Chapter 11: A Bond of Life and Death

Ning Weidong pushed his bicycle out through the Moon Gate, intending to walk toward the main gate in the front courtyard.

Just now, he had already calculated in his mind, planning to first go for a spin around the vicinity of Minkang Hutong to see if he could trigger more memories.

At the same time, he had some leads in his mind.

Yet at this moment, Lu Daye from the front courtyard happened to come out of his door, clutching a crumpled ball of newspaper in his hand, likely on his way to the toilet.

Seeing Ning Weidong pushing his bicycle, he couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Weidong, going out at night again~"

Ning Weidong didn't stop his pace and said with a chuckle, "Got a little something to do~ Lu Daye, I'm off first~"

After Lu Daye retired, his second son took over his position; his eldest son had passed the exam for a technical secondary school back in the day and had a very good job, and his daughter was also married. After retirement, he received 70% of his salary; he was originally a Level 7 Worker, earning over eighty yuan a month, and now he still got fifty or sixty a month, earning more than the average person working.

Ning Weidong had things on his mind and no time for idle chatter; by the time he finished speaking, he had already exited the main gate.

"This kid~" Lu Daye had originally wanted to ask about Ning Weidong's impression of Bai Fengqin; at his age, he enjoyed playing matchmaker for others.

He hadn't expected Ning Weidong to run faster than a rabbit.

Once outside, Ning Weidong stepped on the pedal, gave a push to get the bike gliding, swung his leg over to sit on the saddle, and pushed down hard with his foot, producing a *clatter* as the chain rubbed against the chain guard.

Ning Weidong pedaled hard a few times, the chain tightened, and the rubbing sound vanished.

After leaving the hutong, he arrived at Fuchengmen Inner Street.

It was nearly seven o'clock; there weren't many people on the road, and most of the shops had already closed their shutters.

Following the warm yellow streetlights, Ning Weidong reached the place where the excavator had been working that afternoon in just a few moments.

The right side of the road was pitch black; the people within the demolition zone had all moved away, and in this day and age, there was no emphasis on construction hoardings, so it was just left like that.

The courtyards along the roadside had been more than half demolished, clearing out a patch of open space.

The excavator and the truck were parked right there, with a lamp set up nearby to illuminate them.

In this day and age, trucks and excavators were precious; losing any part was a loss.

Ning Weidong slowed his cycling speed and looked carefully.

He turned right at Shijin Lane.

He had only seen a rough idea when he got off work in the afternoon; he didn't know the specific extent of the demolition here, which hutong it reached, or which courtyards were included.

Coming out at night, besides seeing if he could acquire more relevant memories, was to determine the scope.

Following Shijin Square Street south, all the way to Minkang Hutong, then circling over to the west side...

Unfortunately, after a lap, he had no further gains.

Ning Weidong simply returned to Fuchengmen Street, then went north at Gongmenkou West Fork, passed the Suifujing Building, reached Anping Lane, turned right, and stopped in front of a Dazayuan.

He took a look at the house number to confirm it was correct.

He pushed the bike inside.

The steps at the courtyard entrance had been fitted with a concrete ramp to accommodate bicycles, and the threshold had been sawed off as well.

The mottled wooden door was standing open; entering through the main gate was a long, narrow front courtyard, with a row of south-facing rooms on the left.

Ning Weidong pushed the bike inside; in his memory, the original owner had been here a few years ago, but he wasn't very familiar with it.

At this time, a middle-aged man with a beard suddenly poked half his body out from the first room of the south-facing row, scrutinized Ning Weidong vigilantly, and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you looking for?"

Ning Weidong smiled and said, "Hello, I'm looking for Wang Jingsheng in the back courtyard, we're old classmates."

The middle-aged man looked him over twice, nodded without a word, and then retreated back inside.

Being able to match a name meant he wasn't at least a wandering drifter from outside. Ning Weidong passed through the second gate.

The inside was just like the Dazayuan where the Ning Family lived; the space in the courtyard had been encroached upon, with many earthquake-proof sheds built, making the originally spacious courtyard look cramped and messy, completely inconsistent with the original owner's memories from a few years ago.

If not for the correct house number, Ning Weidong would have suspected he had gone to the wrong place.

After passing the third Moon Gate, the third courtyard was a row of back-row rooms.

Ning Weidong parked his bicycle against the side wall of the front courtyard, went to the door of the first household at the end, and while knocking on the door, shouted, "Wang Jingsheng~"

A voice from inside answered, "Who is it?" A young man with a lion-like nose and medium height opened the door, saw Ning Weidong, and was stunned, failing to recognize him for a moment.

Ning Weidong raised his hand and poked him, laughing, "Wang Jingsheng, it's only been a few years, and you've forgotten even me!"

"Holy crap!" Wang Jingsheng finally reacted, his face full of disbelief: "Ning Weidong~ it really is you! You damn well grew a lot."

According to the original owner's memories, he and Wang Jingsheng had a bond of life-and-death; the two were junior high classmates, Wang Jingsheng was a year older, they weren't in the same class, but later they were closest to the Qi Family, fighting and risking their lives together, forging a deep friendship.

Later, the original owner went to the countryside, and that was when they lost contact.

At the time, the original owner was only a little over 1.6 meters tall, no wonder Wang Jingsheng didn't recognize him for a moment.

Ning Weidong laughed heartily and walked into the room without standing on ceremony.

That poke he gave Wang Jingsheng just now had quickly pulled the two of them back to the scenes of them "fighting" together back then.

Wang Jingsheng closed the door behind him and pulled Ning Weidong to sit down: "Dongzi, when did you get back?"

Last year, when the original owner returned from the Northeast, he had been sternly warned by Ning Weiguo not to seek out those old fox friends again.

Plus, knowing that the Qi Family was dead, he had given up the idea.

Now that Wang Jingsheng asked, it would certainly be inappropriate to tell the truth that he had been back for over a year.

Having been back for over a year without a word, and now coming to the door only when there was something needed, didn't make sense.

If it were the original owner, he would have felt embarrassed, but Ning Weidong was an old hand; he waved his hand and said casually, "Sigh~ don't mention it, I got injured at the production team, barely managed to keep my life..."

"Is that so!" Wang Jingsheng was taken aback; his impression of Ning Weidong was still stuck from a few years ago.

But before he could ask in detail, someone lifted the curtain and came out from the inner room: "Jingsheng, we have a guest~"

Ning Weidong stood up and looked in the direction of the voice.

A woman wearing a light blue floral-patterned jacket was looking at him with a smile.

"Old Wang, this is... sister-in-law?" Ning Weidong hadn't expected there to be a woman in Wang Jingsheng's home.

By logic, Wang Jingsheng was a year older than him, and only twenty-two this year.

Moreover, Wang Jingsheng's parents had passed away early, and he was the only seedling in the Wang Family; he had no older brothers or sisters, and even less anyone to help him arrange things.

Generally, in this kind of situation, it is rare to be able to start a family early.

Wang Jingsheng was an exception, introducing her: "My wife, An Ning... this is Ning Weidong, a friend I've been through life and death with."

"Hello, sister-in-law." Ning Weidong smiled and nodded.

"So it's Weidong~ Our Jingsheng has mentioned you quite a bit..." An Ning exchanged pleasantries and nimbly poured some water.

It was easy to see that An Ning was older than Wang Jingsheng, and not just by a year or two; she must have been twenty-five or twenty-six, a case of "a wife three years older is like a golden brick."

She was quite good-looking too; while she didn't compare to Bai Fengyu or Shi Xiaonan, she was still a rather elegant person. Standing there, even though she was dressed plainly, she had an air of scholarly refinement, and what was even rarer was that her figure was quite good; even wearing a padded jacket, one could tell she had curves in all the right places. I don't know where this guy Wang Jingsheng found her.

(End of chapter)