18
Declaring War on the Night Market
The cargo bus was much faster than the Big Green Train, with far fewer stops along the way.
The three brothers kept their promise, helping the driver unload goods throughout the journey. In just over two hours, before 6 p.m., they were back in Shangbei.
The driver was a decent fellow too. Seeing how much the kids had helped during the trip, and with Qi Lei being particularly sweet-tongued, he went out of his way to drop them off right at their street corner after hearing where they needed to get off.
Instead of heading home, the three carried two large bags of socks to Qi Lei’s grandfather’s place.
Qi Lei’s grandparents lived with his third uncle, Qi Guodong, in a single-story house with its own small courtyard.
When the trio entered the yard, Third Uncle wasn’t home, but Grandma Qi was watering the plants.
Seeing the kids hauling in huge bundles, she asked curiously, “What’s all this?”
They didn’t explain immediately, instead begging for food right away.
Having only eaten two steamed buns in the morning, their stomachs were growling with hunger.
Grandma Qi assumed the rascals had been fooling around all day. Since the elderly couple had just finished their meal, she hurried to the kitchen to heat up leftovers and quickly prepared an extra dish.
Grandpa Qi had been listening to the radio indoors. Hearing Qi Lei’s voice, he strolled out with his hands clasped behind his back.
With a stern face, he immediately demanded, “Why didn’t you come yesterday? Weren’t you done with exams the day before?”
Qi Haiting had Qi Guojun at thirty, and Qi Guojun had Qi Lei at thirty. So although Qi Lei was only sixteen, the old man was already over seventy.
Having been retired for more than a decade, he’d become more and more like a child—the slightest inconvenience would set him off.
Especially when his grandson visited a day later than expected, he’d be thoroughly displeased.
Of course, another reason was that Qi Haiting had married three times and fathered eleven children, yet maintained strained relationships with all of them.
Apart from his youngest son Qi Guodong who lived with him, even his eldest son Qi Guojun held some resentment toward his father.
Thus, the older he got, the lonelier Grandpa Qi became, and he doted on Qi Lei excessively, growing restless if he didn’t see him for a few days.
Naturally, Qi Lei had to coax his grandfather carefully. Besides, the old man had just undergone surgery less than two months ago—in the family, he reigned supreme!
After much soothing and finally cheering him up, Qi Lei steered the conversation to their real purpose.
Animatedly, he explained that the three of them wanted to do something big during summer break—setting up a stall at the Night Market—and needed to keep it from their parents for now, asking Grandpa to keep their secret.
Grandpa Qi slapped his thigh enthusiastically upon hearing this. “Great! Grandpa supports you!”
“What’s wrong with poor grades? Even without good grades, you can still make something of yourselves. This is what real men do! That’s called responsibility!”
The three brothers immediately gave him thumbs-up. “This old revolutionary really has high awareness!”
Grandpa Qi swelled with pride. “Of course! Back in my day…”
He launched into yet another story about his glorious past.
Such is the bond between grandparents and grandchildren—if his grandson wanted to sell socks, the old man would support it. If his grandson wanted to sell him out, he’d probably agree too.
The way he looked at his grandson, everything about him was perfect.
“Good thing! Grandpa firmly supports this. Do you need more money? Should Grandpa give you some?”
Qi Lei quickly shook his head. “No need! We have enough. We’ve saved our New Year’s money.”
“Excellent!” The old man beamed even brighter, pointing at Qi Lei with wide eyes. “My eldest grandson is definitely going to be more successful than his father!”
If Qi Guojun had been there, he would’ve been livid. My life is hard enough as it is, and you’re still his biological father?
After finishing dinner at their grandfather’s house, the three boys stayed a while longer, chatting with the elderly couple. They didn’t see Qi Lei’s third uncle return before heading home around eight o’clock.
The parents had long grown accustomed to their children disappearing for entire days. In this era, kids were largely left to their own devices, especially during summer and winter breaks – they’d only start worrying after several days of absence.
Learning the boys had eaten at the grandfather’s house put their minds completely at ease. Guo Lihua and Qi Guojun didn’t even bother asking where they’d been during the day. Seeing Qi Lei collapse onto his bed, they simply reminded him to wash up before sleeping and returned to their room to watch TV.
Soon after, Guo Lihua went out to watch television at Tang Yi’s house, eventually spending the night there. Meanwhile, Wu Lianshan and Tang Chenggang came over to Qi Lei’s home. The three middle-aged men each clutched bottles of Harbin beer, chatting while watching CCTV-5.
It was then Qi Lei remembered – this was the time of the France World Cup. Unfortunately, the three older men were destined for disappointment. Neither Wu’s father’s favored Netherlands nor the Italy supported by Qi’s and Tang’s fathers would prevail, for victory belonged to France and Zidane.
Tang Yi and Wu Ning similarly collapsed onto their beds upon returning home, though neither could sleep. The day had been exhausting yet miraculous – for sixteen-year-olds, their accomplishments felt like grand feats.
Tang Yi even wondered: if Old Tang knew about today’s achievements, would he fork over another thousand yuan? Wu Xiaojian contemplated how to spend their earnings – after buying a Walkman, would there be enough for new sneakers? Actually, forget sneakers – some cool brand-name casual wear would be more practical. With high school starting soon, there’d be plenty of attractive new classmates.
The next day, all three boys slept until noon. When they gathered in the afternoon, they moved listlessly as if still half-asleep. Conversation was sparse – they didn’t even discuss Italy’s advancement to the quarterfinals after defeating Norway the previous night.
Truth was, none of them had watched the game, their minds wholly occupied with tonight’s venture: setting up their stall to sell socks!
The thought of putting themselves to the test made Tang Yi and Wu Ning nervous again. At sixteen, when they thought themselves invincible yet lacked Qi Lei’s reborn thick skin, maintaining composure proved difficult.
Qi Lei solved this with one sentence. Holding his guitar, he teased them: “Well… you could just admit defeat. Kissing each other isn’t that embarrassing.”
“Bullshit!” Tang Xiaoyi exploded. “You might not find it embarrassing, but I do!”
Wu Xiaojian shuddered at the mental image of embracing Tang Yi before their entire class, whining: “I still have to maintain my reputation at No. 2 High School!”
Instantly, their focus shifted from the stall to their bet.
Around 4:30 PM, at Qi Lei’s command, the three marched boldly toward the Night Market. Before departing, Tang Xiaoyi and Wu Xiaojian both made quick trips home, emerging wearing baseball caps, their fathers’ oversized sunglasses, and high-collared jackets – completely covered up.
Tang Yi sighed in relief. “Much better now!”
Qi Lei could only shake his head. It would be dark soon – what was the point of wearing sunglasses? Besides, weren’t they worried about heat rash in this summer weather?
Ignoring them, the three of them each rode a bicycle, with their stall equipment loaded on the rear racks. (Tang Yi had taken a white bedsheet from home and some cardboard from dismantled fruit boxes.)
They first went to Qi Lei’s grandfather’s place to pick up the socks, then headed straight to the Night Market.
Unlike the later era where night markets across the country mainly focused on snacks and delicacies, in the 1990s, morning and night markets were still the primary venues for the circulation of daily necessities in northern towns, playing a crucial role in daily life.
For the North, which always lagged half a step behind the South, supermarkets were still a novelty. In those days, buying rice and flour required a trip to the grain and oil store, buying meat and vegetables meant going to the market or morning market, and for everyday items, the Night Market was the first choice.
Only for more formal shopping or when purchasing expensive goods would people go to department stores.
Visiting the Night Market was also one of the most common leisure activities for city residents in the summer.
So, aside from not selling houses or appliances like refrigerators and color TVs, you could find almost anything you needed there.
The Shangbei Night Market was located in the southern section of Wenhua Road, stretching from the intersection of Sandao Street all the way past the east gate of the textile factory.
As soon as work hours ended, both sides of the road would quickly fill with vendors, creating a spectacular scene.
By the time Qi Lei and the others arrived at the Night Market, it was already past five, and some vendors had started pushing their carts into the area.
Instead of competing with the adults for the best spots, Qi Lei found a relatively decent location with fewer people.
He picked up a couple of bricks from the roadside to mark out a spot, claiming it as theirs.
The Night Market had no fixed stalls—it was all about who arrived early and claimed a spot first.
Except for the areas near the entrance and the prime middle sections, disputes over spots were rare since there was plenty of space.
Usually, after a while, the Joint Enforcement (the predecessor of urban management) would come to collect a stall fee of 5 yuan per vendor.
They would then issue a number to confirm the spot for the night, which further minimized conflicts.
From the moment they entered the Night Market, Tang Yi and Wu Ning had turned into timid quails, hesitant and completely out of their element. They just followed Qi Lei, barely speaking.
Qi Lei didn’t mind. The beginning is always the hardest; it takes time to adjust.
If he hadn’t been reborn with a thicker skin, he might have been even worse off than them!
Laying the cardboard on the ground and covering it with the white bedsheet, they were ready to set up their goods.
Tang Yi and Wu Ning finally found something to do. Holding their collars up high, they pulled socks out of the bags while Qi Lei arranged them at the front.
Halfway through, Tang Xiaoyi couldn’t stand the tense atmosphere anymore and leaned in to whisper in Qi Lei’s ear, “Brother Shitou, maybe we should just go back? This is too embarrassing!”
Qi Lei raised an eyebrow. “So you’re admitting defeat?”
Tang Yi nodded. “I admit it! I’ll treat you to overnight gaming sessions all summer, okay?”
Qi Lei shook his head, grinning mischievously. “No way. I want hugs and kisses.”
Tang Yi was speechless. “Think about it—overnight gaming for a whole summer!”
“No! I want hugs and kisses.”
“Damn you!” Tang Xiaoyi gave in, gritting his teeth. “Just you wait!”
He had no choice but to retreat and continue fishing out socks like a thief.
Yes, like a thief!
For kids their age, setting up a stall to earn an honest living felt no different from stealing.
Their restless pride and the anxiety of stepping out from under adult protection for the first time weighed heavily on their hearts.
My limbs were numb, my lips stiff. If it weren’t for the bet hanging over them, Tang Xiaoyi and Wu Xiaojian would have fled long ago.
After a while, vendors began setting up on both sides.
As luck would have it, an aunt selling socks had positioned herself to their left—but she was a professional.
She had one of those two-wheeled flatbed carts, about one and a half meters long, with a flat surface divided into small compartments for displaying goods. Simple racks stood on the cart, perfect for hanging merchandise.
Besides socks, she carried other small items. The cart worked equally well for street hawking or as a stationary stall.
Seeing this, Tang Yi couldn’t help grinning as he complained to Wu Xiaojian, “They’re the regular army, and we’re just the guerrilla fighters!”
His words made Wu Ning feel even more embarrassed.
…