The train arrived at the station, and she, carrying not much luggage, got off the train and once again came to Capital City. She felt that this place was developing too fast, but it was not only here, even their small village had undergone tremendous changes and would continue to change. In another ten years, the situation would be unimaginable for people today.
She carried her luggage onto the bus, which was mostly electric and very cheap. When she got to the small Siheyuan she had bought, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. With a click, the lock opened, and she pushed the door and walked into her own home. The feeling, an indescribable... sense of belonging. Yes, a sense of belonging — it was her own house, her own purchase. She could live there as long as she wished, without the monthly pressure from a landlord to pay the rent, or the nightly worries that the landlord might evict her to rent it to someone else, or the price might increase today and again tomorrow.
She settled her bag down, planning to find a public phone to call home so Granny and her elder brother wouldn’t worry. In a few days, once she was familiar with the area, she would install a phone at home. As for school, she still needed to find one. Anyway, she had almost completed middle school, and the school would issue a middle school graduation certificate for her. With the certificate, she could take the high school entrance exam. Back then, the exams were not so strict, so getting into school wouldn’t be difficult or urgent.
Without resting, she changed her clothes and went to the market. When she arrived, she had generally understood everything. First, she would make a phone call to reassure her family, and then buy some necessities.
Rice, flour, and oil were essentials, as she needed to eat, along with other daily supplies.
"Hello, Granny," she picked up the public phone and just got through to home when Granny Lu took over the phone, seemingly having been waiting there already.
"Granny, I’ve arrived. Yes, everything’s fine. I’ll wait for the school to issue the graduation certificate, then I’ll sort out the enrollment here. Yes, it’s easy to handle, no worries. Granny, if Hu Li and those people come by, just ignore them. If they can’t find me, they’ll have nothing to say."
"Yes, Granny, I know. Don’t worry. I’m not short of money. I still have what Granny gave me, and I have my brother’s card, which has quite a bit of money in it. That’s enough for me. I could even set up a small stall selling our family’s lotus leaf pancakes to sustain myself."
Granny Lu thought she was joking, calling her money-minded on the phone. Qin Xiangnuan hung up and then bought new bedding and pillows at the store, carrying big and small packages back home. Because she bought so many things, it took her several trips to complete her purchases.
Now with bedding, rice, flour, oil, and essentials like soy sauce and vinegar all stocked up, she also bought a gas stove, which made cooking much more convenient and clean. Of course, she wasn’t worried, having used a gas stove to cook for over a decade in her past life.
Not far from the small Siheyuan, there was a park where many people went for morning exercises, and it was also crowded with people going to work. She planned to set up her small stall there to earn some money. Since she was used to rising early and there was nothing for her to do at home, she might as well go back to her old profession.