1979 Gold Age

Chapter 2: Don't Want to Empty the Urinal

Every Speck of Dust in the Era Falls Like a Sharp Sickle on Individuals

As the meeting ended, the crowd was no longer as eager and chaotic as when they had rushed in. Instead, they moved like a stream of water with low pressure—slow and sluggish.

They had spent their best years being sent to the countryside, endured hardships, and finally returned to the city, only to find themselves jobless. Confusion and worry were etched onto every face, uncertain about what the future held.

Even Huang Zhanying fell into silence, pedaling her bike unsteadily. After a while, she asked, "What kind of job do you think we'll get?"

"No idea."

"You're not worried at all?"

"Didn't they say the neighborhood committee would visit us? Just wait at home, and we'll find out soon enough."

"......"

Huang Zhanying stared at him without blinking before suddenly saying, "I've noticed you've been acting really weird lately. You used to carry all your worries on your face, but now you seem totally carefree."

"I'm 19 now. Shouldn’t I be more mature? Isn't it better to be a little more easygoing?"

Chen Qi brushed it off casually and said, "I'm heading to the bookstore. You coming?"

"I'm not going. I need to talk to some people and gather more information."

"Alright then, see you later!"

He waved and pushed off on his bike. His vintage "28-inch big-frame" bicycle sped like lightning, sparks practically flying as he raced back to Dashilan.

Dashilan stretched less than 300 meters from east to west, yet it concentrated the finest goods in all of Beijing—Donglaishun's hotpot, Tongrentang's traditional medicine, Neiliansheng's cloth shoes, Ruifuxiang's silk, Zhang Yiyuan's tea, Liubiju's pickles, Daguanlou's cinema, and Tianhuizhai's snuff, just to name a few. However, during the waves of social transformation, many of these old brands had been renamed. Now, they were gradually being restored.

Among them, one remaining theater called Guangdelou would, years later, become the stage for a man named Guo Degang.

The Xinhua Bookstore was also located in Dashilan, just a hundred meters from Menkuang Hutong—practically next door. Xinhua Bookstore's headquarters was a ministry-level enterprise, while its branches in different districts were equivalent to subsidiary companies.

Chen Qi parked his bike and stepped inside, scanning the store. It was crowded with people gathered around the shelves of social science books, browsing with great interest.

A few years ago, bookstores were only allowed to sell nine categories of books, six of which were writings of revolutionary leaders. But after the 1978 National Science Conference, social science books gradually made a comeback. Truth be told, these books weren’t exactly thrilling, yet people devoured them as if starved for knowledge.

A little girl was clutching a Geography Atlas, engrossed in its pages. An elderly man, who looked like an intellectual, was reading an English edition of China Travel. Meanwhile, periodicals and magazines featuring serialized novels were even more popular—people swarmed toward them as if Maxim Gorky had just thrown a loaf of bread into the crowd...

Chen Qi tiptoed behind a woman and suddenly shouted, "Mom!"

"Ah! You little rascal, you scared me to death!"

The woman turned around. She was in her forties, still slender and elegant—it was his mother, Yu Xiuli.

"The meeting's over?"

"Yeah, just finished."

"Come with me..."

She pulled Chen Qi outside to a corner and asked, "What did they say?"

"From what I gathered, they're focusing on collective labor cooperatives to handle us unemployed youths."

"Collective labor cooperatives? That won’t do..."

Yu Xiuli frowned and said, "Ah, we also received a notice saying children can take over their parents' jobs. Your father is a salesperson who's always out running around, while I work in the store, which is more stable. Maybe I should retire early and give up my position for you."

"You're only in your forties. Why retire so early? So you can dance with the grandmas in the square?"

"What... What dance?"

"Never mind that. Either way, you don’t need to worry about me—I can handle myself."

"Handle what?! Collective jobs are looked down upon, pay little, and even make it hard to find a wife."

"But I’m handsome! Finding a wife won’t be a problem!"

He spoke with full confidence, and Yu Xiuli couldn’t help but agree—after all, her son was quite good-looking!

"Alright, let’s not talk about this now. We’ll discuss it tonight when your father gets home..."

Chen Qi wasn’t in the mood to argue over this in public. Instead, he changed the subject, "Mom, I saw that Geography Atlas inside. Looks really interesting. Buy one for me, will you? I’ll read it at home."

"All you ever do is read useless books!"

She grumbled but still went inside and soon came back with a copy of Geography Atlas. Handing it over, she warned, "Go straight home, don’t run around. We’ll talk more tonight when your father is back."

...

This compound had seven interconnected courtyards.

Chen Qi's home was in one of the inner ones, about 20 square meters in size. His parents shared the inner room, while the outer room had a makeshift bed for him.

There was no heated brick bed (kang), and they burned honeycomb briquettes in the winter. The electricity would go out from time to time. To take a bath, they either went to a public bathhouse or heated up water at home. Bathing at home was a hassle—it took three whole pots of water. Each person got one pot, and they had to take turns: one bathing in a large wooden tub inside while the other two waited outside.

The toilet was communal, so every family had a chamber pot. If someone needed to go at night, they’d use the pot and then empty it at the public latrine in the morning.

Even Wang Fei (Faye Wong) had to empty chamber pots back in the day—which also meant that, yes, she had to wake up at night sometimes. Hmm...