Chapter 2: Wife and Daughter

“Shhh… shhh…”

Li Xiangdong whistled, shivered, and pulled up his large shorts with satisfaction as he walked out of the public toilet in the alley.

A body in its twenties was just great. Starting from the same line, he had a five-centimeter head start on others.

On top of that, a young man’s vitality was overflowing. If he hadn’t been quick on his feet and taken a step back, that stream of urine would have splashed onto his shorts!

He walked slowly through the alley. At this time, everyone was eating breakfast, and the alley with its gray brick and tile walls was exceptionally quiet.

The alley where Li Xiangdong’s family lived was called Chuanban Hutong, located in the Dongcheng District and under the jurisdiction of the Jianguomen Subdistrict. It was a proper inner second-ring road location in Beijing.

The alley was 525 meters long and 7 meters wide. It was said that there used to be a shipyard here, hence the name.

Chuanban Hutong was divided into north and south, with the 7-meter-wide alley acting as a dividing line.

The courtyards in North Chuanban Hutong were orderly, and the lanes were spacious. Most were single-family homes, inhabited by remnants of the old aristocracy and former high-ranking officials. These people had their homes confiscated during the great torrent of humanity, and in the past two years, their properties were gradually being returned.

Of course, there were also unlucky ones whose houses had been rented out by the subdistrict office. They held the deeds but couldn’t get their houses back, causing a scene every few days. The police and the subdistrict office had come, but to no effect.

The people are the masters of the country. I’ve paid the rent, so it’s impossible for me to move. What can you do to me!

Li Xiangdong’s family lived in South Chuanban Hutong, where most of the residents were ordinary people. The courtyard houses were all large, mixed-residence compounds, with as few as six or seven families and as many as twenty or thirty, or even forty or fifty, living together. The courtyards were crowded with illegally built structures.

His family occupying an entire courtyard was a unique case in South Chuanban Hutong!

Just as he stepped through the courtyard gate, a young woman with a beautiful face, a short ponytail, and a child in her arms walked towards him.

The person was his wife, and the child in her arms was his young daughter.

Li Xiangdong stood frozen on the spot, not knowing what to say.

“Dada… dada…”

The little turnip in the woman’s arms waved her tender arms, her mouth open to reveal a few tiny, rice-like teeth.

The woman took a handkerchief from her pocket, wiped the child’s drool, and spoke first, “Mom asked me to find you. Hurry up and eat, or she’ll start nagging again.”

This was his wife, Zhou Yuqin, who was a year younger than him.

After graduating from junior high, Li Xiangdong failed to get into high school and participated in the “Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside” movement, assigned to the rural area of Changping on the outskirts of Beijing.

He had two older brothers who were about ten years older than him, so the family was not short of able-bodied laborers. He had never done any heavy lifting growing up.

Having been an idle manager for a long time, he made a fool of himself after being sent to the countryside. He couldn’t do any physical labor well and ended up cutting pigweed with the village women and children.

Fortunately, his situation was relatively popular in the countryside.

The villagers knew his family was in Beijing and not far away, so they weren’t afraid he would abandon his wife and child to return to the city.

When he reached marriageable age, a matchmaker introduced him to a girl from the neighboring Zhoujia Village, who was his wife, Zhou Yuqin.

During their first blind date, Zhou Yuqin saw his handsome face and agreed to the marriage.

When they first got married, Zhou Yuqin was happy every day, but gradually, things changed. In the countryside of that era, a pretty face couldn’t be eaten.

Fortunately, both sets of parents provided financial and physical support, so their family didn’t starve in the countryside and could now return to the city to continue living off their elders.

Zhou Yuqin had a good temper and never complained when she was wronged, preferring to keep everything bottled up inside.

More than a decade later, after Li Xiangdong had squandered the money from selling the courtyard house, Zhou Yuqin only hid in her room and cried for a few days. But from that time on, her health declined.

She served Li Xiangdong diligently her whole life but never had many peaceful days, passing away before she reached sixty.

Li Xiangdong, who was supported by his wife, was considered a fortunate man in the eyes of others.

At the time, he thought they were mocking him, but now, thinking back, there was some truth to their words.

If he weren’t fortunate, how could he have a second chance?

Filled with guilt, Li Xiangdong stared at his wife for a long time. Seeing her stern face, he knew she was angry.

He could understand Zhou Yuqin’s attitude. Through his memories, he was already clear about the time he had been reborn to.

He had been back in the city with his wife and child for over a month, but he just idled around at home all day, not even taking the job arranged by the subdistrict office.

He could be indifferent because Father and Mother Li were his own parents.

But his wife was different. She couldn’t take it for granted. Besides, her and their child’s household registrations were still in the countryside, and they didn’t even have a monthly grain ration.

“My mom is just sharp-tongued, she doesn’t mean anything by it. She has a sharp tongue but a soft heart.”

Seeing that Zhou Yuqin had no intention of replying, Li Xiangdong awkwardly rubbed his nose and changed the subject, “Where’s Xiaohai?”

Li Xiaohai was his eldest son, only three years old and not yet of school age. He followed his older siblings around all day.

“In the room.”

“Are you free today? How about I take you out for a walk after we eat? There are many places in Beijing you haven’t been to yet.”

“I don’t want to go.”

Seeing his wife frown as she replied, still seeming reluctant to talk to him, Li Xiangdong felt a little uneasy.

He said in a fawning tone, “You rest for a bit, let me hold our daughter.”

He took the child from his wife’s arms with both hands and, while walking into the courtyard, kissed his daughter’s little cheeks a couple of times.

Li Xiangdong teased the little one in his arms, “Xiaoqi, call me ‘daddy’.”

“Hit… hit you…”

The little one’s tender hand hit Li Xiangdong’s arm, not with much force, and it didn’t hurt.

His daughter’s full name was Li Xiaozhu. She was just over a year old and the seventh among the younger generation in the family. She was at the age of learning to talk. He guessed that Mother Li had spoiled her after they returned to the city, as she would threaten to hit people at the drop of a hat.

In his previous life, his son and daughter were good to him, but the two children were filial to his wife, especially Li Xiaozhu. She would call every day and chat for at least half an hour, which annoyed him to the point that he dreaded the sound of the phone.

“Down… down…”

In her father’s arms, Li Xiaozhu squirmed restlessly, thrusting her bottom downwards, not wanting to be held and wanting to get down and walk by herself.

Li Xiangdong pinched his daughter’s nose, “You can’t even walk steadily, what do you want to get down for? If you keep fussing, I’ll spank you.”

Li Xiaozhu thought her father was playing with her. She shook her head, dodged her father’s hand, and giggled.

“Remember to be filial to your dad when you grow up. When you get married, your dad will be old. Remember to call me every day, for at least an hour each time, you hear?”

The response he got was, “Hit… hit you…”

“Hey, you little rascal, I can’t keep you.”

“Rascal… keep…”

Hearing their nonsensical conversation, Zhou Yuqin, who was beside them, gave Li Xiangdong a sidelong glance. What could such a young child know?

Besides, what were their family’s circumstances?

To talk on the phone for an hour every day, the phone bill would be so expensive. They couldn’t even afford a minute a day.