Chapter 107 Extra: In Beijing
"Lin, please wait a moment!"
Lin Qingqing stopped and turned around. She saw their class monitor walking briskly out with textbooks in his arms. He adjusted his glasses in front of her and said somewhat nervously, "I need to register the number of people going hiking this weekend. Are you going?"
"Which day of the week are we going?" Lin Qingqing asked.
"Let's go on Saturday."
Lin Qingqing shook her head and said, "My family and I are going out on Saturday, so I probably won't have time."
"Your family came to Beijing to visit you?" The class monitor was taken aback. He had read Lin Qingqing's information and knew that she had come to Beijing from Jinshi.
"Yes, my husband came to Beijing for further studies, and my mother-in-law brought her daughter along too." Lin Qingqing smiled as she thought of her family.
Although Lin Qingqing did not hide the fact that she was married, she lived in the student dormitory throughout the last semester and rarely mentioned her family, leading many to speculate that she and her husband had a bad relationship or that they had already divorced.
This is because such situations are not uncommon. Many educated youth who went to the countryside couldn't endure it and got married. Now that the college entrance examination has been reinstated, some resigned themselves to staying in the countryside, while others desperately want to return to the city. In the brigade where the squad leader was sent to the countryside, several couples divorced because of this.
But now, when Lin Qingqing mentioned her husband, her expression was gentle, clearly indicating that the truth was not as they thought. The class monitor lowered his eyes and murmured, "In that case, I won't register your name."
Lin Qingqing nodded, told the class monitor to wish them a good weekend, then said goodbye and went downstairs. After going downstairs, she didn't go back to the dormitory, but walked towards the north gate of the school.
Lin Qingqing started looking for a house in April, but because she had high requirements for the house—it had to be close to the school, spacious, and with a diverse neighborhood—she looked for several months until she finally found a house she liked in July, just before leaving school.
The house is located in a residential area north of the school. It is a three-story villa. The owner was originally a professor at Peking University, but he was sent to the countryside for re-education during the political movement. His property was confiscated and new residents were relocated to the area. Last year, the owner was exonerated and returned to teach at Peking University. However, due to disputes over the ownership of the property, he has been living in the faculty dormitory allocated by the university.
Until this year, as the properties confiscated during the major policy movement were gradually returned, the homeowner regained the keys to his ancestral home. However, during those ten years, six families moved into the house, and the additions and partitions caused considerable damage, which the homeowner did not have the funds to rebuild. Furthermore, since his family consisted of only four people, and the faculty dormitory was sufficient for them, he did not move in but instead renovated the house and rented it out.
Because they didn't want the property to be damaged again, the homeowner had high requirements for the tenants. It wasn't until Lin Qingqing came to the door that a family moved in. It was a newlywed couple, and the woman worked at a hospital.
When Lin Qingqing was looking at the apartment, the other party asked her a lot of questions. They heard that she was a student who was admitted to the Department of Economics at Peking University through the college entrance examination, and that her husband was a military officer who would be going to a military academy for further studies in September. Therefore, they wanted her mother-in-law to bring her daughter along so that the family would not be separated for a long time. They quickly decided to rent her the large apartment on the second floor.
Over the course of ten years, each floor of the villa was divided into two units. The larger units included a master bedroom and a living room, while the smaller units consisted of two bedrooms partitioned off. Later residents added one or two more rooms to the existing units.
For example, in the apartment they rented, a secondary bedroom was partitioned off from the living room. However, this resulted in the living room having only one small window, poor lighting, and a cramped space, making it impossible to separate the dining room and living room. But Lin Qingqing was only a freshman and had to live at school from Monday to Thursday, while Xie Wei's school was even further away, so most of the time only Li Xingfang and Xie Xi, the grandmother and granddaughter, were at home, and the living room was sufficient.
Actually, when Li Xingfang first moved in, she complained a bit, thinking the apartment was too big. In her opinion, a small single room would have been enough, and there was no need to spend money on such a large place. But when she arrived, the apartment had already been rented, and Lin Qingqing said that the landlord was a school teacher who gave her a discount because she was a student, making it cheaper than usual.
Despite her inner grumbling, the larger house was indeed more comfortable. After moving in, Li Xingfang visited her neighbors, the young couple on the first floor. They rented a smaller apartment, which was also divided into two rooms, but it was much more cramped than her own. If someone came to visit, there wouldn't be enough room to move around. Compared to that, Li Xingfang was quite satisfied with her own apartment.
There are some things I'm not happy about, though. There's no separate kitchen; we have to share. The kitchen is cluttered with bottles and jars, and even though the stove and coal rack are separate, friction is inevitable among people living in the same building.
Less than two weeks after moving in, Li Xingfang got into an argument with her upstairs neighbor because the neighbor felt they were using up soy sauce too quickly and suspected someone was stealing it. The neighbor's first suspect was Li Xingfang, because she used plenty of oil and salt when cooking, sometimes making the food smell so good that the entire third floor could smell it.
The other party felt that it was normal for Li Xingfang, an old woman from the countryside, to live a frugal life. Why was she so willing to spend so much on oil and salt? It was because she was using someone else's oil!
Li Xingfang had never stolen a single needle or thread from anyone in her entire life, but being falsely accused of stealing oil suddenly enraged her. Although Li Xingfang rarely said hurtful things, it wasn't because she couldn't, but because there was no need. But this time, she couldn't hold back and unleashed a torrent of abuse on the person she accused.
The other person was furious, but she was no match for Li Xingfang in either vocabulary or voice, and was utterly defeated. When Lin Qingqing returned the next evening, she made sarcastic remarks about the incident, implying that Li Xingfang was a student at Peking University, yet her family was so dishonest.
The person spoke sarcastically to Lin Qingqing's face because Lin Qingqing looked young and spoke politely, leading the person to believe that Lin Qingqing was thin-skinned and concerned with saving face, and that the person would definitely throw a tantrum when they got back, making Li Xingfang suffer. In the person's view, why would an old woman from the countryside like Li Xingfang be able to come to Beijing? Wasn't it because her daughter-in-law was successful and got into Peking University?
But Lin Qingqing didn't apologize as she expected. Instead, she asked, "You said my mother-in-law stole your oil. Did you see it? Do you have any evidence? If you don't, what makes you say my mother-in-law stole your oil?"
After being bombarded with three questions, the other person's face darkened, and they blurted out their guess. Lin Qingqing immediately became angry and turned to leave. The other person, sensing her guilt, quickly stopped her and asked, "Where do you think you're going?" believing Lin Qingqing was trying to run away out of guilt.
"Call the police! My mother-in-law stole your oil. She goes in; if not, you go in," Lin Qingqing said coldly.
Although the other party was making a fuss, she never thought it would come to the point of calling the police. Moreover, although she said that Li Xingfang stole oil, she was not really sure. If she was really wrong, then... She quickly pulled Lin Qingqing back, forced a smile and said, "You are really insensible. Do you have to call the police just because we neighbors have a quarrel?"
Lin Qingqing sneered, "It was foolish of me to call the police, but you think it's reasonable for you to falsely accuse my mother-in-law of stealing oil? I think it's best to call the police, so that this matter won't be blown out of proportion and my mother-in-law won't be able to get rid of the accusation of stealing oil in the end! Anyway, we've done nothing wrong, so we're not afraid of the police investigating!"
Li Xingfang had already come downstairs when she heard the noise. She was trembling with anger after hearing what the other person had said. Now that she heard Lin Qingqing say this, she quickly chimed in, "That's right, I'm not afraid of being investigated! The police must come and clear my name!"
Seeing that the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were unreasonable, the other party realized that they had met with a tough opponent and knew that they were in the wrong, so they had no choice but to beg Lin Qingqing to let it go.
In the end, although Lin Qingqing did not call the police, she made the other party apologize to Li Xingfang in front of everyone in the yard. Afterwards, she said that this would not happen again, and if she heard her say that Li Xingfang stole oil in the future, she would not let it go easily.
After that incident, although the other party dared not accuse Li Xingfang of stealing again, they often made sarcastic remarks.
Fortunately, her other neighbors were all nice. Li Xingfang was a broad-minded person. Even if others couldn't stand her, she wouldn't bother with them. So, she lived a fairly enjoyable life.
...
There were fewer classes on Friday afternoon, and Lin Qingqing got home early. When she passed by the kitchen, she saw Li Xingfang cooking and Xie Xi playing in a chair. She went over, picked up her daughter, and went to her mother-in-law to ask what they wanted to eat for dinner.
"Don't you love lobster? I saw some being sold at the market today, so I bought a few pounds," Li Xingfang said with a smile. "But the lobsters they were selling were small, so they definitely couldn't be used for braised lobsters. I guess they could only make a plate of stir-fried lobster balls."
Because lobsters are too dirty, have a lot of shells and little meat, and are very oily, not many people eat them at this time of year, and they don't fetch a good price. Therefore, lobsters are not often available in the market, and even if there is a basket of them, very few people buy them. Li Xingfang didn't like eating lobsters and crabs before, but after living with Lin Qingqing for a while, she gradually came to appreciate their flavor. After moving to Beijing, she even missed them because they weren't available.
I happened to see them this time. Although they are a bit small and can't be used to make braised prawns, stir-fried prawn balls are still a good way to satisfy my craving.
After hearing this, Lin Qingqing put down her daughter and said, "Then I'll cook it later."
Li Xingfang realized that her lobster cooking wasn't as good as the other woman's. Just then, the other woman finished cooking the vegetables on the plate, so she nodded and said, "Okay!"
Lin Qingqing rolled up her sleeves and went to the stove. She quickly found the iron basin for the crayfish, picked it up and shook it. Seeing that the crayfish heads and veins had been removed, she started cooking spicy crayfish by heating oil in a wok.
The crayfish dish was made with a generous amount of seasoning, creating an incredibly strong aroma that drew everyone back into the building. Upon seeing Lin Qingqing's crayfish, reactions varied: some, like the young couple downstairs, drooled with anticipation, while others, like the upstairs residents, clicked their tongues in disgust and turned away.
Ignoring the residents on the third floor, Lin Qingqing served the young couple downstairs a small plate of crayfish as an extra treat. The couple was initially a little embarrassed, but Li Xingfang was so enthusiastic that they couldn't refuse and accepted.
Although Lin Qingqing was willing to maintain good relations with her neighbors, she didn't want to be met with indifference or offer food to those who didn't want it. So, apart from the young couple downstairs, only the other household on the second floor received a plate of crayfish. As for the other household on the first floor, they didn't care about crayfish anyway, so she didn't bother sending any to them.
They prepared dinner, and Xie Wei returned from school.
Because the school was far away, Xie Wei spent less time at home than Lin Qingqing, but the residents in the building had a particularly deep impression of him because he always wore a green military uniform and stood and walked upright, looking every bit like a soldier.
However, the Xie family had been living in the house for more than half a month, and the residents upstairs and downstairs had already found out about the Xie family's situation. They knew that Xie Wei had been in the army for many years and was now at the deputy division level. He had come to Beijing this time to study at the military academy.
Although Beijing is the capital, and there's an old saying that smashing a plaque can bring down several officials, those who need to rent houses are mostly ordinary people with limited connections to important figures. Someone like Xie Wei is someone they can look up to. Moreover, Xie Wei is so young; he's sure to have a bright future.
This is one of the reasons why things have quieted down on the third floor. Although they are too embarrassed to flatter people, they also dare not really offend them too much.
Xie Wei greeted people as he went upstairs, and was talking to his neighbors before entering the house. The neighbors were a middle-aged couple with three children, the eldest of whom was sixteen and didn't want to continue studying but wanted to join the army. Knowing Xie Wei was a soldier, they wanted to ask him about his thoughts.
After they finished talking and went inside, the food was already laid out. Xie Wei went over, picked up his daughter who was sitting on the sofa, and asked her what she had done that day.
"Rice, vegetables," the little girl said in her childish voice.
Xie Wei didn't understand, so Lin Qingqing translated for her: "After breakfast this morning, Mom took Xixi to the market to buy groceries."
"How did you know?" Xie Wei asked in surprise.
Lin Qingqing boasted, "I'm smart, I guessed it."
Li Xingfang laughed upon hearing this, and brought out the last dish, saying, "I saw some lobsters for sale at the market today, so I bought a few extra pounds. Your wife cooked this; have a taste."
Xie Wei nodded and said, "My mother told you."
"How did you know?" Lin Qingqing asked as well.
Xie Wei said casually, "I guessed it because I'm smart."
Li Xingfang couldn't stand their boasting and urged them to sit down and eat.
During dinner, Lin Qingqing brought up the topic of going to the Forbidden City the next day. They had been in Beijing for over half a month, taking two weekends off, but because there was so much to settle in, they hadn't had a chance to go out. Now that they had some time this week, they decided to go on a trip together.
"After we finish visiting the Forbidden City, let's go to Wangfujing Street and have some Peking duck at Quanjude." Lin Qingqing planned their outing, then pinched her daughter's nose and asked, "Xixi, do you want to eat Peking duck?"
The little girl had a sweet tooth; upon hearing there was food, she immediately exclaimed, "I want some!"
Li Xingfang asked, "We're going tomorrow? How far is the Forbidden City from the square? Will we not have enough time if we all go?"
"The square is right outside the Forbidden City, and Wangfujing Street is only one or two stops away. Tomorrow will definitely be enough time."
Lin Qingqing said, "If you still have energy after we finish sightseeing tomorrow, we can go climb the Great Wall the day after tomorrow. If you get tired, we can go next time. Anyway, we're all in Beijing, so it's convenient to go back and forth."
Li Xingfang started to imagine, unable to stop smiling: "Okay, let's arrange it like this for now."
...
Although Li Xingfang had been looking forward to going to the square for a long time, she became nervous when it was time to go out. She changed her clothes several times while standing in the house, and when she saw her daughter-in-law come in, she asked, "Which dress do you think looks good on me?" She tried on several jackets.
Lin Qingqing said, "Red and blue are both good. Red makes you look energetic, and blue is formal."
"Then I'll choose red, no, no, I'll choose blue. It's more formal to go to the square." Li Xingfang quickly made up her mind and changed into a blue jacket.
Lin Qingqing and the others had already packed up. After Li Xingfang changed her clothes, the group went out to catch their ride.
On the way to the Forbidden City, Li Xingfang was still a little restless, but when she got out of the car and saw the red walls and yellow tiles, she calmed down as if she were stunned. For the rest of the journey, Li Xingfang remained very quiet, just following closely behind Lin Qingqing and listening to her story. Only when she got excited did she not be able to help but exclaim in amazement.
The Forbidden City is very large, and it's not easy to see it all in one day. Considering that there were other plans for the rest of the trip, Lin Qingqing only took them to see the main palaces before heading to the next destination.
While in the Forbidden City, Li Xingfang was able to remain calm, but once she stood in the square, she could no longer contain herself. Gazing at the huge portrait hanging above, her eyes filled with tears.
There are many people like Li Xingfang in the square. They were born during the war years and lived a life of hardship and displacement until the person in the portrait appeared, at which point they had a stable life. Therefore, they have a deep affection for the person in the portrait.
Not only Li Xingfang, but Xie Wei, facing the portrait, was also somewhat moved. He then raised his hands and brought his legs together to give a proper military salute.
After they calmed down, the photographer Lin Qingqing had found finished taking pictures of others and called Li Xingfang and Xie Wei over.
"We need to take photos too? How much will that cost?" Li Xingfang asked.
Lin Qingqing didn't mention the price, but asked, "This is your first time in the square. Don't you want to record this memorable moment?" Seeing Li Xingfang hesitate, Lin Qingqing added, "The photo should be taken with the square in the background."
Li Xingfang couldn't resist the temptation and walked to stand beside her son.
At this moment, Xie Wei stood in the middle, with Lin Qingqing and Li Xingfang on either side of him, and Xie Xi in front of him.
The photographer watched as the four of them stood still, then lifted the black cloth to look at them through the camera. After a short while, he came out of the black cloth and said, "Hold the child up, he's too low to be seen in the camera."
Upon hearing this, Xie Wei picked up the child.
The photographer looked at her for a while, then asked Lin Qingqing and Li Xingfang to stand a little closer to him. After they adjusted their posture, the photographer crawled back into the black cloth and shouted, "One, two, three, smile!"
Click!
The moment was captured: they took their first family photo in the square.
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