During that trip to Zhushi in 1988, they had originally planned to stay one night and buy tickets back to Baoping City the next day. But that night, Song Hao couldn’t sleep. He spent the whole night thinking about how the people in Zhushi were so rich and how he could become rich too.
He tossed and turned, disturbing Niannian under the covers.
“You’re still awake? Did I disturb you?”
Cheng Jin Nian mumbled, “Can’t sleep.”
Song Hao thought for a moment, turned on the light, and asked Niannian for a loan.
Without hesitation, Cheng Jin Nian said, “Take all the money Cheng Haijun gave you. I don’t want it.”
It was a huge sum.
Song Hao sat up in shock, frowning at the kid talking nonsense.
Cheng Jin Nian also sat up, his eyes red and swollen, and said, “Back at the Cheng house earlier, I wasn’t happy about not taking the money. Like you said, she’d be thrilled if I didn’t take anything. But why should I? I don’t want her to be happy, and I don’t want Cheng Haijun to be happy either.”
As he spoke, Cheng Jin Nian’s voice grew louder with indignation.
Song Hao understood completely. He pulled Niannian into his arms and gently patted his back as if comforting a child, saying softly, “I know. Niannian doesn’t care about the money.”
“Da Song, it’s only been two years. My mom and I lived with him for so many years. It’s been less than two years since we separated, and he’s changed so much, like a stranger. When I took his money, did you see? There was still a hint of pain in his eyes. It’s ridiculous. What did my mom mean to him?” Cheng Jin Nian didn’t want to touch that money, but at that moment, facing his former closest family, he didn’t know what else he could do to make them suffer.
Should he die in front of them?
But no.
If he did something foolish out of despair, the one who would suffer would be Da Song.
Cheng Haijun no longer cared about his mom, and he wouldn’t care about him either.
Cheng Jin Nian sniffled. “Take all the money.” Then, with a child’s stubbornness, he pushed away from Da Song’s embrace, lay straight down on the bed, and closed his eyes to sleep.
Song Hao smiled at Niannian’s seamless series of actions.
Niannian was throwing a childish tantrum with him. Not wanting to create distance by refusing the money, he avoided talking about it. Song Hao first tucked Niannian in, turned off the light, lay back down, and gently patted Niannian to sleep.
Perhaps after “venting his anger” and getting all that pent-up frustration off his chest, plus having a destination for the money that made him uncomfortable, Cheng Jin Nian slowly drifted off to sleep.
Song Hao didn’t sleep. Listening to Niannian’s breathing, he kept a mental account.
This money was Niannian’s. Niannian disliked it, so he would handle it, maybe start some kind of business. Since they were already in Zhushi, they should look around more. They couldn’t spend all the money either—they should save five hundred for Niannian’s schooling.
Song Hao wasn’t confident about starting a business and spent the whole night thinking about it.
The next morning, Cheng Jin Nian woke up with rosy cheeks. “Da Song, you’re like a furnace—you’re roasting me!” Then he looked at Song Hao and burst out laughing. “Hahaha, Da Song, why do you have two dark circles under your eyes?”
Song Hao let Niannian laugh—as long as he was happy. He also voiced his worries. Niannian was smarter than him; maybe Niannian would have a good idea.
“In the village, you were fearless and had a lot of guts. What are you afraid of now?” Cheng Jin Nian originally wanted to say, “It’s not our money anyway,” but thinking of Cheng Haijun’s disgusted expression, he changed his words: “Then let’s stay in Zhushi a few more days and see how people here make money.”
Song Hao: “That’s what I was thinking too.”
“But we have to go back before March 6th.”
Cheng Jin Nian: ?
“Forgot? Your school start date.” Song Hao remembered it clearly.
He couldn’t keep up with studying, couldn’t sit still—his butt felt like it had thorns. Plus, his family situation was different. Two years earlier, Song Hao had simply said he wouldn’t continue his studies, so there was no need for his elder brother and sister-in-law to waste money supporting his education.
The two stayed in Zhushi for three days and didn’t eat hamburgers at that foreign old man’s restaurant again—it was too expensive. Cheng Jin Nian brought it up, feeling a pang about the money but still happy. “You already bought me one on our first day here.”
Just because Da Song had bought him a hamburger on that first day when they didn’t have much money, he had been overjoyed. Now, whether he got to eat a second one or drink cola didn’t matter to him anymore.
“You still mention it? You ate half of mine.”
Cheng Jin Nian said, “Da Song, you only ate the edges.” He had taken the meatier parts.
“Just tasting it was enough. Once we make some money, we’ll come back and eat here again.”
“I don’t want to come back to Zhushi.”
“Then let’s go to the capital. That kind-hearted older sister said a branch of that foreign old man’s restaurant opened there first.”
Cheng Jin Nian felt a flicker of longing at the mention of the capital and nodded in agreement. Song Hao made a mental note: in the future, he would earn money and take Niannian to the capital to eat hamburgers at that foreign old man’s restaurant.
As for how people in Zhushi made money, the two of them walked around the streets and observed: shoe shiners, porters carrying goods, bricklayers doing hard labor, and some jobs requiring specific skills or connections. These could earn money—a bit more than what they could make in Baoping City—but Song Hao couldn’t stay here doing hard labor.
When they got tired from walking, they sat on the steps to rest, munching on steamed buns and drinking water.
Cheng Jin Nian noticed the women on the street dressed beautifully, carrying handbags and walking confidently toward the department store. “Da Song, let’s go! Let’s go in and take a look too.”
The two were dressed plainly. They had been relatively clean before, but now they were a bit dusty.
Earlier, Song Hao had felt too embarrassed to go in and look around—the place was so grandly built. But since Niannian wanted to go in and see, he bolstered his courage for Niannian’s sake. So he patted the dust off his pants and said, “Let’s go, we’ll take a look.”
He even managed to sound quite determined.
After walking around inside, they came back out. In Zhushi, it was a bit chilly in the mornings and evenings, but warmer around noon. It wasn’t yet time for light summer clothes, but some fashion-conscious women wore thicker material dresses and tied beautiful silk scarves around their necks.
Face cream, hand lotion, silk scarves, hair clips, headbands—all kinds of pretty accessories. They sold everything imaginable.
Song Hao and Cheng Jin Nian listened to passersby asking about prices and couldn’t help but gasp. So expensive?!
A silk scarf cost twenty-five yuan, and the customer paid without hesitation.
The counter staff complimented the woman on her fair skin and slender neck, saying the color looked good on her, how it matched her dress that day and made her stand out, how fashionable her permed hair was and that the scarf could also be tied around her head…
The woman who bought the scarf asked the staff to show her how to tie it in her hair.
Cheng Jin Nian and Song Hao watched from the side. Perhaps they were too obvious, because the woman glanced over. Cheng Jin Nian gave a well-behaved smile and said, “Sister, that looks really pretty on you.”
The woman immediately smiled, no longer puzzled by these two kids standing there watching her try on the scarf.
“I’ll take another one, in a lighter color. It’ll be good for matching with lighter clothes when it gets warmer in a few days.”
In just a short while, the woman bought two silk scarves and a hair clip, spending over eighty yuan.
Song Hao was inwardly astonished. The people making money on the streets outside and the ones spending money here seemed to live in completely different worlds.
Just now, Cheng Jinnian had been sweet-talking, managing to coax a customer into buying an extra scarf. After the customer left, the salesperson asked the two children what they wanted to buy.
“We can’t afford it,” Cheng Jinnian said first, then praised the salesperson for how skillfully and beautifully she had tied the scarf in her hair earlier. Thinking of her mother, she couldn’t help but feel downcast. “If only my mom were still here, I could learn to do it for her.”
The salesperson was taken aback, not daring to imagine the worst. “Is your mother away visiting relatives or…?”
Seeing Niannian’s low spirits, Song Hao answered for her. As they talked, one question led to another, and the story of Cheng Haijun abandoning his wife and children came spilling out. The salesperson and a newly arrived customer were left speechless.
“That father of theirs is really something.” “You poor things, do you have somewhere to go?” “At such a young age, what will you do in the future?” “You kids need to be careful when you go back. Don’t trust people too easily.”
…
A customer even offered to buy them lunch, but Cheng Jinnian and Song Hao declined. Song Hao asked the salesperson where these scarves were sourced from, as he wanted to sell them back in the city. The salesperson, surnamed Feng, explained clearly.
Their counter sold branded, mid-to-high-end silk scarves. The suppliers had specialized factories producing them, and it was impossible for outsiders to source goods from them.
Feng Le, seeing how pitiful the two children were—the older one taking care of the younger—felt it was truly not easy. She pointed them in a different direction: “There are cheaper ones, not made of silk, sold in small shops outside for three to five yuan each. I’ll write down the factory address for you…”
The factory produced large quantities and also sold to individual merchants, though the wholesale price was higher. Higher-quality goods were more expensive and not sold to individual customers. Selling just a dozen or so scarves like this wasn’t profitable, and it required an introducer.
Feng Le handed over the note but still couldn’t bear the thought of the two children returning empty-handed. She said, “If you’re not in a hurry, I can take you there after I get off work. I have a relative who works at the factory. I’ll ask her.”
And so, Song Hao and Cheng Jinnian got connected through this lead.
People were simpler back then, and the two were just children. Cheng Jinnian looked young and tender, having just lost her mother, and the story of her shameless father disowning his son made Feng Juan sigh with sympathy, prompting her to lend a helping hand.
If it had been an adult man asking about sourcing goods, Feng Juan definitely wouldn’t have gone out of her way to help.
On March 4th, Song Hao carried a large bag of goods in one hand and held Niannian’s hand with the other. Before returning from Zhushi, they detoured to the Cheng family’s house. He told Niannian to wait for him at the entrance of the alley. Song Hao, still carrying the heavy bag, ran with such vigor that Cheng Haijie could be heard cursing from behind: “You little brat, how dare you come smash our windows…”
Song Hao grabbed Niannian’s hand and ran as fast as he could.
“I just smashed their window.”
“I heard! Da Song, you’re amazing.”
“I also smashed their flowerpot. Serves them right for bullying you.”
“Absolutely!”
The two boys, singing in harmony, ran breathlessly after their mischief. It wasn’t until they boarded the train and sat down that Cheng Jinnian’s cheeks flushed red. Though panting, her eyes sparkled brightly. The future no longer seemed bleak or hopeless.
The rising hope and fire within them were like the economy of this era.
Thriving and flourishing.
On March 5th, Song Hao boiled water for Cheng Jinnian to bathe, washed clothes, and packed Niannian’s schoolbag. On March 6th, Song Hao took Niannian to school. After watching her enter the school gate, he rode the “28-inch” bicycle borrowed from his second brother into the city to sell his goods.
Song Hao only brought a portion of the goods, wanting to test the waters first. He was afraid that carrying too much would draw unwanted attention.
He kept that in mind just in case.
And it turned out to be the right call.
For the first time, Song Hao gained a new impression of Baoping City—there were far more wealthy people in their small town than he had imagined. Later, looking back, he realized it must have been because their village was just too poor.
The city folks didn’t dress as fashionably or stylishly as those in Zhushi, wearing rather ordinary clothes, but when they saw the patterned scarves he had laid out, they would stop their bicycles and ask how much they cost.
“These are goods from Zhushi, sister.” Thinking of what Sister Feng said when selling her goods, Song Hao followed her example. A couple of days earlier, when Niannian took a bath, he used the leftover warm water to clean himself up too. He shaved off the stubble that had grown out, trimmed his hair short, revealing his entire face. With a friendly smile, he looked like a capable and handsome young man.
“There are four patterns, all the trendiest styles exported abroad.”
“Sister, your neck is slender. When the weather gets hot, tying one of these can really complement your outfit.”
Song Hao varied his pitch as he spoke. He was still young, and when he complimented people, it came across as sincere. Before long, a crowd had gathered around his stall—some asking about prices, others praising how pretty the scarves were, saying they’d never seen anything like them around here, and some genuinely surprised.
“This one is twenty-five yuan each, made of real silk, goods from the Zhushi department store.”
Some thought it was too expensive and bargained, “How about fifteen yuan? If that works, I’ll take one.”
Song Hao hesitated, picking up another batch of goods. “Sister, this one is cheaper. It’s not silk—ten yuan each.”
When the two scarves were placed side by side for comparison, the more expensive one clearly looked better and felt smoother and more comfortable.
Real silk, after all.
Someone immediately decided without hesitation, “Young man, I’ll take two of the silk ones. Can you give me a discount?”
“For two, I can knock off two yuan, but that’s as low as I can go. These goods are hard to come by. If I sell them too cheap, the factory might not supply me anymore. Look at this tag—it’s a branded product.” Song Hao flipped the tag over for everyone to see.
“If you ever go to the Zhushi department store, you’ll know I’m telling the truth.”
The customers in this group were all a bit older. Seeing that this young man was new to selling and clearly inexperienced, they figured he must be telling the truth. Besides, train tickets from the north to the south weren’t cheap, so the price really wasn’t unreasonable.
That day, in less than an hour, Song Hao sold out all the goods he had brought.
Some even asked if he had more of the branded goods and arranged to come back the next day to buy.
Song Hao realized: people tended to buy the more expensive, branded items.
That spring, Cheng Jin Nian focused on attending school diligently, while Song Hao sold goods, making trips to Zhushi every ten days or half a month. In 1988, he sold scarves for a whole year and even built up a regular customer base.
By the end of 1988, during the winter, he switched to selling thick scarves, gloves, and fluffy earmuffs.
In the summer of 1989, Song Hao bought a tricycle. Cheng Jin Nian had been admitted to high school, which was far from the village—over an hour’s walk. Song Hao rode the tricycle to take Niannian to and from school.
By 1991, permed hair had become popular in the city. Song Hao started selling delicate and stylish sun hats and sunglasses. The hats were embroidered with patterns, their edges curled and lifted, revealing women’s permed curls. Paired with sunglasses, this became the standard look for fashionable city girls.
In the past, Song Hao had always handled the selling on his own while Niannian was at school, traveling back and forth by train and carrying large bags of goods. But whenever the winter or summer break approached and the goods were cleared out, Song Hao would take Niannian to the city bookstore to buy books or to watch a movie, never mentioning the selling.
It was tough work. Along the way, some people grew jealous of Song Hao’s earnings and tried to cause trouble. Sometimes, Song Hao would get into fights and come back bruised; other times, he had to swallow his pride and smooth things over with apologies. He didn’t want Niannian to see that side of him.
But to Song Hao, this hardship was nothing.
Besides, Niannian’s studies are important. What does earning a little money from selling goods matter? Niannian is going to be a scientist in the future—that’s the big thing.
1992, present day.
Cheng Jin Nian finally managed to get Da Song to agree, and this time, the two of them would sell goods together.
At this moment, various stalls were starting to set up. Song Hao took five yuan out of his pocket, originally planning to have Niannian stay and watch their things while he went to buy some hot breakfast, but he was worried about leaving Niannian alone.
Cheng Jin Nian saw right through it and muttered, “Da Song, I’m not a kid anymore. I’m eighteen this year.” He decisively took the five yuan. “Where can I buy food?”
Song Hao had no choice but to point Niannian in the right direction. “There are a few places in that alley—tofu pudding, spicy soup, rice noodles, steamed buns, they have it all. You can sit there and eat first, warm up by the fire, and just bring me back whatever’s left after you finish.”
“Got it.” Cheng Jin Nian thought he’d buy enough for both of them to eat together. After all, customers hadn’t arrived yet, so they could take their time eating without rushing.
Eating alone was no fun.
Cheng Jin Nian trudged through the snow in the direction Da Song had pointed. The sky wasn’t very bright, and Cheng Jin Nian didn’t see clearly, taking a wrong turn into a different alley.
Because the New Year was approaching, it had been snowing these past few days, and it got dark early. People buying New Year’s goods all came early in the morning to get them, as they still had a lot to do at home—washing clothes, bathing, tidying up the kids, perming hair, buying new clothes, and cleaning.
The New Year’s market was always bustling early in the morning.
The two of them planned to buy New Year’s goods after selling their goods today.
They hadn’t even bought the couplets for the house yet—
Cheng Jin Nian was thinking about New Year’s preparations as he walked, but after a while, he realized he’d gone the wrong way. This alley had no signs of life—it was probably behind the storefronts, with every household’s door shut. Just as he was about to turn back, he suddenly heard a faint sound, like a kitten mewing.
It was a weak, whimpering noise.
Cheng Jin Nian stopped and listened again. It was real—he hadn’t misheard. He looked around, but there wasn’t a single person in sight. He couldn’t help but feel a little scared. Frowning, he listened carefully and noticed the sound was coming from—
The trash can.
Cheng Jin Nian thought for a moment and decided to go take a look. Da Song would definitely say he was too curious if he found out, but it was broad daylight—even though the sky was gray and not very bright, it was almost seven o’clock.
It probably wasn’t a ghost.
With that thought, Cheng Jin Nian grew bolder. In a few steps, he reached the trash can. The trash can was covered in a layer of snow, but the sound wasn’t coming from inside. He looked around and noticed something oval-shaped next to the trash can, also covered in snow. The sound was coming from there.
He crouched down and reached out to touch it. The whimpering sound grew even fainter.
Cheng Jin Nian felt something off with the texture. As his fingers brushed away the snow, the “oval” object revealed its true form—it looked like something wrapped in a quilt.
He realized what it might be and quickly brushed away more snow. Sure enough, it was a swaddling cloth.
Cheng Jin Nian gasped, his hands trembling from the cold or something else as he lifted a corner of the swaddling cloth. Inside was a small baby, its face already pale and bluish.
“Da Song! Da Song!” Cheng Jin Nian picked up the swaddling cloth, stood up quickly, and ran out.
This child was going to freeze to death!
[Author’s Note]
Cheng Jin Nian: !!! [Scared][Scared][Scared]
Cheng Song Song: Daddy finally found the baby! [Laughing out loud][Laughing out loud][Laughing out loud]
Chapter comments are open now. [Three-flowered cat head][Three-flowered cat head][Three-flowered cat head]