Chapter 220: Glass Marbles

Zhou Yimin thought for a moment, then nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll be troubling you then.”

Seeing that they had both achieved their goals, the two men couldn’t help but smile.

Wang Weimin asked, “Yimin, are you coming with me right after work, or will you come by later?”

He wasn’t sure if Zhou Yimin had anything else to take care of, so he asked casually.

“I’ll come by a bit later,” Zhou Yimin replied.

He felt a little embarrassed showing up empty-handed for a meal. These days, visiting someone for dinner meant bringing your own food. Otherwise, you’d be eating what others could barely spare. Everyone was living on rations.

Even someone like Section Chief Wang probably didn’t have a lot to spare at home.

“Alright then, come over a bit early,” Wang Weimin said.

As the end of the workday arrived, everyone put down their tasks and happily headed home.

After work, Zhou Yimin didn’t bother going back to his own siheyuan. Instead, he leisurely made his way toward Section Chief Wang’s house.

Had he known earlier that he’d be going over for dinner, he wouldn’t have lent out his bicycle. Fortunately, it wasn’t too far. After walking for about twenty minutes, he finally approached the siheyuan where Wang Weimin lived.

At a corner, seeing no one around, Zhou Yimin pulled out a piece of beef from his store bag—about two jin (roughly a kilo).

He also had a bag of candy in his pocket.

The people in the siheyuan had seen Zhou Yimin before and knew he was with Section Chief Wang, so no one stopped him.

Besides, some of the residents in the compound also worked at the steel factory. How could they not recognize Zhou Yimin? Some even came up to greet him.

Zhou Yimin pulled out some cigarettes and handed them out.

“Your Procurement Section really lives it up!” someone remarked.

“It’s not all good. Just the other day, one of our factory’s buyers was killed. Didn’t you hear about that?” Zhou Yimin said, shaking his head.

At that, everyone fell silent.

Buyers had to go out often, especially to the countryside. In these hard times, being a buyer carrying food made you a walking target.

After chatting for a bit, Zhou Yimin headed to Wang Weimin’s house.

When Wang Weimin saw the beef in Zhou Yimin’s hand, he immediately said politely, “Yimin, it’s enough that you came. You didn’t need to bring anything. Don’t do it next time.”

With only one person in the household working, they weren’t starving, but meals weren’t anything fancy either. If he weren’t in the Procurement Section himself, things would be even harder.

“Don’t worry, Chief. I swear there won’t be a next time,” Zhou Yimin promised earnestly.

Wang Weimin was speechless at his serious tone.

Come on, I was just being polite—you don’t have to take it so literally!

If anyone had the most supplies, Zhou Yimin would be the top. No one else even came close.

At least, that’s what Wang Weimin thought.

Others might not know, but as Zhou Yimin’s former boss, how could he not? Whenever colleagues gathered for meals, Zhou Yimin always brought the most food.

In the courtyard, Wang Weimin’s three kids were playing hopscotch.

Hopscotch, also called airplane hop or grid-jumping, is a classic children’s game found around the world. In China, it’s also a traditional folk sport. With its fun and entertaining nature, it was once deeply beloved by children.

From the 1950s to the 1980s, it was quite common. Many playgrounds, parks, and elementary schoolyards had areas marked for hopscotch.

Sometimes, even a piece of open ground and a piece of chalk or a stick would do. Kids would draw the nine-grid hopscotch layout and jump right in.

Reportedly, the game originated in the Roman Empire. Back then, the setup was 100 feet long and used for military training among Roman infantry.

Later on, Roman children started imitating the drills, adding a scoring system as they chalked lines and tossed stones.

Eventually, hopscotch spread across Europe and became a global children’s game.

Zhou Yimin felt a wave of nostalgia as he watched. He used to play it all the time when he was young. But kids in the 21st century had far too many entertainment options. With electronic devices, traditional games like this were falling out of favor.

Besides hopscotch, there were games like jacks, string figures, and playing with glass marbles.

“Uncle Zhou, do you want to play with us?” the oldest child shouted.

They weren’t strangers to Zhou Yimin. Though he’d only visited a couple of times, every time he came, he brought them treats.

“Still playing? Go do your homework!” Wang Weimin scolded.

But the kids weren’t scared of him—they were scared of their mom. Fathers often just gave verbal warnings, but mothers? They actually dished out punishment.

Zhou Yimin chuckled.

He still remembered how to play, but he hadn’t done it in so long, he figured the kids would beat him easily. No need to embarrass himself.

Instead, he pulled out a bag of glass marbles.

“Do you know how to play marbles?” Zhou Yimin asked.

All three kids instantly raised their hands, shouting over each other, “I do! I do!”

Zhou Yimin handed the bag to the oldest. “Split them fairly, alright?”

Marbles were an ancient game, dating back to the Qing dynasty.

Besides glass, marbles also came in ceramic, steel, or clay.

The most common games were “Crossing the Line” or “Tiger Holes.”

In “Crossing the Line,” you draw a boundary on the ground—whoever gets their marble knocked out loses. In “Tiger Holes,” you dig five small holes in the ground—whoever gets their marble into all five becomes the “tiger” and can start knocking out other players to take their marbles.

It’s a bit like golf, in a way.

To be honest, marble games could be pretty addictive.

Back when Zhou Yimin was a kid, there were always people who would lose badly—so badly they’d end up putting their most prized possession, an inlaid floral marble, on the line in a desperate last-ditch gamble.

Those were precious. One inlaid marble could trade for two plain white ones. A large clear marble could trade for five.

“Wow! Glass marbles! Thank you, Uncle Zhou!” the three kids exclaimed in delight.

Glass marbles were something many children dreamed of. To them, they were a treasure worth showing off.

Pulling out a handful of marbles in front of your friends earned you wide-eyed admiration—and an easy path to becoming the king of the kids.

Right in front of Zhou Yimin and their dad, the three kids eagerly divided up the loot.

And just when the fun seemed to peak, Zhou Yimin pulled out more—candy.

He gave each kid six or seven pieces.

Seeing this, Wang Weimin said, “Say thank you to Uncle Zhou.”

“Thank you, Uncle Zhou!” the three chorused in unison.

With glass marbles and candy in hand, who could still focus on a game? The kids dashed off to show off their haul.

As expected, every kid in the courtyard would soon be swarming around them. Whether it was glass marbles or candy, both were top-tier currency in the kids’ world.

Wang Weimin led Zhou Yimin into the house and handed the beef over to his wife to cook.

Zhou Yimin politely greeted her, “Good evening, Sister-in-law!”

Wang Weimin’s wife grumbled, “Yimin, why’d you bring food again?”

(End of chapter)