Year 1983: I was a carpenter in Northeast China

Chapter 139 Calm Down

When Xu Bei heard that there were two people, his heart skipped a beat.

For a moment, I couldn't help but think of Old Scar, the man I had fought with, and his buddy.

He secretly wondered if they were still harboring ill intentions and wanted to seek revenge, and had somehow managed to find out his background by chance.

There are no secrets in the world; it's possible that a little clue might be leaked without anyone knowing.

Moreover, the city is not far from their Beishan Forestry Bureau.

Despite his inner turmoil, Xu Bei maintained a calm expression and asked, "Sister Liu, were those two people male or female? How old were they? What did they look like?"

Zhao Fengying and Xu Juan, also quite curious, followed up with questions, "How long have they been gone?" and "What have they been asking about?"

Faced with a barrage of questions from the mother and her two children, Sister Liu couldn't help but smile, and then answered them quickly.

"They just left a little while ago, right after you. If you had come five minutes earlier, you might have run into them."

I don't know if I'll be able to come back and check again later. They looked to me quite young, maybe around twenty-seven or twenty-eight. They were a couple, and they were dressed quite well.

They asked if there was someone named Xu Bei in your shop, and I said yes, that's the name of the family's son.

Listening to Sister Liu's description, Xu Bei secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He had a rough idea. Maybe it was the couple he had helped on the train who were traveling to the capital to visit relatives with their child. Otherwise, he couldn't imagine that some young man and woman would come to the shop looking for him together.

Zhao Fengying and Xu Juan, however, were unaware of what was going on.

But just by looking at Xu Bei's expression, you could tell he had a plan.

"Son, do you know who these two people are who are looking for you?"

Although Xu Juan didn't ask aloud like Zhao Fengying, she also looked at her brother with her eyes.

Sister Liu looked at Xu Bei curiously and added, "They were also carrying net bags. I saw that there were pastries, cigarettes, and alcohol inside."

Xu Bei became increasingly certain that it must be the couple surnamed Wei.

However, I don't want to publicize the incident of catching a thief on the train too much, so that everyone knows about it and it will bring me unnecessary trouble.

"I suspect they know each other, but we'll only know for sure if they do or not if they come looking for us again."

Sister Liu nodded with a smile, "Yes, yes. We still need to see the person first."

"Yeah, otherwise we might guess wrong." Xu Bei then changed the subject with a smile, "It's quite cold outside, so let's not talk outside. Let's wait until the house is warm before we visit each other and have a good chat."

Zhao Fengying knows her son best and guessed that he didn't want to talk much in front of outsiders, so she cooperated and said, "Yes, sister, we just arrived. We'll light the stove in a bit to let the smell of the shop dissipate, and then you can come over quickly. It's been several days since we last saw each other, and there's so much we want to chat about."

Sister Liu immediately smiled and chimed in, "Okay, okay. I also have a lot to say, especially since we were so busy before the New Year, working day and night, we didn't even have time to sit down and chat properly."

After saying goodbye to Sister Liu, the mother and her two children crossed two shops and arrived at their own door.

The shop door and wooden gate still have the couplets, money, and the character "福" (fortune) that were pasted up in advance on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month. They are still bright red and very new, and there are no signs of damage.

When the shop door was opened, the house, which had been empty for several days without being heated, was filled with a chill and an unpleasant smell.

Xu Bei didn't go in with his mother and sister. Instead, he unlocked the wooden gate and started removing them one by one, standing by the window.

With the window no longer obstructed, the room immediately regained its brightness, and some sunlight eagerly shone in.

And after you put the keys and things on the counter, you can see some dust particles bobbing in the air.

"It's only been a few days since I last came, and everything is covered in a layer of dust."

"That's normal. Don't rush to tidy up. Let's warm up the house first. Just leave the door open for now."

As Xu Bei spoke, he walked toward the stove.

Xu Juan walked to the door and opened the shop door even wider. "We definitely have to leave it open for a while, the smell isn't good."

Zhao Fengying wasn't idle either; while lighting the stove in the small heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed), she began her probing questions.

The shop is now staffed entirely by family members. Even though the door is closed, as long as the noise isn't too loud, Sister Liu, who lives two houses away, won't hear it.

So, Xu Bei briefly and succinctly explained his speculations and their origins.

"I reckon it was the couple who came looking for us."

Hearing this, Zhao Fengying felt a wave of fear and immediately went over to the stove and punched him twice in anger.

"You little brat, you're really audacious! There was a thief on the train with a knife, and everyone else didn't rush in, but you're the only one who dared to do it!"

What if it pricks or injures you? There's no going back then! No wonder you haven't dared to say a word to us for so long since you got the goods. If you had said something sooner, I would have scolded you already!

Xu Bei was naturally thick-skinned and tough, and since he was still wearing his coat, he didn't feel any pain when his mother hit him hard; he just treated it as a massage.

"Mom, calm down, calm down. I'm perfectly fine, aren't I? You don't know what happened. If I hadn't helped, they would have taken their share, and then it would have been my turn. I had money in my pocket for buying goods, and some of it was borrowed from our boss. Without it, the shop would have gone out of business. And they had a baby who wasn't even a year old—"

After hearing this, Zhao Fengying wasn't so angry anymore. She couldn't help but sigh and say, "That's true. What if they force you to hand over your money at knifepoint? You'll lose the money for the goods and the money you borrowed. That would be really difficult."

And if you refuse because of money, you can't get hurt—also, those two have a child with them; it's not easy being away from home, so this is even more difficult.”

Xu Juan was also quite frightened and sympathetic. "Yes, Mom, please don't scold my brother. He caught the thief to protect our money!"

As the firewood in the stove and the hearth under the kang (heated brick bed) crackled and the temperature gradually rose, the shop door was closed.

The three of them clearly divided the tasks and began wiping the counter and sweeping the floor, while continuing to chat, still about taking the train and pickpockets.

Just as Xu Bei finished sweeping the floor and went outside to empty the stamps, he saw a man and a woman appear at the entrance of the alley, carrying net bags just as Sister Liu had described.

After all, we had spent an entire night on the train together, and now that it was almost noon and the weather was warmer, we didn't need to cover our faces so much.

Xu Bei immediately recognized Wei Xuelin and his wife Meng Yahui.

"Oh, Brother Wei, Sister-in-law, it really is you! Happy New Year!"

As Wei Xuelin and Meng Yahui approached excitedly, they were talking.

"Brother, Happy New Year! It's so good to finally see you, it's been a long time."

"Yes, we just came here once, and we were thinking of coming back again to take another look. If all else fails, we'll leave a note."

"I knew it was you as soon as I heard it from someone," Xu Bei said with a smile, greeting the two of them. "Brother Wei, sister-in-law, let's go inside the shop."

At this moment, Zhao Fengying and Xu Juan also opened the shop door and warmly ushered people into the shop.

Xu Bei introduced them directly, "This is my mother and sister."

Everyone greeted each other warmly and amicably, then filed into the store.