1979: My fiancée is a goddess

Chapter 2 Beijing City

An hour later, the vehicle arrived at the station.

Cheng Kaiyan followed the crowd out of the station. It was already getting dark at half past five.

It was bright on both sides, and there were street lights on the main roads in the capital.

Here in the station square, cement high-pole sodium lamps are used, which are brighter than the street lights of later generations.

In her previous life, Cheng Kaiyan had read many period novels out of boredom and knew a lot about Beijing, the spiritual hometown of many period novel authors.

In 1949, there were 14,000 street lamps in Beijing.

In the past two years, with the adjustment of the power supply in Beijing, the proportion of power supply for people's lives and agriculture has increased. Urban lighting has started again and gradually entered the fast lane. Now there are more than 600,000 lamps.

Under the bright lights, Cheng Kaiyan saw the whole picture of the city.

The area near the station is quite prosperous. Although there are no skyscrapers as endless as in later times, the streets are mainly lined with small buildings of four or five stories high, which are a bit rustic but very down-to-earth.

At present, many streets in Beijing are not paved with asphalt, but are made of cement, and when it rains, the whole place smells of dust.

Sophora japonica trees are planted on both sides of the street, and there are department stores with lights hanging on the storefronts, clothes shops, and a small state-owned restaurant with a cloth curtain hanging at the door.

The roof was covered with snow, and on the side wall there was a propaganda poster of a girl wearing a green hat with a red star and holding a sickle and hammer.

Below is the slogan: "Wash fruits and vegetables before eating them raw!"

"One couple, one child. Fewer births, better upbringing is the four modernizations!"

"There has never been a savior, and we don't need gods or emperors. To create happiness for mankind, we have to rely on ourselves!"

Cheng Kaiyan dragged her luggage and looked for a while. The blue and white trams on the street were surrounded by a group of bicycles. It was a complete sea of ​​bicycles. From time to time, the sound of bells jingling could be heard, crisp but noisy.

People were wearing black, white, and blue-gray clothes. At first glance, some of them were patched, looking very simple and plain.

But their faces are filled with confidence, sunshine and vitality.

Cheng Kaiyan put away her inexperienced look and walked forward.

Finally, in the station square, I saw a girl wearing a big black cotton jacket, who looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old.

Cheng Kaiyan was stunned. Isn’t this the little girl next door, Zhan Xinyu?
"Cheng Kaiyan!! Brother Yan!"

The girl seemed to see him and a smile appeared on her face.

He jumped up with all his strength, waving a cardboard with the words "Cheng Kaiyan" written on it in large, crooked letters in his hand, and looked quite exhausted.

Cheng Kaiyan walked forward with a smile, "Xinyu! Why are you here alone?"

"Hi~ Aunt Xu is cooking at home. Let me ride my bike to pick you up."

The little girl took a picture of the Forever brand bicycle next to her. It looked tattered, but don't be disgusted. A Forever brand bicycle costs at least one hundred and sixty yuan.

"Thank you for your help." Cheng Kaiyan said politely subconsciously.

But Zhan Xinyu was unhappy and pouted, "What are you talking about! Why are you being so polite? I was expecting to eat the Quanjude roast duck that Auntie bought!"

"Haha...haha, you are still so greedy."

Cheng Kaiyan laughed, and after some interruption, the distance between the two of them shortened a little.

"Brother Yan, you come and ride the bike. I can't carry you."

The little girl said as she brushed the snow off her head.

Cheng Kaiyan took the bicycle without hesitation, sat on it, and patted the back seat.

The little girl put on her hat, jumped up, and nimbly put her arms around his waist and shouted, "Go home!"

Cheng Kaiyan rode his bicycle slowly away.

But from time to time he took the wrong route, and the little girl behind him complained about him, and he had to use his iron head to bump into people.

"This way, this way!"

"Oh my! Brother Xiaoyan is so stupid that he even forgot his own home! He went the wrong way! Turn left and then right."

Cheng Kaiyan walked through the streets and alleys, listening to the simple and crisp voice of a young girl. Once she entered the courtyard, she saw the stinky ditch, the stone lions in front of the door, the screen wall covered with tiles, the low gray courtyard wall, the wooden electric poles in the corner of the alley, and the rows of parallel electric wires going away...

Like overexposed films playing out frame by frame in my eyes, everything is so hazy and dreamy.

"Ah... I really have come to the Red Age!"

Memory and reality overlapped, and he began to speed through the streets and alleys of Beijing.

At the same time, the little girl behind him seemed to feel the emotions he was venting.

She sang loudly, her voice as clear as an oriole:
“To whom does this wonderful springtime belong!
For you and me...

We will meet again in twenty years!

How beautiful our great motherland is..."

The singing is melodious, clear and pleasant, and it is bright and full of infinite vitality!
In the dim sky, the wind and snow were blowing, and the girl sitting in the back seat was singing melodiously, which spread throughout the streets and alleys.

After a while, they arrived at Xiaowei Hutong, where Cheng Kaiyan's home was.

After going more than 200 meters inside, a medium-sized courtyard with two entrances appeared in front of us.

It faces south and is built along an east-west alley. There is a house number 56 on the door and two broken stone statues in front of the door. This was once the residence of a third-rank official of the Qing Dynasty.

Before entering the door, the courtyard was already bustling with noise, and the sounds could be heard outside.

"Hey~ Yuxiu, your Kaiyan is coming back today, right? Tsk tsk... He won the second-class merit at the front line in Southern Xinjiang. The street office sent firecrackers and a sign of "Home of a Hero" to the courtyard. This is a matter of honor for the family. I really envy you."

"No wonder you prepared so many dishes today. Let me see... Wow! This is Quanjude's roast duck. It cost me half a month's salary. They are really willing to spend that much! Shredded pork with Beijing sauce, boxed vegetables from Cuihualou... Four dishes and one soup. This is so generous!"

"This set will cost at least fifteen dollars, right?"

"Tsk, tsk, fifteen yuan? Our Wang Nanhua can only be a regular worker in a steel mill, making only thirty-three yuan a month. One meal costs him half a month's salary."

"Hurry up and let your Nanhua get into a university. My Zhao Ruixue worked hard to get admitted to Beijing Normal University when she was an educated youth in the countryside before returning to the city. Now she has the status of a cadre and receives a subsidy of forty or fifty yuan a month!" Aunt Zhao, who was wearing a flowery jacket, said proudly.

"Forget it, he doesn't have that ability."

……

Here, Cheng Kaiyan listened to the aunties' chattering that filled the air while pushing her bicycle into the house with Zhan Xinyu.

The courtyard is not big, with six families living in it, with a total of thirty to forty people.

As you enter the courtyard, you can see the exquisite screen wall and hanging flower gate that were half-demolished during the previous period. There are no proper rooms here, just two flower rooms, a few storage rooms and the like.

After passing the hanging flower gate is the second courtyard. The two main rooms are connected together, and there are side rooms on both sides that serve as kitchens. The Cheng family and the Zhan family live there, and the two families have the best relationship.

The four rooms in the east and west wing were occupied by the remaining four families, namely Wang, Zhao, Liu and Xiao.

There are many people in their family, and most of the houses are allocated by nearby street offices and units. Some of them can't live in the house, so they move in to the courtyard.

The Cheng family has the land deed.

When I walked into the yard, the ground was covered with snow, and it was all white. There was also a snowman piled under the crooked sycamore tree.

Cheng Kaiyan saw a few middle-aged women standing outside the Cheng family's kitchen window in the yard, looking inside, eating melon seeds and chatting.

A few middle-aged ladies are not afraid of the cold and come to join in the fun even in the heavy snow in the middle of winter.

Through the kitchen window, you can vaguely see a gentle and pretty woman in her thirties or forties wearing an apron cooking in the kitchen.

This is Cheng Kaiyan’s mother, Xu Yuxiu.

"Oh my! Oh my god, the great hero is back!"

Aunt Wang, who lived in the east wing, had the sharpest eyes. As soon as she saw the two people entering the room, she immediately shouted at the top of her broken voice, as if she was afraid that others could not hear her.

"Xinyu from the Zhan family went to pick up Kaiyan. Well, she's still clinging to her brother Yan like she did when they were little, like a little follower. If it were me, I'd just marry her brother Yan."

"Hehe... that's what I said."

"I say, you old ladies, why are you here talking nonsense? Our Xinyu is only fifteen this year!" A middle-aged woman in a gray coat yelled in a fierce tone. This is Zhan Xinyu's mother Wang Qiang, who then looked at Cheng Kaiyan and said in a friendly manner, "You're back, Xiaoyan, you won't leave again, right?"

"Yes, Aunt Wang."

At this time, Xu Yuxiu, who was cooking in the house, heard her son coming back and hurried out.

At this time, she was still holding the spatula, leaning against the door frame, staring at him blankly, and tremblingly shouted, "Kai Yan!"

"mom!"

Cheng Kaiyan looked at the woman in front of him wearing an apron and holding a spatula. The familiarity deep in his soul made him shout out involuntarily.

He walked up and hugged Xu Yuxiu.

"It'll be good to come back, it'll be good to come back."

Xu Yuxiu hugged her son's back tightly with her backhand, her eyes were red and crystal tears were swirling in them.

"It's okay, I'm fine, aren't I?"

Cheng Kaiyan held his mother's shoulders and kept some distance between them, then used his arms to show off his muscles.

"Come on, your thin arms and legs are more delicate than a girl's."

Xu Yuxiu patted his shoulder in a nagging manner, but worried that it might hurt, she carefully watched his expression change, "Come in, come in, the dishes are ready. You have to wait a while for dinner. I bought your favorite Quanjude roast duck."

Xu Yuxiu raised her hand and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve. Then, seeing her son's eyes light up when he heard the roast duck, she said happily:

"Haha... I still remember when you were enlisting, I bought you a roast duck leg. But you were so busy eating the duck that you didn't even notice me calling you. You are such a greedy brat!"

Cheng Kaiyan smiled embarrassedly. That was the case.

I remember that when he joined the army, Xu Yuxiu bought him a roast duck to eat on the way. He was holding the roast duck and eating it on the train. His mother ran over and shouted at him on the platform, but he didn't hear it.

Someone who joined the army with me said, "Cheng Kaiyan, Cheng Kaiyan! Turn back quickly, your mother is calling you."

When he looked back, the train had gone far away.

At that time, I thought that I would see him again in the future, but I didn’t expect that time would pass by so quickly and I hadn’t seen him again for four years.

He never expected that his predecessor was shot and fell to the ground while arresting a spy. He did not come back to life until Cheng Kaiyan, the soul from forty years later, possessed him.

Now that I think about it, I wonder if my previous life would have missed the last sight of my mother because of my greed for that bite of roast duck?

It should be possible, because this body has already given a clear response.

Leave it to me, I will take care of her and make her live a good life, Cheng Kaiyan thought.

……

"Come into the house and eat, Xiaoyu, come with us."

The mother and son met and exchanged some greetings, then everyone dispersed and went home to eat.

Cheng Kaiyan and Zhan Xinyu were pulled into the kitchen by their mother.

This kitchen, which was converted from an ear room, is not large, about ten square meters.

A dim tungsten filament lamp hung on the beam overhead. Inside, there was a small stove facing the window. In the middle, there was a mahogany square table and a few benches. In the corner, there was a pile of honeycombs and wood.

"Brother Yan, can I just pull a duck leg? My mom asked me to go home for dinner."

The little girl looked at the sumptuous meal on the table with envy and said weakly.

"Eat as much as you want."

Cheng Kaiyan smiled and didn't take it seriously.

The two sat at the table, which had four dishes and a soup, namely Quanjude roast duck, Beijing-style shredded pork, and boxed vegetables.

There is also a dish of fried liver, which is a must-have for old Beijingers, and finally a bowl of hanging pear soup.

"Then I'll just pick one and leave. I'll come and play with you tomorrow. I won't disturb you and Aunt Xu."

"Uh-huh."

The little girl pulled a sizzling duck leg and stuffed it into her mouth, then went home humming a little tune.

After a while, Xu Yuxiu came over with two bowls of rice and asked in surprise, "Why is Xiaoyu gone? Kaiyan, come and eat."

"Okay, I'm leaving. Thanks, Mom."

Cheng Kaiyan took the bowl and chopsticks and started eating. She wrapped a piece of duck meat with a pancake and dipped it in sauce and stuffed it into her mouth. The freshness and fragrance were much better than those in later generations.

I seem to have experienced secondary development recently, and my appetite is extremely huge, like a bottomless pit.

The mother opposite, Xu Yuxiu, took off her apron, placed her hands on the table to support her beautiful chin, and watched Cheng Kaiyan eat quietly with a smile in her eyes.

Every mother would be happy to see her children wolfing down the food she cooked.

"Kaiyan, tell me about your time in the army. I'm very curious."

Xu Yuxiu looked at him gently for a while, then suddenly asked.

"That's nothing..."

Then he ate while talking about his experiences in the army art troupe.

For example, daily training, playing the piano, and then performing in various places.

Sometimes I have to work non-stop in the army for several weeks in a row, but compared to being a soldier, it's not that hard.

He also talked about the female comrades in the art troupe. Most of them were not professionals and had not received any special vocal training.

For example, there is a girl from the countryside who has a natural good voice and is sent to a cultural troupe, just to be able to sing.

At that time, the art troupe also had a rehearsal room. In addition to training, sometimes there were girls from Shanghai who were good at English and organized special English classes.

After listening to her son's experiences over the past few years, Xu Yuxiu still felt that it was right for her to teach him to play the piano since he was young, as he had a special skill in the art troupe.

She then asked, "That's good. I heard from others that the second-class merit in the army must be assigned to a job. Why did you come back? Did the army leader assign you back home?"

"Actually, no, I came back after getting my retirement pay."

"what!"

Xu Yuxiu immediately slammed the table and stood up, saying angrily: "Doesn't that mean you have no job? How can you be without a job? You can get a job but you don't. You have to run back here to be an unemployed vagrant. You have no education and no ability.

It’s good enough to find a job these days. You are not an educated youth, so the street office will not arrange a job for you like they do for educated youth…”

It is said that there are 10 million unemployed young people these days. Especially after the educated youth returned to the cities, there are even more unemployed young people. There are 400,000 in Beijing alone!
There was a long queue at the entrance of the subdistrict office every day, and the educated youth kept asking, "Leader! When will there be jobs?"
Take what Xu Yuxiu knew, for example. In her school, a child of a teacher couldn't find a job after returning to the city, so he used his connections to find a job as a street sweeper with a salary of just over 20 yuan a month. He also said that there were people scrambling for this job!

"Mom, don't worry about it. I know what I'm doing. I plan to go to college. I don't want to lose the big picture while picking up sesame seeds."

Cheng Kaiyan looked at her increasingly serious expression and suddenly felt a headache.

Xu Yuxiu's eyes were filled with suspicion. She knew her son was a man who knew his own situation and was not one to keep quiet.

But in order not to discourage him, Xu Yuxiu had to encourage him and said, "Okay, Mom will find you a set of teaching materials in a few days, you kid should work hard.

Zhao Ruixue from the West Wing was admitted to Beijing Normal University. She is now a cadre. Mom doesn’t say you should get into Tsinghua University or Peking University. Just get into a decent university.”

"to make!"

Cheng Kaiyan nodded. When she heard the name Zhao Ruixue, a pretty girl with pigtails popped up in her memory.

Zhao Ruixue has a nice name and is beautiful. She has been a popular figure in the alley since she was young.

This girl had excellent grades when she was in high school. Unexpectedly, she went to the countryside to work as an educated youth for several years and was admitted to Beijing Normal University. Her perseverance is truly amazing.

"What about the retirement benefits?"

At this time, Xu Yuxiu asked suddenly.

Since the year 1980 in the title is taken, we have to use December 1979 instead.



(End of this chapter)