"Uncle, who is this child? He looks so fair and tender."
"Ting Hou, let me introduce you, this is my great-grandson, Li Zhiyuan. Zhiyuan, this is your Aunt Ting."
Li Zhiyuan felt the generational title was a bit off, but in front of those without familial ties, everybody has their own way of addressing each other.
"Ah, good boy." Liu Manting put down her things and walked over, bent down, and touched Li Zhiyuan's face with both hands, "So cute."
Li Zhiyuan took a half step back to avoid it, a shy smile appeared on his face.
"Uncle, you've never brought kids over to play before."
"Ha, before, no child dared to come here to play." Li Sanjiang took out a cigarette from his pocket, "Ting Hou, this kid will be staying with me for a while, can you help him tidy up a room upstairs? Oh right, Little Yuanhou, are you afraid of sleeping in a room by yourself?"
"Not scared, Grandmaster."
"Alright, it's okay, the Grandmaster sleeps right next door anyway, hehe. Okay, Ting Hou, I'll leave him with you, I need to go to the bathroom."
Li Sanjiang lit up his cigarette and stepped out to go to the toilet.
"Come, Xiao Yuan, follow Auntie upstairs."
The first floor was so cluttered with items that even the stairwell was half-blocked—a first-time visitor would really have a hard time finding it.
Li Zhiyuan noticed there were also stairs going down near the stairwell, and asked, "Aunt Ting, is there another level below here?"
"Yes, there's a basement, about the same size as this one."
"Are the same things stored there?"
"No, they are all your Grandmaster's belongings. He couldn't bear to throw them away, so he specifically dug a level just to store them."
"Also, Xiao Yuan, my name is Liu Manting, you can call me Aunt Liu from now on."
"Aunt Liu, you're not a local, are you?"
"No, Auntie is from out of town, I do paper-crafting for your Grandmaster."
"Is it just Aunt Liu, by herself?"
"My husband is here too, renting your Grandmaster's land, and also helps out with tasks like paper-crafting and moving furniture on regular days; he should be back from the fields soon, once you meet him you can call him Uncle Qin.
Besides, Auntie's daughter and grandma are also here, they're in the east flat you saw when you came in. Your uncle and I live on the west side.
My whole family is here, making a living by working for your Grandmaster.
Before the liberation, we would all have to call you 'young master.'"
Perhaps it was because he had just listened to the story Li Sanjiang told on the way here about the corpse-carrying team, Li Zhiyuan now felt somewhat uncomfortable with this joke, shaking his head subconsciously:
"That's remnants of feudalism."
"Eh?" Liu Manting was stunned for a moment. It was indeed surprising to hear such a term from a child's mouth.
"Aunt Liu, just call me Xiao Yuan."
"Alright, Xiao Yuan. I've heard about you from your Grandmaster, you came back from Beijing, right?"
"Do you find it comfortable living here?"
"Comfortable, it's nice here."
"Don't you find it dull and boring?"
"No, there are many fun things here."
"That's good. Auntie's hands are numb every day from coloring the paper figures."
"Auntie, you're very good at painting, very professional."
"What professional, Auntie is like a duck forced onto a perch when I do this, I don't understand art."
But the way you hold the palette and paintbrush is just like the teachers from the art academy.
"If Xiao Yuan wants to paint, you can help Auntie, you know. Coloring isn't hard."
Since returning to his hometown, this was the first time he had a full conversation in Mandarin with someone, no longer mixing with so much Nantong dialect and so many 'Hou' titles.
Even those educated siblings of his only used Mandarin when helping him "translate" at first, then they reverted naturally back to their dialect in their own conversations.
Upon reaching the second floor, Liu Manting opened a room door, the furnishings inside were simple, an old-style bed and a wardrobe, and that was it, not even a stool, but inside was very clean, probably often tidied up.
"Xiao Yuan, you'll stay here. Your Grandmaster sleeps next door. Stay here for a while; I'll bring you the washbasin, towel, and spittoon."
"Thank you for the trouble, Aunt Liu."
"This child, so polite."
Liu Manting left, and Li Zhiyuan looked around his room, then stepped out again—indeed... there wasn't anything interesting to look at.
The second floor was just a large terrace with three lines of clothes poles standing in the center, there were neither balconies nor railings all around.
Walking to the edge, from this spot, one could see the dam in front, and in the distance, a small river and farmland.
Li Zhiyuan thought that this spot would be great for placing a chair; sitting here daydreaming would definitely be enjoyable.
Not far away, on the ridge of a field, a middle-aged man carrying a hoe was walking this way—the man was tall, muscles clearly defined where his white tank top couldn't cover, glistening in the afterglow of the sunset.
He must be Aunt Liu's husband, Uncle Qin.
It seems Uncle Qin hadn't always been a farmer.
Although farmers are generally strong, due to dietary and lifestyle habits, it's rare for them to develop such bulging muscles—they are usually skinny but strong.
His gaze shifted to the left.
He hadn't noticed the door of the east flat earlier because of the pile of firewood on the dam blocking the view, but now, standing high up, he could see it.
Inside the central door of the flat, a little girl about his age was sitting.
She wore a red embroidered top with dark pants featuring white patterns, her hair was done up in a bun, and her feet were adorned with light green embroidered shoes.
Her attire was very retro, devoid of any modern elements, yet not at all outdated.