Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli both overslept.
The two children, Zhou Yang and Zhou Miao, slept well and woke up early. Seeing their parents still snuggling together and resting, they didn't go up to disturb them.
Although the two children are young, they know that they have been traveling with their parents for the past two days, squeezing through crowds every day, and that the adults are very tired, so they need to get some sleep.
The two children got off the bed and, as if on an adventure, held hands and explored the small house again.
Until Zhou Miao covered her tummy, blinked her eyes, and said, "I need to poop."
"Go find your parents!"
They rushed to the room and started waking Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli.
Next door, the family's surname is He. Apart from the old lady, the old man, the old man, and their son and daughter-in-law are all factory workers. After getting up and eating breakfast, they immediately go to work. The old lady has nothing to do at home, so she finds a few of her older sisters from the same building to chat and gossip in her own home.
An elderly woman who looked rather well-off asked curiously, "Who lives in the house next door to Shaotian's family?"
While cracking sunflower seeds, Grandma He said, "I saw them yesterday. It was a family of four living here! The couple had two children, a boy and a girl, which I think were twins. Shaotian's uncle came with them personally, and there were even soldiers helping to carry their luggage! Could they be relatives of Shaotian's family? I've never heard of the Cheng family having anyone in the military."
"The Cheng family doesn't have anyone in the military, but Shaotian's uncle knows people in the military, right? I heard before that when Shaotian's uncle moved out of that courtyard house with his wife and daughter, it was a military vehicle that picked them up! Maybe the family of four across the street has a military background."
One elderly woman's analysis was so logical that it immediately won the approval of the other elderly women.
The quick-witted one immediately asked, "Really, Grandma He, do you know his family name?"
Grandma He rolled her eyes. "I didn't talk to them, how would I know their surnames?"
The plump old lady nudged another relatively young woman next to her who hadn't said a word, "They definitely have to go and report to the neighborhood committee. Xiao Yan, you're in charge here, why don't you go and ask?"
This young woman, nicknamed "Little Yan," is only in her early fifties compared to the group of elderly women who are around sixty years old. That's why they call her "Little Yan."
Aunt Yan thought about it and agreed. With a new person arriving, it was unreasonable for her, the person in charge, not to know the person's name.
"I'll go over and ask!"
"Yes, yes, go ask!"
Grandma He and the others immediately followed Grandma Yan to the next house.
Just as Aunt Yan raised her hand to knock on the door, it suddenly opened.
Aunt Yan and the person who opened the door inside the house made eye contact.
But inside, a family stood neatly at the door, seemingly about to go out.
Jiang Ci was completely bewildered when an old lady blocked her door early in the morning. "You...?"
Zhou Yang and Zhou Miao raised their little heads and stared at the group of strange grandmothers.
"Oh, lady, don't misunderstand! I'm the building manager, my surname is Yan, you can just call me Aunt Yan!" Aunt Yan quickly said, "Didn't you just move in? I just came to ask about things!"
This made Aunt Yan sweat profusely, and she herself felt that this group of people looked like some kind of ill-intentioned old ladies.
“Aunt Yan.” Jiang Ci understood and a light smile appeared on her face. “Hello, my name is Jiang Ci, this is my husband, Zhou Mingli, and these two little ones are our children, Zhou Yang and Zhou Miao.”
"You've come just in time! We were just about to go to the neighborhood office to make a record. Aunt Yan, could you tell us where the neighborhood office is located?"
Jiang Ci spoke calmly and deliberately, exuding a magnanimous and straightforward air, which immediately won over Aunt Yan. Aunt Yan smiled kindly and introduced, "Go to Mianhua Hutong on the road... Oh, you don't know where Mianhua Hutong is, do you? Just walk west along the road! The street office is right across from the supply and marketing cooperative!"
"There are grain stores and oil stores on that street. If you ride your bicycle west to the end and then turn left or right, you'll find a department store. They sell a wider variety of things there!"
Aunt Yan quickly described all the places where Jiangci could buy things in just a few words.
Jiang Ci repeated it carefully and wrote it down. "I've remembered it all, Aunt Yan, thank you."
Jiang Ci looked at Zhou Mingli.
Zhou Mingli understood and took out several small, square packets wrapped in oil paper from his bag.
A smile appeared on Zhou Mingli's usually calm face as he distributed the items to the elderly women. "Our family is new here and there are a lot of things to do, so please bear with us. We are not from Beijing, these are specialties from our hometown, please try them."
The old ladies were surprised that Jiang Ci was so good at handling things. When they took the package, they saw that it was printed with the pattern of Wu Ji Mahua (a type of fried dough twist).
This is filled with twisted dough sticks!
Although the items were small, they greatly improved the old ladies' impression of the Jiang family.
Although their clothes had patches, they knew how to get along with their neighbors!
Think about it, these days, who has all new clothes? Workers are frugal; new clothes last for three years, old clothes last for three years, and patched up for another three years. It's perfectly normal for clothes to have patches on them!
A group of elderly women smiled broadly, sharing news about their building with Jiang Ci and her friends in a very friendly manner.
The buildings in this area are actually staff housing for employees of the Beijing Municipal Newspaper. Most of the residents in this building are reporters, editors, and junior managers from the Beijing Municipal Newspaper.
Of course, some employees and their families from the radio station also live here.
Take, for example, Jiang Ci's neighbor, the He family. Her husband, son, and daughter-in-law all work at the radio station, which are all very respectable jobs!
Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli listened to some news about this place before taking the child out.
Aunt Yan and a group of old ladies watched them leave, touching the twisted dough sticks in their hands.
"This family knows how to get things done, and they seem like nice people! I just don't know what they're doing in Beijing."
"If you know how to get along with people, why worry about not being able to get things done? Look at Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli, they're both good-looking and eloquent. I reckon they've definitely got something planned out of them!"
This man is shrewd and experienced. Living in a place where news spreads everywhere, he places great importance on interpersonal relationships.
Several elderly women believed that Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli must have powerful connections, otherwise they wouldn't be able to stay here. They secretly thought about how to get along with them.
After several days of trying to smooth things over, they finally discovered that Jiang Ci was actually unemployed! And Zhou Mingli was just a poor kitchen helper in a government agency!
They couldn't wait to distance themselves from them, and didn't give them a single kind word.
The old ladies displayed their understanding of human relationships and social dynamics to an exceptional degree.
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