Chapter 3: The Black Note Society

Coming out of the room, Ning Weidong closed the door behind him without locking it.

At this time, people in Beijing's Dazayuan rarely locked their doors; everyone was an old neighbor with similar living conditions, and there were no valuables in the house.

A few years later, as social security deteriorated and families successively bought large electrical appliances like televisions and washing machines, everyone began to lock their doors.

After exiting the East Cross Courtyard, Ning Weidong arrived at the front courtyard.

The originally spacious courtyard appeared cluttered and cramped because each family had occupied space to build earthquake shelters.

A few years back, on Sundays, regardless of winter or summer, the women in the courtyard would crowd around the water basin early to claim a spot, gossiping about this family or that while washing clothes.

Now that tap water was installed in homes, there was no reason to use the communal water, and the people had dispersed.

Coming out of the front courtyard, he followed the hutong to Fuchengmen Inner Street.

On a Sunday, the street was exceptionally lively.

Not only were there shops lined up on both sides with various colorful banners fluttering in the wind, but the street was also bustling with people; besides bicycles, there were quite a few large carts pulled by mules and horses.

The iron-rimmed wheels crunched along the road, and the large draft animals had bags hanging behind their rumps to catch manure; inevitably, some leaked out, falling to the ground and being crushed immediately, though fortunately, it was winter, so there was no smell.

Besides the shops, there were many street vendors selling oil cakes, fried dough sticks, and fried tofu, as well as roasted sweet potatoes, candied haws, and craftsmen repairing various items...

In the last two years, the situation had changed, and small vendors had poured out all at once.

Ning Weidong headed east along the sidewalk by the road.

In the distance, one could see a towering white pagoda surrounded by scaffolding.

White Pagoda Temple was a local landmark; the earthquake three years ago had damaged the precious spire, and repairs with scaffolding had begun last year.

East of White Pagoda Temple was Zhao Dengyu Road, and further east were Guangji Temple and Xisi Street.

Ning Weidong did not have a bicycle and commuted to work by bus using a monthly pass.

The bus stop was near Guangji Temple.

Ning Weidong had come out this time mainly to check the stop so he would have an idea for work tomorrow.

Another reason was to walk around and see, borrowing the surrounding environment to gain some new memories...

It was nearly noon by the time he returned.

The north wind in a Beijing winter was like a knife, and this trip had frozen his face bright red.

Ning Weidong quickened his pace, took the steps two at a time into the Dazayuan, and headed toward the cross courtyard along the Moon Gate on the right, but someone came out from inside.

Seeing Ning Weidong, the man immediately said with a smile, "Oh, Dongzi, you're back! I would have left in two more minutes."

"Brother Wu!" Ning Weidong hurriedly gestured for him to enter: "What a bother, hurry inside and sit."

This man was Wu Bingzhong, also from the Security Division of the Red Star Factory, and he had a good relationship with the original owner at work.

After ushering Wu Bingzhong into the north room to sit, Ning Weidong said with a smile: "My brother just bought some Zhang Yiyuan jasmine tea yesterday; I'll brew a pot for you."

Wu Bingzhong was a bit surprised; the original owner hadn't been this thoughtful before.

He stopped him, saying: "Don't go to the trouble, it's just a few words, I have to leave right away."

Ning Weidong said: "Don't be like that! It's your first time at my place, and it's just noon; wait for me to stir-fry a couple of dishes, and we brothers can have a drink."

Wu Bingzhong said helplessly: "I really have something to do, let's do it next time~"

"Then... next time?" Ning Weidong stopped while he was ahead; he didn't really want to keep him for a meal, but since it was noon, if he didn't mention it, it wouldn't be the right thing to do.

"Next time, next time~" Wu Bingzhong pulled Ning Weidong, and the two sat diagonally across from each other at the Eight Immortals table.

Ning Weidong asked: "Brother Wu, what is it you need?"

Wu Bingzhong said: "It's not a big deal, I was just passing by, it's about this, Lu Dayong..."

Ning Weidong felt a chill; the image of Bai Fengyu surfaced in his mind again. This vixen was truly beautiful, but also truly wicked.

Wu Bingzhong continued: "You also know, Lu Dayong met a girl before the New Year, they had a good impression of each other, and they aren't young anymore, so they both want to get married as soon as possible..." Ning Weidong nodded along.

Lu Dayong was a few years older than Ning Weidong and was also in the Security Division; he was twenty-seven this year and had just returned to the city last year.

For this matchmaking, the woman's side demanded that the "Three Turns and One Sound" must be present for the marriage.

In this era, young people getting married valued the "Three Turns and One Sound, Thirty-two Legs."

The "Three Turns" were a bicycle, a sewing machine, and a watch; the "One Sound" was a radio; and the thirty-two legs referred to eight pieces of furniture with four legs each.

Being able to gather all these for a wedding was considered quite decent.

Lu Dayong's family conditions were average, so the Three Turns and One Sound were truly a bit of a stretch.

Originally, this had nothing to do with Ning Weidong, but the original owner insisted on playing the hero to save the damsel in distress.

It happened last lunar December.

Ning Weidong had a deep memory of it: it was past ten at night when Bai Fengyu suddenly came over, weeping and begging for help, asking to borrow three hundred yuan to pay off an external debt.

Three hundred yuan in the late seventies was not a small amount; the original owner made 17.5 yuan a month, which was equivalent to a full year and a half of savings without eating or drinking.

Although Bai Fengyu was not a good person, she was very smart and acted properly; it was impossible for her to owe that much money.

But her husband, Ma Liang, was not a steady man; he drank, gambled, did everything, and occasionally beat his wife when he drank too much.

Last year, I don't know who put the idea in his head, but instead of doing his proper job, he insisted on sneaking off to Hong Kong, dreaming of getting rich overnight.

Bai Fengyu couldn't stop him, so she had to let him go.

Unexpectedly, this jerk didn't act like a human; besides taking away the family's savings, he also borrowed three hundred yuan in debt! The two people who came to collect the debt at the time didn't look like kind souls, and with Bai Fengyu being so delicate, the original owner, at a hot-blooded age, had a rush of blood to the head and took the matter on himself.

He first gave those two people one hundred yuan and got a two-month extension for the remaining two hundred.

Ning Weidong was not the type of person the original owner was, who had muscles but no brains.

Carefully analyzing the situation at the time, Bai Fengyu was far from as panicked and weak as she appeared.

That woman was extremely shrewd, and her coming to ask for help was not really about the money.

She hadn't counted on Ning Weidong, but rather wanted to find Ning Weiguo through Ning Weidong.

Three hundred yuan was not a small sum; the only people in the courtyard with the means to help were Ning Weiguo and his wife.

But she and Wang Yuzhen had never seen eye to eye, and fearing that going directly to their door wouldn't work, she had staged this scene.

But she miscalculated the original owner's upright and awkward personality, as she hadn't asked Ning Weiguo and his wife for help.

Instead, she kept quiet, and the next day she found people at her workplace to start a "Black Signature Society," commonly known as "Playing the Association," and raised another two hundred yuan.

"Black Signature Society" is an old Beijing term for a type of folk fundraising method.

Usually, it involves five or six people who know each other well, or sometimes over a dozen, and when someone is in urgent need of money, the group pools it together.

Thirty or fifty yuan per person, and five or six people together would make over two hundred yuan, which could solve quite a significant problem.

The money doesn't need to be repaid; when others in the association take their turn to use the money, they contribute the same amount until the rotation is complete, and no one owes anyone anything.

Especially in factories, young people who have just started working and want to purchase major items like bicycles or radios, but have no savings themselves and no family support, often "Play the Association" together.

This Black Signature Society, besides Ning Weidong, Wu Bingzhong, and Lu Dayong, included two other people, totaling five people, with each person contributing fifty yuan.

The original owner had received the money early on, but had agreed with the creditors to a two-month grace period.

He was uncharacteristically clever, not paying back the money immediately, but instead depositing it in the bank to earn two months of interest, which is how it dragged on until today.

Unexpectedly, it happened to coincide with Lu Dayong needing money urgently.

It was fortunate that the money hadn't been given out yet, otherwise it would have been a real problem.

Wu Bingzhong lives in the same courtyard as Lu Dayong, and this trip was to notify Ning Weidong that Lu Dayong needs to pool money for the Three Turns and One Sound, and that they will be "Playing the Association" next Saturday, so he should prepare the money in advance.

(End of this chapter)