution during 2023-05-11 20:18:49~2023-05-12 20:17:54~

Thanks to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution: 1 bottle of Qianmo Hongchen;

Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!