Chapter 3: He couldn’t make it work out there, could he?

“You mean that old house at the foot of the mountain?”

Cheng Xiaolin smoothed down her top, blocking the two almost overlapping hemispheres from Cao Shujie’s disappointed gaze, then turned to her husband: “Tear it all down and rebuild it?”

“Yes, that house hasn’t been lived in for many years anyway,” Cao Shujie said. “I’m thinking, since we’ve decided to move back here, we might as well make the house a bit nicer. It won’t cost much, and it’ll be more comfortable to live in.”

“That old house isn’t in great shape anyway, so we might as well tear it down and rebuild it. We can make the kitchen, bathroom, and toilet more convenient, and install heating so it won’t be cold in winter.”

Cheng Xiaolin naturally had no objection to this. She nodded: “Okay, you can handle this.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Cheng Xiaolin brought up another matter: “Husband, I plan to apply to the kindergarten here in a couple of days to give it a try. If they’re hiring, I’ll go work there first.”

“Kindergarten is probably a waste of time, and the salary is only a few hundred yuan a month,” Cao Shujie knew this well. “We just got back, and we finally have some free time. Why don’t we rest for a while first, and take Mengmeng around to play more?”

“Mmm,” Cheng Xiaolin put on her clothes and got out of bed. “I’ll rest for a few days and then go check. If kindergarten doesn’t work out, I’ll try elementary school. I could teach in Beijing, so surely I can’t be incompetent back here.”

Her mother, Wang Yuelan, had already prepared breakfast and called them. The couple went to eat.

Wang Yuelan didn’t see her granddaughter and wondered: “Is Mengmeng still sleeping?”

“Mom, she used to sleep until eight in Beijing. Don’t worry about her.”

“I steamed an egg custard for her. I’ll keep it warm in the pot then,” Wang Yuelan said.

Hearing her mother-in-law say this, Cheng Xiaolin nodded: “Mom, do you know if the kindergarten in our village is still hiring?”

“Kindergarten?” Wang Yuelan shook her head: “I really don’t know, but your sister-in-law Qiuling knows. Why don’t I give her a call and ask?”

Li Qiuling was one of the teachers at the kindergarten.

Cheng Xiaolin was still thinking about finding a job. Life in her hometown wasn’t as competitive as in Beijing, but she felt that she couldn’t just sit around doing nothing after returning.

Besides, people tend to get lazy if they’re idle for too long, and she wasn’t that kind of person.

“Mom, then can you help me ask?”

“Okay, wait a moment.” Wang Yuelan made a phone call and came back shortly: “Linlin, your sister-in-law Qiuling said they’re hiring. Do you want to go?”

“I’ll give it a try. I need to have something to do,” Cheng Xiaolin said. “Even if I only earn a few hundred yuan, it’ll be fine. I can also bring Mengmeng along and let her play with the other children.”

She had done the same thing in Beijing.

Her husband, Cao Shujie, went to work, and she applied for a job at the kindergarten. The only benefit was that she could bring her daughter along and earn some money.

After finishing his meal, Cao Shujie asked his father, Cao Jianguo: “Dad, is there still a construction team in our village?”

“Yes, your Grandpa Zhenggang leads a construction team that specializes in building houses within a ten-mile radius,” Cao Jianguo explained to his son.

“Sometimes when there’s no work here, they also go to the city to help build buildings, but the wages in the city are hard to collect, so they mainly work at home.”

Cao Shujie was even happier when he heard that Grandpa Zhenggang had experience building buildings: “Dad, is Grandpa Zhenggang at home? I’ll go see him later and discuss building the house.”

“Yes, there’s not much work now. I saw him walking around the street with his grandson a couple of days ago,” Cao Jianguo said.

That’s settled then.

As the father and son were discussing, they suddenly heard Mengmeng crying. Cao Shujie didn’t even care about discussing the construction anymore and rushed to the bedroom.

Pushing the door open, he saw Mengmeng had already climbed up. Perhaps she woke up and didn’t see her mom and dad, so she hung her little head and cried loudly, with a lot of saliva, tears, and snot, which had already soaked a small part of the bedsheet.

“Mengmeng, Daddy’s here.” Cao Shujie felt heartbroken.

“Daddy, wah…” The little one saw her daddy and felt even more wronged, crying a little louder.

She didn’t mind the cold, wearing only a top and a diaper. She stood up and stretched out her arms, waiting for her daddy to hug her.

“Alright, alright, no more crying. After we eat, Daddy will take you out to play!”

Cao Shujie coaxed her and made a funny face, which made his daughter laugh.

Then he hugged his daughter, laid her on her back on the bed, and covered her with a quilt.

Seeing that Mengmeng was about to cry again, he quickly said: “Mengmeng, don’t cry. Daddy will change your diaper, and then we’ll go see a big dog, a really big one.”

Hearing this, Mengmeng’s attention was indeed diverted, and she stopped crying.

After her daddy put on her clothes, as soon as her shoes were on, she wanted to run out: “Daddy, big dog.”

“Eat first, or the big dog will eat you,” Cao Shujie said.

He wasn’t lying to his daughter.

Half an hour later, the family of three left the house. Cao Shujie was holding his daughter, and his wife, Cheng Xiaolin, was carrying a bag filled with her daughter’s water bottle, diapers, tissues, wet wipes, etc.

They planned to first go see the old house, and then find Cao Zhenggang to discuss building the house.

Since it was decided, they wouldn’t delay it.

As they were walking, Cao Shujie told his wife: “We’ll go see the orchard on the mountain later.”

“Okay!” Cheng Xiaolin agreed.

Before they even reached their destination, someone called out to them: “Oh, isn’t this Shujie? When did you come back?”

“Uncle Hai, I just got back last night,” Cao Shujie saw Cao Jianhai and called him Uncle Hai. Cheng Xiaolin also followed suit.

As he spoke, Cao Shujie took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket: “Uncle Hai, have a smoke.”

Cao Jianhai waved his hand directly and refused: “I found problems in my lungs; I stopped smoking years ago.”

“Oh, Uncle Hai, you really need to be careful.” Cao Shujie put the cigarettes back in his pocket; he didn’t smoke either.

“Mengmeng, quickly call him Grandpa,” Cao Shujie coaxed his daughter to greet the man.

The little one turned her head, looked at Cao Jianhai, and boldly called out: “Grandpa.”

“Hey, Mengmeng is so well-behaved!” Cao Jianhai was a bit curious and asked them: “Shujie, what are you three doing?”

“Uncle Hai, I’m going to check on our old house, thinking of tearing it down and rebuilding it,” Cao Shujie blurted out his purpose.

Cao Jianhai was stunned for a moment and asked, “Shujie, didn’t you buy a house in Beijing? Your family doesn’t live there often anyway. That new house should be enough. Why spend that money on the old house?”

“Uncle Hai, I sold my house in Beijing and resigned from my job. I plan to develop my career in our hometown from now on,” Cao Shujie said.

Seeing his serious expression, not like a joke, Cao Jianhai was stunned: “Shujie, there’s nothing in our hometown. Compared to Beijing, it’s heaven and earth. Why did you come back?”

“Oh dear, did Brother Jianguo make you come back? I need to go talk to him. We can’t hinder your development.” Cao Jianhai was still a warmhearted person.

But this matter really had nothing to do with his father. Cao Shujie was afraid his father would take the blame, so he quickly explained: “Uncle Hai, it’s really not my dad’s doing. I just got tired of staying in Beijing and came back. Beijing is just like that. Growing fruit and doing some breeding at home is no less profitable than working outside.”

After chatting for a couple more sentences, Cao Shujie and his family of three left.

Cao Jianhai stared intently at the retreating figures of Cao Shujie’s family, thinking about the big talk Cao Shujie had just spoken: “Is growing fruit really no less profitable than working outside? How is that possible? I’ve been growing fruit at home for over ten years, and I only make a few tens of thousands of yuan a year, working myself to death. I heard that in Beijing, monthly salaries are over 10,000 yuan, and it’s easy.”

He pondered: “Did this kid come back because he couldn’t make it outside?”

While thinking, he had already stepped into his house.

His wife, Gao Shuying, saw how long he had taken to return and asked him, “Old Cao, I asked you to take out the trash, why did you dawdle for so long? Did you sneak out to smoke again?”

“What? I just ran into Brother Jianguo’s son, Shujie, and chatted with him for a while.” Cao Jianhai still couldn’t figure it out.

His wife, Gao Shuying, asked, “Shujie? Didn’t he just go back to Beijing last month after the New Year? Why is he back again?”

Cao Jianhai frowned: “How would I know? But Shujie just said he resigned from his job in Beijing, sold his house, and plans to live in his old home from now on.”

Hearing her husband say this, Gao Shuying suddenly thought of a possibility. Afraid of being overheard, she whispered, “Old Cao, do you think Shujie came back because he couldn’t make it outside?”

Cao Jianhai wasn’t sure, but Cao Shujie’s explanation just now didn’t make much sense logically. He hesitated for a moment, then nodded: “Maybe.”

“What do you mean ‘maybe’? I’m sure of it!” Gao Shuying declared confidently: “During Chinese New Year, I thought they were strange. Everyone is usually happy during New Year, but it seemed like Shujie’s wife had something on her mind. Sometimes when I called her, she wouldn’t answer.”

…

Cao Shujie and his wife had no idea how much Cao Jianhai and his wife were gossiping. They didn’t encounter anyone else on the rest of the way, and the family of three arrived in front of an old house.

The main gate was a solid wood door painted black.

The house was built according to the terrain, looking square, but the courtyard walls were falling apart in some places due to disrepair, and the walls were full of cracks.

In some places, grass was growing on top of the walls.

They unlocked the door and went inside. The courtyard was full of weeds, and a small wild cat with grayish-white fur was startled when they opened the door, letting out a ‘meow’. It pushed off the ground with its four paws and scrambled up the wall along a crooked tree leaning against it. It stood on the wall, its cat eyes glaring at Cao Shujie and his family of three.

Mengmeng didn’t care about any of that. A small wild cat suddenly appeared, and she was thrilled. She struggled in her father’s arms, wanting to grab it, kicking her legs and shouting, “Daddy, kitty, look!”

“Mommy, quick, look, kitty! I want it!”

She shouted very loudly.

Author Note:

Please allow me to write slowly and create a dad novel that is more grounded and reflects the life I envision.

Sometimes I really want to go back to my hometown, to watch my child grow up and accompany my parents as they age…

(End of chapter)