**Chapter 60**

  The reunion dinner ended early. Zheng Sen and Daniu walked slowly back to South Drum Alley. His grandfather decided to stay at the Zheng family home for the night.

  "Let's go back and make dumplings," Zheng Sen said, still in good spirits. Over the past few days, he had come to see many things more clearly. In the past, he had always felt a mix of disgust and helplessness toward Zhang Yushuang. But now, after seeing her two children, he suddenly felt a bit of pity for her. Without him needing to do anything, her own children would likely cause her trouble. Even though they were his younger siblings, he couldn't help but feel that way.

  "Sure, let's make dumplings. What filling should we use? We have some pickled cabbage, meat, and celery. Do you want celery filling?" Daniu asked.

  "How about we stir-fry some celery with cashews? Someone brought cashews when the guys came over the other day. They go well with celery," Zheng Sen suggested.

  "Alright, and we can make a cold dish too. We have cabbage and carrots," Daniu said, mentally going through the ingredients they had at home.

  They arrived home by five o'clock and entered through the back door. The courtyard was now just for the two of them.

  "This courtyard is nice, and the house is sturdy. But we'll be leaving soon. Won't the house fall into disrepair if it's left empty?" Daniu asked.

  "Don't worry. I'll ask Heizi to keep an eye on it. His family is in a bad situation now, so it's just right for him to move here." Zheng Sen expined.

  Daniu looked concerned. "Is it because—"

  Zheng Sen nodded. "Yes, his parents were sent down to the countryside, and his older brother and sister were also sent to work in rural areas. Only he and his younger sister are left. It's not good for them to stay in their old home."

  "I never would have guessed. He always seems so optimistic."

  "His family has a good atmosphere. His older brother gave him his job and went to the countryside himself. His parents were sent to the border regions, and his older sister followed them because they were worried. He wanted to go too, but he couldn't leave his younger sister behind. It's good that he stayed, though. He took over his brother's job and was transferred to a waste collection station. Although the work is quite dirty, there is no complicated workpce politics; he has some free time. I'm thinking of asking him to help with some side jobs to earn extra money and support his family," Zheng Sen said.

  "If you're going to involve him in something, be careful. If he gets caught, he'll be in trouble," Daniu warned. Although she thought small-scale trading was harmless, the time was not good.

  "Actually, working at the waste collection station isn't so bad. A lot of things get sold as scrap," Daniu said, then frowned. "Things started getting chaotic in the second half of st year. I think this year will be even worse. Judging from the newspapers I've been reading, I think a bigger storm is coming. Many things will become worthless or even destroyed."

  Zheng Sen looked at Daniu. "You mean—"

  Daniu nodded solemnly.

  Zheng Sen fell silent. For some reason, he had an inexplicable trust in Daniu's judgment.

  Daniu took a deep breath, not wanting to dwell on such a heavy topic, and went to the kitchen to start cooking.

  The kitchen was on the east side. The back building had seven main rooms, with two additional rooms on each side. The two rooms on the east side served as the kitchen, with only one stove and a table.

  Daniu mixed some flour with water in a basin.

  "Let me do that," Zheng Sen said, hearing the noise and rushing over.

  "It's fine. I won't use my left hand much. You can chop the pork into filling. Use some for the dumplings, and I'll make meatballs with the rest," Daniu said.

  "Alright. Speaking of meatballs, I think we still have some water chestnuts," Zheng Sen said while rummaging through the vegetable basket. "Found them! There are three left." He pnned to chop them up and add them to the meatballs.

  "I've never tried that before. Back home, we usually added breadcrumbs and chopped mushrooms," Daniu said.

  "Winter vegetables are more varied here in Beijing than in the northeast," Zheng Sen said. "Tomorrow morning, I'll take you to the market to see if there's anything we can bring back."

  Daniu thought for a moment. "Forget it. Carrying vegetables on the train will just make them spoil by the time we get home."

  "Don't worry. We'll pack them well and check them in. I've already asked Qi Ming to help buy our train tickets. Since we're boarding at the starting station, we can get on early."

  "In that case, let's go take a look tomorrow morning. Also, shouldn't we prepare some gifts for New Year visits?"

  "Yeah, that's easy. We can just bring a few boxes of pastries. They're all elders; they won't be picky. We can mail some local specialties back ter," Zheng Sen said.

  That evening, the two of them made dumplings together and celebrated the New Year.

  * * *

  Early on the first day of the New Year, Zheng Sen took Daniu to the market to buy some long-sting items and plenty of Beijing specialties. After returning home and reheating some dumplings for breakfast, they set out to pay New Year visits.

  Zheng Sen had several elders to visit, including some old friends of his grandfather. His grandfather had lived in Beijing for nearly thirty years, and a few of his friends were still alive.

  "Back then, two of my uncles had an accident and died, and my youngest uncle ran off abroad because of a woman, so in the end, only my mother and I were left with my grandfather. My mother was always busy with work, so now I'm the only one who remembers the friendships my grandfather had. I used to visit them every year to pay my respects," Zheng Sen expined.

  "Yes, it's important to maintain these retionships," Daniu said.

  Most of Zheng Sen's grandfather's friends were schors. Although his grandfather had been a wealthy businessman in his early years, after fleeing during the war, he no longer identified as a merchant and instead entered academic circles.

  They visited each family, and the elderly were deeply nostalgic. Seeing Zheng Sen bring his fiancée along, they were delighted, and almost every family gave them gifts—some gave books, others paintings, or even fine stationery sets. Everything was elegant and thoughtful.

  Since they had many families to visit, they didn't stay long at each pce. In the afternoon, Zheng Sen took Daniu to the military compound to visit his father and mother's comrades, who had taken care of him in the past.

  By evening, they visited the parents and elders of Zheng Sen's friends. Daniu even met Li Hongda's mother; only then did she know that she was a Chinese medicine practitioner and a friend and colleague of Zheng Sen's mother.

  The hectic first day of the New Year passed, and early on the second day, Zheng Sen and Daniu went to the hospital residential building to visit Zheng Sen's mother.

  This time, it was Lin Zhibo, wearing an apron, who opened the door. "Come in, come in. It's cold out, isn't it? The north wind has been blowing since this morning. Come in and warm up."

  They entered the house. Auntie Wu wasn't there today, and Zheng Sen's mother, Tong Yafang, came out of the kitchen carrying a pte of fruit. Her eyes showed a hint of surprise when she saw them, though her face remained expressionless. If they hadn't been paying close attention, they might not have noticed.

  "Mom, happy New Year," Zheng Sen said, a bit nervous. Over the past two days, he had learned a lot about postpartum depression from Daniu and almost exhausted her knowledge on the subject. He realized that his mother's condition had been severe and sted for years, and if he wasn't mistaken, she had once tried to take her own life—and his—by walking onto the railway tracks. How desperate must someone be to consider such an act with their child?

  Zheng Sen couldn't fully comprehend it, but he felt he could try to forgive and reconcile, to start anew with his mother.

  Hearing Zheng Sen call her "Mom," Tong Yafang's eyes reddened with emotion. "Yes, happy New Year to you too. Come in and have some fruit," she said, and walked toward the living room. Daniu noticed a tear fall as she lowered her head to set down the fruit.

  Lin Zhibo, following behind, was overjoyed to see the mother and son in this state. He cheerfully headed to the kitchen and said, "Shun, your aunt and I bought a sea fish at the market this morning, but we're not sure how to cook it. Do you know how?"

  Daniu, not wanting to disturb the mother and son, went into the kitchen. The kitchen was spacious and well-organized. She saw ptes of ingredients already prepared—neatly cut ribs and vegetables of uniform length.

  "Your aunt cut these. She's not great at cooking, but she's good at chopping," Lin Zhibo said, ughing. "I'm not much of a cook either. But today, aside from the ribs, the rest is fish, which is not easy to cook."

  Daniu saw that, aside from the ribs and fish, there were sausages, roasted chicken, rge crabs, and a piece of ham. The only vegetable was shredded potatoes.

  "Such a big yellow croaker. Let's stew it," Daniu said.

  "Is your hand okay? If it's not, just tell me how to do it, and I'll handle it," Lin Zhibo said.

  "It's fine. One hand is enough," Daniu said, washing her hands.

  The fish didn't need to be cooked immediately, so Daniu started with the sweet and sour ribs. The kitchen was well-stocked with seasonings, and she got to work. Meanwhile, Lin Zhibo prepared the other dishes—thinly sliced sausages, separated roasted chicken, and bnched shredded potatoes tossed with chili oil. Daniu noticed that his chili oil was quite authentic.

  "When I was abroad, I couldn't get many hometown dishes. There weren't many seasonings there, so chili oil with shredded potatoes was about the best I could do. The other option was scrambled eggs with tomatoes, but I got so tired of that, and now I don't want to eat it."," Lin Zhibo said.

  Daniu covered the pot. The ribs needed to stew a bit longer to taste their best.

  As she prepared the fish, she asked Lin Zhibo, "Uncle Lin, how should we cook the ham?"

  "Let's make a soup with it. We have some frozen tofu and cabbage at home. We can stew them together, and it won't be greasy," Lin Zhibo said, and opened the kitchen door and returned with a piece of frozen tofu.

  The two of them were busy in the kitchen, while soft voices could be heard from the living room. The two did not intend to disturb them. They tacitly left time for the mother and son.

  The crabs were hairy crabs. "I had a friend bring these back. He's working in the south and came back for the New Year. I asked him to bring a few crabs, and he just got back on the 30th. Luckily, all the crabs are still alive," Lin Zhibo said.

  Daniu inspected them. "Let's steam these."

  "Sure, I can handle that," Lin Zhibo said, and he washed the crabs at the sink and then pced them in the steamer.

  By the time they finished preparing the meal, Tong Yafang's eyes were red, but her face showed a relieved smile. Zheng Sen also looked more rexed than ever.

  The four of them sat down at the table, and Lin Zhibo brought out a bottle of wine. "Today is a happy occasion. Let's have some wine. This is a bottle of French wine I've been saving."

  He struggled with the corkscrew for a while before Zheng Sen took it from him. "Let me do it, Uncle Lin."

  With a few twists, Zheng Sen opened the bottle.

  He poured wine for Lin Zhibo, his mother, and himself but didn't pour any for Daniu, worried it might not be good for her injury.

  "Pour some for Shun too. A little red wine is fine—it promotes blood circution and is especially good for women," Lin Zhibo said, then went to fetch two bottles of Arctic Ocean soda. "This is soda. After the wine, you two can have this. Zheng Sen and I will finish the bottle."

  "Let's toast to our family reunion and a fresh start in the New Year," Lin Zhibo said, raising his gss.

  Everyone raised their gsses and clinked them together. _Ding_—Happy New Year.