Qiao Jia Jia rested her chin on her hand, looking completely serious as she worried over her problems. But in He Yingying and her mother’s eyes, seeing such a tiny child make that expression was nothing but adorable.
“Look at Jia Jia. She looks like she has something really troubling her, and she’s even resting her chin on her hand!” He Yingying said as she looked at her daughter.
He Yingying’s mother shook her head. “How could such a little child have anything to worry about? She probably saw one of you adults making that gesture and copied it.”
He Yingying thought about it for a moment. Could they really have influenced her? She nodded uncertainly.
“That might be true! I need to tell Heping that from now on, we have to be more careful in front of our daughter. She’s at the age where she copies everything adults do.”
Qiao Jia Jia heard what her mother and grandmother were saying and immediately lowered her hand.
Sigh. A one-year-old baby resting her chin on her hand and looking troubled really was a little strange.
Very soon, Qiao Jia Jia stopped thinking about it. She was actually quite optimistic.
After all, she was only one year old now. It was only 1956, and there were still many years to go before the country opened up and she could get a passport to travel to Hong Kong or other countries. There was no point in worrying about it now.
Besides, by the late 1970s, she would be at least twenty-five years old. Surely she would have managed to save some money by then, right?
Even if she had little capital, there were ways to work with a small amount. At worst, she could simply stay there a little longer. She wasn’t asking to become incredibly rich anyway. She could just buy stocks a few times for fun.
Besides, she had already decided that in this life, she didn’t want to make stock trading her career. There was no need to start worrying about stocks from childhood.
In her previous life, she had studied science. Back then, her university dean and people in society had all believed that studying science would guarantee a good income in the future.
Qiao Jia Jia had actually ranked first in both the liberal arts and science streams at school, and her liberal arts scores were even better than her science scores. In the end, she chose science and then majored in finance at university simply because she wanted to make money.
In this life, she had no worries about food or clothing, so naturally she could choose something she genuinely liked.
What liberal arts student had never dreamed of writing books and becoming a famous author?
Although Qiao Jia Jia had not been a liberal arts student, she had always had the heart of one.
However, compared with becoming a writer, she wanted to be a screenwriter even more. It would be even better if she could choose the actors herself and turn her own scripts into films!
When she was a child in her previous life, she often watched movies with her friends. Back then, she would think that when she grew up, she would write her own screenplay and make a really good movie.
Of course, once she grew up, reality took her more than a hundred thousand miles away from that childhood dream.
She spent every day dealing with stock prices and numbers. Forget writing screenplays and making movies—when she was busy, she barely even had time to watch one!
Although dreams and reality were bound to be somewhat different, who knew? If she really became a screenwriter someday, perhaps she would get tired of it after a while.
But that didn’t stop her from imagining her future now.
After all, she didn’t have anything else she particularly wanted to do in this life, did she?
If that was the case, why not fulfill the dream she had failed to achieve in her previous life?
Whenever she had inspiration, she could write. When she had no inspiration, she could go traveling.
In her previous life, she had earned plenty of money, but she had been far too busy to travel anywhere. In this life, she absolutely had to make up for it!
Although Qiao Jia Jia had only just celebrated her first birthday, her thoughts had already drifted ten or twenty years into the future.
But the more she thought about it, the more discouraged she became.
She counted on her fingers for a while. When she was fifteen or sixteen, it would be right in the middle of that ten-year political movement.
As an only child, simply not being sent to the countryside would already be something to be grateful for. If she wanted to go even further against the norm by staying at home every day to write and become a screenwriter, that probably wouldn’t be possible.
What about becoming a female factory worker?
That was the path most people took at the time, but Qiao Jia Jia felt that she probably couldn’t endure such hard work.
The problem was that she didn’t understand this era particularly well either. Asking her to think of another job that suited the requirements of the time while not being too exhausting was genuinely difficult.
After thinking for a long time, Qiao Jia Jia realized that she had fallen into the same trap again.
Just like before, she was still little. She was only one year old!
Why was she worrying about things so far in the future?
She simply stopped thinking about it and decided to take things as they came.
“Yingying, your father says he’s getting ready to leave. Why don’t you come out and see him off?”
Qiao Zhufang’s voice suddenly came from outside.
Hearing her daughter-in-law say this, He Yingying’s mother finally realized that quite a lot of time had passed.
She asked her daughter, “What time is it now? It should be nearly four, right? Your father is probably thinking that if he goes back now, everyone will still be at work. He can join them and earn another couple of work points. Haven’t the people in the village all joined the cooperative and become members? They’re keeping track of work points every day now.”
There was a clock in the room. Qiao Heping had found it inconvenient to go out to the living room every day just to check the time, so he had bought one for the bedroom the previous year.
He Yingying looked up at the clock.
“It’s not four yet. It’s only a little after three. Dad can go back first. Mom, why don’t you stay a little longer?”
Her mother shook her head.
“No, I’ve been here since early this morning, so I’ve stayed quite a long time already. I’d better go back early so I can still make dinner. Otherwise, your brothers and sisters-in-law will have to come home from work and cook it themselves.”
After saying that, she looked at her granddaughter and smiled.
“Grandma is leaving now. I’ll come visit our Jia Jia again when I have time.”
Qiao Jia Jia actually liked her grandmother quite a lot. Hearing that her grandmother was leaving, she said in her childish voice,
“Goodbye, Grandma.”
Hearing that, He Yingying’s mother became even more fond of her granddaughter. Her eyes filled with affection.
“Ah, goodbye to you too, Jia Jia!”
Outside, He Yingying’s father was already waiting for his wife.
When he saw his wife and daughter come out, he said, “Your mother and I will be heading back first. We’ll come again when we have time.”
Seeing that her in-laws were about to leave, Qiao Zhufang hurriedly brought out the pastries, candies, and other food she had prepared earlier and handed them to them.
“Take these home for the children to eat. I prepared them for you in the first place. Look at the other guests who left earlier. Everyone took something home when they left. You all got something, so don’t be polite. Take them.”
Since the in-laws had put it that way, He Yingying’s mother thought about it and finally stopped refusing.
“Then we’ll shamelessly accept them.”
Then she added, “By October, the wax apples and pears on the mountain behind our village should be ripe. We’ll bring some over for you then. They’re very sweet.”
Qiao Zhufang immediately nodded.
“Yes, that’s right. Back when we still lived in the village, I even took Heping there to pick some. They say you live off the mountains if you live by the mountains, and off the water if you live by the water. The soil and water on that mountain behind our village are particularly good, so the fruit that grows there is sweet too.
“Then I’ll have to trouble you to pick some for us. By October or November, when autumn comes in the city, pears can still be bought, but you can’t get wax apples. They simply aren’t supplied here.”
He Yingying’s parents did not stay much longer.
Before long, they left with their granddaughter, He Rou Rou. They didn’t ask He Yingying to see them off, saying that she already knew the way. Even so, He Yingying still accompanied them, walking with them all the way to the end of the street before returning.
Qiao Heping had already cleaned up the living room. The large round table they had borrowed had also been returned.
When he saw his wife come back, he said,
“Then let’s go to the photo studio now. It’s still early. Maybe we won’t even have to come home after dark.”
The family had planned the photographs long ago.
They had taken Jia Jia to have her one-month portrait taken when she was a month old. Now that she had turned one, naturally they had to go again. From now on, they planned to take a photo every year on her birthday.
Since this had been planned for a long time, He Yingying wasn’t surprised.
She nodded.
“Okay, let’s go. But wait a moment. I’ll change my clothes first. I got some oil on them while we were eating.
“You should also comb Jia Jia’s hair again first. It’ll look better in the photos later.”
Qiao Heping happily agreed. He went into the room to get a comb so he could do his daughter’s hair.
Qiao Zhufang watched her daughter-in-law go to change clothes. She looked down at the clothes she had been wearing all afternoon. They were a little wrinkled now.
After thinking about it, she went into the room and changed as well.
If they were going to have their picture taken, they should dress nicely. Qiao Zhufang was quite particular about having a sense of occasion.
Before long, the whole family was ready to leave.
Qiao Jia Jia didn’t even have to walk. Her father, Qiao Heping, simply carried her and let her sit on his shoulders.
The photo studio they were going to was Ping’an Photo Studio on Jiefang Road in the city center of the provincial capital.
It had been operating there since before the founding of the People’s Republic and was a well-established old business.
The photographer, Master Qian, was highly skilled. He even held a position in the city’s Clock and Photography Industry Trade Union. His photography skills were absolutely top-notch.
That was why the family was willing to travel farther rather than use a photo studio nearby.
Besides, Ping’an Photo Studio actually belonged to Master Qian.
Before he had gotten married—around 1947—Qiao Heping had secretly brought He Yingying to this very photo studio in the city to have their picture taken.
Master Qian had been the one behind the camera back then too.
However, the photography industry was now under public-private partnership. The photo studio was managed by government-appointed personnel. Master Qian received a fixed salary and dividends, while his main responsibility was taking photographs.
“Let’s just walk there. We shouldn’t take the bus,” Qiao Zhufang suggested as they walked. “Otherwise, who knows how long we’ll have to wait for one? And once we get on, it’ll be crowded. Heping is carrying Jia Jia, so what if she gets knocked down? That would be terrible.”
Qiao Heping and He Yingying nodded.
They agreed that walking was indeed a good idea.
After all, they weren’t that far from the city center. It would only take about half an hour to walk there.
There were only five public buses in the entire provincial capital. If they took the bus and had bad luck, they might wait an hour without seeing one. They might as well walk.
Qiao Jia Jia didn’t need to give her opinion.
She had someone carrying her, so she didn’t even need to walk!
“You’re all going out together. Is there something important going on?”
They had just stepped outside when they ran into a neighbor from the building. The neighbor asked curiously.
Qiao Heping smiled as he carried his daughter.
“It’s my daughter’s birthday today. We’re taking her to have her first-birthday photo taken, and we’ll take a family portrait while we’re there.”
“Oh, oh, you’re going to have your pictures taken! Are you going to Ping’an Photo Studio? Their photographer is very good. Even government offices make appointments there for photographs!
“If you’re going there, you’ll probably have to wait in quite a long line. It’s Sunday today, so there’ll definitely be a lot of people going there. You might not finish until after dark. By the time you get home for dinner, it’ll probably be very late.”
The neighbor had been to the photo studio before too.
Three or four jiao for a photograph wasn’t exactly cheap, but most of the people living in this apartment building could afford it. During the New Year, families were still willing to spend the money to have a family photograph taken, so she knew a little about how the photo studio operated.
“Thank you for the warning, Auntie Zhang,” Qiao Heping replied cheerfully. “But it’s fine. If the line is long, we’ll just wait. And if it gets dark, we’ll find a restaurant outside and eat there. Otherwise, we’ll have to go to work tomorrow, and it’ll be even harder to find time to take the pictures.”
While Qiao Heping chatted with the neighbor outside, the couple next door, Hu Shifu and Ma Dahua, were fuming in silence.
It was Sunday, so naturally Hu Shifu and his wife were both at home.
When they heard Qiao Heping’s voice outside, they were furious.
Because of Qiao Heping, as soon as the tomatoes growing in the plot of land outside their home ripened, people immediately came over to pick them.
And the worst part was that Hu Shifu still owed those people money. He had no way to stop them even if he wanted to.
Originally, Hu Shifu had planned to sell those tomatoes for money.
Now, all of that money had gone up in smoke.
In fact, if they were even a little too slow, their own family wouldn’t get to eat any either. Almost all that remained in the field were still-green tomatoes.
And now, hearing that the Qiao family was going to a photo studio to have their pictures taken made them feel even more miserable.
Their family had to start cutting back on everything just to repay their debts, while the Qiao family was living so comfortably that they could even afford to have their photographs taken?
Neither Hu Shifu nor his wife, Ma Dahua, was particularly broad-minded.
They had already suffered at the hands of the Qiao family the day before. Their tomatoes were gone, and they had also been publicly humiliated.
How could they not hold a grudge?
So, after the Qiao family finally finished taking their photographs at the photo studio, they went to a restaurant outside and had dinner before returning home after dark.
They used a flashlight to unlock their door.
But just as they opened it, they suddenly noticed that the ground in front of their home was wet.
There were traces of water everywhere.
And faintly, there was also a strange smell in the air.