The train whistled loudly, pulling into Pengcheng station with a deafening roar. As soon as he stepped out of the carriage, a cold snowflake fell on Zhuang Rui's neck. The biting north wind made him tighten his coat as he grabbed his luggage and walked out of the station with his mother.
Nationally, Pengcheng train station was a fairly large transit hub—south to Zhonghai, north to the capital, west to Xi'an—almost all connections went through here. Even though it was past eleven at night, there were still many people waiting for trains in the temporary waiting halls set up in the spacious station square. The Spring Festival was only about ten days away, and despite the biting cold, the thought of soon going home to see their families brought happy smiles to everyone's faces.
Zhuang Rui's family owned two properties in this ancient city. One was the old family home, located at the foot of Yulong Mountain with beautiful scenery. It was the ancestral house, which had been requisitioned for a time during the ten years of turmoil before being returned later. However, Zhuang Rui only spent his childhood there; around the age of ten, he moved to another place to live.
The other residence was originally allocated by his mother's school. A few years ago, the state implemented housing reform, and previously allocated houses had to be bought out based on seniority converted into cash. This house was next to his mother's former school, not large—only 72 square meters with two bedrooms and a living room. But the location and floor were good, and it even had heating, making shopping and commuting very convenient. Zhuang Rui lived here until he graduated from high school. Last year, he spent over 30,000 yuan to buy it out. A few days ago, when Zhuang Rui heard his mother mention it, he learned that the property certificate had been obtained last month.
Zhuang Rui hailed a taxi and arrived home for just the base fare. After climbing to the second floor, he saw the lights on at home and knew his sister Zhuang Min was staying here tonight. Pushing open the door, a wave of warm air hit him. A little girl about two or three years old was hiding behind her sister, secretly watching Zhuang Rui, who was covered in snow.
"This little one has been calling for her uncle all day, but even though it's so late, she won't go to sleep. Now that her uncle is here, she's shy of strangers. Nannan, hurry up and call your uncle..." Zhuang Min said with a smile.
Seeing the two steaming bowls of noodles on the table, each topped with a poached egg, a wave of warmth surged in Zhuang Rui's heart. This was his home. After living and working in Zhonghai for over a year, he had been sick in a rental house with no one caring, and on hot days, could only cool off by taking cold showers repeatedly. Thinking of these things, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but shed tears. At that moment, he felt an impulse to quit his job in Zhonghai and come back here.
"Mom, uncle is crying, but Nannan doesn't cry anymore, uncle is so ashamed..." a childish voice rang out, making everyone in the room laugh.
Zhuang Rui lifted Nannan high up into the air, scaring the little girl so badly that she screamed, and as soon as he put her down, she hid in her grandma's arms, not daring to go near her uncle anymore. It wasn't until after dinner, when Zhuang Rui took out some White Rabbit creamy candy from Zhonghai, that the little girl became affectionate with her uncle again.
It was already past midnight by the time dinner was over. Zhuang Rui washed up and went back to his room. Everything was exactly the same as it had been a year ago. Lying in bed, looking at the familiar room, it was a long time before he finally fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, Zhuang Rui took his little niece to the park for the whole day. They rode the water plane, the merry-go-round, all of them, and it instantly made him her absolute favorite person in the world, bar none.
Today was Friday. In the evening, after work, his brother-in-law came over, bringing a lot of New Year's goods. It was only then that Zhuang Rui remembered he needed to stock up for the New Year too, but nowadays people usually went to the supermarket for their holiday shopping, so it was pretty convenient.
"Brother-in-law, how's the factory doing these days？"
After dinner, the family sat on the sofa watching TV and chatting. Little Nannan crawled all over everyone, and after being glared at by Zhuang Min, she snuggled into Zhuang Rui's arms.
"Same old story. The restructuring didn't help much. A thousand or so kuai a month — won't starve, but won't get rich either. I just feel bad that your sister has to go through this hardship with me..."
Zhuang Rui's brother-in-law Zhao Guodong was an honest man who worked at a subsidiary company within the railway system. Though he had excellent repair skills, in a state-owned enterprise, without bootlicking you could only scrape by on a fixed salary. These days, anyone with skill, capital, or connections had gone into business—the pain of enterprise reform was especially acute at the turn of the century.
'Nonsense again. Don't embarrass your brother-in-law.' Zhuang Min cut her husband off. Zhao Guodong gave a sheepish laugh and shut his mouth. By the looks of it, Zhuang Min knew how to handle her husband.
'By the way, Mom, last time you mentioned that Aunt Xie next door's apartment—is she selling it？ Let's buy it. We could let Sister live there or rent it out—that wouldn't be bad either.'
Zhuang Rui suddenly remembered a topic he'd touched on while chatting with his mother a few days ago. Over in Zhonghai, he knew that housing prices had skyrocketed over two years. Last year, a square meter still cost just over 3,000, but this year it was approaching 6,000. Word had it prices would keep rising after the New Year. Pengcheng might be in northern Jiangsu, but looking at the big picture, buying a few properties now was definitely a good investment.
Zhuang Rui wanted to buy the place for his sister. His brother-in-law had many brothers, so their housing was cramped. Since she was young, his sister had always been very good to him. He wanted to buy it so her family could move in, and since their mother was getting older, having his sister close by would also make it much easier to take care of her.
'Buying out this apartment cost me over 30,000 and drained all my savings. Where's the money to buy another house? Wait until you get married. Then we can sell this place, add some money, and get a bigger one.'
Even though Zhuang Rui's mother is older, she's not conservative. After retiring, she dances with a group of older ladies in the square near home, so she's quite well-informed. When they discussed this topic last time, Zhuang Rui suggested buying that house, and she was also interested. The house next door was originally allocated by work unit. Since the colleague has other properties elsewhere, they wanted to sell this one. The layout is the same as their own, and the price is just 10,000 more than they paid, so it's a reasonable purchase.
“I’ve got that hundred thousand anyway, Mom. Go ask about it tomorrow. If the deal’s good, let’s just buy it. After all, this is unearned money. Once we buy the house, we’ll give it to sis—call it Nannan’s dowry from me, haha…” Zhuang Rui encouraged from the side.
“Uncle, what’s a dowry？” The little girl, biting her finger while lying in Zhuang Rui's arms, asked in confusion.
“You’re a grown man now, but you still don’t have a serious bone in your body! That money can’t be touched—you earned it with your life. Keep it for getting yourself a wife…” Zhuang Min took her daughter into her arms and refused outright.
“Even if you don’t want the house, we should buy it anyway—just think of it as an investment. Sis, don’t worry about it. Mom and I will handle it…”
While still in Zhonghai, Zhuang Rui had already decided to leave that hundred thousand yuan for his family. He still had over 20,000 saved from last year’s salary. Even if he went back to Zhonghai after the new year and rented a better place, it would be enough—especially since after being promoted to pawnshop manager, his salary and benefits would be much higher than before.
“I think we should buy it too. Guo Dong treats me like his own son, so giving you both a house is nothing. Besides, when you got married, we didn’t give you much of a dowry. Consider this making up for it.”
After pondering for a while, Zhuang Rui's mother made the final decision. In recent years, while Zhuang Rui was studying and working away from home, his brother-in-law had been handling all the household matters big and small. Seeing that her son was considerate, she naturally wouldn't object.
"Alright, no need to say more. By the way, Guodong, tomorrow you and Xiao Rui go to the old house. It's going to be demolished soon — then we'll have another house. There are some things that need to be retrieved; I've already packed them up. You two rent a car and bring them straight back..."
Seeing that her son-in-law seemed about to decline, Zhuang Rui's mother changed the subject.
"The old house is going to be demolished？"
Zhuang Rui was hearing this from his mother for the first time. For a moment, it felt as if a five-flavor bottle had been overturned in his heart — sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and spiciness all came flooding in together.