Chapter 37: An Ordinary Little Courtyard?

Old Man Jiang looked at me like that and laughed as he scolded, “You damn kid, you are really rustic.” But his eyes were full of affection. Of course, while scolding me, he reached out and patted my head again, and as usual I got a string of goosebumps.

But I did not ask him what we were going to do in town.

The car was fast. A paved road that normally took over an hour to walk only took a few minutes by car.

Those few minutes in the car were priceless to me, and I reluctantly got off.

The town was still lively, with small restaurants, a supply and marketing cooperative, a park, and even a cinema. Of course, there were also little pushcarts selling snacks.

I was very tempted, but I did not dare ask my cheap master. Looking at him, he did not seem to have money anyway.

Unexpectedly, my cheap master actually bought me a bag of roasted peanuts, and I also had orange soda for the first time. I drank it with great care. The shop owner waiting for me to return the bottle probably grew impatient enough to want to snatch it back from me.

After finishing the soda, I peeled the roasted peanuts in my pocket and obediently let Old Man Jiang lead me along. My cheap master was quite generous, and I found myself starting to like him a bit. With snacks filling my mouth, I did not bother asking where he was taking me.

After walking in town for a few minutes, Old Man Jiang led me into a rather secluded alley. There were many small courtyards with their own gates here. He pulled me straight to the entrance of one courtyard that looked like an office.

In those days, there were many such offices. Some were so called United Front offices, some were various unnamed offices. By 1974, these temporary command centers had become much fewer, but they still existed. In any case, this courtyard looked completely unremarkable.

Old Man Jiang knocked on the door loudly. After a while, a lazy voice sounded, “Who is it?” Then a young man in an ordinary military uniform came to open the door.

“Who are you?” the man was not very friendly, but not particularly fierce either.

Old Man Jiang casually pulled a dirty object from his pocket and handed it over. From my guess, it looked like a kind of household registration booklet without its cover, already dirtied by him.

The man took it with some distaste and examined it carefully. His expression changed immediately. He was about to salute Old Man Jiang, but Old Man Jiang grabbed his arm at once and said, “No need for that. I do not like it. Unless absolutely necessary, I would rather live as a free and unrestrained wanderer.”

Then he led me into the courtyard.

Inside, the courtyard was relaxed and idle. Two people were drinking tea, and several others were playing cards. None of them looked like soldiers, yet they were all wearing military uniforms. I could not really understand it, I only felt that everything here was strange and magical.

Old Man Jiang ignored them and led me straight toward a room. Those people continued doing what they were doing, ignoring him.

Only after the young man who opened the door said a few words to them did their lazy expressions turn serious. When they looked at Old Man Jiang again, their eyes carried something like admiration.

They hesitated and discussed a few words. Then a middle aged man walked over quickly and said very respectfully, “Master Jiang, what can we help you with?”

“Not for now. I need to use the phone,” Old Man Jiang said calmly, neither arrogant nor as sleazy as usual.

The man did not waste words. He followed Old Man Jiang into the office, took out a key, and unlocked the phone cabinet.

Old Man Jiang picked up the phone directly and started dialing. Then came a series of connections.

I sat in the office, eating roasted peanuts with great enjoyment, too lazy to care what my cheap master was saying.

But after a while, one of his sentences caught my attention.

“Yes, I need Yu Xiaohong’s Eight Characters. The more detailed, the better.”

What is he asking Yu Xiaohong’s Eight Characters for? Who was on the other end of the phone? What kind of place was this anyway?

I spat a peanut shell on the ground, squatted on the chair, held my head in my hands, and actually started thinking about it.

But that damn Old Man Jiang noticed me even while he was speaking seriously on the phone. Seeing my posture, he shouted, “No one is allowed to sweep up his peanut shells! What kind of behavior is that! You will sweep them yourself later!”

That shout startled the person who was about to sweep the floor so badly his hand shook. Then he shoved the broom into my hands with a sympathetic look and left.

So obedient! What kind of people were these! I am only seven years old, and you want me to sweep peanut shells?

Fuming, but not daring to resist, I went down and started sweeping. I felt deeply that my cheap master buying me peanuts was just a trap. But now the peanuts were gone anyway, so I swept while pricking up my ears to listen to what he was saying.

“You can access population records at any time. Is that difficult?”

“Heh, you inherited those two lineages and still do not have this level of reverse deduction ability? I want the exact Eight Characters!”

“Enough, stop circling me. I owe you a favor. Also, I want Yu Xiaohong’s photo. Send it by fax.”

“No more nonsense. I am hanging up.”

Old Man Jiang really had a temper. He hung up with a loud click.

I had just finished sweeping the floor and looked at him eagerly, not knowing what we were going to do next.

There was another person in the office at this time, the one who had opened the door. He came in holding a cup of tea and clearly heard Old Man Jiang’s rude tone. For some reason, he looked terrified.

“Master Jiang, you need to use the fax machine?” the man asked carefully after placing the tea down.

“Yes. I will come back in an hour. I still need to use the phone again, and the fax machine as well,” Old Man Jiang nodded, casually taking a sip of tea before leading me out of the courtyard.

From beginning to end, I still did not know what my cheap master was trying to do, and I had no idea what a fax machine was.

An hour felt very boring to me. As soon as we left, Old Man Jiang bought me another bag of roasted peanuts and a bag of roasted sunflower seeds, then took me to the busiest street in town and sat under a tree, not moving.

He smiled and looked around, while I squatted beside him cracking peanuts. After peanuts, I cracked sunflower seeds.

Half an hour later, I could not hold back anymore and asked, “Master, what are you looking at?”

“Heh, look over there. That girl pushing a bicycle with two braids, is she pretty?” Old Man Jiang pointed at a young woman with great interest.

“I do not know,” I spat out two sunflower seed shells and answered directly. In my seven year old eyes, a young woman was definitely not as interesting as a toy gun, or even a green military cap.

“Forget it, telling you is useless,” Old Man Jiang ignored me and continued looking around happily under the tree.

I had no choice but to squat there bored beside him.

Fortunately, an hour was not too long. When it was almost time, Old Man Jiang stood up, let out a satisfied breath, stretched, and led me back to the courtyard.

As soon as we entered the office, someone came over and handed Old Man Jiang two slips of paper, saying respectfully, “Master Jiang, we just received…”

Old Man Jiang coughed and interrupted him, then asked directly, “He called, right? So this is what I wanted?”

“Yes,” the man quickly replied.

“Good. I am leaving,” he said, not waiting for a response. He turned and left with me.

After walking a few steps, he turned back again. “It is almost five. Arrange a vehicle and send us to the entrance of XX village.”

“Yes!” the man answered loudly at once, as if he knew Old Man Jiang disliked nonsense, or perhaps because he was somewhat restrained in front of me.

I was excited. Very excited. Extremely excited.