100 Going Home
Back in her dorm and after unpacking the package, Guan Yuehe discovered that besides the fried dough twists her aunt had made, there were also a lot of nutritional supplements and biscuits to tide her over.
She said, "It's impossible that every single bag contains fried dough twists made by your aunt."
Autumn and winter clothes take up a lot of space at the foot of the bed. Looks like I'll have to bring a wooden box from home next time; it'll be easier to store them and I can lock it.
After tidying up, she took a small bag of fried dough twists to the dormitory next door. Cheng Shuang said enviously, "It's so nice to live so close by. Your family is so kind, they even bring you food and clothes."
Cheng Shuang's hometown is a small county in Fujian Province. She was in the last graduating class before the abolition of the college entrance examination, and she was in the same class as Xie Zhenhua. After graduation, she was assigned to work at the education bureau in her hometown county. This year, when postgraduate admissions were reinstated, she took the postgraduate entrance examination and returned to Peking University.
"When you were in school, your family would send you food and clothes?" Cheng Shuang asked curiously.
"No, I only go home once or twice a semester. I bring all my things over when school starts." Guan Yuehe touched her face and smiled twice. Her family would drop off her things and leave, there was no need for them to stand there in the cafeteria looking at her longingly.
Suddenly I realized that Lin Yiku is really good.
Cheng Shuang suddenly exclaimed, "No wonder they say absence makes the heart grow fonder. You two must have missed each other after being apart for a while, right?"
"Ugh, I can't reason with a blockhead like you. I'm going back to my dorm."
"I just haven't met the right gay man to marry yet, I'm not a blockhead!" Cheng Shuang chased after her with a bag of fried dough twists to correct her.
"Yes, yes, you're not." Guan Yuehe lied to her from inside the door, which made Cheng Shuang so angry that she stood at the door with her hands on her hips, sulking. She was thinking that she would definitely bring her math book over to give little Guan a lesson another day!
Meanwhile, when Lin Yiku returned to Ginkgo Hutong, it was already past eight o'clock in the evening. There were still people waving their paddles at the ping-pong table at the entrance of the hutong, and Grandpa Ming's cheating voice was the loudest.
"Did Yiku go to Peking University to look for Yuehe?"
On the way home, Lin Yiku was asked this question by no fewer than ten people.
"The weather is getting colder, so we'll bring her some clothes." Lin Yiku usually wears a green military uniform to and from get off work, and he doesn't like to joke around, so no one dares to make jokes in front of him.
As soon as he stepped into the gate of No. 2 courtyard, an older woman covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled, "I bet that young couple went to the guesthouse."
"What's so funny? The young couple got their marriage certificate, and it's not illegal for them to go to guesthouses every day."
"Look at what you're saying, what normal person would go to a guesthouse every day? That would burn through... money!"
Before she could finish speaking, the second aunt's large palm-leaf fan came down and swatted at her with deadly force, like swatting a mosquito. The other aunt cried out in pain a few times and then picked up her fan to retaliate.
It seems there will be another commotion before the day ends.
No one else dared to get involved. The second auntie wasn't usually very strong, but if anyone mentioned that a married couple had gone to a guesthouse, she would become incredibly violent.
Everyone knows that Aunt Er is still angry with Zhang Chaonan and Hao Daren, but she doesn't vent her anger on her family members; she only takes it out on outsiders when she gets the chance.
Police Officer Song rarely had a free day, and not wanting to get himself into trouble, he pretended not to see anything and quietly walked out for a walk.
When September arrives, students of all ages have to go back to school.
Gu Yu is sent to Ginkgo Hutong every morning and picked up by her father in the evening, just like other children who go to after-school care.
Guan Jianguo's family of four moved out, reducing the number of people eating at home by half. During the day, only Jiang Guiying and Gu Yu, one old and one young, were at home.
To save time, Jiang Guiying and Aunt Fang, these two old friends, simply ate lunch together, and sometimes they would go to the suburbs with other elderly people to pick wild vegetables and fruits.
The happiest time is during the Grain Rain season. Every day, as soon as she wakes up, all she thinks about is going to her maternal grandmother's house.
Guan Yuehe was riding her bicycle home, thinking of going to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things. While she was looking at things at the counter, a little child next to her put his arm around her neck.
Turning around, he stared at Gu Yu, wide-eyed.
Jiang Guiying was sweating and shoved Gu Yu into her arms. "This little one has such sharp eyes! I didn't even see you, but she saw you from far away and rushed over. I almost couldn't hold her."
As she spoke, Jiang Guiying patted Gu Yu's bottom, "No meal is eaten for nothing."
Guan Yuehe held Gu Yu in one arm and pinched her cheek, saying, "You've gained weight."
Then she asked, "Don't people with presbyopia see farther?"
Jiang Guiying clicked her tongue and patted her on the shoulder. "You didn't even say you were coming back. Yiku said last night that she would come to see you at school tomorrow because she has the day off. How many days can you stay? Have you finished the work the teacher gave you?"
“It’s all done. I’ll stay for three days,” Guan Yuehe said. “I called his office this morning, so he knows I’m going home.”
It's barely finished, but the teachers are still discussing whether the textbook needs to be revised.
Thirty graduate students were admitted to the Spanish Department, ten of whom were English majors. Among the English majors, some specialized in translation, while others focused on language and culture studies... However, they still attended classes together. One teacher suggested that students shouldn't just be able to read and write, but also to listen and speak...
She finally understood that, regardless of whether it was the first batch of worker-peasant-soldier college students or the first batch of graduate students, both teachers and students were feeling their way across the river, and there would definitely be room for improvement later.
"Why are you sighing for no reason? Did something happen at school?"
"No." Guan Yuehe continued to sigh, "I'm thinking that I still have to eat in the cafeteria for three more years. I hope the cafeteria will be better after school starts."
The meal she had with her sister when she went to take the re-examination last time was not as bad as the meal she had during the summer vacation.
Before Jiang Guiying could even offer some words of comfort, Guan Yuehe encouraged herself, saying, "I'm going to try to graduate early too!"
"Also? Who else?"
"My roommate is a math major in the dorm next door," Cheng Shuang said, adding that she would try to finish her studies and graduate as soon as possible, as she herself had graduated from university ahead of schedule.
After buying toilet paper, Guan Yuehe remembered something else: she wanted to return Gu Yu to her mother. But despite Gu Yu's small size, she was quite strong and held her tightly, sticking her little bottom out towards her grandmother.
So Guan Yuehe could only let Jiang Guiying push the car back, and carry Guyu back to the Zhuoyue Garment Factory herself.
Having worked at the factory for twelve years, Guan Yuehe felt a special sense of familiarity upon returning.
"Oh, Guyu, you're here to see your dad again?" The gatekeeper was clearly quite familiar with Guyu, the factory worker's son. Guyu waved back as he greeted him.
The next second, the gatekeeper exclaimed again, "Section Chief Guan is back? I was just saying you looked familiar, it's you! Haven't you started school yet?"
"Ready to open." Guan Yuehe saw the gatekeeper grab a handful of peanuts for her and immediately went over to take them.
I also chatted with the old man.
"Our factory manager specifically mentioned you at the last meeting."
"Huh? What did you mention about me?"
"The factory manager said we can't be complacent. We need to make our Zhuoyue brand clothes even better and more popular. We should learn from the clothes from the south, clothes that make people want to buy them as soon as they see them. We need to try to go to the Canton Fair and sell our clothes abroad. Otherwise, if Section Chief Guan wants to come back to the factory later, he won't have any leverage to exert himself."
The security guard said excitedly, "I think our Zhuoyue brand is the best. What's so special about products from the south?"
Guan Yuehe felt there was a reason why clothes from the south were so popular. She particularly liked the replica dresses that Xu Chengcai and Qin Zilan had given her.
But everyone is biased towards products from their own factory, and she can understand the old man's feelings.
“Look across the street, that piece of land is going to belong to our factory. I think we’ll have to keep hiring.”
Guan Yuehe looked in the direction the gatekeeper was pointing. Ahead was a small handicraft factory set up by the street office, which took on odd jobs such as pasting matchboxes and weaving bamboo baskets. It was a collective enterprise, but not a state-owned factory.
It's called a small factory, yes and no. There are only two or three people in charge, and only residents with financial difficulties can take on jobs, most of which are done at home. But this small factory occupies a lot of space, almost half the size of the Zhuoyue Garment Factory.
Zhuoyue Garment Factory has been renting from the street office for twenty years, and the original handmade factory will be moved to another location under the street office's name.
If we make use of that side as well and continue to recruit people, wouldn't Zhuoyue Garment Factory transform from a small to medium-sized state-owned factory into a medium-sized state-owned factory?
The gatekeeper chuckled, "A factory with a thousand employees is just a matter of time! A factory with ten thousand employees isn't impossible either."
After Guan Yuehe had finished bragging to the gatekeeper, she headed straight for the finance department, completely satisfied.
She was there to collect her salary for the month and to say hello to her colleagues in the finance department, "My husband will be here to collect it from now on."
"No problem. Just have him bring his marriage certificate to get it." Many people in their finance department had seen Section Chief Guan's wife. Once a week, Section Chief Guan's wife would come to wait for Section Chief Guan to get off work.
"Here, Guyu, have some." A woman from the finance department handed Guyu a biscuit. Gu Mannian had moved to a new house and became neighbors with this woman.
"Thank your aunt," Guan Yuehe reminded Gu Yu.
"Auntie, thank you!" Gu Yu pinched the cookie, her eyes darting around, then waved her hand, "Let's go!"
Gu Yu wasn't very familiar with the Zhuoyue Garment Factory; what she remembered most were the main gate and her father's office.
As I passed the purchasing department, I kept pointing at it, wanting to go inside.
Guan Yuehe complied with her wishes, but Gu Mannian was out today because he had gone to the textile factory on business. He Shuangshuang's son, Mo Mingqi, was there, though.
The name Mo Mingqi was supposedly chosen by Section Chief Mo after searching through the dictionary. He Shuangshuang said that she was dizzy after giving birth and was focused on going back to school after her postpartum period. She didn't notice that the name was strange, so she had Mo Zhinan registered in the household.
Later, after calling him that for a while, they realized it wasn't quite right, so his family started calling him Qiqi. It wasn't until he started first grade last year that Mo Mingqi got a unique nickname.
"That's strange, why are you out of school so early?"
Mo Mingqi glanced at Aunt Guan, secretly pouting. He didn't want to talk to her, but he was afraid of getting a beating. When his dad disciplined him, he would always say, "Let Aunt Guan teach you a lesson, and you'll behave!"
Because the adults in the residential compound all say that Aunt Guan is even more capable than the police.
"My school is nearby, so I came over after school." He usually goes to the archives to see his grandfather, but today he came to see his father and ran into Aunt Guan!
Guan Yuehe realized what was happening.
Zhuoyue Garment Factory did not have its own school for factory children, unlike the children of Wuxing Automobile Factory, who went to school at the factory and, to save money, usually waited until the adults got off work before returning home together.
Mo Mingqi attended Changhu Primary School, which is located near Changhu Street, just a few minutes' walk away.
Gu Yu finally met a big kid she had played with before and wanted to get down and play, but Guan Yuehe ignored her and carried her outside.
Having just received their wages, they had plenty of money, so they went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought White Rabbit milk candy.
Guan Yuehe was also glad that she was lucky today, as the White Rabbit milk candy had just been put on the shelves.
The sales clerk said, "We have plenty of stock this month, you can still get some if you come back tomorrow. The canned lychees just arrived, do you want some? No coupon needed."
"want!"
She had been to Guangzhou twice, but hadn't been able to eat fresh lychees, and this was the first time she had even bought canned lychees.
"Yuehe, at this rate of spending money on your baby, you'll be throwing money around when you have kids!" Aunt Xie stared at the things Guan Yuehe was carrying: ridiculously expensive milk candy and ridiculously expensive canned lychees. It wasn't her money that was being spent, but seeing others buy them made her feel like she was being ripped out of her flesh.
“I didn’t spend your money, so why are you being so nosy!” Jiang Guiying spoke first, glaring at Aunt Xie and saying, “Unlike you, who doesn’t buy food for your granddaughter but still has to coax her to eat.”
"Nonsense! Who coaxed my granddaughter to eat that stuff?" Aunt Xie said, her voice lacking confidence, as she hurriedly went inside and closed the door.
She was secretly relieved that she was the only one at home; otherwise, if Liu Axiu had heard this, she would have certainly been berated again.
Guan Yuehe gave Jiang Guiying a thumbs up, "You're the one who can cure her."
Jiang Guiying glanced at the things she was carrying and immediately looked away, out of sight, out of mind. Even she felt sorry for her: she really spent money on food and drink!
Both families sent her a bottle of canned lychees, and she took the rest home with her.
They even brought back Gu Yu, that clingy little one.
She's been away for over half a month, and her home is even cleaner and tidier than the day she left.
As soon as I stepped inside the house, I felt so lazy.
In the evening, we went to the neighbor's courtyard for dinner. Since we had nothing to do, we took Guyu inside to take a nap.
"You're not allowed to pee on my kang (heated brick bed), or I won't play with you anymore."
Gu Yu couldn't understand her words, so she turned over and continued sleeping with her back to her.
Lin Yiku returned home early. As soon as she entered the house, there was an extra bag on the sofa, and the bedroom door was open, but the house was quiet.
Upon entering the bedroom, I saw that the curtains were not drawn, and the evening light shone on the desk. On the large kang (heated brick bed) in front of it, Guan Yuehe was sleeping in a starfish position, with Gu Yu half-lying on her stomach. The two of them, one big and one small, were sleeping very soundly.
After watching for more than ten minutes, just as I was about to quietly leave, the noise in the courtyard suddenly became lively.
It's time for adults and children who have gone to work or school to come home.
Guan Yuehe was woken up and wanted to go back to sleep, but she found that her stomach was heavy. Looking down, she saw a chubby little girl lying on her stomach.
Suddenly, she felt a passionate gaze from the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed). Turning her head, she looked somewhat bewildered. "Lin Yiku?"
Oh! She's home!
The confusion turned into certainty: "Lin Yiku, you're off work?"
After moving Gu Yu aside, he stretched comfortably and rolled around a couple of times. "The kang (heated brick bed) at home is still the most comfortable."
When she was in middle school, there were very few dormitories available, so she went home to stay every day. It wasn't until the two years she attended the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University that she lived in a school dormitory for the first time.
She used to live in a dormitory, and although the bed was too small, her roommates were very lively, so she was still happy to live in the dormitory.
Now she has a new idea: she feels that it would be more comfortable to sleep on the kang (heated brick bed) with Lin Yiku.
Why are you home so early today?
"You said you'd be back today."
"Ew... Don't try to sweet-talk me... Ahhh! Gu Yu!"
Guan Yuehe suddenly felt something warm beside her legs, touched it, and immediately got up.
Before they could even get to know each other, the two non-parents were frantically cleaning up the kang (a heated brick bed) that had been wet, and also trying to soothe Guyu, who was crying loudly after doing something naughty.
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