Chapter 40: See You Again, Granny

The fifth day.

Lei Shifu brought people and officially moved into Yang Qing's house.

He brought lots of timber, using eight pillars in four rows as the main support, and spent a day building the shed's main frame.

All that remains is to nail the rafters and lay tiles tomorrow.

Although called a shed, its structure is similar to a pavilion's; the pavilion is square, while his shed is long.

The south side of the courtyard is three meters wide.

The four rows of pillars divide the space into three parts: the kitchen in the middle, the east side a bicycle shed plus tool room, and the west side wood storage plus coal ball room.

The sixth day.

Lei Shifu arrived early.

In the morning, the rafters and tiles were installed.

In the afternoon.

Some people applied plaster and paint, doing the final touches.

Some people, under Yang Qing's guidance, were researching how to build a multifunctional smokeless stove in the middle of the kitchen.

The tall chimney ran all the way up to the shed's roof.

Finally, they coated it with yellow mud, placed the pot, and the stove was completed.

That night.

Yang Qing and his wife moved into the shed to live, and the household food was also placed in the small cellar Lei Shifu had secretly dug for him.

They covered it with a lid and scattered soil over it, so no one could tell.

Lying in bed, Yang Qing said to Chen Hong:

"Tomorrow I'll take you to see that old lady."

Chen Hong nodded.

She couldn't just idle forever, and given Yang Qing's situation, she had to take initiative; otherwise she'd feel uneasy.

The seventh day.

Through Aunt Wang, Yang Qing got to know the director of the street office of the military compound.

Director Liu is also a woman.

Upon seeing Chen Hong, she was a bit surprised.

"Are you Chen Hong? Are you from a martyr's family?"

Chen Hong handed over her martyr's family certificate.

"Yes, I fled the famine from Henan, and then, through a street office introduction, I married into Jingcheng."

Director Liu nodded.

"Your identity actually fits."

"But I should tell you in advance, the old lady has a terrible temper and has already driven away several caregivers."

"You can give it a try; if there are no problems after a week, we'll pay you the temporary worker's wage here."

"That's 22 per month."

"You can eat at the old lady's house at noon; you must have her breakfast ready by 8 a. m., and her dinner ready by 6 p. m., after which you can go home."

"Of course, you can also eat and live at the old lady's house, and we provide additional subsidies."

Chen Hong didn't promise anything.

"Let's first see the person; I'm this tall, not everyone can accept that."

Director Liu agreed with her; Chen Hong's presence felt overly oppressive to her.

It's not about her aura, but about her height.

A height of 188 cm makes her a giant in this era.

Men all feel ashamed of their appearance.

"Come on, I'll take you to see her."

Yang Qing was like a nobody, never saying a word from start to finish.

The three of them passed the compound's gate and walked up to a building.

The building is a slab block, and nowadays it's a desirable residence that others can't get.

They reached the second floor, near the stairs, the second unit.

Director Liu knocked on the door.

Click!

An old lady's head poked out.

Upon seeing Director Liu, a complaining voice came out.

"It's you again, Xiao Liu; I've told you countless times—I don't need anyone to look after me, I don't need anyone to look after me—why won't you listen? You keep bringing people over and over, my head's buzzing from your noise."

"Just go, just go—I don't need you."

The old lady had no intention of letting Director Liu inside at all.

"Hey, old lady, this was arranged by the higher-ups; it's useless for you to make things difficult for me—I've brought the person, so you might as well meet them."

The old lady shook her head.

"I won't see, I won't see—hurry up and leave."

Saying that, she was about to close the door.

At that moment, Yang Qing stepped forward and spoke softly.

"Grandma, do you still recognize me?"

The old lady heard and looked over.

She said doubtfully.

「Who are you? 」

Yang Qing's long hair had been cut off, he wore new clothes, and his body was clean; he was completely a different person.

「It's me, the kid who brings you vegetables at the West Gate Market. 」

The old lady recognized him and said happily.

「Are you Yang Qing? 」

「After being cleaned up, I can't be recognized. 」

「Where do you work now? 」

「Do you have a partner? Eat more, you look too thin. 」

「That's right, these past few years the weather's been bad, we haven't had enough to eat. 」

The old lady seemed to be saying it to him, yet also talking to herself.

「Grandma, how have you been these past two years? 」

Hearing Yang Qing's question, the old lady's eyes turned red.

「Grandma's not well; there's no one left in grandma's house—even the last sickly child has passed, leaving grandma alone. 」

「Come on, let's go inside with grandma; I haven't been to the market in a long time—you don't know how you've been lately. 」

「Tell grandma about it. 」

Over here, Director Liu was a bit dumbfounded; she looked at Chen Hong, who was also a bit dumbfounded, so she could only steel herself, nod, and follow them in.

Director Liu saw Chen Hong come in, and she also walked in.

After sitting down beside the old lady, Yang Qing then introduced.

「Grandma, this is my wife, who fled the famine from Henan. 」

「Her name is Chen Hong. 」

Chen Hong also politely greeted.

「Grandma. 」

The old lady looked at Chen Hong in surprise and said: 「She's still a tall one. 」

「Yang Qing, you're blessed. 」

Yang Qing nodded repeatedly and said proudly.

「Grandma, you don't know how lucky I was to meet Chen Hong. 」

「She's also from a martyr's family—her family had five martyrs. 」

The old lady said in surprise.

「Really? Miss, come sit; to meet you, Yang Qing really had great luck. 」

「I used to worry about him, but now I don't need to—having a good wife brings prosperity for three generations. 」

Saying this, the old lady chuckled.

Director Liu wondered.

「Old lady, how did you come to know this Yang Qing? 」

「I mean nothing else, just curious. 」

The old lady held Yang Qing's hand and said kindly.

「He does odd jobs, hanging around at the West Gate Market. 」

「Back then I often went to the market to buy vegetables; he saw me, came over to promote himself—he was so shameless, insisting on carrying my vegetables, and after a while we got to know each other. 」

「Afterwards, whenever I went to the market, he would bustle about to take care of me. 」

「At that time, Jianjun's health was poor; he taught me how to balance food and nourish my body. 」

「Jianjun managed to hold on until the year before last, thanks largely to him. 」

「It's a pity that later Jianjun passed away, and I haven't gone to the market since; I haven't seen this child in two years. 」

「I never expected to see him again this year. 」

「It's all fate. 」

Yang Qing shook his head.

「It's not fate—since you stopped going, I thought something had happened to you; I couldn't find out, and several times I almost got locked up by the gatekeeper. 」

「Later, the Jiedao Office sent someone to accompany you, and then I realized it was you. 」

「But someone like me definitely wouldn't do that; I waited until I married a wife, then told her to come try. 」

「She still didn't dare come, afraid her height would scare you. 」

The old lady widened her eyes.

「Ah, there's still such a thing. 」

「Yang Qing, Grandma thanks you for remembering me. 」

「I'm old and useless now; even going to the market is a struggle. 」

「You little rascal, I even thought you had hooked up with someone else. 」

Yang Qing chuckled.

「Since you left, no one's got my back there—I can't stay in that place. 」

「You don't know, these past two years, the market's rotten sweet potatoes, potatoes, and vegetable leaves have become delicacies. 」

「With such a good opportunity, when would it ever be my turn? 」

The old lady felt a bit ashamed and asked concernedly.

Then what did you go do afterwards?

Yang Qing recalled his life over the past two years.

When food became scarce, people's bodies couldn't cope; the heavy labor they used to fight over had no one to do it.

So I went and did it.

But I ended up earning more than before.

The old lady said, feeling sorry for him.

If others can't eat enough to work, how can you be full and able to work?

You're acting like you don't care about your life.

Yang Qing gave a hehe laugh and pulled out a black pill from his pocket.

Old lady, don't you remember those rotten sweet potatoes, potatoes, and vegetable leaves you used to make?

Look, this is the famine relief food I made from those.

I haven't gone hungry these past two years.

I always have black beans on hand to eat.

One pellet held in the mouth can dissolve for half a day.

If you don't believe me, ask my wife—we still have plenty of sweet potato bricks at home.