There was a noise in the second courtyard, and the group of people who were chatting and laughing all turned around at the same time. The woman from before, wearing a coat and carrying a double-layered tin lunchbox, walked out from inside.
Judging from the sound, she was still wearing the same slippers as before. Only then did Xu Keke realize that the slippers were delicately embroidered cotton slippers, small and exquisitely crafted. As she moved, her smooth, glossy ankles peeked out between the slippers and her cotton pajama bottoms. They looked so alluring that one wanted to reach out and touch them.
The woman was not only beautiful, but also charming. Xu Keke turned her head and saw that Mr. Lin was staring at her intently.
The woman walked past them with her head slightly lowered, offering only a faint smile and a slight nod to the old man as a greeting. She then walked straight out.
After she stepped out of the courtyard, there was only a brief silence before everyone returned to normal. No one introduced the woman to Xu Keke. It was as if the woman who had just walked past was merely an illusion.
Xu Keke took the lease agreement from A Qiu and stamped it next to her fingerprint. Three characters were engraved on it. Although it was in running script, the characters were still legible.
These three words have inspired many. He risked persecution to help many progressive writers publish their books free of charge. Those books gave countless people the strength to move forward. To support the resistance against Japan, he sold all his property to fund the front lines. From then on, the old man rented out his courtyard to make a living.
If he is a scholar, Xu Keke believes he is more like a chivalrous knight.
But she was just a village woman from the countryside, and Xu Keke didn't show any unusual reaction to the name. She calmly folded the contract and put it in her pocket.
After a brief chat, when Mr. Cao pointed to Xu Keke's imitation of Feng Lichun's signature and praised her handwriting, saying it seemed formless but actually had substance, Xu Keke felt a pang of guilt. She quickly and politely took her two children and bid farewell to the three men.
As I exited the alley, the pretty woman came out of a steamed bun shop, carrying her lunchbox.
When Xu Keke passed by her with her two children, the casual glance she gave her made Xu Keke believe that she wasn't entirely without curiosity about them.
Xu Keke then took her two children into the steamed bun shop. It wasn't noon yet, so there weren't many customers. Xu Keke ordered three bowls of chicken wontons and a serving of three-delicacy steamed buns.
"Mom, that woman is so beautiful." Da Cui, who had been filled with curiosity, finally calmed down and boldly shared the story with Xu Keke.
"Is that the woman who just went out?" The man sitting next to them was clearly a regular customer; there was a small silver wine pot and a dish of peanuts on the table.
Unexpectedly, someone responded, and Da Cui was too frightened to speak again. The man sipped his wine, showing no intention of letting the matter rest. Xu Keke didn't stop him; they would still be living here, and the two children needed to learn how to deal with these city people.
"That woman was no ordinary person; she used to be a famous socialite in Beijing." The man's voice rose and fell with emotion.
"Beautiful women have always had tragic fates! When she was at the height of her fame, people wanted to cast her in movies and promote her to leading roles. But she refused. She just liked to hang around in that industry, and after all that, she ended up in this miserable state. She didn't have a single penny left; everyone swindled her out of everything. Serves her right; she used to think she was above everyone else, and now she's in this mess."
"Shut up!" The woman carrying the tray was someone Feng Lichun remembered; she was the proprietress of the steamed bun shop. The proprietress was very shrewd; she silenced the man with just one sentence.
He then said to Xu Keke and the others, "Don't mind him. He's not a bad person, he just has a bad temper when he's drunk."
The proprietress brought them the wontons and a steamer of buns they had ordered. She then casually asked them why they were there. They said that most of the customers were residents of this alley, and she had never seen them before.
Xu Keke told me that she was about to move in with Mr. Cao. She quickly smiled and said, "That old gentleman is such a nice person. You'll see once you move in. His words..." The landlady pointed to the man drinking.
"He's not entirely wrong. Just be more discreet about it if you have a daughter. That Miss Feng doesn't have a good reputation around here."
After saying that, the proprietress told them to eat while it was hot, and that the children should eat slowly because the buns were hot. Then she took the tray and left.
The man didn't speak again. Da Cui was too scared to say anything more because of the way he acted after just one sentence.
Yuanbao didn't care. "Mom, you have to try it! This bun is delicious!"
"Mom, this is wonton. What's inside? It's so delicious."
Xu Keke took a bite and knew what he was talking about. She smiled and said to Yuanbao, "This is dried shrimp. It grows in the sea and is dried. If you like it, we'll come back when it's moved here."
After the three of them finished their meal, Xu Keke paid the bill. The proprietress, seeing that although she wasn't dressed very well, seemed like someone fresh from the countryside, paid quickly and smiled even more warmly at her. She insisted that their best dish was the vegetarian buns and that they must try them next time they came.
Xu Keke glanced at the sky, worried it was getting late and it wouldn't be right to keep Liao Meng waiting. So she took the two children to the roadside and rode the tram for two stops. This thrilled Yuanbao. Da Cui's eyes widened even more, and she barely dared to breathe, carefully following behind Xu Keke, afraid of making a wrong move.
The three of them got out of the car, and Da Cui couldn't help but ask, "Mom, aren't you scared?"
"Don't be afraid. The driver is a person, and the passengers are people too. There's nothing to be afraid of. All you need to do is be careful and avoid getting hurt."
Yuanbao jumped up and down, shouting, "I'm not afraid either!"
Being the older sister and even more timid than her brother made Da Cui a little embarrassed. Fortunately, the surrounding crowds and the colorful, beautiful fabrics in the shop windows instantly drew her attention.
Yuanbao wasn't interested in women's fabrics; he stared intently at the cars on the road.
“Mom,” Yuanbao suddenly tugged at Xu Keke’s sleeve, “Mom, my grandma, look, isn’t that my grandma?”
Following the direction Yuanbao pointed, Xu Keke turned her gaze back to the opposite side.
Because Zhao Xiuying had bound feet, her walking posture was different from others. So even though they were separated by a street, and Zhao Xiuying was dressed differently from when she left home in the morning, Xu Keke still recognized her at a glance.
The restaurant they had just left was a Western restaurant. Zhao Yuying was sandwiched between two stylishly dressed women, and it was clear that both women slowed their pace to accommodate her small feet.
“Mom, Grandma is wearing new clothes.” Yuanbao was clever and didn’t shout. “That woman is the political commissar’s wife. Grandma was upset that she scolded me the other day, saying she was a vixen. How come she’s with her today?”
Xu Keke remained silent. In her past life, Feng Lichun only knew that Zhou Chengguang had gotten married, but she didn't know who he married, nor had she ever seen the woman. Xu Keke guessed that the other woman must be the one Zhou Chengguang was going to marry. It seemed that she not only knew this Chen Yurong, but also had a good relationship with her. However, she was far away, and she was walking at the very back, so she could only see a general outline.
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