“Xiyu, do you know…”
The elders reacted differently. Aunt frowned and asked, “What did that reporter mean about the old city district being demolished?”
“I don’t know.”
Lin Xiyu was taken aback, her eyes showing apology. “I only heard her mention it briefly and didn’t ask for details.”
“We need to clarify this matter.”
Aunt’s husband looked grave. “If demolition really happens, our family’s situation doesn’t look promising. During the Jingqi Road demolition, whether you lived in public housing made a huge difference…”
Clatter.
Aunt-in-law trembled, dropping the bowl and chopsticks from her hands onto the floor.
Lin Xiyu’s great-grandfather, her grandfather’s father, was an artisan from Shanxi province.
During the late Qing Dynasty, the old man came to Jinan to seek his fortune. After establishing himself, he brought Lin Xiyu’s grandfather out to join him.
The old man had an obsession – to return to his roots in his Shanxi hometown. Despite working for many years, he never purchased a home of his own.
After the founding of New China, during the Resist America and Aid Korea campaign, the old man poured his patriotic fervor into donating his entire life savings.
Shortly after donating all his possessions, the old man suffered a cerebral infarction and passed away immediately, never fulfilling his dream of returning home.
Grandfather had to borrow from everywhere to arrange the funeral, accumulating substantial debt. From then on, the family was left destitute, their living standards plummeting drastically.
Grandmother’s family had always lived in rented public housing. During the Great Leap Forward in 1958, every household was required to surrender metal utensils for mass steel production.
With no kitchen knives left in ordinary homes, eating became problematic. The neighborhood committee converted their original residence at No. 11 Panggong Street into a communal canteen, relocating all the families living in the compound.
It was during this time that Grandmother’s family moved together with the Zhang and Wang families to No. 9 Donghua Street.
They had lived there from 1958 until now – over thirty years.
Through more than thirty years of wind and rain, weathering the changes of time, many events had occurred, including significant conflicts among neighbors.
The biggest dispute happened in 1984.
The state introduced a new policy requiring the return of all confiscated and expropriated overseas Chinese private properties.
Uncle Huang’s family were relatives of overseas Chinese, and the compound at No. 9 Donghua Street was their private property.
When the policy was announced, Uncle Huang’s son abroad began scheming to evict the three other families and sell the old residence to a southern businessman operating in Jinan.
The old city district within the moat was tiny, with more people than available housing.
Since the neighborhood committee couldn’t provide alternative housing and the three families had nowhere to go, they refused to relocate.
Thus began a bitter conflict over the property.
Uncle Huang’s son instructed his brother-in-law back home to hire local thugs to vandalize the compound and force the three families out.
At that time, Lin Xiyu’s biological father was still alive. He brought his army comrades and gave them a thorough beating.
The brother-in-law, frightened by the beating, abandoned the matter and never showed his face in the compound again.
The incident caused quite a stir at the time, as Uncle Huang’s family weren’t the only overseas Chinese relatives – other compounds faced similar disputes that dragged on for quite some time.
Eventually, the neighborhood committee mediated. Uncle Huang, considering their many years of neighborly ties, agreed to let the three families continue living there, converting the arrangement from public rental to private housing rental. The monthly rent increased from the previous 5 yuan to 30 yuan.
Bang.
The porcelain bowl fell to the ground, shattering into pieces, its abrupt sound striking at the heart of everyone present.
Grandma’s legs gave way, and she staggered back two steps before collapsing onto the bed.