Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Chang Xi’s home wasn’t far from the secondhand store. After just a few minutes’ walk, they found a small courtyard. Peering in from outside, the yard looked messy, piled with all sorts of furniture. Xu Meng’s eyes widened at the sight.

It wasn’t what she’d expected at all. Some of the stuff here was practically new, even including a twelve-inch television popular in the 1970s.

By now, domestically produced TVs had already hit the market, and nearly every urban household owned one. Some families had replaced their twelve-inch sets with larger or imported color TVs. These small TVs had long since faded into obscurity, and Xu Meng hadn’t seen one in years. Seeing it now felt oddly nostalgic, and she couldn’t help staring.

Chang Xi thought Xu Meng was eyeing the TV with envy. “We have a TV at home. This tiny thing isn’t worth looking at. Uncle Shuanzhu, do you have any bed planks here?” She shouted, though it wasn’t clear who she was talking to.

He looked up when she called, his gaze sweeping over Xu Meng before he gestured inside and said in a muffled voice, “Think you can dig it out yourself?”

The man looked to be in his thirties or forties, unshaven and a bit rough around the edges.

After speaking, he lowered his head again, fiddling with something, leaving Chang Xi to search on her own.

Chang Xi was quite familiar with Wang Shuanzhu. As a kid, she used to hide in his yard during games of hide-and-seek. She yanked Xu Meng inside, shouting as they went, “Uncle Shuanzhu, this is a friend of mine. Cut her a deal later, alright?”

“Why not just buy a whole bed instead of a plank? Beds aren’t that expensive.”

Chang Xi glanced at Xu Meng.

Xu Meng thought for a moment. “I’ll just take the plank. It’d be easier to haul if she moved. Besides, she really didn’t have much money now. She could get a real bed later when she had the cash.”

The two rummaged around and eventually found a suitable plank—worn but about one and a half meters wide and long enough. It was buried under a pile of broken old furniture. The room was such a fire hazard, Xu Meng figured one spark would burn the whole place down.

After some wrestling, they freed the plank and tidied the surrounding junk into a pile before carrying it outside for Wang Shuanzhu to see.

Only then did Xu Meng notice the man was repairing a television.

Chang Xi beamed. “Uncle Shuanzhu, this place is a dump! Xu Meng and I had to dig around and ended up rearranging things. If you see a pile of old wood later, don’t go blaming me if stuff’s broken.”

Wang Shuanzhu glanced at the plank and waved them off. “Take it. Ain’t worth nothin’.”

Chang Xi’s eyes lit up. “Really? For free?”

Wang Shuanzhu shooed them away. “Go on, don’t waste my time.”

His yard was already cluttered enough, and the old plank was just taking up space.

Xu Meng wanted to say something, but Chang Xi quickly nudged her out.

“Uncle Shuanzhu’s got money. He doesn’t make a living selling this stuff. Did you see those appliances he’s fixing? Once repaired, they sell for good money. That’s his real business. That plank would’ve probably ended up as firewood anyway.”

Xu Meng still felt bad—at least as firewood, it’d have been good for something. Taking it now felt like stealing.

The plank wasn’t heavy, but with no good handhold, it was a pain to carry. They stopped to catch their breath outside the gate.

Just then, three boys rounded the corner into the alley. The leader, no older than seven or eight, carried a radio as they headed into Wang Shuanzhu’s yard.

“Uncle Shuanzhu, do you buy radios?”

“Liu Jin, you’re selling your radio?” Wang Shuanzhu’s voice carried out.

“Yeah,” the boy replied softly.

Wang Shuanzhu asked, “Why sell it? That was your dad’s. Things okay at home?”

Chang Xi overheard part of the conversation and then signaled to Xu Meng. They leaned the bed board against the wall, and Chang Xi walked back into the yard with her hands on her hips, asking the boy, “Liu Jin, why are you selling your radio? Did you waste your money?”

The boy was silent for a moment before suddenly grabbing the radio and rushing out of Wang Shuanzhu’s courtyard.

The two younger boys who had been following closely scrambled after their older brother. The second child, about five or six years old, managed to keep up somehow, but the youngest, only three or four, struggled badly. As soon as the older two started running, the little one panicked, took a few steps, then stumbled and fell face-first onto the ground, bursting into quiet, hiccuping cries.

The child had delicate features, and his crying made him look even more like a little girl.

Chang Xi quickly picked up the youngest boy and chased after the older two. She returned later without the kids—she must have taken them home first. Then she and Xu Meng went back to carrying the bed board.

Once they placed the board on the bricks, Xu Meng tested it. “Pretty sturdy,” she said.

Chang Xi replied, “I think we should get a bed frame.”

Xu Meng said, “We’ll buy one once we find a permanent place.”

Just then, Feng Yanwen returned carrying some items. Seeing that they had already set up the bed, she tried it and felt satisfied. Any bed was fine as long as it could be slept on—even though without padding, it was quite hard. Luckily, the weather was cool enough to simply lay a grass mat down. She had bought a grass mat, along with three towels—one shared face towel for herself and Xu Meng, and separate ones for bathing. There was also a basin, a bucket, two toothbrushes, one tube of toothpaste, and an enamel cup.

After buying all these things, Feng Yanwen had nearly used up all her money.

“Good thing the bed board was free,” Xu Meng sighed. Otherwise, she and Feng Yanwen wouldn’t have had any money left for food.

When Feng Yanwen heard that the bed board was a gift, she felt uneasy—they were now in Chang Xi’s debt. “When we have money, let’s bring him something to eat,” she suggested.

Chang Xi said, “That would be great. Uncle Shuanzhu doesn’t mind these things.” She casually mentioned a bit about Wang Shuanzhu’s background—he used to deal in secondhand furniture, but gradually shifted toward electronics, teaching himself how to repair them. He didn’t do house calls; instead, he collected broken appliances, fixed them, and resold them for a good profit. Eventually, furniture became secondary. After his wife died, he lived alone, with no one to help him clean or manage—just a lonely man.

Feng Yanwen sighed. Money wasn’t everything; what mattered most was having a complete family.

Since they hadn’t fully settled in yet, they’d have to eat out for a few days.

Chang Xi waved it off. “Food’s not a problem. My parents have more cafeteria vouchers than they can use. Tonight, the three of us can eat at the canteen. Tomorrow morning I’ll pick up some steamed buns.” In this weather, plain buns stayed fresh all day, though meat-filled ones spoiled easily.

Feng Yanwen felt uncomfortable—staying in someone’s house and freeloading meals too.

But Xu Meng cheerfully thanked her. “Great! I’m broke these days, so I’ll depend on you. When I have money, I’ll treat you to something nice.”

Chang Xi laughed and agreed. Though her parents doted on her, they gave her very little pocket money. While she could freely eat at the canteen, she rarely got to eat out. Linking arms with Xu Meng, she said, “Then I’m counting on you to hit it big and take me out!”

Only then did Feng Yanwen’s eyes show a faint trace of a smile. After tidying up the room, they all headed together to the canteen at Chang Xi’s parents’ workplace.

The Railway Bureau was a large organization, and its canteen offered a wide variety of dishes catering to both northern and southern tastes. Xu Meng hadn’t eaten rice in a long time and looked forward to it eagerly. Chang Xi ordered a pound of rice and three dishes: stir-fried pork, eggplant, and green beans—all seasonal vegetables—and paid for everything with cafeteria vouchers.

When the food arrived, they began eating.

Chefs in large canteens like this were highly skilled. Dishes such as the stir-fried pork surpassed anything you’d get at a restaurant. Even Feng Yanwen praised it repeatedly, saying, “Back when I worked, the cooks at my school’s faculty canteen couldn’t match this level.”

Her expression darkened slightly as she spoke. Losing that job had been a real loss.

Xu Meng, naturally perceptive, noticed immediately. Between bites, she said, “Mom, your English is properly trained, unlike some people who took a few short courses and called themselves teachers. Don’t worry—we’ll definitely find something better than teaching.”

Feng Yanwen smiled bitterly. She didn’t believe such luck still existed.

This was the 1990s—the age of job-for-life security.

Noticing the mood had turned low, Chang Xi changed the subject. “Xu Meng, since you’re moving out permanently, what do you and Auntie plan to do?”

When it came to easing tension, Xu Meng could never match Chang Xi. But she just couldn't figure it out—Chang Xi seemed like someone with high emotional intelligence, so how could she have been fooled by that kind of man in her past life? Even after the divorce, the man still took a good chunk of money.

"I'm thinking of running a little side hustle at the train station square. Interested?"

"Me? I'll pass." Chang Xi shook her head. "If my parents' acquaintances see me doing this instead of focusing on my studies, they’ll rat me out, and I’ll catch hell."

At the time, running your own tiny business was somewhat embarrassing.

Xu Meng simply said to Chang Xi, "You’ve got one year left—why not give it your all? Who knows, you might even get into college?"

In the 1990s, a Beijing household registration was highly coveted, and college admissions were much easier there compared to other places. Even if Chang Xi’s grades were just average, aiming for community college shouldn’t be too hard, right?