Chapter One: Back to Parents' Side

  In the early morning of late spring in February 1969, the sky was faintly bright. The cloud layer in the sky was light black, like a moistened ink painting, deep and free, with small rain drifting down from it, slowly covering the barely awakened earth with a thin misty color.

  Outside the window of Qī Bīng's house, sounds of people, water and wooden buckets hitting the ground started to rise. Qī Bīng knew that a new day had begun. The place where the sounds were coming from was the tap water room on the opposite side downstairs. At this moment, adults were lining up to fetch water, carrying back enough for their families' daily life and washing needs.

  Qí Bīng opened his sleepy eyes, if not for his father waking him up, he would still be wandering in the sweet dreamland. Qí Bīng tilted his little head, staring blankly at the rainwater flowing down the windowpane... He knew that from today on, he couldn't sleep in anymore, his father was going to take him and his brother to kindergarten. Last night when his father told him about going to kindergarten, he didn't know what kindergarten was or why he had to go? He shook his head and muttered: "I'm not going, I'm not going!" His brother chimed in from the side: "I'll stay home with Dōu Dōu (his brother couldn't pronounce Qí Bīng's name clearly) and play, no kindergarten!" Little Qí Bīng was two years old, and Qí Bīng was seven this year. Next September, Qí Bīng would be going to elementary school. His father wasn't at ease leaving the two little brothers at home. Although there was also a sister at home, she had to go to school too and couldn't take care of them either. Fortunately, the two little brothers were relatively obedient and wouldn't run around everywhere, they usually played at home.

  Qī Bīng's home was a two-story brick-concrete building, with an age of over ten years. The sloping roof had red tiles, and the exterior wall showed signs of discoloration. Inside, there were wooden floors. Six families lived in this building, with Qī Bīng's family on the second floor, along with three other families; two families lived downstairs. Initially, Qī Bīng's family did not live here, but his father's friend introduced them to rent the place.

  This building was originally the house of a landlord surnamed Zhu, and later it was taken over by the state and became a public housing unit rented by Qi Bing's family. This building is considered one of the best houses in Jiazhuang where Qi Bing lived, while most of the surrounding buildings are brick-wood structures or even shanties.

  The entire Zha Jia Dian has eleven crisscrossing and naturally formed small streets, with more than 300 households inside. Most of them are not native to this place, but rather immigrants from the surrounding countryside of Binjiang City. The residents' accents are diverse, making it seem like a miniature United Nations. Although their accents are complex, people can still communicate with each other and live in harmony. Many residents make a living by collecting scraps, which is why Zha Jia Dian was jokingly referred to as "Zha Jia Dian" (which literally means "rubbish pit"). The name stuck after being passed down through the years, eventually becoming the official name of this place.

  The building where Ji Bing lived had running water, no need to get up early and queue for water. The households downstairs basically relied on carrying water to make a living, and their lives were very hard.

  "Get up, Bing! Hurry up!" Dad called out Ji Bing's nickname. Ji Bing responded with a grunt and kicked her sleeping brother with one foot, but he remained asleep. Ji Bing got dressed and rushed to the kitchen to wash up. Dad had already prepared breakfast.

  His younger brother got up and was getting dressed. Chi Bing rushed to the bedside, grabbed a piece of toilet paper, and dashed downstairs like the wind, sprinting tens of meters to the public restroom. The residential area had many residents but few toilets, so every time he went to the bathroom, it was like going to battle, as there were too few squatting pits and people had to line up to wait. So, taking a step ahead would make him feel carefree and relaxed; falling behind by one step would be like walking on needles, like descending into hell! Chi Bing almost pooped in his pants several times. There was once when he really couldn't hold it in anymore, so he ran to the back of the toilet and solved the problem, but this led to a scolding from the toilet attendant, Old Man Wang, and then his father found out and scolded him again, leaving Chi Bing feeling depressed for several days. So, experience told him that every time he went to the bathroom, not only did he need to be quick, but also faster, or else he would fall behind others! This time, Chi Bing was relatively smooth, and when he came back, he was humming a happy tune, feeling very pleased with himself!

  Ji Bing returned home and finished breakfast, it was already eight o'clock in the morning. Outside, the spring rain was still drizzling, and on the willow tree outside the window, many tender buds had burst forth, like small mouths eagerly sucking the milk of spring.

  In the alley, people were coming and going, each busy with their own affairs. Qi Bing's dad pushed out an old 28-inch bicycle, put raincoats on Qi Bing and his little brother, placed his brother on the crossbar, and Qi Bing on the back seat, then pushed them out of the alley. They ran into Niu Nai Nai from across the street, who was carrying a vegetable basket in her right hand and asked puzzled: "Qi Bing's dad, where are you taking them?" "Oh, I'm taking them to kindergarten!" Dad replied. "Niu Nai Nai, hello!" Qi Bing and his brother chimed in unison. "Hehe, good, good!" Niu Nai Nai said, patting Qi Bing on the head, "Children should receive education early, it's a good thing, a good thing indeed!" Niu Nai Nai nodded repeatedly.

  Ji Bing and his family of three walked through several alleys and soon left the courtyard, arriving on a major road - Binjiang Avenue.

  Ji Bing was very unfamiliar with this main road, because Ji Bing and his younger brother had been living with their grandparents in Huanglintown, a rural area more than 40 kilometers away from the city center, since they were young. They only returned to their parents' home in Zhangjiadian at the end of last year. It can be said that Ji Bing and his younger brother spent most of their childhood in the countryside. In those years in the countryside, Ji Bing almost became a local child king. His grandparents were worried that he wouldn't study well, just like a small tree growing crooked, which would be difficult to correct when it grew up. So they sent them back again.

  Because the road is wide and the cars are going very fast, Dad and Mom never let Jieying and her little brother come here to play. The two kids also listened well and didn't sneak out to come here either.

  This main road is 13 kilometers long from east to west, with eight lanes in both directions, and almost runs through the entire Binjiang city. This is the widest and longest road in the urban area. The tung trees that have not yet sprouted green, stretch out their bare branches, lined up on both sides of the road, stretching endlessly like iron soldiers guarding this main road.

  Trolley buses with long trailers speed by, and there are also small cars, trucks, and other public buses coming and going in all directions, while cyclists flow like two streams east and west.

  All of this made Ji Bing feel extremely curious and surprised, he stared blankly, as if he had arrived in another strange world.

  Father Ice pushed the cart across the road from the sidewalk and arrived on a small road on the other side. This was a gently sloping uphill road, with a railroad crossing at the top of the slope.