In the blazing June sun, the sky was mercilessly bright.
With a loud pop, a single firecracker burst into the air, announcing the start of the festivities. Ning Jianguo picked up a stick of incense and lit the Mandihong firecrackers1满地红 (Man Di Hong): A traditional Chinese firecracker whose name means “full ground red,” referring to the red paper fragments that scatter when it goes off laid all the way from the street to his grocery shop’s door. The crackling went on endlessly. Meanwhile, two lions, one red and one yellow, danced and weaved through the crowd, swaying their heads and tails with graceful acrobatics.
“Oh wow, the newly moved-in Ning family really knows how to make a scene. Opening a convenience store and treating it like a grand banquet hall!”
“Mind your own business; the kid’s got talent. They even hired a band.”
“So over the top?”
Neighbors gathered in layers, craning their necks to watch as Grandma Ning pulled away the red cloth covering the 【Qingxia Convenience Store】 sign.
A band dressed in European-style military uniforms emerged from the alley. Leading them, waving a baton, was none other than Ning Jianguo’s apprentice, Xiao Sun.
Xiao Sun had taken leave from Huzhou to attend his master’s mother’s new shop opening.
Following him were familiar faces—trumpeters, drummers, and accordion players—men who had once helped Ning Jianguo move furniture from Jiande Lane to the Workers’ New Village back when they were still young.
On the way, Ning Jianguo’s apprentices reminisced about how Xiaobei had been just a little elementary school rabbit of a kid back then. Now, in the blink of an eye, he was already in 2nd year high school. By next year, after taking the exam, he’d be a college student. How quickly time flows!
After the shoe factory closed, most of the mold workshop workers had to fend for themselves. Only a few had connections or skills; the rest were living tightly. When Zhao Jingwen heard about it, he suggested forming an amateur band. They could play at store openings, relocations, and holiday promotions; keeping the brothers together while earning a little extra for their households.
Now that private businesses were booming, Shanghai saw countless new shops and companies opening every day, and the band’s business was doing quite well. If they played well and the owner was pleased, the red envelopes they received often exceeded their wages.
“Next, may we have Ms. Jian Qingxia, owner of 【Qingxia Convenience Store】, come forward for the ribbon-cutting!”
Zhao Jingwen held the microphone and gestured toward Grandma Ning standing at the shop entrance.
Today, Grandma Ning wore a vintage qipao custom-made at the 【Guoyun Qipao Shop.】 This qipao was a replica of the summer uniforms worn by female clerks at Shimai Department Store, once the most famous department store on Shanghai’s main street in the old days.
Despite her age, Grandma Ning kept her figure well. Her silver hair was flawless, and she wore a short-sleeved qipao, draped with a purple silk scarf over her shoulders, and a string of round, lustrous white pearls around her neck. She held a British-style walking stick in her left hand, stood with perfect posture, and wore a perfectly poised smile.
Xiao Mei and Xiao Su, two young women, stood beside her wearing matching deep-blue qipaos trimmed with silver. Each carried a golden tray, with one holding a large floral arrangement, the other a pair of golden scissors.
Amidst a roar of cheers, Grandma Ning lifted the scissors and snipped the red ribbons on either side of the floral ball…
“Great! 3, 2, 1, OK!”
Ning Xiaobei raised his camera and captured the moment.
Fan Xia, playing it seriously, carried a camcorder behind him, filming the scene.
The two of them were today’s little photographers and videographers, following Grandma Ning around from early morning, snapping away.
Even though it was the weekend, both were dressed in their Affiliated High School uniforms, just to add prestige to Grandma Ning. Sure enough, relatives, friends, and neighbors all admired the school badge embroidered on the left chest of their uniforms.
New neighbors, unaware of the family history, assumed both were Ning Jianguo’s sons and praised Grandma Ning for her good fortune: her grandsons were so bright, destined to make a fortune. Grandma Ning covered her mouth and smiled, neither confirming nor denying.
It wasn’t just the new neighbors, but many old neighbors from Jiande Lane, and even Aunt Wang’s family, had come to watch, clamoring for Grandma Ning to say a few words to anchor the ceremony.
Smiling, Grandma Ning took the microphone from Zhao Jingwen. When she spoke, her soft Suzhou-accented Mandarin amazed everyone, eliciting rounds of applause.
“I, Jian Qingxia, have spent my whole life behind a counter, from the old days at the Luo family’s Shimai Department Store to the new era’s Zhonghua Department Store. Now, I finally have my own shop. I want to thank society, thank the country—without the Shanghai municipal government’s relocation and housing allocation, this opportunity would never have come…”
“Boss, Grandma speaks so well!”
Fan Xia clapped his hands enthusiastically.
At over eighty years old, Grandma Ning’s eyesight and hearing were still good. Among Shanghai elders, very few could speak Mandarin fluently; most spoke plastic Mandarin, turning words like “soap2肥皂 (féi zào)” into “pi zao” or “blanket3被窝 (bèi wō)” into “bi toutong,” a source of endless amusement.
Not only could Grandma Ning speak proper Mandarin, she spoke clearly, logically, and politely, as if reading from a script. It’s truly admirable.
“Of course! What kind of person is grandma?”
Ning Xiaobei clicked the shutter nonstop, pride evident on his face.
It was wonderful, really wonderful.
In the real world, Grandma Ning had passed away at the end of 1999, yet now it was already 2002, and she was alive and vibrant.
Ning Xiaobei even fantasized that she might live to a hundred, all the way to 2021!
“Xiao Mei, the big cake I ordered has arrived. Please go pick it up at the street corner. Let Xiaobei help you carry it back.”
“Brother Jianguo, Xiaobei and Xiao Xia still need to take photos and videos for godmother. I’ll just go by myself. How heavy can a cake be?”
After saying that, Xiao Mei smiled and walked toward the street corner.
Her long, graceful qipao swayed beautifully in the breeze, drawing the eyes of all the young men and old men in the neighborhood, as if their gazes were glued to her.
“With this shop, I’ve finally fulfilled my youthful dream. Now, I only have one wish left…”
As Grandma Ning spoke, she glanced at Ning Jianguo, about to say that her son still hadn’t brought home a daughter-in-law, and that she had yet to drink the wedding tea.”
But then she caught sight of the daughters-in-law and granddaughters-in-law from the Song family among the old neighbors, and swallowed her words mid-sentence.
Just a month ago, Old Master Song, who had been their neighbor for a lifetime, had passed away. After holding out for nearly a year and fighting to secure an apartment for almost every one of his children and even grandchildren, he finally let go of life after exhausting his last bit of strength.
On the day of the funeral rites, Ning Xiaobei had also gone. Seeing the old man lying quietly in the coffin, who had his body shrunken to barely two-thirds of its former size, emaciated beyond recognition, he was deeply shocked.
As far as Xiaobei could remember, Old Master Song had always been a plump old man, smiling like a Maitreya Buddha. In summer, he wore British-style suspenders with shorts, a white shirt, and a bow tie. In winter, he wore a brown parka coat, styled his hair in a neat side part, and carried himself like Gregory Peck in 《Roman Holiday》—a dignified, refined Shanghai gentleman.
As the former young master of a well-known leather goods shop on Nanjing Road, although he had suffered during those turbulent years, his life had generally been comfortable. Who could have expected that in his old age, he would gamble away his life just to secure housing for his children?
On the day of the funeral, not all of his children were even present. It was said that they had long been arguing over the allocation of the new apartments and compensation money. Some who felt the distribution was unfair hadn’t shown up from that time all the way until his death.
When Ning Xiaobei helped Grandma Ning out of the crematorium, several of the children present actually started fighting over the old man’s ashes and portrait. The scene became so disgraceful that the staff called 110 on the spot. The old man’s body wasn’t even cold yet; who knows how much sorrow he must have felt, looking down from above.
“I just wish…”
Grandma Ning suddenly changed tone. Pointing at Ning Xiaobei standing right in front of her, she smiled and said, “I want to live a few more years, long enough to see my grandson get into university, then graduate, then start working… And most importantly, for the whole family to stay together; healthy and safe.”
“Well said!”
Ning Jianguo was deeply moved, clapping until his hands turned red.
“Wishing Grandma a long life of a hundred years!”
“No, at least a hundred and twenty!”
Fan Xia shouted excitedly.
“Nonsense. If I lived to a hundred and twenty, wouldn’t I turn into some old spirit?”
Grandma Ning propped her chin on her hand and smiled, full of charm. Everyone burst into laughter.
“Jianguo, are you happy?”
Zhao Jingwen clapped as he leaned down and spoke into Ning Jianguo’s ear.
“Happy. I’m so happy. I’ve never been this happy in my whole life.”
Ning Jianguo kept nodding; both for his mother and for himself.
That secret which had made him anxious and fearful for so many years had been resolved so easily that even he found it hard to believe.
In the end, it all came down to how kind these two kids were.
They were still so young, perhaps they didn’t fully understand what this relationship meant. But their love for the two of them allowed them to rise above worldly prejudice and choose to stand with their family.
Ning Jianguo felt that, like Grandma Ning, his life was already complete. Now, he only wished for peace and good health.
“From what your mother said, is she planning to let things go?”
Zhao Jingwen asked quietly. “Then we…”
“You’d better not push your luck. If you dare scare my mother, I’ll break your legs.”
Ning Jianguo spoke in a low voice, shooting him a sideways glance.
Zhao Jingwen gave an awkward laugh and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
There was no such thing as perfection in this world. What they had now was already complete and beautiful. A little imperfection wasn’t a bad thing.
“Dad, Uncle Zhao! Take a photo together!”
At that moment, Ning Xiaobei walked up to them, raising his camera with a smile.
“Sure, sure! I don’t even remember the last time I took a photo alone with your dad.”
Zhao Jingwen beamed with delight, wrapping an arm around Ning Jianguo’s shoulders and grinning at the camera.
They were both wearing suits tailored in Hong Kong on their last trip: one champagne gold with a black narrow lapel and the other a black double-breasted suit with patterned peak lapels. The styles were a bit flashy, so they rarely had the chance to wear them. Only on a festive day like this could they finally show them off.
Looking through the lens, Ning Xiaobei saw two middle-aged men, one strikingly handsome and the other gentle and refined. Even without looking at each other, the deep bond and affection between them was unmistakable.
Click.
Ning Xiaobei pressed the shutter and flashed them an “OK” sign.
If one day I could find a partner as wonderful as Dad’s, and walk through life hand in hand like this… I wonder how lucky I’d have to be…
“Boss, come eat cake!”
Xiao Mei had just brought back the 20-inch coffee chestnut cake Ning Jianguo ordered from 【Kaisiling.】 It carried the sweetness of cream, the fragrance of chestnuts, and a hint of cocoa bitterness. The crowd surged forward, eager to share in the joy. Fan Xia, quick-eyed and quick-handed, cut two slices and held them up high like an offering.
Across the crowd, through the falling bits of colorful confetti, Fan Xia squinted and smiled. There was a smear of coffee-colored cream at the corner of his mouth, like a big cat that had just snuck a bite.
Ning Xiaobei raised his camera and pressed the shutter once again.
After seeing off the guests, leaving Xiao Mei alone to mind the shop, Ning Xiaobei and the others helped the slightly tipsy Grandma Ning back to the room behind the store to rest.
Xiao Su brewed a pot of tea, and everyone sat around chatting.
“I heard Ding Kai and his wife are planning to withdraw their shares from the qipao shop?”
Wang Yihong opened with a bombshell.
“Yes. It’s said they’ve decided to stay in Japan. But didn’t they overstay illegally for a while before? Although it’s been five years now and they’re off the blacklist, immigrating still won’t be easy. They’ll probably try to get permanent residency in Japan first, and only later consider naturalization.”
Zhao Jingwen said.
Ning Xiaobei and Fan Xia exchanged a glance, their expressions darkening.
Ding Zheyang had taken several days off school recently, and they hadn’t realized things had already progressed this far.
“Why do they have to become Japanese? They have a business in China and they can make money here too.”
Fan Xia couldn’t help asking.
“In this day and age, who wouldn’t go abroad if they could? Not to mention, remember that big sister who used to run a stall with me on Xiangyang Road? The one they called the Shanghai fashion godmother or goddess? She’s already in her fifties, and earlier this year she still went to Australia to grind and rebuild her life. Many of my customers, whether professors or PhDs, all respectable people, would rather wash dishes in Chinatown in the U.S. than stay here teaching.”
Zhao Jingwen sighed.
“After all, even though we’ve developed, we still can’t compare to foreign countries.”
Ning Xiaobei understood. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a wave of going abroad swept the entire country. Whether government workers, businesspeople, actors, or ordinary people, even domestic helpers dreamed of stepping out of the country and changing their fate.
It wasn’t strange for Ding Zheyang’s parents to make this choice; after all, in the real world, they had made the same decision… But their choice would affect his father.
“Uncle, is there any way to stop them from going abroad?”
He couldn’t help asking.
“A way? They’re even preparing to sell the house, what way could there be?”
Zhao Jingwen shook his head. “If Yangyang’s grandmother were still alive, his father might have stayed for her sake. But she passed away at the beginning of last year. And since his father is an only child, now he’s completely free of ties.”
As for Yangyang’s maternal grandparents’ side, that was another story.
Ever since they learned their younger sister had made money, Ding Zheyang’s uncles and aunts had been showing up constantly to freeload. Not just the travel agency, even the qipao shop had been harassed by them. They took several qipaos without paying, saying they’d put it on their sister’s tab—their shamelessness was thicker than a wall.
What was even more chilling was that when the grandparents’ old place finally got slated for demolition and relocation, those uncles and aunts didn’t just refuse to share the new housing, they didn’t even plan to give their own sister a single cent. They even said that their apartment in Huangpu District was large enough, so the elderly parents could live with them instead of moving into suburban relocation housing. In reality, they wanted to dump the responsibility of caring for the old couple onto Ding Zheyang’s parents, and even demanded compensation for the filial duties they hadn’t fulfilled over the past decade.
They completely forgot how much money the couple had sent them every year to support the household; enough, in just a couple of years, to buy a decent second-hand apartment in Shanghai.
With relatives like that, immigrating to Japan already felt too close; one might as well run all the way to the United States.
“So… there’s really nothing that can be done?”
At that moment, Ning Xiaobei wished he had a golden finger, so he could just wave his hand and turn everything around.
How come when other people transmigrate, they get systems and overpowered abilities as bonuses; but when he transmigrated, he got nothing and had to figure everything out on his own? Why was the treatment so different?
“It’s not like there’s no way.”
Grandma Ning came out after changing out of her qipao into her usual coarse cloth blouse. Her cheeks were flushed, still carrying a hint of alcohol.
“Grandma, what way do you have?”
Ning Xiaobei quickly stood up to help her sit down.
Now was the time to hear the wisdom of the elder!
“In this world, no parents can truly out-stubborn their children.”
As she spoke, Grandma Ning cast a sideways glance at Ning Jianguo.
Ning Jianguo gave an awkward chuckle and scratched the back of his head.
“As long as Yangyang refuses to go, his parents will definitely give in.”
………………
Author’s Note:
The next few chapters will be more heart-wrenching, so let’s enjoy the happiness for now~~
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