第 1 章

At five o'clock in the morning, Qingqing sat at the entrance of Shanghai Railway Station.

Uncle Liu said to her, 'The train arrived half an hour early.'

Qingqing looked up at the sky. The sky in Shanghai was gray, and the air was a bit humid. The sun had not yet come out. In the distance, rooftops were both red and dark gray.

The city had just woken up, and there were already many sounds on the road. Bicycle bells jingled. Trams passed by on the road, making heavy sounds.

There was a row of small shops along the street. Many shops were not yet open. Only the breakfast shop was bustling. White steam rose from the pot. Fried dough sticks were just out of the pot and quickly bought by customers.

Uncle Liu walked out of the crowd, holding breakfast in his hand.

He handed a rice ball to Qingqing. That was a breakfast made of rice. Uncle Liu himself ate a large pancake with fried dough sticks.

He said, 'Don't worry, your grandmother will be here soon.'

Qingqing didn't speak, lowering her head to eat the rice ball.

Her calf was bitten by mosquitoes, with two lumps that were itchy and hard. She secretly scratched them a few times.

Qingqing thought to herself: Mom always says Shanghai is great. Since Shanghai is so great, how come there are also mosquitoes?

At that moment, a woman walked out of the crowd. She had permed hair, wore a purple shirt and gray pants, and carried a black leather bag on her shoulder.

When Qingqing saw her, her heart beat very fast.

That woman also saw Qingqing. She was stunned for a moment, then immediately ran over.

She shouted, 'Qingqing!'

Uncle Liu immediately stood up. He patted the dust off Qingqing's pants, then reached out to greet the woman.

He said, 'You must be Yang Wenjie's mother, Qingqing's grandmother, right?'

The woman immediately nodded: 'Yes, yes! You must be Comrade Liu? This journey has really troubled you.'

As she spoke, she looked at Qingqing. She also smiled and touched Qingqing's little braids.

But Qingqing hid behind Uncle Liu. She had never seen this grandmother before and was a bit scared.

Uncle Liu said, 'It's no trouble. Comrade Yang had matters to attend to and couldn't get away. I came to Shanghai on a business trip, so I brought the child along.'

He pointed to the gunny sack and suitcase nearby. 'Comrade Yang asked me to bring these things.'

Grandmother looked at the things. The gunny sack was large, and the suitcase was also heavy.

Uncle Liu said, 'Auntie, you surely can't carry them alone. Let me take you home.'

Grandmother was very happy and kept saying thank you.

Uncle Liu was tall and strong. He carried the gunny sack on his shoulder and lifted the suitcase.

Grandmother came to take Qingqing's hand. Qingqing struggled a bit but couldn't break free.

They first took a car to the Bund, then changed to a tram.

Qingqing sat by the window, looking at the tall buildings outside.

The wind from the Huangpu River blew in through the window, making the clothes rustle.

An old lady got on the tram. She carried an old cloth bag and couldn't find a seat.

Grandmother knew her.

'Aunt Qin, what a coincidence, I've run into you again.'

Aunt Qin also smiled and said, 'Yes, what a coincidence. Where are you going?'

Grandmother said, 'Going home. Today I went to pick up my granddaughter.'

Saying that, Grandmother lifted Qingqing onto her own lap and let Aunt Qin sit down.

Aunt Qin looked at Qingqing and asked, 'Whose granddaughter is this? How old is she?'

Grandmother said, 'Not a granddaughter, but a maternal granddaughter. She is in fourth grade this year.'

Aunt Qin asked, 'Maternal granddaughter? Wenjie's daughter?'

Grandmother said, 'Yes, it's Wenjie's daughter.'

Aunt Qin then asked, 'Did Wenjie also come back to Shanghai this time?'

Grandmother sighed. 'No. She still has a young son to take care of over there. She asked a colleague to bring her daughter back.'

An uncle in front was listening to the conversation. At this point, he turned his head and asked, 'Where did her mother go back then?'

Grandmother said, 'She went to Xinjiang. She left Shanghai when she was young, and it's been over twenty years.'

The uncle nodded, his voice lowered. 'My son is the same. He went to Heilongjiang.'

Grandmother asked, 'So can he come back now?'

The uncle was silent for a while, his voice very hoarse. He said, 'He can't come back. He passed away.'

The carriage fell silent.

The driver turned on the radio. An old song came out. The woman's singing was low, as if coming from very far away.

Qingqing didn't quite understand what the adults were talking about.

. . .

Finally, they arrived at grandmother's house.

At the entrance to the street of grandmother's house, on the left was a beef noodle shop, on the right was a grocery store. In the middle was a very narrow road.

At the street corner there was a public faucet. A boy was squatting there brushing his teeth. His mouth was full of white foam.

Many bamboo poles extended from the houses, with clothes hanging on them, some still dripping water.

By the wall, many coal briquettes were piled up. Someone was lighting a stove, and the air was full of smoke.

It was very lively here.

At the entrance of the beef noodle shop, there was a large pot of beef broth. The aroma was strong.

Qingqing sniffed her nose.

She felt that this place was crowded, noisy, and unfamiliar.

She didn't really want to stay here.