1990s: Spring Water Family

Chapter 145 Memories of the Old Streets and Courtyards, Frozen in This Moment

September 1st was the start of the school year. Chen Xiulan was supposed to be at work, but because she wanted to take photos, she took the time to bring her son along to accompany her grandmother for a family photo.

It was a rare occasion for the whole family to be together, and Grandma was overjoyed. She specially changed into a cheongsam that she usually wouldn't wear, a treasured possession that had been kept at the bottom of her trunk for a long time. She styled her hair with a wooden hairpin, looking exceptionally mature and elegant.

Lin Xiyu and her cousin also changed into beautiful dresses and stood on either side of their grandmother, affectionately linking arms with her, like a pair of clingy sisters.

The whole family stood under the grapevines. The aunt held the baby, and Xu Yi squatted in front of his maternal grandmother, taking the best spot.

"Everyone, give a smile."

Gu Bin held up the latest model of a fully automatic point-and-shoot camera to take pictures of his family.

The whole family cooperated perfectly with the camera, showing their most perfect smiles.

"Click."

Gu Bin pressed the shutter and captured the beautiful moment.

"Xiao Bin, come over here and take a picture with us."

Grandma remained seated in her chair and waved to Gu Bin.

"okay."

Gu Bin did not refuse his grandmother's kindness. He handed the camera to a tree transplanter and asked him to take pictures. He then quickly ran over and stood next to his cousin.

"You're taller than me, so move over to the inside."

His cousin gave him a kind smile, then moved aside to make room for him.

Gu Bin didn't stand on ceremony and went along with his wishes, switching places with him and standing right behind Lin Xiyu.

Lin Xiyu was pleasantly surprised and turned around to give him a smiling look.

Gu Bin smiled and affectionately ruffled her hair.

"Tsk."

My cousin's teeth were a little sore, and he clicked his tongue in discomfort.

Lin Xiyu's ears turned red, and she stood up straight awkwardly.

"Everyone look at me and shout together, 'Cheese!'"

The tree transplanter got into position, holding a camera, and exaggeratedly stirred up his emotions, leading the way with a wide grin.

"Hahaha."

His exaggerated expressions amused the whole family, and they laughed heartily.

"Click."

The camera shutter clicked again, and the memory of living in the courtyard house in the old street was finally captured at this moment.

-

The family busied themselves packing up all the household items they could take with them and loading them into the pickup truck.

Although all the large pieces of furniture have been replaced with new ones, there are still a lot of small pieces of luggage.

Clothes, bedding, pots and pans—everything had to be taken. Before leaving, the uncle wandered around the yard one last time, collecting a lot of things he thought were useful.

"What's the point of having this junk?"

His aunt glared at him disdainfully: "These are things that other people threw away and didn't want. Only you think they're rare."

"This saw is good; it works well for sawing wood."

The uncle chuckled: "It must have been left behind by Grandpa Wang. I'll keep it for him for now. Nails are useful too; they'll make it easier to hang things on the wall."

"Look at you, so useless."

My aunt laughed in exasperation: "He's practically a ragpicker."

"Even a broken home is worth a fortune."

The uncle had his reasons: "Don't underestimate these things. If you really need them, they're hard to buy. You can't buy them anywhere except at hardware stores. Oh, and there are phone booths too. I'll go take another look so I don't forget anything."

"Uncle, don't bother, I'll do it."

Seeing that her aunt looked unhappy and was about to scold him, Lin Xiyu volunteered to help ease his embarrassment.

"I'll help you."

Gu Bin suppressed a laugh and went to the phone booth with her.

-

The telephone and lines in the phone booth have been removed and moved to a new area.

The pavilion was in a mess, with only some miscellaneous items remaining.

Lin Xiyu opened the drawer and searched through it one by one to see if she had missed anything. To her surprise, she found something unexpected.

"Wow, this is my favorite Barbara Yung sticker! I've been looking for it for ages, and here it is!"

"You still like this?"

Gu Bin glanced at it and scoffed.

"You do not understand"

Lin Xiyu pouted and retorted unhappily, "It's our girls' happiness."

In the early 80s, with the popularity of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, stickers of Hong Kong and Taiwan stars became popular, among which Barbara Yung was undoubtedly the most popular.

Lin Xiyu still remembers the joy of buying a sticker with her hard-earned pocket money.

Back then, not only her, but every little girl loved celebrity stickers.

Whoever owns a particularly beautiful and eye-catching sticker taken by Barbara Yung is the happiest kid in the whole alley.

-

"What's so great about Barbara Yung? She's not as good as the Little Tigers."

Gu Bin found it amusing and pinched her puffed-up cheeks.

"what?!"

Lin Xiyu was unusually surprised: "You like the Little Tigers too?"

"What's it called?"

Gu Bin smiled and retorted, "Can't I have some hobbies and interests, and my own favorite songs?"

"I thought only girls liked the Little Tigers."

Lin Xiyu's big eyes blinked, making no attempt to hide her love for the Little Tigers: "They're all idol singers, so handsome and they sing so well!"

"Ah."

Gu Bin teased her on purpose: "I didn't expect my girlfriend to be a fan of celebrities. Is the Little Tigers as good-looking as me?"

"Uh."

Lin Xiyu stopped smiling, looking somewhat conflicted.

Think carefully before you answer.

Gu Bin narrowed his eyes, his threat clear: "Who's more attractive, them or me?"

"Of course, it's them!"

Lin Xiyu smiled mischievously, and taking advantage of his unpreparedness, shoved him aside and rushed out of the phone booth.

"Hmph, they slipped away pretty quickly."

Gu Bin laughed in exasperation, but since the pickup truck was parked at the gate and his family was there, he gave up on chasing after it.

-

The newly developed residential complex on Qinglong Back Street is an open-style community with six-story buildings, red roofs and gray walls, arranged in an orderly manner.

The No. 10 building that Wang Fan transferred to Chen Xiulan is right next to Qinglong Street Primary School.

Walking east from the elementary school gate leads to Lishan Road. Less than 200 meters west is the moat, and Daming Lake is only a ten-minute walk away.

Qinglong Primary School is located on the south side of the road, and directly opposite it to the north is the soon-to-be-completed small commodity wholesale market.

In terms of accommodation, although the street is not wide, it is well-connected and has a very good location.

-

The pickup truck stopped at the entrance of Unit 1, Building 10, Houjie Street, Qinglong. Grandma sat in the passenger seat and glanced at the new home she was about to move into through the window.

"The old lady is very lucky to be able to move into such a nice new building after the demolition."

The driver was my aunt's husband's colleague. Seeing that the others hadn't arrived by bicycle yet, he lit a cigarette and chatted with my grandmother with a smile.

"I'm benefiting from my daughter's fame." Grandma couldn't stand the smell of smoke, so she pushed open the car door and got out herself.

"These houses aren't cheap; they must cost tens of thousands, right?"

The driver was quite perceptive; after getting off the bus, he stood a little further away from Grandma.

"I don't know the exact price."

Grandma didn't say it outright: "I'm too old to worry about these things anymore."

"hehe."

The driver noticed the grandmother's perfunctory attitude, chuckled twice, and didn't press the matter further.

"Jingle Bell."

Lin Xiyu and the others then rode over on bicycles.

My cousin was the fastest. When he saw the pickup truck, he pedaled hard a few times and rushed over before everyone else, then braked suddenly in front of my grandma.

Ride slowly.

Grandma was startled by him, and then chuckled and scolded, "You're about to get married, yet you're still so impulsive and unreliable."

"What's the point of riding so fast, bro?"

His cousin followed closely behind, teasing him with a laugh: "The key is with me, no matter how early you arrive, you can't get in."

"Cut the nonsense."

My cousin's ears turned red, and he used Grandma as an excuse: "Hurry up and open the door, can't you see Grandma is waiting at the door?"

My cousin jumped off her bicycle, and under everyone's expectant gaze, humming a little tune, she opened the door with great ceremony.

"Welcome, dear family members, to Grandma's new home. Please come in."

-

"Wow, the renovation is so beautiful. The floor is tiled, the doors and windows are covered, and the appliances and furniture are all new."

"A 26-inch color TV, and a refrigerator too. It would be great if they could install an air conditioner as well."

"Stop dreaming. Imported air conditioners cost tens of thousands of yuan each. Who can afford that?"

"Gree has launched a domestic brand, so maybe the price will drop significantly in the future, and ordinary people like us can enjoy the good life of staying at home with air conditioning and blankets in the summer."

"Using air conditioning and a blanket? That's too damn luxurious."

"It's cool on the first floor, so there's no need for air conditioning in the summer. My grandma's house has never had air conditioning, but she's managed to get through the years."

"That's a traditional courtyard house; apartment buildings are different, and they don't have the same ventilation as old houses."

"This house is quite nice. It's well-ventilated from north to south, with two balconies. The north balcony has a stove for cooking, and the south balcony is for drying clothes and keeping a few potted plants."

"The courtyard is nice too. It's quite large, probably seven or eight square meters. It's more than enough to plant a pomegranate tree, and you can even build a small hut to store some odds and ends."

"It's a waste to store junk here. This yard is right next to the street and a primary school. Once it's built, we can open a back door and sell snacks, stationery, and the like. We're sure to make money."

"Selling stationery won't work; there's a small commodity wholesale market right next door, so stationery won't fetch a good price. I can only sell ice cream and snacks."

"How about we apply for another public phone? There are quite a few people in the neighborhood, and the demand for making phone calls must be quite high."

"Without phone booths, applying for a phone line at home is too expensive and not worthwhile."

"Public matters aside, let's build the hut first, open a small shop, and my aunt can stay home to take care of the children and earn some income."

-

The family entered the house and were all amazed by the bright and clean new house with its tiled floors and sparkling windows. They chatted happily for a long time.

"The house is nice, but it's a pity that the toilet is small and doesn't have a window. It feels a bit cramped even when you're standing there. It's not as bright and spacious as the ones with bathtubs that you see on TV."

"Be content. It's good enough that you can take a shower at all. At least you don't have to squeeze into the public bathhouse anymore."

"How's the fourth floor? Have you been up there? Is the layout the same as the first floor?"

"It's different. There are only two rooms on the fourth floor, so it's not as big as the first floor."

"Let's go take a look, and while we're at it, let's move some of Auntie's and the others' things upstairs first."

-

My cousin is physically strong and energetic. As he spoke, he rushed out the door, carried his things up to the fourth floor, and my cousin opened the door for him and followed him up.

Lin Xiyu didn't go upstairs; she waited alone outside the building entrance. Gu Bin, who was in charge of moving the trees, arrived a little late.

When the truck arrived downstairs, the family had already quickly made up the bed and neatly arranged the pots, pans, and other miscellaneous items. The room was clean, tidy, and brand new, looking exceptionally pleasing to the eye.

-

"Are you tired? Have some water."

Seeing that Gu Bin and the two masters had finished planting the trees, Lin Xiyu brewed a pot of new tea, carried it on a tray, and came to the courtyard, handing each of the three a cup.

"Not tired."

Gu Bin wiped the sweat from his face, took the teacup, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Thank you for your hard work. Let's have lunch together at home."

Lin Xiyu said considerately and gently, "There's a stall selling water chestnut-shaped sesame cakes not far away. I'll go buy some and make a soup."

"No."

Gu Bin had his own plans: "We'll go back later to move the other tree and the grapevines as well. After we're done, we'll treat the two masters to a meal outside."

"alright."

Lin Xiyu smiled understandingly: "You decide for yourself."

"If the pomegranate tree is moved here, it will truly become a love tree in the future."

Gu Bin's eyes were gentle as he chuckled and teased her, "Our two families will be far apart from now on, and we won't be able to see each other often. When you miss me, you'll only be able to look at this tree and think of me."

"Go to work."

Seeing him speak so recklessly in front of outsiders, Lin Xiyu blushed and pushed him away, saying, "Stop talking nonsense here. Your grandparents are waiting for you to come home and plant trees."

"Come to my place tonight."

Reluctant to part with her, Gu Bin smiled and said, "After dinner, we can go to Wu Meng's house for a visit and see if the cheongsam is finished."

"It can't be that fast."

Lin Xiyu hesitated a bit: "Didn't Wu Meng say that it would take her mother at least a week to finish?"

Gu Bin continued to coax, "Don't you want to see what it will look like if the grape trellis and pomegranate tree are moved and planted in my yard?"

Lin Xiyu was somewhat tempted: "You're moving the grape trellis along with it?"

"necessary"

Gu Bin replied matter-of-factly, "Otherwise, where would we hang the grapevines? We don't have enough bamboo at home to build a trellis for them."

"Maybe we should just forget about it."

Lin Xiyu was still a little conflicted.

Today we're moving to a new house, and it's a rare occasion for the whole family to get together. Maybe everyone will stay for dinner tonight to celebrate.

"Xiaobin, have dinner at home tonight."

Just then, her uncle came out of the house with a cheerful smile: "This afternoon I'll go to the market to buy some fresh meat and vegetables, and some bean sprouts, to keep the old lady warm, and we'll have a couple of drinks."

In old Jinan, it was customary for relatives and friends to come and celebrate when someone moved into a new house; this was called "warming the pot" (温锅).

When warming the pot, bean sprouts are eaten, symbolizing taking root and sprouting.

"to make."

Gu Bin was looking for an excuse to stay, and agreed without thinking.

Want some alcohol?

Lin Xiyu thought about her family member's drinking capacity and felt worried for him.

My aunt's husband is like a different person once he sits down at the dinner table; he won't stop until he gets everyone drunk.

Gu Bin will probably have a hard time avoiding getting drunk tonight.

"It's okay, I'm here even if I'm drunk."

Gu Bin noticed her worry and smiled dismissively, "What am I afraid of in your house? Even if someone tries to take advantage of me, I won't suffer any losses."

This tofu is not that kind of tofu!
For some reason, Lin Xiyu instantly understood what he meant, and her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

"Go away, go away quickly, my temple is too small to accommodate a Buddha like you."