Chapter 17: Sun Hongwei

Jia Zhangshi waited until everyone in the compound had fallen asleep, then sneaked over to the Houzhaofang.

The night was somewhat dark, the snow gave off a ghastly white light, and combined with the ruined walls they had once harmed, it actually had a sinister feel.

Jia Zhangshi, who had been marching forward boldly, suddenly shivered for no reason.

Waa waa wuu wuu…

A burst of cat cries came, and she shuddered.

Jia Zhangshi often greeted Old Jia; as the saying goes, constant thoughts bring a response—tonight the Houzhaofang everywhere exuded eeriness.

Jia Zhangshi fiercely bolstered her own courage, muttering to herself.

"Old Jia, I'm doing this for your son, your grandson—please bless me."

Perhaps the prayer took effect, and her legs gradually gained strength.

Using the starlight reflected off the white snow, she stepped over the Moon Gate and arrived at Yang Qing's small courtyard.

With a creak, she opened the door.

Not daring to turn on a light, she switched on the flashlight she had brought.

The dim yellow light illuminated the bedroom of Yang Qing and his wife.

The walls were mottled, the floor tiles broken, smooth and bare—aside from a bed, there was nothing else. After looking around, she confirmed Yang Qing was truly dirt-poor.

She went to the bed, began searching, and after rummaging, found some grain coupons and the candied sweets and sewing needles that Director Wang had given them at their wedding.

Jia Zhangshi stuffed them into her own pockets.

Afterwards she sneaked over to the kitchen.

In the kitchen there was a large vat, already missing a big chunk.

She knew this—she had deliberately smashed it herself back then.

She then looked toward the stove; there were a few sets of bowls and chopsticks, and inside the stove was a bag.

Jia Zhangshi opened it, and a smell of sweet potato wafted out—sweet potato flour.

Jia Zhangshi hefted it in her hand—it weighed a good dozen jin.

She wanted to take it, but feared causing a fuss; in this situation, food is life.

After thinking, she took a bowl and scooped out a bowl of sweet potato noodles—this is called "a thief doesn't come back empty-handed."

She looked around again, found nothing else, only feeling that this wall was missing a few chunks.

"It must have been some kid who did it—good work."

Saying that, she kicked the wall, knocking out a brick.

Having vented her frustration, Jia Zhangshi also prepared to call it quits.

She held up the bowl, left Yang Qing's house, went out the door, turned off the flashlight, and continued feeling her way back in the dark.

Everything remained quiet; no one discovered what Jia Zhangshi had done.

Only a few cat cries reminded the compound that someone had been here.

Over on Yang Qing's side, he returned to the front of his snow den.

But now someone was already there.

Although the time had reached late night, there were still many people here.

They gathered in groups of three or five.

Yang Qing also saw those people from the siheyuan.

They didn't go over to join the fun; instead they found a secluded spot, cleared the heavy snow off the ice, made a snow den, chopped open the ice, and quietly began fishing.

Their snow den was well made; from a distance it was hard to tell anyone was there—only up close could you see someone fishing.

And now it was already late night; everyone felt weary, and no one was loafing around looking for easy gains.

Time slowly passed; occasionally a sound of water came, but it was drowned out by the surrounding voices and the fish's struggles.

In the snow den, the flashlight's white beam shone straight into the water, with Chen Hong and Yang Qing leaning against each other in an embrace.

The night was truly cold; even though they held each other tightly, they still felt their bodies turning slightly icy and numb.

Even the hands hidden in their sleeves felt a bit stiff.

Slowly, daylight began to seep out from the east, fiery red, and the clouds on the horizon were also tinged with color.

The fishermen who had frozen all night began to leave in batches.

Then new people walked into Shichahai and began fishing.

Yang Qing knew it was about time; taking advantage of the few people, leaving when the anglers went home could avoid a lot of trouble.

"Let's go, each grab a sack, we'll go sell at the market—at this hour the market's purchasing should also be open."

The early market opens early; as long as the market is open, purchases can be made.

When the market purchases, they give you a unified purchase-sale ticket, proving your trade is legal.

Although some Supply and Marketing Cooperatives also purchase, they operate on fixed shifts—this is also why Yang Qing prefers to sell to the market.

Chen Hong took out a warm, honey cake from her pocket and shoved it into Yang Qing's mouth.

"Eat something warm; we've caught quite a few fish today—over twenty—so eat something to warm up."

"If we encounter someone clueless, we'll also have the strength."

Yang Qing also took out his own cake from his pocket and shoved it into Chen Hong's mouth.

"You eat too, eat more—you know martial arts, you're the main force."

Chen Hong ate and let out a hehe laugh.

Yang Qing also showed a smile, feeling warm.

After eating, the two moved their bodies a bit, then picked the fish out of the snow and stuffed them into the sacks.

Each shouldering a sack, they joined the flow of people heading home.

After leaving Shichahai, they ran into two troublemakers; there were many of them, they were not to be messed with, and upon seeing Yang Qing, they came over laughing and joking.

"Yo, isn't that Yang Qing?"

"What are you carrying on your back? Let brother have a look."

Seeing the person in front of him, Yang Qing clenched his fists.

Over the years, if it was a pack of beasts bullying him in the siheyuan, there was still some limit.

And the person before him was the one Yang Qing least wanted to meet after leaving the siheyuan.

This person is Sun Hongwei; before the founding of the country, the Yang family was somewhat well-off, and when the Yang family did business, they needed to hire people.

And the Sun family were originally people recruited by Yang's father from among the refugees.

The Yang family could be called the Sun family's lifesaver.

But how did the Sun family repay them? It was the Sun family who brought people to rob their home, the original owner was beaten to death, and that was also the Sun family's doing.

If it weren't for Yang Qing's time-travel arrival, the house might have ended up being seized by the Sun family.

It was thanks to Madam Wang's timely arrival; otherwise, even though he was a time traveler, he would later have been killed by the Sun family.

Even after the founding of the country, although the Sun family dared not do anything openly, in secret the Sun Hongwei brothers did not cease bullying Yang Qing.

Robbery, beating, humiliation...

All this has continued to the present.

Yang Qing's former timid personality was also related to the great psychological shadow left by the Sun Hongwei brothers.

He was merely of bad background, so even if he suffered a great injustice, he had nowhere to seek redress.

Since the Sun family were hired workers, they had once been oppressed by the Yang family, and all this thus became a matter of course.

Sometimes Yang Qing especially hated this era; it was wonderful for ordinary people, but for someone like him it was hell.

He had done nothing wrong; he was just a child, but because of his background he was a natural-born bad seed, deserving to be bullied.