This Tongzilou was originally built for foreign experts, so neither the rooms nor the living room are cramped—it’s quite spacious! In the Qiao family’s living room, a borrowed large round table was set up, and eleven adults plus two children just managed to fit around it.
Today was a birthday celebration, and the star of the show was naturally Qiao Jiajia. So, the first thing every guest said upon seeing Qiao Jiajia was a compliment—some praised her for being pretty, others for being clever, with no two compliments alike.
Qiao Zhufang and He Yingying were naturally delighted to hear their precious child being praised. They enthusiastically held Qiao Jiajia to introduce her to everyone, and Qiao Jiajia, for her part, was very cooperative. She called people “uncle” or “grandpa” as appropriate, showing no signs of shyness at all. This surprised the guests, as most young children tend to be shy around strangers, let alone greet them so obediently like Qiao Jiajia did.
“You really know how to raise a child. She speaks so fluently and isn’t shy at all. Not like my kid—if they don’t cry or fuss when they see a stranger, that’s already good enough. There’s no way they’d greet people so sweetly.”
Most of the guests present had children of their own, so they knew how rambunctious one- or two-year-olds could be. As a result, their fondness for this well-behaved little girl, Qiao Jiajia, soared.
As mentioned earlier, the Qiao family had only invited close friends and relatives, all of whom were well aware of how much the Qiaos cherished this child. So, no one said anything to dampen the mood, and everyone took a genuine liking to the little girl.
Even though the Qiao family had said that guests didn’t need to bring red envelopes, who would really show up empty-handed?
Although, in the end, they followed the Qiaos’ request and didn’t give red envelopes to the little girl, they certainly didn’t come empty-handed.
Qiao Qiusheng’s old friend, Sheng Heyu, had gone through the turbulent war years together with him. Their situations were quite similar—both had come from the countryside to the city to make a living. Qiao Qiusheng worked as an apprentice in a factory, while Sheng Heyu did odd jobs in hospital logistics. When the enemy invaded the city, they even hid in air-raid shelters together and had saved each other’s lives. Their bond was truly one forged through life and death.
Sheng Heyu worked in hospital logistics and was, by now, a department head. While milk powder was hard to come by for most people, it was relatively easy for him to obtain. This time, he brought two cans of milk powder.
Qiao Qiusheng didn’t stand on ceremony with his old friend and accepted the two cans of milk powder without hesitation. Given their relationship, such things were hardly worth fussing over.
The remaining guests were all close friends of Qiao Heping and He Yingying. Three of them were Qiao Heping’s sworn brothers, and they had coordinated to buy Malted Milk Powder, high-end biscuits, and canned goods—all things a child could enjoy, since everyone knew who the guest of honor was.
There was also a female comrade who was particularly close to He Yingying. She had declared herself Qiao Jiajia’s godmother and brought a brand-new dress as a gift. The style was quite novel, resembling the later trend of “fake two-piece” outfits—a white shirt and a floral-print pinafore dress sewn together, which was considered very fashionable for the time.
He Yingying said with a smile, “It seems Jiajia won’t be short of little dresses this summer. We made her two sets when summer first began, then another two before her birthday. Now, with this set from her godmother, she already has five new dresses.”
Shu Meilan, the female comrade, also smiled and said, “Jiajia looks perfect in dresses. See how lovely she looks wearing one now! Thinking about how pretty Jiajia would look in it gave me so much motivation while making it. Otherwise, I’d really be too lazy to make any nice clothes at home. Let me tell you, I’m truly fed up with my two naughty boys. They kept clamoring for new clothes, so as soon as summer started, I made each of them a brand-new white shirt—fresh and crisp. But they went out wearing them, and in less than half a day, they came back looking like mud monkeys, their white shirts utterly filthy. I was so angry I declared I’d never make them white shirts again—they can just wear black from now on. In the future, if I make pretty clothes, I’ll make them for Jiajia. If you buy new fabric, come find me, and we can work on patterns together. I have lots of fabric samples, you know. My mother used to be an embroiderer, and I got them all from her—”
In these times, over ninety percent of female comrades knew how to make clothes. After all, most people had come from an era of patching and mending, and even now, life was hard without some sewing skills. The less one had of something, the more one cherished it. For Shu Meilan, after giving birth to two sons, she dreamed of having a daughter and adored her good friend’s little girl even more. Especially since the child was so beautiful—Shu Meilan couldn’t get enough of her, her eyes lingering on the girl, unwilling to look away.
“Of course, that sounds wonderful! I’ll definitely come find you then, and you can teach me more!”
As soon as Shu Meilan finished speaking, He Yingying eagerly agreed. Now that she had a daughter, she loved making clothes, especially little dresses. She wished she could exchange all her wages for cloth coupons and make ten or eight different outfits for her daughter in one go. But back when she lived at home, her family was poor, and fabric was scarce. Most of her sewing experience came from helping her mother patch, mend, and alter clothes. Opportunities to make a complete garment from scratch were rare, so her sewing skills couldn’t really be called good. Now, having the chance to learn more from Shu Meilan was exactly what she wanted! Of course, the key was that Shu Meilan had a sewing machine at home, making the process much easier and faster.
In this era, there was no custom of “no talking during meals or before sleep.” Everyone was used to chatting at the dinner table. However, Qiao Zhufang couldn’t let everyone just talk and forget to eat. She urged, “Don’t just chat, everyone—eat more of the dishes. This beef stir-fried with green peppers is especially delicious.”
Since last year, grain coupons, cloth coupons, and oil coupons had been introduced, with monthly rations. However, meat still didn’t require coupons. Plus, with so many people today, Qiao Qiusheng bought four jin each of beef and pork from the state-run meat shop when he went. That was more than enough for eleven adults, not to mention the several plates of vegetable dishes!
At this time, pork was only fifty-five cents per jin, and beef was even cheaper at fifty-three cents per jin. As for vegetables, they mostly cost two or three cents. Qiao Qiusheng and Qiao Heping, father and son, went out early in the morning and bought four jin of pork, four jin of beef, and a large pile of vegetables, spending less than five yuan in total.
Although there were only six dishes on the table, each portion was absolutely generous and piled high. That’s why Qiao Zhufang urged everyone to eat quickly—otherwise, leftovers wouldn’t keep long in such hot weather and could spoil by evening.
Braised pork with bean starch sheets, stir-fried beef with green peppers, and a dish of red-braised pork—the aroma was truly enticing. Unfortunately, none of these had anything to do with Qiao Jiajia, the birthday girl. She could only look but not eat.
She had just turned one, and her teeth were only starting to come in. With such large pieces of beef and pork, her tiny teeth certainly couldn’t chew them. Moreover, the dishes were heavy on oil and salt, so the adults in the family didn’t dare let her eat them, fearing it would upset her stomach. Her meal was specially prepared separately by her grandfather, Qiao Qiusheng.
However, Qiao Jiajia’s appetite wasn’t large, and she had already drunk milk in the morning, so she finished eating in no time, leaving a little leftover in her bowl.
The Qiao family raised their children with great care, never forcing them to eat more once they were full. Seeing that Qiao Jiajia was done, Qiao Heping naturally took away his daughter’s small bowl and finished the leftovers without any hesitation.
As the only other child at the table, He Rourou was just four years old. Although she also wanted to eat more, her stomach wouldn’t allow it, and she soon finished her meal as well.
Seeing this, He Yingying took the opportunity to carry her daughter and niece to the sofa, letting the two little ones play together there, which was more comfortable than sitting on chairs.
The sofa was right next to the table, so the two children were practically under the adults’ watchful eyes. The adults could reach them with a stretch of their arms, and there was no need to worry about Qiao Jiajia being too small and falling off the sofa.
Qiao Jiajia was no stranger to her cousin He Rourou and even knew her name! When she had visited her maternal grandparents’ home before, she was still too young and spent most of her time sleeping. With so many older male cousins there and her stay being too short, she couldn’t tell which name belonged to whom. However, she remembered her cousin’s name—after all, as the only girl among the six grandchildren, it was easy to remember.
He Rourou was the youngest among the He family’s grandchildren and the only girl. Following the “Cheng” generation name used by her older brothers and male cousins didn’t sound quite right, so her grandmother, Mother He, simply gave her a repeated-character name, just like her aunt He Yingying.
Although Qiao Jiajia remembered her cousin’s name, she certainly wasn’t very familiar with her. She had only been to her maternal grandparents’ home twice and wasn’t even very familiar with her grandmother and grandfather, let alone this cousin.
Besides, at just one year old and only beginning to learn to speak, she couldn’t possibly chat with this cousin who was three years older. So, Qiao Jiajia quite contentedly played with her building blocks by herself.
Toys were scarce in this era, especially for a one-year-old like her who couldn’t even read books yet. There were pitifully few things to pass the time with. Although she found building blocks boring, Qiao Jiajia still played with them to kill time, and after a while, they became quite fun. In her previous life as an orphan, she had no toys to speak of in the orphanage as a child.
As for her little cousin, who was only three years older than her, Qiao Jiajia was quite considerate. She pushed her Matryoshka doll over with her small hands for her cousin to play with.
Both the Matryoshka doll and the building blocks were gifts her grandfather had brought back from a business trip to Shanghai. The department stores there had a much wider variety of goods than those in their provincial capital, and these two toys were even imported!
He Rourou was actually quite lively by nature. Now that only her aunt and cousin were around, she wasn’t as reserved as she had been when she first entered with her grandparents. She picked up the Matryoshka doll with great curiosity.
He Rourou had never seen such a toy before—it was so exquisite! She was afraid of dropping and breaking it, so she hesitated to play with it.
He Yingying had been watching her daughter and niece all along. She smiled and said, “It’s alright, Rourou. Play with it freely. This Matryoshka doll is made of wood and won’t break if dropped.”
Only after hearing her aunt’s words did He Rourou dare to play with it freely.
As she played, He Rourou began to feel a bit envious of her cousin Jiajia. She had so many rare toys and even got to celebrate her birthday. At just four years old, the simplest thought that popped into He Rourou’s mind was: “If only I were also Auntie’s child.”
Naturally, Qiao Jiajia had no idea what her little cousin He Rourou was thinking, nor did she know that she hadn’t simply traveled through time—she had transmigrated into a book.
The daughter of the He Family Village brigade leader was the female lead, while her cousin was the Cannon Fodder supporting female character. The male lead, of course, was the educated youth who would be sent down to the countryside over a decade later.
Of course, even if Qiao Jiajia didn’t know any of this, it didn’t matter. After all, the events in the book were still over ten years away. Besides, her family was merely part of the book’s background, not even mentioned by name and completely unrelated to the plot.
Author’s Note:
Updated! Goodnight, everyone~