Starting a new chapter in life

“We’re here to support the construction, and we’re only expected to stay here for three years, so our household registration isn’t here. But we do have our ration book. See if you can use it. If not, I can have my husband get a letter of introduction from the army.” Jing Yan said, taking out her ration book from her wallet and handing it over.

The manager took the grain ration book and looked at it carefully: "Your husband's name is He Zhijun? Then you need to bring your household registration book when you check in, so that the real name matches." The manager instructed.

Jing Yan nodded repeatedly: "Okay, I'll remember."

The manager led her to the front desk: "Give her a receipt. One is a deposit receipt, three yuan, which will be refunded upon check-out. The other is a suite receipt. Check-in time is from 12:00 on December 9th to 12:00 on December 12th. The person checking in is He Zhijun, who lives in Hongqi Community. This is his ration book. When checking in, bring your household registration book to confirm. Note that He Zhijun is a soldier from the Production and Construction Corps who came to support us, so his household registration address should not be here. Just make sure the household registration book and the person with the ration book match."

The receptionist was extremely surprised. This person had actually booked a suite, a place that would never be rented out in ages. This person must have some money. She wrote down two receipts: "Twelve yuan in total."

Jingyan counted out the money from her wallet and handed it to the front desk. After confirming that everything was correct, the front desk handed her two receipts: "Don't lose the receipts. They won't replace them if they are lost. If you can't check in, the money will be wasted."

Jingyan thanked them, stuffed the receipt into the inner pocket of her wallet, and happily went home. This time she knew the way, and even walking back still took more than an hour; the journey was indeed not short.

After resting at home for a day, I thought I should still tell He Zhijun, so I made a lunchbox full of meat sauce and went to the military base during my lunch break to ask the guards for help in finding him.

When He Zhijun heard that Jing Yan had come to see him, he thought something had happened at home, so he quickly came out and asked, "Jing Yan, what brings you here? Is something wrong at home?"

"You haven't eaten yet, have you? I brought you some meat sauce. Buy a few steamed buns from the cafeteria beforehand. If you get hungry tonight, toast the buns on the stove and eat them with the meat sauce to fill your stomach. Otherwise, you won't be able to sleep well if you're too hungry at night." Jingyan handed him the lunchbox.

He continued, "I went to Jiang City High School a couple of days ago. It takes more than an hour to walk there, and the roads will definitely be slippery during the college entrance exam period. So I booked a room for you at a guesthouse near the high school. You can check in on the afternoon of the 9th, and we'll check out after the exam. I was worried that there would be too many people staying there and the rooms would be too scarce, so I paid in advance to reserve it. Keep that in mind."

He Zhijun was very touched and held her hand, saying, "Thank you, Jingyan. You've thought of everything for me. Don't worry, I will study hard and live up to your expectations."

Jingyan smiled and patted his hand: "Don't put pressure on yourself. I'm not doing this because I expect you to get into university. I just hope that external factors won't affect your exams. I hope you won't have any regrets in the future. As for whether you can get in or not, you already have a job as a safety net. As for the rest, just leave it to fate."

He Zhijun grinned from ear to ear. Jing Yan looked around and, seeing that no one was watching, went up and hugged him. "Focus on your exams and don't worry about home. I'm doing fine here. You haven't had lunch yet, have you? Hurry back so you don't miss your meal."

He Zhijun kept turning back to look at Jing Yan waving at him from the doorway before reluctantly heading to the cafeteria. Just as he finished getting his food, his dorm mates gathered around: "What's your wife doing here? Missing you?"

"They sent me some meat sauce, saying they were worried I'd get hungry tonight. They told me to buy two steamed buns from the canteen and toast them on the stove when I got hungry, then eat them with the meat sauce. That would fill me up." He Zhijun wolfed down his food, not missing a beat as he talked. His boastful tone made a bunch of bachelors around him look on with envy.

"Old He, I've found out the school where we're taking the exam, but it's a bit far from here. How about we go together to find a guesthouse near the school? Otherwise, it'll waste time going back and forth, and the roads are slippery. If we fall, it might affect our exams," a colleague who was also taking the college entrance exam said to him.

After swallowing the last bite of rice, He Zhijun wiped his mouth with a handkerchief: "My wife has already booked a room at the guesthouse for me. She came just now to deliver meat sauce and to talk about this. You guys can go, no need to take care of me."

The people around him looked on with envy and jealousy: "Your wife really thinks of everything for you. Seeing how well you live, I want to get married too."

"There are plenty of men with wives, but not many who love me as much as my wife does. Don't be envious, you won't get that kind of love." He Zhijun boasted smugly, grabbed his lunchbox and empty plate, and quickly left. The men, whose fists were clenched, couldn't catch him and didn't dare chase after him. They could only leave resentfully, vowing that even without a wife, they could still do well on their exams. Humph!

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed. On the evening of December 8th, He Zhijun returned home. Jing Yan looked at the calendar and asked in confusion, "Weren't you supposed to come back tomorrow? Why are you here earlier?"

“We live far from the high school, and those of us who have exams want to find accommodation there, so they gave us an early break. They said we could move in tomorrow afternoon, so I’m not planning to go with them first thing tomorrow morning, and I came back first.” He Zhijun took off his military satchel and put it on the sofa. “We have exams coming up, and it’s not convenient to shower outside. How about we go to the public bathhouse tomorrow? I brought my bath tickets back with me.”

Jing Yan shook her head: "No need, I just showered at home recently. As for you, you can shower at the guesthouse tomorrow. There's hot water and showers there. We've already paid for the room, so we might as well use these facilities."

"From what you've said, the guesthouse must be quite nice. I'll go there to shower tomorrow, and then we'll go to the public bathhouse for a scrub before the New Year," He Zhijun said cheerfully.

The next day, after breakfast, Jingyan dragged him to carefully pack everything for the exam. They packed his admission ticket, pencils, pens, ink, and a change of clothes into a large bag. Jingyan also put He Zhijun's household registration book and grain ration certificate into her small bag, and then put her wallet in as well. She checked the two receipts inside the wallet. After having lunch at home, the couple walked to the high school to familiarize themselves with the way.

Upon arriving at the high school, He Zhijun showed his exam admission ticket to the gatekeeper and asked which classroom it was. The gatekeeper was used to people coming to check out the school today and pointed out the approximate location. The couple went to find the classroom first. Fortunately, the exam room they were assigned was in a good location, in the middle. The room wasn't cold when they went inside; it was even a little warm. Jing Yan nodded: "Just wear normal clothes tomorrow. Your hands shouldn't get cold when writing."

He Zhijun found his seat for tomorrow's exam, which was in the middle and a good spot. The couple confirmed their seats and walked out of the school hand in hand. Along the way, they encountered many students who were there to check out the exam venue. In this era of strict gender segregation, their hand-holding shocked many people. However, everyone was busy worrying about their own future and didn't pay much attention to them. The two left the school gate with normal expressions, and Jing Yan led the way to the guesthouse.

Upon arriving at the guesthouse, Jingyan took out her household registration booklet and food ration certificate from her small handbag and placed them on the counter. She then took out a receipt from her wallet and handed it to the receptionist. The receptionist was not the same one as before. She took the receipt with a normal expression, and after reading it, her expression softened considerably: "Ah, you're the one they were talking about who booked the best suite a month or so in advance. Are you and your husband staying together?"

Jingyan shook her head: "No, he's just checking in. I'm just accompanying him here today to familiarize himself with the area. I'll come back to pick him up on the morning of the 12th, and then we'll check out."

"Remember to come before noon to check in, otherwise you'll have to pay for the whole day's room." The receptionist reminded them, registered their information, and then took the keys and led the two of them to the third floor.

Upon opening the door, the receptionist handed the key to Jingyan and showed the two around the room: "The sheets and blankets in the room were just changed yesterday. You'll be staying for three days, and we'll change them again when you check out. But if the sheets and blankets get dirty during your stay, you can contact us, and we'll arrange for someone to come and change them for you."

The bathroom shower has hot water, piped to the boiler. This side is for cold water, and this side is for hot water—a dual-pipe system. The hot and cold water can be adjusted manually; if it's too hot, you increase the cold water flow, and if it's too cold, you increase the hot water flow. This isn't common yet, so it's relatively rare. Automatic flush toilets are only available in southern cities. We considered installing one last year, but it was too expensive, so we didn't.

You'll still be using spittoons, and a cleaning service will come to empty them daily, usually around noon. However, since you need to take the college entrance exam, I'll instruct the staff to clean them twice a day, at 10 AM and 3 PM. Don't worry, there won't be any unpleasant odors in the room.

He Zhijun's eyes lit up as he nodded repeatedly: "Jingyan, such a nice house and I'm living here all by myself?"

“Yeah, the college entrance exam is so important, of course you have to be comfortable.” After replying to him, Jing Yan turned to the front desk and said, “Comrade, the guesthouse doesn’t have a restaurant or anything. I was originally planning to bring him food every day, but it’s cold and hard to walk here today, so I’ll take a shortcut. If it’s convenient to eat here, I’ll just buy food.”

The receptionist nodded: "We do have a restaurant here, which often serves government officials, but the prices aren't cheap, and it's mostly stir-fried dishes."

"Do you need a ticket?" Jing Yan asked.

"Don't you have tickets?" the receptionist asked.

“I have grain coupons, national grain coupons, but I probably don’t have enough meat coupons,” he said, pulling out of his pocket: “I only have four meat coupons, each for half a jin.”

The receptionist looked at the small stack of grain coupons and swallowed hard. "Here, you can eat with grain coupons. Meat and vegetables theoretically require meat coupons, but if you don't have enough meat coupons, you can make up for it with grain coupons."

Jingyan took out all the grain coupons and meat coupons and counted them: "I only have five grain coupons here that are two jin each, and the rest are ten jin each. I only have two jin of meat coupons left. I gave some to Sister Gao before. I should have kept them. I'll leave all the meat coupons for you. I'll leave you thirty jin of grain coupons, that should be enough. Money, do you have any money on you? Never mind, I'll leave you twenty yuan. Buy whatever you want. It should be enough."

He Zhijun said helplessly, "I have money on me, just save me a ticket."

"Hey, keep it. You always need to have some money on hand when you're traveling."

The receptionist, watching the two dividing their spoils—or rather, their money—couldn't help but speak up: "How about I take you to our restaurant so you can get a feel for the prices?"

Jing Yan nodded: "That's great, thank you for your help."

After thinking for a moment, he took a two-jin national grain coupon from the pile of coupons and stuffed it into the young lady at the front desk: "If it's convenient for you, could you please check if my husband leaves on time during his exams? If he doesn't leave on time one day, could you please knock on the door and wake him up? I'm worried that he might oversleep and miss his exams."

The little girl clutched the national grain coupons in her hand, her smile becoming even more genuine: "Don't worry, big sister, I'll help keep an eye on things. Don't worry."

He Zhijun placed his bag on the desk, locked the door with his key, and the group went downstairs. Following the receptionist, they passed through a side passage to a large restaurant. At the far end of the restaurant was the cashier, and next to the cashier was a door with a plaque that read "Kitchen."

Upon reaching the cashier, the receptionist pointed to a wooden sign on the wall and said, "This list shows the day's menu. Breakfast usually includes noodles, steamed buns, tofu pudding, and rice porridge. Lunch and dinner include stir-fries and dumplings, with prices listed. Once you've chosen, go to the cashier to pay and get your order slip. When your food is ready, it will be served from the counter. Waiters will help deliver the food, following the order slip in your hand. They will cross off each dish as it's served, ensuring nothing is missed."

He Zhijun nodded, looked up at the menu on the wooden sign. It was alright, most of the dishes were available, but there was a lot of meat and not many vegetables. Most of them were stews, and the prices were reasonable. If he ate the most expensive dishes, he would only need about 10 jin of grain coupons for three days and eight meals.

“Comrade, I think if each meal includes one meat dish and one vegetable dish, two jin of grain coupons would be enough. But I only have four 10-jin grain coupons here, and four 2-jin coupons, which isn’t enough.” Jing Yan looked at the young girl at the front desk.

The young girl pulled her aside, looked around to make sure no one was nearby, and then said, "Big sister, I think you're an honest person, and you're good to your husband. If you don't think it's a loss, I'll exchange my local Beidahuang grain coupons for ten jin of those high-denomination grain coupons. Logically, you could get more with local grain coupons, but..."

Seeing her hesitant expression, Jing Yan had a sudden inspiration: "I understand. A one-to-one exchange will do. It doesn't matter if it's a lot or a little. At this time, it's enough to make sure your man is well-fed."