My wife and I are both time travelers.

Chapter 39 Fate
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After breaking up with Xu Guoqing, Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying began to obtain the necessary documents for household registration transfer, as Xu Guoqing had requested.

Zhou Jiye originally planned to write a letter to his hometown, but Lin Ying suggested that it would be better to just make a phone call instead of writing a letter. A phone call would be much faster than a letter, and you could also explain things more clearly over the phone.

Zhou Jiye thought it made sense and decided to call back immediately. Time waits for no one, so he should make the most of it.

Making a phone call, especially a long-distance call, is not so easy these days; you have to go to the post office to make it.

In Shanghai, many people make long-distance calls to the post offices every day. In addition, since long-distance calls are now handled manually, the signal is poor, and it is common to have difficulty getting through or hearing clearly.

To ensure they could get through, the two went directly to the Yokohama Bridge Long-Distance Telephone Bureau, the largest long-distance telephone service hall in Shanghai. When they arrived, they were shocked to find the hall packed with people, with an incredible number of people queuing to make long-distance calls.

Since they were already there, they first got a number and then waited in line to be called.

They waited for two hours, and finally their number was called around noon. They entered a small, semi-partitioned room, and Zhou Jiye took out a notebook he was carrying, flipped to the commune's phone number that he had written down, and dialed it.

The telephones we have now are the old-fashioned kind, black, with a dial, heavy, just like the ones in old movies. Dialing is a real hassle; first you have to connect to the long-distance signal, then dial the area code, and finally the phone number. Just dialing a number with several digits can take forever, and what's worse, whether you can get through after dialing is a matter of luck.

He dialed several times, but the call didn't go through, making Zhou Jiye anxious. The weather was already hot, and the air in the business hall was stuffy and humid, causing sweat to pile up on his head like steam rising from a sauna.

After dialing again, thank goodness it finally connected. Zhou Jiye hurriedly shouted "hello, hello, hello" into the phone, but the distorted sound coming from the receiver was intermittent and almost unbearable.

After finally managing to explain who he was, he asked the commune staff member who answered the phone to help him call his father, Zhou Furong, to answer the phone.

Perhaps it was because Zhou Jiye was lucky that Zhou Furong happened to stay at the commune all day without going out. After a while, Zhou Furong's somewhat distorted voice came through the receiver. Zhou Furong shouted and asked if the person on the other end of the phone was his third son. He also shouted and asked how he was doing in Shanghai. Why hadn't he written a single letter in so many days? Why was he suddenly calling back? Had something happened to him in Shanghai?

Just as Zhou Jiye was about to give a brief overview of his situation, Lin Ying reminded him that long-distance phone signals were poor and could drop at any time, and that phone calls were very expensive. She told him to get to the point quickly and that he could talk about the rest later.

Zhou Jiye readily agreed and quickly got straight to the point, telling Zhou Furong about the household registration transfer certificate he and Lin Ying needed to obtain.

Zhou Furong was quite surprised to hear this on the other end of the phone. How could his youngest son and daughter-in-law have already transferred their household registration after only a few months in Shanghai? This was Shanghai household registration! Although Zhou Furong wanted to find out more about the situation, Zhou Jiye was shouting on the phone that other things could be discussed later, and he couldn't explain it in detail over the phone. He told his father to get this done as soon as possible, and left his current address so that his father could mail it to Shanghai by registered mail after the matter was settled. Just as he finished saying this and was about to say something else, the receiver suddenly went silent. Zhou Jiye hurriedly called out "hello, hello," only to find that the call had been disconnected.

"This is terrible!"

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Jiye said with a bitter face, "I don't know if he wrote it down or not. Should I call back and ask?"

"You should have remembered it, right?" Lin Ying wasn't sure, but she had already finished making the call. If she wanted to re-register, she would have to get a number again, and it was already 2:30 pm. With so many people in the business hall, she probably wouldn't be able to get a number today.

At this moment, the people waiting outside to make their calls were urging Zhou Jiye and his group to leave as soon as they finished. They had no choice but to come out and take the bill to the window to settle the bill. When they calculated it, the long-distance call fee was shockingly expensive.

Zhou Jiye made the call for less than five minutes. According to the billing standard, calls less than five minutes are charged as five minutes. Long-distance calls to the Northwest cost three yuan per minute, so five minutes would cost a total of fifteen yuan.

The ten yuan deposit they paid in advance wasn't enough; they had to pay an additional five yuan.

Feeling conflicted, Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying stood at the door discussing their situation after leaving the business hall.

The two decided it would be better to write another letter to Zhou Furong, explaining the situation clearly in the letter. So they went to the post office next door, bought envelopes and stationery, wrote the letter, and attached their mailing address. Just as Zhou Jiye was about to put the letter into the envelope, Lin Ying suddenly said something.

"Do you have any money left? If so, send another hundred yuan home when you mail the letter."

Mail it to my address?

"If it's not your house, are you going to return it to me?"

"Don't you plan to send some money to your own family too?" Zhou Jiye asked in surprise.

Lin Ying shook her head: "A married daughter is like water spilled from a cup. Besides, I know that family better than you. My cheap father was never a reliable person; he only offered twenty yuan as a bride price to marry me off to Zheng the Cripple. Sending him money isn't a good thing." Sighing, Lin Ying said, "This money should still be sent to your family. After all, I'm a daughter-in-law of the Zhou family. As for my original family, you don't need to worry about them. At most, you can mention it in the letter, asking your father and two brothers to help take care of my sister and younger sisters as needed. That would be better."

"Isn't one hundred a bit too little? I have enough money with me, how about I mail some more?"

"That's about enough. Sending too much is actually not good. We'll send some more home after we finish dealing with the household registration issue."

Zhou Jiye thought about it and felt that Lin Ying's words made sense. The situation of the Lin family was indeed as Lin Ying described, especially her adoptive father, Old Lin, who always favored boys over girls. Otherwise, he would not have had any designs on Lin Ying in the first place.

Luckily I came, otherwise Lin Ying would have had to marry Zheng the Cripple. It's ridiculous, really, he sold his own daughter for a mere twenty yuan dowry.

He picked up his pen and added two more sentences to the end of the letter. After finishing, Zhou Jiye sealed the letter and mailed it on the spot. He also emailed another hundred yuan home.

One hundred yuan is nothing to them now, but it's a significant sum back in their hometown in Northwest China. Sending this money home would put their minds at ease. Although Zhou Jiye didn't live in that family for long, the warmth and care he felt made him feel deeply loved. He still remembers the words his grandmother, Zhou Wangshi, said as she held his hand when he left, and the dozen or so yuan wrapped in her handkerchief. Recalling these things always brings a pang of sadness to Zhou Jiye's heart.

The next morning, Zhou Jiye went to the countryside to collect old hens and eggs to continue his business, while Lin Ying went to the movie theater to sell tea eggs as usual.

Because he didn't set up his stall yesterday, business was unexpectedly good today. Two regular customers even asked Zhou Jiye why he hadn't come yesterday. Zhou Jiye smiled and said he had taken a day off because of family matters. The customers jokingly teased him, asking if he had gone to spend some time alone with his wife.

Because business was good, all the old hens for the day were sold out by a little after ten o'clock. After packing up and cleaning up the stall, Zhou Jiye didn't leave immediately. He waited for Lao Wenshi, who was still helping to kill the chickens, to finish. After Lao Wenshi finished with the last chicken, he washed his hands in the wooden tub and came over. Zhou Jiye quickly handed him a cigarette.

"I went to Guoqing's house last night," Lao Wen said, lighting a cigarette.

"What did Brother Xu say?" Zhou Jiye asked hurriedly. Although Lin Ying had said something yesterday, this matter was still a big deal, and he was very worried that Xu Guoqing might mess things up.

"Don't worry, I know Guoqing well. Since he promised you, there won't be any problems. Besides, Guoqing also told me that this isn't the first time he's met you, and you're my friend, so he'll definitely help you to the end."

Zhou Jiye was taken aback and asked, confused, "Brother Wen, what do you mean? I don't understand. Isn't this the first time Brother Xu has met me? How is that possible? I didn't know him before. If you hadn't introduced us, we wouldn't have met yesterday."

"Hahaha!" Old Wen laughed, pointing at Zhou Jiye and saying, "I was also puzzled at the time. I asked Guoqing and found out that he had met you several months ago. Yesterday was the second time he had met you, and he had a good impression of you. In addition, because of my relationship, otherwise he would not have said those things to you yesterday."

Zhou Jiye was completely bewildered by what Lao Wen said. He couldn't remember ever meeting Xu Guoqing. They had only met for the first time yesterday, and they didn't know each other at all before! Where did this idea come from?

"Can't remember?" Old Wen asked with a smile.

Zhou Jiye racked his brains to recall, but still shook his head without any clue. However, when he saw Xu Guoqing yesterday, he did feel that Xu looked familiar, but when exactly did he see him?

Old Wen chuckled and gestured with the cigarette in his hand, then pointed to a spot not far away: "Guoqing said he was coming to see me one day, but I happened to be away that day and didn't run into him. The kid was craving a cigarette, and he had just run out of cigarettes and didn't have any money with him. You gave him two cigarettes, remember?"

"Fuck!"

Zhou Jiye slapped his forehead; he finally remembered.

That was the day after he and Lin Ying had just rented that attic, the morning he first came to the market to get a feel for it.

That day, he wandered around the market for a long time, inquired about a lot of information, and then strolled to a spot near the market exit to squat down and write down all the information in his notebook.

Just then, a stranger in blue overalls came up to him and asked for a cigarette. Zhou Jiye didn't pay any attention and gave the man a cigarette. Seeing that the man seemed to have a strong nicotine addiction, he kindly offered him a few more. However, the man only took one more cigarette and thanked him.

To be honest, Zhou Jiye would have almost forgotten about this incident if Lao Wen hadn't brought it up today; it was just a small matter to him. But who would have thought that the person who asked him for a cigarette back then was none other than Lao Wen's cousin, Xu Guoqing?

No wonder I felt Xu Guoqing looked familiar when I saw him yesterday, but I couldn't remember where I had seen him before. It turns out we had met by chance once before.

(End of this chapter)