The door of the courtyard house has been welded dead

In December, the capital city was shrouded in a layer of leaden gray clouds. The northwest wind was like a dull knife, scraping against the gray brick walls of Nanluoguxiang and making people's necks ache.

Before the icicles hanging under the eaves had completely melted, the aroma of roasted melon seeds wafted through the alley, and the cries of vendors broke through the chill.

"Bang—Fried rice popcorn!" With this long shout, the lively atmosphere of Nanluoguxiang officially began.

A young man in a blue cotton-padded jacket set up a cast iron pressure cooker, the handle wrapped with faded black cloth strips.

Behind him were three large straw cushions stacked together, with a bulging coarse cloth bag on top, from which golden grains of rice occasionally spilled out, attracting sparrows passing by to flutter and hop.

As the young man added firewood to the stove, the flames crackled and leaped up, casting a reddish glow on his dark face. He also pedaled the rusty bellows, the rhythmic whooshing of the bellows matching the frequency of his wrist rotation, making the round pot spin rapidly.

"Come quick! It's about to go off!"

Several children with pigtails clutched enamel mugs, their faces red from the cold and snotty from their noses, yet they stood guard three meters away from the iron pot.

Their cotton-padded jackets had frayed cuffs, patches upon patches, and some even had crooked embroidery of the words "advanced individual."

With a muffled thunderous roar, white mist carrying popcorn gushed out, condensing into tiny ice crystals in the sub-zero air.

The children screamed and rushed into the cloud of popcorn, squatting on the bluestone slabs to pick up the scattered popcorn, not caring about the dust, stuffing it into their mouths and chewing loudly.

A long queue had formed in front of the supply and marketing cooperative in the alley not far away. Enamel basins and thermos bottles were displayed in the glass window, and two rows of enamel mugs with magpies on plum blossoms were placed in the most conspicuous position.

The man in the military overcoat wrapped his scarf tightly around himself, hunched his neck, and stamped his feet.

The old lady wearing a woolen hat took out crumpled grain coupons and sugar coupons from her blue cloth bundle, counting them and muttering to herself.

"Give me two pounds of high-gluten flour, so I can make steamed buns tomorrow, and half a pound of fruit candy too."

The saleswoman behind the counter was a girl with a long, slicked-back braid, wearing arm sleeves, and a Shanghai brand watch on her wrist that gleamed silver. She was calculating with an abacus while shouting at the top of her lungs.

"Next! Tofu buyer, move to the east side, don't block the entrance!"

In the open space at the entrance of the alley, three girls with red hair ties were playing shuttlecock with great enthusiasm.

They wore faded blue cotton blouses, revealing patched-up undershirts underneath, and cotton shoes with thick soles sewn by their mothers.

The shuttlecock is made of copper coins and colorful chicken feathers, and it flutters in the air like a butterfly.

"one two Three……"

With the crisp counting sounds, the girls sometimes stood on one leg like golden roosters, sometimes leaped into the air with their feet, their bangs stuck to their faces with sweat, and they smiled, revealing their gap-toothed mouths.

The older folks passing by couldn't help but shake their heads.

"You crazy girl, be careful you don't kick your cotton-padded underpants to rip!"

The jump rope team was even more spectacular, with seven or eight girls stretching two red rubber bands into a triangle.

The girl in the lead had her hair in crooked braids, biting her lip, staring at the rubber band, and singing a nursery rhyme.

"Little ball, kick it with your foot, the Malan flower blooms at twenty-one..."

She nimbly hopped and jumped, from ankle height to knee height, then to waist height, neck height, and finally, on tiptoe, she held the rubber band above her head.

The girls watching nearby clapped along, their eyes flashing with envy as they watched the rubber band grow ever taller.

Upon returning from the military, Li Nan felt relaxed as he looked at the familiar alley and surroundings.

Embarrassingly, she couldn't recognize any of the children after spending so much time outside, despite their curious gazes.

Smiling, Li Nan nodded to the children who were staring at her belly, touched her slightly protruding stomach, and continued walking briskly.

Yes, she's pregnant and on maternity leave.

They got married last spring, but there was no news for a while. However, in June, Liu Feng went back to the cultural troupe, and that's when they started having children.

As a veteran who has served for more than ten years and was a member of the cultural troupe, it is normal for me to get married and have children as I get older. However, I definitely cannot do strenuous activities like dancing while pregnant.

When she returns from her maternity leave to prepare for childbirth and celebrate the Chinese New Year, the leaders of the troupe can finally relax and have peace of mind.

An elderly man in a Zhongshan suit, pushing a bicycle with two bundles of cabbages strapped to the back, stopped immediately when he saw Li Nan walking towards him. "Oh, isn't this Xiao Nan? It's been months, haven't you told your family you were coming home today? I see your mom is still making dumplings~?"

"Uncle Zhao, I'm almost seven months pregnant. I came back on maternity leave, and I was in such a hurry that I didn't call my mom to tell her!"

Grandpa Zhao, still in good health, quickly moved his bicycle. Several families were in the front yard, and having watched Li Nan grow up since childhood, he immediately shooed the children who were playing jump rope aside.

"You've had a tough time all these years out there!"

...and there was more than one person returning home.

In the southern part of Hongxing Residential Area, Anjie, carrying a basket after buying groceries, hurried back from outside the residential area and bumped directly into the old lady living in apartment 302 upstairs.

"Anjie, you've had a tough year, and your husband hasn't come back for two years. The New Year is almost here, and he hasn't even sent a letter?"

The old lady was holding a paper bag in her arms. She recognized Anjie, who was wrapped up tightly in a scarf, and the two walked side by side toward Building 15.

Looking at the gray sky between the buildings, An Jie felt a similar gray mood. She could usually hold on to her feelings during casual conversations, but when it came to Jiang Defu, whom she hadn't seen for two years, her heart ached.

The scene of seeing Jiang Defu off at the train station in 1977 suddenly became clear to me. He still had the frostbite cream she had stuffed into his military overcoat pocket. With the New Year approaching, it would be better for Jiang Defu, who was going back to the Navy, to continue working at the factory. Now there was no one he could even contact.

"As family members of military personnel, we can only understand, right, Aunt Zhang? Anyway, the kids are all grown up now, so let's just have a lively celebration and that'll be over. What did you buy?"

Wiping his nose, Anjie suppressed the bitterness in his heart and pretended that it was nothing serious as he chatted with the old lady.

"The supply and marketing cooperative just got some rock sugar. We're going to make pear soup for the child. He has a sore throat and is prone to coughing in winter. Here, let me grab a handful for him to sweeten his mouth."

The two chatted back and forth, their breaths swirling in the air. As a military dependent, only An Jie knew the bitterness in her heart.

As the sun began to set, the area in front of the Hongxing residential compound became even more bustling.

A young man carrying a shoulder pole selling candied hawthorns shouted, "Hey—candied hawthorns! Big, sweet red berries!"

The candied hawthorns skewered on bamboo sticks are coated with a glistening sugar coating, shimmering with an amber light in the setting sun.

The iron wok at the cooperative selling roasted chestnuts was bubbling away, releasing a fragrant aroma mixed with the sweet scent of sugar frosting.

Several children wearing red scarves clutched five cents, gazing longingly at the stall, as their parents pulled them by the arms and led them home, turning back every few steps.

Smoke from cooking in each household rose from outside the kitchen, mingling with the smell of burning coal, casting a hazy veil over the neighborhood.

When the time came, parents called their children home for dinner in droves.

"Xiaokang, come back quickly, dinner's ready!"

"Xiaofang, wash your hands before serving!"

A vibrant sense of life washes over you.

Jiang Defu, walking through the gate of the residential area, still found it hard to believe. In the past ten years, it had never been so lively. There were vendors selling handwritten Spring Festival couplets, firecrackers, and books on tricycles, all set up more than a hundred meters outside the gate.

I vaguely recall leaving in a hurry in 1977. At the entrance of the community, even the vegetable stalls and the fried dough stick stalls that were open during the day were no longer allowed to set up after get off work. In the blink of an eye, two years have passed, and there are even more people than before.

The sycamore saplings at the entrance of the building have grown to the thickness of a bowl, and the windows of the neighboring apartment 101 are covered with a thick layer of dust.

"dad!"

A sudden shout rang out, and Jiang Defu, wearing a military overcoat, slowly turned around.

Twenty-year-old Jiang Weiguo rushed out of the stairwell, not even noticing that his scarf had fallen to the ground.

Looking at his father's back, he recognized him. There was no one else around. The young man, whom he hadn't seen for two years, stood at the door, staring blankly at his father's face.

"Wei Guo, you've grown taller again!"

"Mom, Dad's home!"

Upon hearing the noise outside the door, room 102 immediately descended into chaos. (End of Chapter)