NOVPUB
Chapter 354: Chapter 344: Meeting the Young Man
Li Hongjun and Shen Yunfang were sitting across from each other in the three-seater row, next to the aisle. A young man sitting next to Li Hongjun, across the aisle, looked at their family of four and then quietly asked Li Hongjun.
"Brother, are you going to S City?"
Li Hongjun had Pangpang stand between his legs before he turned his head to look at the young man, who had an ordinary appearance. Judging from his facial features, he seemed simple and honest, not like a bad person.
"Yes, we’re going to S City."
"Did sister apply to North Agricultural University?" the young man continued to ask.
"Hmm, yes, it’s North Agricultural University."
Once the young man got a confirmed answer, he fell silent, lost in thought for a while. He looked at Shen Yunfang and the kids before leaning in closer to Li Hongjun and whispered, "Brother, I overheard big sister saying you’re looking for a place to stay near the school, right?"
"Yes, that’s right." Li Hongjun squinted at the young man, sensing he had more to say.
"Hehe, that’s the case. My home happens to be right next to North Agricultural University. I know the situation there better than anyone; it’s hard to find vacancies. Ah, every home is as small as the palm of a hand, there’s barely room for ourselves, let alone spare rooms to rent out," the young man lamented.
"Is that so?" Li Hongjun felt he hadn’t finished speaking.
"Just now, hearing about your difficulties, as a common citizen, I firmly support our servicemen. Hehe, what I mean to say is, there happens to be an empty room in my house. I wasn’t planning on renting it out, but if you need it, I can rent it to you first. Of course, you can go and check it out, and if it’s not suitable, you can look elsewhere," the young man said, rubbing his hands. He seemed embarrassed; his intention was to help, but saying it like this made it sound like he was tricking them.
Li Hongjun considered himself good at reading people, and he could tell that this young man was an honest kid, likely telling the truth, so he also showed a smile and nodded in thanks, "Regardless, thank you. We’re going to S City to first visit a comrade in arms, and then we’ll look for housing. How about this, can you give me your address first? We can check out the place when we arrive, okay?"
"Of course, of course." The young man became excited, proud to help a serviceman.
Afterward, Li Hongjun asked the young man in detail about the exact location of his house and the directions, as well as the condition of the empty room.
The train soon arrived in S City, and about a third of the people in the carriage got off. Pangpang was led off the train by his mother, still turning back and waving goodbye to the uncles and aunts who had praised him.
Exiting the train station, the young man insisted on taking Li Hongjun’s luggage, telling the couple to just hold the kids, then strode towards the bus station, ready to take the public bus home.
Li Hongjun and his partner shook their heads helplessly and followed with the children in their arms.
By chance, as Li Hongjun chatted with the young man, they discovered that Li Hongjun’s comrade lived in the same residential area as the young man’s family and that they were neighbors and on good terms with each other. So, after leaving the train station, Li Hongjun no longer needed to ask for directions, he could just follow the young man.
After boarding the bus, Li Hongjun was quicker than the young man to buy tickets for everyone, and they arrived at the residential area next to North Agricultural University amidst chatter and laughter.
"Hehe, don’t look down on our residential area for being a bit run-down, but this is a good place. To the left is North Agricultural University, to the right is Yu TV Factory, and we have technical experts and intellectuals living here. A ten-minute walk further on brings you to Guomian Factory’s residential area. Transportation is very convenient around here," the young man Wang Yan said proudly while introducing the area to Li Hongjun’s family.
The couple glanced at the residential area indicated by Wang Yan, rows of single-story houses neatly arranged. From the exterior, it was an old neighborhood, with many houses showing signs of disrepair, crumbling bricks exposed, and the earthen roads between homes muddy from the warming weather.
"Our houses here are newer than those by the Guomian Factory and the conditions are better too. See over there? That’s a well platform, where people draw water. And over there, public toilets. Essentially, we have a public toilet for every three rows of houses, which is much better than the family quarters of the Guomian Factory." Wang Yan had gotten used to living here and saw nothing outdated about the family quarters. He was excitedly pointing at the public toilets while explaining them to the couple.
Li Hongjun frowned, having not expected the housing conditions in S City to be worse than those in the military.
Because he was unaware of his comrade’s family situation, Li Hongjun had first asked Wang Yan to take them to find a guesthouse to stay in. They settled in, put away their luggage, and picked up the gifts for his comrade’s children before Wang Yan led them to Li Hongjun’s comrade’s home.
The couple, carrying their child, followed Wang Yan for a good while before finally stopping at the entrance of a quadrangle courtyard.
"Brother Chen, Brother Chen, are you home? Come out and see who’s here." Wang Yan started shouting at the doorway.
In a moment, a voice answered from inside, "Who is it? Is that Yanzi?"
Wang Yan’s nickname was Yanzi.
"Yes, it’s me. Brother, you should come out and see who I’ve brought back." Wang Yan led the people into the courtyard of the quadrangle.
Just as Wang Yan finished speaking, the door of a room on one side of the courtyard opened. Out stepped a man in his thirties, slim and ordinary-looking, but his face bore a weary expression and there were several wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, clearly someone accustomed to labor.
"Chen Jing!" Li Hongjun recognized him right away as his comrade Chen Jing.
"Hongjun?" At that moment, Chen Jing also caught sight of Li Hongjun standing behind and his face was a picture of shock.
After their initial astonishment, the two men moved towards each other and stopped face to face. Then both men threw playful punches at each other, before embracing and bursting into laughter.
After the laughter, Li Hongjun introduced his wife and child to his comrade. Following the pleasantries, they thanked Wang Yan and then went inside to talk.
The commotion drew the attention of the people at home in the courtyard. After watching Chen Jing lead his guests inside, they began to gossip disinterestedly.
"Is that a comrade visiting?" A man with bleary eyes asked as he came out of his house.
"Looks like a whole family has come. I wonder if they’ve come to borrow money." A middle-aged woman speculated. It was common in the family quarters to see poor relatives stopping by, usually hoping to scrape together a few bucks.
"Give it a rest. Chen’s own family can barely afford to eat; how would he lend money to someone else? Stop making trouble," said an indifferent woman nearby. Chen’s family of three was so poor that their child was at risk of not being able to afford school, let alone lend money to others. That would truly be foolish.
"Well, that’s not necessarily the case. I’ve heard that soldiers have a different kind of bond. They would share everything with their comrades, except their wives," said a man who was less than serious, as he rubbed his teeth.
"Don’t you start spouting nonsense. Mind your own business and go fetch a couple of buckets of water. I still need to wash clothes," said the wife of the less-than-serious man, as she carried water out from the house. Hearing her husband starting to blabber again and potentially offend others, she quickly set him to work.
"Pfft, as if I care that much about it."
