Chapter 2

Huan Huan, Le Le, come over and call Uncle Er.

Uncle Er!

"Good, Second Uncle got you some candy," Li Qiang took out a few candies from his earth-yellow shoulder bag and handed them to the two children.

"Just take what Second Uncle gave you," Yang Fen said, looking at the children's hopeful eyes, but since she wasn't yet familiar with Li Qiang, she appeared wanting yet hesitant to accept.

"Thank you, Second Uncle," Li Huan said, taking the candy and then sharing it with his younger brother Li Le. Seeing this scene, Li Qiang felt relieved, proving that the older brother and sister-in-law were still educating the children well: they understood manners, knew how to share, didn't eat alone, and didn't accept things from strangers without their parents' permission.

Li Qiang touches heads.

"Da Binzi, your brother's back—why aren't you pouring him a bowl of water?" Yan Butgui reminded from the side; actually he wanted some candy, but Li Qiang had only taken out a few and given them all to the two children, so he felt embarrassed to compete with the kids and could only sneak a bowl of water to drink.

"Right, Xiao Fen, quickly pour water for Strongzi; he must be tired from the journey," Li Bin said, finally taking Li Qiang's luggage from his hands.

"I was so happy I forgot about that," Yang Fen said embarrassedly.

"Sister-in-law, no need to be polite, I can do it myself," Li Qiang said with a smile; in his memory, Yang Fen was a very virtuous woman.

"Alright, we're family—no need for politeness," Yang Fen said with a smile.

Li Qiang and Li Bin chatted about their experiences over the years as a couple; Yan Butgui saw that they basically ignored him. He also knew that continuing to sit would be pointless, so after drinking a bowl of water he found an excuse and left.

"Strongzi, the person who just left is Third Uncle Yan Butgui; he's okay in other respects, but he likes to take small advantages—don't mind him," Li Bin said with a smile after Yan Butgui left.

"It's fine, brother—by the way, where do you work now?" When Li Qiang went to join the army, Li Bin was still in their rural hometown; after the new nation was founded, Li Bin brought his family to the city, and this address is still the one Li Bin wrote to him about after moving there.

"I work at the Lou Family Steel Plant; after the new nation was founded, the state encouraged us to move to the city to restore economic production, and I came to the steel plant to work then. You know I studied cooking for a few years, so after arriving at the steel plant I went to the cafeteria to cook big pots of food for the workers; your sister-in-law also does odd jobs there. Last year the head chef of the second cafeteria, He Daqing, ran off with a widow to another place, so the plant had me temporarily stand in for him as head chef," Li Bin said.

"Being a cook is great—people say artisans never starve in famine years, so you, as a cook, have nothing to worry about," Li Qiang said with a smile.

"Well, I'm hardly an artisan—I just learned cooking for a while from the village cook back home; I can manage big pots of food, but formal meals are a bit beyond me," Li Bin knew his own ability.

"Don't worry, things will only get better from now on," Li Qiang comforted.

"By the way, how have the authorities arranged your job after your transfer back?" Li Bin asked Li Qiang.

"I don't know; I'll find out tomorrow when I hand over my transfer paperwork to the Military Administration Committee," Li Qiang truly didn't know how the Military Administration Committee would assign him.

"Why not come work at our factory? They seem to be experimenting with public-private partnerships, and our factory is a pilot," Li Bin said.

Li Qiang recalled that the earliest public-private partnerships seemed to have started pilot implementation either in 1951 or 1952.

"That's also not up to me to decide; tomorrow I'll go to the Military Administration Committee and see how they arrange things," Li Qiang said with a smile.

"Alright, then rest a while; I'll go buy some vegetables, and tonight we two brothers will have a drink—it'll count as our family's reunion meal."

"Brother, let me come with you—I haven't even been to Sishicheng yet; maybe I'll end up working and living here later, so at least you should take me around to get familiar with the surroundings and learn the routes, otherwise I might not even know my way home," Li Qiang joked.

"Alright, then just come along with me for a stroll," Li Bin said with a smile.

Aunt Jia, this is my younger brother Li Qiang.

"Aunt Jia, this is my younger brother Li Qiang, just returned from the army," Li Bin said with a smile.

This is Aunt Jia and her son Jia Dongxu.

Li Qiang greeting Jia Zhangshi.

Jia Zhangshi:

"Brother, Aunt Jia seems not so easy to get along with," Li Qiang said as the two of them left the Siheyuan.

"Strongzi, we're just ordinary folk—there's no inherent easy or hard to get along with; we're all neighbors. If someone's easy to talk to, we chat a bit more; if not, we say less. If it really doesn't work out, we just ignore them when we go out—there's no need to change our original intentions because of others. Actually, Aunt Jia Zhangshi isn't easy either; she lost her husband long ago and raised her son alone. In the old society, if she'd been honest and straightforward, she'd probably have been devoured down to nothing—this might also be her survival strategy. Now things are better: her son not only has a job, but last year he even married; this old lady's good days are just beginning," Li Bin said with a smile.

Li Qiang suddenly felt that Li Bin lived with greater clarity than he did; his words, though simple, were full of wisdom.

The two brothers first went to the vegetable market to buy some vegetables, then went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy two bottles of wine. In July 1950, the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives was established, unifying leadership and management of the nation's supply and marketing, consumption, credit, production, fisheries, and handicraft cooperatives. In July 1954, the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives was renamed the All-China Supply and Marketing Cooperative Union, and a nationwide unified supply and marketing cooperative system was established.?

It's just that at that time the coupon system had not yet been implemented, so buying things was still relatively convenient.

On the way, Li Bin introduced Li Qiang to some famous sights of Four Nine City, as well as some customs and habits.

"Qiangzi, tonight let you try my cooking—you haven't eaten my food in many years," Li Bin said with a smile, though his smile contained a hint of bitterness.

"All right, before I joined the army I can recall your cooking was just so-so, as long as it's cooked through it's fine," Li Qiang said truly; before liberation, ordinary folks couldn't hope for any flavor—just being full was good enough.

"I learned to cook after you joined the army, otherwise relying solely on farming couldn't support a family," Li Bin said, which also made sense; back then there was no fertilizer, grain yields were low, after subtracting expenses from a few mu of land, being able to fill a family's stomach was truly not bad; in years of poor harvest, sometimes even the stomach couldn't be filled.

Li Bin moved quickly, and in just half an hour he made four dishes: stir-fried cabbage with meat, scrambled eggs, shredded potatoes, and a cold shredded radish salad. Although there were only four dishes, that was quite good for that era.

Li Qiang happily ate a reunion meal with his family, the two children were overjoyed—after all, in the 1950s an ordinary family could hardly get a meat dish in a month, let alone eggs; the meal also helped the two children become acquainted with Li Qiang.

"Qiangzi, tonight I'll have to wrong you—we can only sleep on a makeshift bed, there aren't enough beds at home," Li Bin said embarrassedly after the meal.

"It's nothing, brother—I've slept on snow in the army, this is already good," Li Qiang said with a smile. Indeed, as Li Qiang said, the volunteer army in the Korean War often slept on snow; when winter in Korea reached its coldest, temperatures dropped to minus forty or fifty degrees, and during marches and battles there were no beds to sleep on.

"I'll keep you company sleeping on the makeshift bed," Li Bin said, wiping the reddening corners of his eyes after hearing Li Qiang say that.

"I'll also sleep with Second Uncle," Li Le said, clinging to Li Qiang's leg.

"All right, Le Le will sleep with Second Uncle," Li Qiang said, picking up Li Le.

In the evening, Li Qiang still made the makeshift bed himself, just hanging a curtain in the middle of the room.