Chapter 7: Memories from a Few Years Ago

Ning Weidong walked a circle inside the room, then came out to take a look at the time.

There were fifteen minutes until eight o'clock.

He sat down on a chair, having no intention of doing things like "fetching water or wiping the table."

The original owner was a hothead; he had never done such things since the day he started.

Ning Weidong had no intention of changing that.

Just then, there was a sound of stomping feet outside the door, followed immediately by a "creak" and a "bang" as someone entered.

A man in his early forties walked in brazenly, draped in a military overcoat.

"Squad Leader..." Ning Weidong greeted him.

The person who arrived was Xu Jinshan, the squad leader of their shift.

"Yo~ you're here so early today!" Xu Jinshan smiled, revealing a mouthful of blackened tetracycline teeth. He shrugged his shoulders to hitch up his overcoat, fished a cigarette out of his pocket, and gave one to Ning Weidong: "I've got something to do this morning, keep an eye on things for me..."

"Rest assured." Ning Weidong smiled and took the cigarette, calmly glancing at the cigarette pack in Xu Jinshan's hand.

It was actually a pack of Peony! Given Xu Jinshan's salary, smoking Peony was clearly abnormal.

He was a State-owned Worker, but his monthly salary was only forty yuan.

A pack of Peony cost forty-nine cents, and Xu Jinshan had a heavy smoking habit, at least a pack a day, which was fifteen yuan a month—was he not planning to live?

His income and consumption were clearly mismatched.

The original owner was a blockhead and never considered these things.

Xu Jinshan had handed him cigarettes several times, and he had even thought this person was quite decent.

At this moment, another person entered: Wang Yong, who was on the same shift.

Wang Yong was not tall and had a smiling face for everyone he met.

He was startled when he saw Ning Weidong: "Weidong, you're here so early today."

As he spoke, he took off his overcoat and got busy, first checking the coal balls in the stove, poking them twice with fire tongs to stir up the flames, then picking up the kettle, filling it with water, and setting it on the fire.

A few minutes later,

At eight o'clock sharp, the work bell rang in the factory area.

Almost simultaneously, the window of the guard room was knocked twice.

Ning Weidong opened the small window below from behind the desk, and a postman pushing a green "Double-Eight" bicycle shoved in a large bundle of newspapers and several letters, then, without a word, pushed his bike and left.

Inside the factory gate, along the concrete road, there was a row of newspaper reading boards, and the guard room was responsible for changing the newspapers on them.

This task had always been Ning Weidong's, for no special reason other than that he was tall and could clip the newspapers to the top row of the boards without needing a stool.

After changing the newspapers, there was nothing to do for the day, so Ning Weidong organized his memories while chatting idly with Wang Yong.

Xu Jinshan had said he had something to do in the morning, but once he left, he was gone all day; he wasn't seen even by the time they got off work.

Ning Weidong and Wang Yong didn't make a fuss about it; they helped him sign the attendance sheet, and by four in the afternoon, when the middle shift came to take over, the two of them could leave.

Ning Weidong boarded the bus.

At four in the afternoon, there were few people on the bus.

He found a seat and sat down; the artificial leather seat felt ice-cold.

Ning Weidong shifted his bottom, looked out the bus window, and felt a sense of relief in his heart. The first day of work had been steady and calm, without a ripple—this was excellent.

He got off the bus.

The sky was already dim, and a few crows flew overhead, calling "caw-caw."

Walking west along Fuchengmen Inner Street, he could see the scaffolding on top of the White Pagoda Temple from afar.

After passing the White Pagoda Temple, Ning Weidong planned to take the Gongmenkou West Fork north, directly to Gongmenkou Hutong.

Who would have thought that just as he reached the fork, he suddenly let out an "eh."

He saw a dump truck parked on the south side of the road, facing the Gongmenkou West Fork.

Beside the truck was an excavator, a rare sight in this era, which was loading construction waste onto the truck.

A large circle of men were gathered nearby to watch the excitement, of all different ages.

On such a cold day, they were truly addicted, each of them watching with gusto while smelling the diesel fumes emitted by the excavator.

Ning Weidong stopped in his tracks and looked across the road.

In that instant, some of the original owner's memories from several years ago surfaced in his mind.

With these memories, Ning Weidong frowned slightly, but unexpectedly discovered a familiar figure.

He crossed the road to the edge of the crowd and called out, "Xiao Lei."

Ning Lei, who was squeezed into the crowd wearing a green cotton-padded jacket and a knit hat, turned his head: "Third Uncle, you're off work~"

"What time is it, and you're still not home!" Ning Weidong reached him.

This brat wasn't afraid of him and just gave a silly grin.

Ning Weidong asked casually: "What's going on here?"

Ning Lei was only interested in watching the excitement and had no idea what was happening.

But there were naturally people on the scene willing to chime in; a man standing nearby with his arms crossed said: "You don't know? I heard the First Light Industry Bureau is going to build staff housing, and this whole area of over a dozen courtyards is being demolished..."

Ning Weidong felt a jolt in his heart and feigned surprise: "Whoa~ they're all being demolished! Such a huge project."

Once the topic was opened, others began to chime in: "You bet~ I heard they're going to build a high-rise, with elevators, even taller than Fusuijing Lou..."

Ning Weidong listened, feeling skeptical; he didn't know where this person got their information.

Fusuijing Lou was the earliest high-rise residential building in Beijing, completed in 1960; it was a model at the time, but it didn't fit the current trend.

However, given the scene, it was certain that they were demolishing to build.

Ning Weidong cast his gaze further, looking past the excavator at the large expanse of single-story houses behind it, his mouth turning down as he pursed his lips.

"Xiao Lei, are you coming home with me or watching for a while longer?" Ning Weidong gathered his thoughts; the memories that had just surfaced caught him off guard, and he needed time to think and sort them out.

"I'll watch a bit longer, Third Uncle, you go on back first~" Ning Lei hadn't seen enough yet, so how could he bear to go home?

Ning Weidong didn't bother with him; children at this time were all left to roam free outside, especially during winter and summer breaks.

(End of chapter)